July/ Aug BoxScore: 2023 Midyear Converters Roundtable

2023 MIDYEAR

CONVERTERS ROUNDTABLE

AICC member experts weigh in on the economy and industry in Miami

ALSO INSIDE

Where Sustainability Meets Branding

Members Meeting: Spring Meeting Recap

Member Profile: Royal Containers

OFFICERS

Chairwoman: Jana Harris, Harris Packaging/American Carton, Haltom City, Texas

First Vice Chairman: Matt Davis, Packaging Express, Colorado Springs, Colorado

Vice Chairs: Gary Brewer, Package Crafters, High Point, North Carolina Finn MacDonald, Independent II, Louisville, Kentucky

Terri-Lynn Levesque, Royal Containers Ltd., Brampton, Ontario, Canada

Immediate Past Chairman: Gene Marino, Akers Packaging Service Group, Chicago, Illinois

Chairman, Past Chairmen’s Council: Jay Carman, StandFast Packaging Group, Carol Stream, Illinois

President: Michael D’Angelo, AICC Headquarters, Alexandria, Virginia

Secretary/General Counsel: David Goch, Webster, Chamberlain & Bean, Washington, D.C.

AICC Canada: Lee Gould

DIRECTORS

West: Sahar Mehrabzadeh-Garcia, Bay Cities, Pico Rivera, Califormia

Southwest: Jenise Cox, Harris Packaging/American Carton, Haltom City, Texas

Southeast: Michael Drummond, Packrite, High Point, North Carolina

Midwest: Casey Shaw, Batavia Container Inc., Batavia, Illinois

Great Lakes: Josh Sobel, Jamestown Container Cos.

Macedonia, Ohio

Northeast: Stuart Fenkel, McLean Packaging Pennsauken, New Jersey

AICC Canada: Terri-Lynn Levesque, Royal Containers Ltd., Brampton, Ontario, Canada

AICC México: Sergio Menchaca, EKO Empaques de Cartón S.A. de C.V., Cortazar, Mexico

OVERSEAS DIRECTOR

Kim Nelson, Royal Containers Ltd., Brampton, Ontario, Canada

DIRECTORS AT LARGE

Kevin Ausburn, SMC Packaging Group, Springfield, Missouri

Eric Elgin, Oklahoma Interpack, Muscogee, Oklahoma

Guy Ockerlund, Ox Box, Addison, Illinois

Mike Schaefer, Tavens Packaging & Display Solutions, Bedford Heights, Ohio

Ben DeSollar, Sumter Packaging, Sumter, South Carolina

Jack Fiterman, Liberty Diversifies, Minneapolis, Minnesota

EMERGING LEADER DELEGATES

Lauren Frisch, Wasatch Container, North Salt Lake, Utah

John McQueary, CST Systems, Atlanta, Georgia

Jordan Dawson, Harris Packaging, Haltom City, Texas

ASSOCIATE MEMBER DIRECTORS

Chairman: Greg Jones, SUN Automation Group

Glen Arm, Maryland

Vice Chairman: Tim Connell, A.G. Stacker Inc Weyers Cave, Virginia

Secretary: John Burgess, Pamarco/Absolute, Roselle Park, New Jersey

Director: Jeff Dietz, Kolbus America Inc., Cleveland, Ohio

Immediate Past Chairman, Associate Members: Joseph Morelli, Huston Patterson Printers/Lewisburg

