Plan Automation Technology Blog

What Corrugated Packaging Automation Can Do for Your Business

Posted by Mat Bedard on Tue, May 17, 2016 @ 09:05 AM

Corrugated PackagingWhen implemented throughout an enterprise, corrugated packaging materials, such as board boxes, trays and containers for various packing configurations can completely change how manufacturers in those businesses view their packaging. Corrugated packaging takes the concept of a “box” and makes it so much more, with innovative design, heavy-duty performance and unmatched board crushing strengths.

Modern corrugated packaging can withstand weights and rough handling far beyond what your everyday, single-sheet board can. Whether your applications and products call for single face, single wall, double wall or even triple wall corrugated packaging materials, corrugated packaging automation can help your business see real, measurable improvements in its end-of-line processes.

How Corrugated Packaging is Made

Corrugated packaging materials, the most effective, affordable and sturdy board packaging supplies, are constructed from two main components: a board liner and “flutes,” which provide strength and support to packaging surfaces.

These two components are glued together and fitted along a corrugation box gluer, which applies cold glue along box joints, before folding and compressing boxes into their final, ready-to-use corrugated form. These highly durable boxes can be produced in vast quantities very quickly, making them a lucrative option for manufacturers in practically any shipping and distribution industry.

Corrugated packaging comes in various strengths, each designed to specially withstand the stress and weight of certain applications. These strengths are determined by the number of fluted layers in a box; the more flutes a box features, the more general weight and handling it can withstand.

The flutes themselves can be customized, and specifically chosen for unique products and uses. Coming in size denominations A, B, C, E and F, these flutes vary in width, providing customers with various strength options (the most common being C-flutes, and the finest being E- and F-flutes).

Following an Edge Crush Test (ECT), corrugated packaging materials are graded for their strength and stability in pounds per square inch: the weight a piece of corrugated material can handle before failure.

There are three general customizations you can implement with your corrugated box models to increase strength and reliability: additional lugs and flanges, varying thicknesses and board styles, and vertical fluting.

Slotted lugs, flanges and corner posts reinforce corrugation stability, and can be used by distributors to reach maximum box stacking strength. Vertical fluting, on the other hand, is an option in which fluted corrugation runs vertically within boxes, for even greater stacking ability. Finally, by choosing the ideal board style ( double wall, triple wall, etc.) and thickness (A-flute, E-flute, etc.), distributors can optimize their packaging corrugation to meet unique needs and product specs in their industry.

Corrugation Production, Performance and Recyclability

Corrugated packaging materials are an important component of end-of-line packaging automation, due in large part to how they can be produced in mass quantities quickly and affordably, while still providing high quality results. Corrugated packaging’s ability to match the mass production speeds of manufacturing operations in various industries make it a compatible option for companies all around the globe.

What makes corrugation so valuable is that, even when meeting these high output rates, quality remains uncompromised. Whether your specific operations call for double-wall packaging with C-flutes, or single-wall packaging with finer E-flutes, corrugation catch match your exact needs with high quality, high strength results.

This high performance that corrugation promises can be attributed to its versatility; with a range of customization options from box thickness, production speeds and compatibility, to flute seizes and various lug and corner post reinforcement, corrugation can effectively meet the packaging needs of almost limitless applications.

Even beyond their sheer performance strength and dependability, corrugated packaging materials bring ancillary benefits to other areas of production and distribution processes, such as repurposing and recycling. By switching to corrugated packing materials, businesses can significantly lower their ecological footprint and the adverse effects of poor packaging materials on the environment.

The board used in corrugated packaging can be easily repurposed in virtually any application, due to the high pulp and material fiber content used in its creation. For distribution to and from countries and areas without sustainable wood or fibers resources, corrugation is the ultimate answer to effective, affordable and sustainable packaging.

Corrugation shredders can process virtually any corrugated material for re-use, which facilitates environmentally sound distribution and generates sustainable practices in areas that otherwise could detract from the environment, and even cost distributors money in inefficient packaging.

To learn more about what high strength, sustainable packaging corrugation can do for your business, or for more information on simplifying your company’s end-of-line distribution processes, contact us today.

Corrugated Packaging 101- Plan Automation

Topics: corrugated packaging