how our industry is adapting to change in customer requirements v 3.02

Miguel Pelayo

Performance Packaging in Corrugated Material: How our Industry is Adapting to Change in Customer Requirements.

1

Index

1. Customer Requirements2. The answer: Performance Packaging3. Ways to fulfil Customer Requirements = Ways to Move

towards Performance Packaging3.1. Current High Performance Papers3.2. Tools to go closer to Zero Fault Packaging3.3. Logistically Optimized Flutes3.4. Design Rules

3.4.1. Double Wall vs. Simple Wall3.4.2. Overcoming Local Buckling

4. Trends and Conclusions

2

1. Customer Requirements

3

1. Customer Requirements: Leitmotifs

• Economic crisis

• Environmental and legal requirements

4

1. Customer Requirements

• Economic crisis:– Packaging cost efficiency – Supply chain efficiency: zero stock – Quality control towards zero fault packaging

• Environmental requests:– Sustainability and sustainable development– Climatic change (carbon footprint)– Environmental impact

• Regulatory requirements:– Packaging weight and packaging waste reduction

5

2. The Answer: Performance Packaging

6

2. Performance Packaging: Definition

• Performance Packaging is a packaging that is fit for purpose and optimizes the materials used in its construction.

• Performance packaging not only implies that it has a certain staking resistance, but it also means that fulfills all the expectations of the user: suitable printing quality and aspect, capable of supporting required conditions of transport or storage, good behavior in automatic packaging lines, etc.

7

• Performance Packaging is a packaging that is fit for purpose and optimizes the materials used in its construction.

• Performance packaging not only implies that it has a certain staking resistance, but it also means that fulfills all the expectations of the user: suitable printing quality and aspect, capable of supporting required conditions of transport or storage, good behavior in automatic packaging lines, etc.

2. Performance Packaging: How to move towards Performance Packaging

� By increasing the use of high performance papers. Supported by investments made in the latest technology for paper manufacture.

� Improving the Quality Control Systems in order to always deliver the agreed product quality (Zero Fault)

� Using the flute size more suitable for the final purpose.

� Utilising the principles of Material Mechanics in the design of corrugated board boxes.

� Being committed with the customers.

8

� By increasing the use of high performance papers. Supported by investments made in the latest technology for paper manufacture.

� Improving the Quality Control Systems in order to always deliver the agreed product quality (Zero Fault)

� Using the flute size more suitable for the final purpose.

� Utilising the principles of Material Mechanicsin the design of corrugated board boxes.

� Being committed with the customers.

3. Ways to Fulfil Customer Requirements= Ways to Move towards Performance

Packaging

9

3.1. Current Papers to Produce Performance Packaging

The current papers that can help in the design and making of Performance Packaging, according the Cepi ContainerBoard European Corrugated Base Paper List, are:– Light weight papers

• Brown light weight recycled liners• Light weight recycled mediums

– High performance recycled papers• High performance brown recycled liners (Testliner 1)• High performance medium and beyond

10

3.1. Current Papers to Produce Performance Packaging: Low Weight Liners

Substanceg/m2

SCT-CD kN/m

Burst indexkPa m2/g

115 >1.55 >2.0

110 >1.50 >2.0

100 >1.35 >2.0

95 >1.30 >2.0

90 >1.25 >1.9

Technical specifications:

Material definition : predominantly recycled based paper and the substance is below 120 g/m2.

11

3.1. Current Papers to Produce Performance Packaging: Low Weight Liners 100 g/m2

LWL – 100 Burst index, kPa m 2/g SCT-CD, kN/m

CEPI Containerboard >2.0 >1.35

Paper supplier 1 2.9 2.10






12

21.0

18.2

18.8

18.0

18.9

20.3

3.1. Current Papers to Produce Performance Packaging: Low Weight Mediums

Material definition : predominantly recycled based paper and the substance is equal or below 100 g/m2.

Technical specifications :

Substance, g/m2 CMT, N SCT-CD, kN/m

95 >135 >1.45

90 >125 >1.35

85 >110 >1.30

80 >95 >1.15

13

3.1. Current Papers to Produce Performance Packaging: Low Weight Mediums 90 g/m2

LWM – 90 CMT, N SCT-CD, kN/m

CEPI Containerboard >125 >1.35

Paper supplier A 158 1.83

Paper supplier B 145 1.63

Paper supplier C 161 1.81

Paper supplier D 175 1.71

Paper supplier E 128 1.78

Paper supplier F 141 1.70

Paper supplier G 141 1.68

Paper supplier H 138 1.66

14

20.3

18.1

20.1

19.0

19.8

18.9

18.7

18.4

3.1. Current Papers to Produce Performance Packaging: High Performance Brown Recycled Liners

15

Substance g/m2iSCT-CD kN m/kg

Burst indexkPa m2/g

120 >17.5 >3.0

150 >17.5 >3.0

200 >17.5 >2.9

220 >17.5 >2.9

Technical specifications (Testliner 1)

Material definition : predominantly recycled based paper and the substance is over 120 g/m2.