Printing Co., Decatur, Illinois

ADVISORS TO THE CHAIRMAN

Al Hoodwin, Michigan City Paper Box, Michigan City, Indiana

Gene Marino, Akers Packaging Service Group

Chicago, Illinois

Greg Jones, SUN Automation, Glen Arm, Maryland

PUBLICATION STAFF

Publisher: Michael D’Angelo, mdangelo@AICCbox.org

Editor: Virginia Humphrey, vhumphrey@AICCbox.org

ABOUT AICC

EDITORIAL/DESIGN SERVICES

The YGS Group • www.theYGSgroup.com

Vice President: Serena L. Spiezio

Senior Director of Content Strategy: Craig Lauer

Managing Editor: Therese Umerlik

Senior Editor: Sam Hoffmeister

Copy Editor: Steve Kennedy

Art Director: Alex Straughan

Account Manager: Frankie Singleton

SUBMIT EDITORIAL IDEAS, NEWS, & LETTERS TO: BoxScore@theYGSgroup.com

CONTRIBUTORS

Cindy Huber, Director of Conventions & Meetings

Chelsea May, Education and Training Manager

Laura Mihalick, Senior Meeting Manager

Patrick Moore, Membership Services Manager

Taryn Pyle, Director of Training, Education & Professional Development

Alyce Ryan, Marketing Manager

Steve Young, Ambassador-at-Large

ADVERTISING

Taryn Pyle 703-535-1391 • tpyle@AICCbox.org

Patrick Moore

703-535-1394 • pmoore@AICCbox.org

AICC

PO Box 25708

Alexandria, VA 22313

Phone 703-836-2422

Toll-free 877-836-2422

Fax 703-836-2795 www.AICCbox.org

PROVIDING BOXMAKERS WITH THE KNOWLEDGE NEEDED TO THRIVE IN THE PAPER-BASED PACKAGING INDUSTRY SINCE 1974

We are a growing membership association that serves independent corrugated, folding carton, and rigid box manufacturers and suppliers with education and information in print, in person, and online. AICC membership is for the full company, and employees at all locations have access to member benefits. AICC o ers free online education to all members to help the individual maximize their potential and the member company maximize its profit.

WHEN YOU INVEST AND ENGAGE, AICC DELIVERS SUCCESS.

Leading Through Uncertainty

Iam thrilled to share with you that we had 800 members and guests in attendance at the just-concluded AICC Spring Meeting in Miami. This was an outstanding showing. The other reason this meeting was such a thrill for me was that my dad, Joe Harris, was in attendance.

The big question on everyone’s mind as we met was, “Where are we as an industry?” Are we in a recession? Or not? Consider the following.

Domestic production of consumer nondurable goods remained strong in March, rising by 1.4% during the month, as reported in Dick Storat’s Scoring Boxes (see p. 4). But wait! Retail sales slumped 1% in March, and general merchandise stores like Target and Walmart saw their sales decline 3%! But then again, nonstore retail sales rose 1.9%!

Anna Wong of Bloomberg Economics told us in Miami that the manufacturing recession was underway at the end of 2022 due to excess inventories at retail. Consumers were buying less stuff. But she also said consumers still have spending power.

After Wong spoke, our boxmaker panel confirmed the slowdown: Howard Bertram—flat; Brett Kirkpatrick—off 10% for the first two months of the year; Joe Palmeri—not convinced we’ve bottomed out.

In a survey released earlier this year by AICC, a majority of members predicted their business to be down by an average of 4% in 2023 and said their biggest concern was a “slowing economy.”

Yet, in the same survey, 80% of members said they have business or equipment acquisition plans in 2023.

Without a doubt, business has slowed. We’re coming off a time during which our industry’s capacity nearly reached a breaking point. So, considering all this information—much of it conflicting—how are we to react as business owners in the corrugated and paperboard packaging industries? How do we guide our companies through this period?

First, we arm ourselves with intelligence by coming to meetings and hearing from our peers about what’s going on in their businesses. Second, we focus on our business operations, learning best practices from others and applying them in our own shops. Third, we look to the future. If we’re in a recession, look post-recession. This reminds me of what Roger Poteet told me in 2008–2009. Poteet said his company, then Poteet Printing Systems, “simply refuses to participate in this recession.” He invested for the growth following. We are well advised to do the same. Finally, we should use this time to reeducate our employees and focus on their training. Who had time to do any of that in the past two years?

And here is where your Association comes in. In all of these steps, AICC provides us with the venues, tools, programs, and intelligence to lead our companies in uncertain times.

At AICC meetings, we gather, we talk, and we learn. In our CEO groups, leadership forums, and independent networks, we learn best practices and have the accountability to apply them. Through our valued suppliers, we have access to the best technologies, materials, and services to increase our efficiency and productivity to best serve our customers.

And finally, through AICC’s industry education material, our employees are trained and ready for the job at hand—and the job ahead.

So, recession? Or not? I’m going for “not.” We are a positive bunch, we AICC members.

Jana Harris CEO and Co-owner, Harris Packaging and American Carton Co. AICC Chairwoman

Nondurable Goods: The Largest Box Market

BY DICK STORAT

Year in and year out, one thing has remained constant: Some threequarters of U.S. box shipments have always gone to package nondurable goods. These fast-moving goods, assumed to be consumed within three years, provide the core destination for some 3 billion square feet of products made in the industry’s corrugated box plants.

