Paperboard - The Total Cost Concept

Paperboard has been an effective packaging option for many years and continues to provide eye-catching, functional appeal on the store shelf.

IT CAN BE folded into many forms. It can stand-up, be flat, or it can be folded into a six-point star figure. It can enhance your customers' marketing plans, as it has potential to make merchandise just fly off the shelves with new and innovative customizations. No, it's not some magical potion from the new Harry Potter book, it's paperboard.

Paperboard options

Only a converter, in concert with its customers, can make such a cost/benefit decision on new substrates. However, paperboard can offer some pretty effective packaging alternatives to allow a product to stand out in the crowded market.

One example of this is the New Evolution™ Box, by AGI/Klearfold. It's a hybrid package, which can offer converters the opportunity to achieve the prestigious look-and-feel of rigid set boxes at a reduced cost. In other words, it looks really expensive and luxurious, but without most of the cost.

As another option, Rock-Tenn Co. has added DuraFreeze™ to its existing line of moisture-resistant paperboard, specifically designed for refrigerated and frozen foods packaging. It's made of 100 percent recycled and recyclable materials, which appeals to the environmental sensibilities of today's Earth-conscience consumers. On top of the environmental benefit of DuraFreeze, other capabilities include: durability, printability, excellent sheet formation and cutting, long-lasting moisture resistance, dimensional stability, and the capability for 2-1 stiffness ratios.

Another paperboard option is Natural Choice™ by Dura-Fibre®. Natural-Choice can be customized to any thickness from 24 to 60 points, depending on a product's specific application requirements. In addition, Natural Choice is available in a variety of finishes and is ideal for folding cartons and refrigeration or frozen applications. Natural Choice is approved for contact with food.

Industry consolidation drives total-cost focus

Within the past five years, people who watch the market closely have noticed a trend—the consolidation of smaller companies into large conglomerates. This has an impact on all business dealings, but one person, John Hazen, president of Hazen Paper, said it best when he noted, "The paperboard industry as a whole has been characterized by rapid, almost frenetic change in the last five years due to industry consolidation and fallout, which has created an absolute pressure cooker as survivors work harder than ever to eek out hard-to-find profits."

So how will a package printer handle all of this pressure? Well, he or she needs to make sure that its products both maintain top quality and are produced at the lowest possible cost.

"The paperboard industry—especially printers and converters—needs to look to improved yield factors, reduced waste, reduced troubleshooting time, faster start ups, and higher material dependability to offset dramatic cost increases related to skyrocketing energy costs and health care costs," said Hazen.

"The industry needs to put more emphasis on the total-cost concept. Unfortunately, there continues to be heavy shopping and low-ball pricing pressure, and not enough emphasis on material performance and waste reduction. The costs of jobs gone bad—redos, second makereadies, returns, remakes, delays, etc.—need more attention and should be factored more heavily into the procurement process," Hazen said.

Should we or shouldn't we?

The pressure on the entire supply chain to improve bottom-line performance, is bringing about serious searches for new revenue streams. This is the reason for all the chatter in the printing industry about how commercial printers are trying to make their way into the packaging market—especially in paperboard since many commercial printers have experience with this substrate.

Should package printers be concerned about the ever-tightening noose around their necks with the influx of commercial printers? Maybe, but it won't be a change that will happen overnight. The costs (including training, purchasing equipment, creating inventory, etc.) to get into package printing may be just a bit too high for what commercial printers are willing to accept, said some converting industry veterans.

"Printers that are new to the folding carton segment find the demands on supply are more than they expected. Printing a 70 pound litho sheet is not the same as printing on higher caliper boards, especially for high-end derivative color work," said Jerome T. Van de Water, president, Paperboard Packaging Council. "All I can say is that those who are new to the [packaging] field need to work very close with their equipment and material suppliers to get good advice," Van de Water added.

So it's official. Although the grass always looks greener on the other side, commercial printers need to be wary of jumping into the growing package-printing industry. It pays to believe in the total-cost concept before making these decisions.

by Megan Wolf

Assistant Editor