3.1. Current Papers to Produce Performance Packaging: High Performance Brown Recycled Liners

16

3.1. Current Papers to Produce Performance Packaging: High Performance Medium and Beyond

17

Substance g/m2iSCT-CD kN m/kg

iCMT 30N m2/g

115 >18.0 >1.8

130 >18.0 >1.8

150 >18.0 >1.8

175 >18.0 >1.8

Technical specifications (High Performance Medium)

Material definition : predominantly recycled based paper and the substance is over 100 g/m2.

3.1 Current Papers to Produce Performance Packaging: High Performance Medium and Beyond

18

3.2. Tools to go closer to Zero Fault Packaging

Source: XQ Innovations

19


• Most of this loss of strength during the production process is due to the damage produced to the medium paper when the corrugated sheet is passing through the converting and/or printing processes.

• If the medium is damaged then the shear stiffness of the corrugated board is heavily reduced which, in turn, means that also the bending stiffness diminishes.

• A corrugated board box with lower bending stiffness than estimated will bring to a box with a stacking capacity poorer than expected; so… problems in many, many occasions.

20


• B1 box of 260 x 132 x 185 mm made with corrugated board of 6,0 kN/m ECT.

• Pure compression strength of the box = ECT x perimeter 6000 N/m x 0,784 m = 4700 N

• Real BCT 2254 N, the box has lost more than 50% of the pure compression strength!

• This is the result of the box walls buckling.• Consequently we can infer that bending is

as important as compression; so, an analytical method able to give indications about bending behaviour would be key to predict the final performance.

21


• In the photograph a Chalmers DST (Dynamic Stiffness Tester) equipment can be seen.

• DST is a torsional stiffness tester (it is really measuring the angular frequency)

• DST measurement is related with both, out of and in plane, MD shear stiffnesses. These two parameters determine the shear (and the bending) stiffness of sandwich panels.

22


23


Measuring the shear stiffness (torsional stiffness) during the corrugated board box production process:

– Process engineers can know where the damage is produced and can take actions to correct the process parts generating the problem.

– Quality Control engineers can optimise the lines performance and they will know the real damage of the corrugated board and can evaluate if it is still acceptable to be sent to the clients, in order to reduce customer complaints.

– Board design engineers can use the information to improve the composition of the corrugated board and, if possible, reduce board weight.

24

3.3. Logistically optimized flutes

• There are still many boxes that do not need compression requirements and they are made in B flute (or even in C flute)

• If compression is not needed, because, for example, the product has self-carrying capacity, smaller flutes could be used instead B flute.

• By using smaller flutes we can optimise the logistic because we can load more sheets or boxes in a truck, and also in the same warehouse volume there is room for more board, both in the corrugated board mill and in the customer facilities.

25

3.3. Logistically optimized flutes.

• The evident way to optimise logistics is to substitute B flute boxes having no compression requirements by E flute boxes.

• But in practice this conversion has not been fully made.

• Reasons not to carry out the change can be very varied and diverse: flatter corrugated sheets in B flute, to be not the unique supplier in a determinate customer, etc.

26


• Most of the corrugated packaging companies have given an intermediate step: they have started to use flute designs between B and E flute sizes.

• Really the place in between B and E flutes has been occupied by the D flute, a flute design having 1,8-2,2 mm height and 4,3-5,4 mm pitch.

• D flute is being (or was) used mainly by Amcor to produce Xitec/X-Flute corrugated board. Reason is that two D flutes have roughly the same thickness than a A flute board.

• European companies have renamed these new D flutes with new commercial names (flute S, flute R, flute P, etc.)

27


New D flutes B flute E flute

Strengths • Better logistic costs• Improved printing quality

• Better compression strength• Probably better flatness

(less warp)

Weaknesses • Worst compression strength• Probably worst flatness

(more warp)

• Worst logistic costs• Reduced printing quality

Opportunities • Intermediate step to learn more about the use of smaller flutes

Threats • Not fully standardize flute dimensions

28

In order to know the feasibility of this change, every mill has to carry out an economical balance: saving in logistics against increased paper cost for boxes in B flute with compression strength requirement

3.4.1. Design Rules: Double Wall vs. Simple Wall

Using together low weight papers and small flutes, double wall corrugated can be designed having the same thickness than conventional corrugated made in simple wall.