By and large, the growing demand for these goods is driven by population growth and rising disposable incomes. A considerable share of these products is imported into the U.S., the largest goods-consuming country on the planet. When imports of these goods outpace exports as they have for decades, the domestic production of nondurable goods grows even more slowly than domestic consumption.

The top chart shows the indexed value of industrial production of nondurable consumer goods. True to its trend, only sluggish growth in output was achieved during the first quarter of this year. Through March, production rose by less than 0.4%. This past year’s growth was a little faster, growing 1.7%. Nondurable consumer goods account for 21% of the nation’s industrial production. The food and tobacco industries are the largest single group in that category, accounting for 44% of nondurable goods production.

The bottom chart shows domestic food production for the recent past. This past year, food production grew by 1.8%, within its long-term growth range. During the first quarter of this year, however, production growth slowed to 0.4%.

One reason for slower production growth this year, in addition to faster-growing imports of these goods, is that consumers are spending disproportionately more for services, as the travel, food service, accommodations, and entertainment sectors are

Industrial Production Nondurable Consumer Goods

U.S. Food Production

among the last to recover from the economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.

In addition to food, several other nondurable consumer goods industries consume an above-average share of corrugated boxes. These include tobacco, clothing manufacturing, paper products, chemical products, and plastic goods. The table at the bottom of p. 4 provides average annual production growth rates over the past five years and for the past year.

Just as in the areas described, slow growth is also a characteristic of these goods. Over the past five years, tobacco production has dropped by 4.3% per year, as the number of smokers drops. This past year showed an even larger drop of 6.4%.

While few clothing items are made domestically, those that are consume corrugated packaging. After five years of shrinking at 1.5% per year, clothing production rose by 3.1% in 2022.

Paper products production has declined fractionally over the past five years. In 2022, the pace of decline increased to 2.1%.

Chemical and plastic products consume most of the corrugated packaging in the nondurable goods sector, excluding food. These industries supply household and industrial cleaning supplies as well as health and beauty products.

They too have shown only fractional growth over the past five years, but both recorded above-average growth in 2022.

Certainly, anyone supplying corrugated boxes or any other type of paper packaging would like to see customer demand growing faster than is the case for consumer nondurable goods. Yet, because these goods are necessities of life, one can count on demand being there even if it is not growing rapidly.

Dick Storat is president of Richard Storat & Associates. He can be reached at 610-282-6033 or storatre@aol.com

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Urgently Needed: Tax Certainty

BY ERIC ELGIN

Before the COVID-19 pandemic, when AICC members traveled to Washington, D.C., to attend our annual Washington Fly-In, we partnered with several like-minded organizations whose members were also manufacturing businesses so our pro-manufacturing message could be amplified. Printing Industries of America (now Printing United), the National Wooden Pallet & Container Association, and the National Association of Manufacturers were among that group.

If you ever attended a Washington Fly-In in those days, you might remember that we advocated for making certain tax code provisions permanent, rather than relying on annual or biennial authorizations to keep them in play. The R&D tax credit was one such provision that was dependent on this biennial authorization. Our argument in this was simple: The business community, and more specifically the manufacturing community, needs the certainty of knowing what tax provisions will be in effect for forecasting, capital investment decisions, and the like. Uncertainty is not an ally in our decision-making.

For this reason, AICC has joined 145 other business groups in supporting the Main Street Tax Certainty Act of 2023, a bill introduced by U.S. Sen. Steve Daines (R-MT). This legislation will make permanent the 20% deduction for small and individually owned businesses (Section 199A), providing certainty to the millions of S corporations, partnerships, and sole proprietorships that rely on the Section 199A deduction to remain competitive. Individually and family-owned businesses organized as pass-throughs are the backbone of the

U.S. economy. They employ the majority of private-sector workers and represent 95% of all businesses. They also make up the economic and social foundation for countless communities nationwide.

Without these businesses and the jobs they provide, many communities would face a more uncertain future of lower growth and fewer jobs. Despite this, Section 199A is scheduled to sunset at the end of 2025, even as the businesses it supports continue to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic and the price hikes, labor shortages, and supply chain disruptions that followed.