In some cases, this double wall corrugated will be able to substitute the conventional one with significant savings or quality improvements, or both.

29


Single wall (B flute)CKL 185 g/m2

BCT 100%

Double wall (FE flutes)CKL 130 g/m2

BCT 110%

30


• During the post-buckling process, the external part of the wall withstands tensile stresses, while the internal part of the wall is supporting compression stresses. The middle part, surprisingly, is not stressed, nor tensile nor compression are applied.

• Paper tensile strength is 2-3 times bigger than paper compression strength. So, reinforcing the internal part of the wall we can increase his total stacking resistance (BCT).

31

• When a growing compression stress is applied over a box, a moment comes in which the box walls start to buckle and sag. If the box is full, the most probable scenario is that walls would sag outside.


• Significant paper weight saving• Higher efficiencies on customers automatic packagin g lines

(reduction of warp)• Better post-print quality

32

Standard composition

Basis Weightg/m2

Calipermm Performance Packaging

Basis Weightg/m2

Calipermm

Required BCTkN

Performance Packaging BCT, kN

Model 4x5 liters

C TL2175SQ175TL2175

608 4,2FE

TL2125M95M75M95TL2125576 2,6 2,75 2,92

Model 10x2 liters

C TL2175SQ175TL2175

608 4,2EB

TL2125M95M75M95TL2125585 4,4 2,75 3,04

Model 20x1 liter

CKL200SQ200KL200

694 4,3EB

TL2125M95M95HPM130TL2115642 4,4 3,80 4,33

Model 12x0,75 l (wine)

CCKL185SQ175KL200

643 4,2EB

CKL135M75M75M95TL2125570 4,4 2,05 2,24

-5%

-4%

-7%

-11%

3.4.2. Design Rules: Overcoming Local Buckling

• Corrugated board is a highly resistant, lightweight material in which a high specific stiffness is achieved by bonding together several very different papers.

• The heterogeneous nature of the board components means that, in terms of mechanical behaviour, there are two levels of response: the global response of the whole structure and the local response of each one of the components.

33


• In the case of buckling, global buckling is when the board buckles totally as would an homogeneous structure, and local buckling is when the instability is associated with the buckling of the individual papers, mainly the liners.

• With the gradual reduction in basis weights of papers over the past few years, especially in Europe, it is being more frequent to find board boxes that fail due to the local buckling of the liners.

34


35


• Also at local level it is necessary to reach a “critical buckling load” in order the liner starts to locally buckle.

• When the critical local buckling load is less than the compression strength value, then the liner will begin to buckle before the compression failure occurs, and liner collapse could take place due to local buckling.

• Since the main causes of the local buckling, as for the global buckling, are geometric and dimensional relationships, the only way to prevent it is to adequately manage the grade of liner used in every flute type.

36


µm g/m2

B flute 150 125

C flute 175 150

A flute 195 170

37


38

BC BB CB

Substance, g/m2 570 565 573

Thickness, mm 6.00 5.38 (-10%) 6.04

ECT, kN/m 7,65 7,85 7,30

BCT, N 2.711 2.875 (+6%) 2.944 (+9%)

B1 box 510 x 180 x 335 mmPaper composition: WTTLB125 M95 M95 M95 M95

In some very special cases, and when the corrugated board thickness is not decreasing too much, the box compression strength could be even improved trying to avoid the local buckling by using a smaller pitch flute.


39


TRENDS• To continue progressing towards zero fault pack, by

process optimization using new quality control tools.• To advance in the logistic improvements (transport

and storage savings) using the fitted for purpose flutes.

• To increase the use of high performance papers, including low weight papers, to get the adequate packaging at the best value for money.

40


CONCLUSIONS• We strongly believe that a simple concept like

Performance Packaging can help to fulfil the customer needs and requirements.

• Talk with customers about performance of the box, avoiding to discuss other requirements, like corrugated board weight or paper grades.

• In every application, the right flute with the right papers must be used.

41

42

Many thanks for your attention

how our industry is adapting to change in customer requirements v 3.02

Business

packaging weight

performance packaging6

performance packaging9

use of high performance

medium paper

based paper

paper supplier a1581

paper supplier g1411