Making the Section 199A deduction permanent will help Main Street during this difficult time, leading to higher economic growth and more employment. Separate studies by economists Barro and Furman, the American Action Forum,

and DeBacker and Kasher found that making the pass-through deduction permanent would result in significantly improved parity and lower rates for Main Street businesses. The more quickly Congress acts to make Section 199A permanent, the sooner Main Street businesses will benefit.

Contact your state’s senators today and let them know your view of this important legislation. Go to www.senate. gov or call the U.S. Capitol switchboard at 202-224-3121.

Eric Elgin is owner of Oklahoma Interpak and chairman of AICC’s Government Affairs subcommittee. He can be reached at 918-687-1681 or eric@okinterpak.com

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AICC Spring Meeting Delivers Strategic Alignment

The AICC Spring Meeting, April 24–26 in Miami, welcomed nearly 800 attendees for three days of general sessions, plant tours, workshops, and networking.

During the meeting, speakers addressed the state of the industry, what’s next, and strategies to increase profitability. Additionally, 240 members enjoyed the 9th Annual Independents’ Cup Charity Golf Tournament.

AICC President Mike D’Angelo says of the meeting, “We thank AICC members for the tremendous turnout at the Spring Meeting. Dynamic members, a strong program of speakers, tours, education, networking, and fun—keep moving independents, AICC events, and this great industry forward.”

The meeting began with tours of SupplyOne and Schwarz Partners Packaging, followed by the Focus Session, which offered an industry and economic outlook from Anna Wong, chief U.S. economist at Bloomberg L.P.; an extended producer responsibility and Federal Trade Commission update with Terry Webber, vice president of industry affairs at the American Forest & Paper Association; and a new look at recycling from Suzanne Fisher, CPP, of Fisher Packaging.

A panel of box and packaging manufacturers, moderated by Mike Schaefer, president of Tavens Packaging & Display Solutions consisted of Howard Bertram, president of Complete Design & Packaging; Brett Kirkpatrick, director of trade business at The BoxMaker; Joseph M. Palmeri, president of corrugated packaging at Jamestown Container Cos.; and Ben Urquhart, sales manager at NEWW Packaging

& Display. Panelists discussed current conditions, the economy, training employees, what keeps them up at night, and more. Check out our story on p. 38 for a key portion of the discussion.

Throughout the meeting, attendees heard keynote presentations about marketing sustainability from Susannah Enkema, vice president of research and insights at The Shelton Group, and the ideas in the book Build for Tomorrow, from Jason Feifer, book author and editor-in-chief of Entrepreneur magazine. The closing keynote speaker, Sheryl

The Spring Meeting at Trump National Doral Resort in Miami drew nearly 800 attendees.

The Sales Management Forum was held on consecutive days to start the Spring Meeting, including a reception during the first evening.

AICC Chairwoman Jana Harris presented John Bird, chair and CEO of JB Machinery, with his AICC Hall of Fame induction plaque.

Photos by Jason Jackman.

STAY TUNED FOR MORE GREAT AICC EVENTS!

Upcoming national meetings include:

AICC 2023 Annual Meeting

September 18–20 | Louisville, Kentucky

AICC 2024 Spring Meeting & 50th Anniversary Celebration

April 8–10 | Palm Desert, California

AICC/TAPPI 2024 SuperCorrExpo

September 9–12 | Orlando, Florida

Connelly, leading futurist and global consumer trends expert at Ford Motor Co., gave a fresh view of today’s world and how to prepare for and incorporate change into your company.

Packed workshops gave attendees insight into attracting employees and the impact of social media on the industry, with Jake Hall, “The Manufacturing Millennial,” and succession planning with Daniel Prisciotta, CFP, CPA/PFS, ChFC, CBEC, managing partner at Equity Strategies Group. There was also a panel discussion with Greg Tucker, chair and CEO of Bay Cities; Kim Nelson, president and CEO of Royal Containers Ltd.; Larry Grossbard, vice president of President Container; and Jerry Frisch, president of Wasatch Container, on the future of their companies.

Over two days, supplier innovations were shared with a standing room-only audience. Presenting companies included:

• Baldwin Technology

• Young Shin USA

• EFI

• Kongsberg Precision Cutting Systems

• Sun Chemical

• Fosber

• SRC America

• HiFlow Solutions

• Motionalysis

• HP

• Kao Collins

• Kento Digital Printing

• A.G. Stacker

• Valco Melton

• Amtech

• SUN Automation

• Bobst

• OMP

• JB Machinery

• Flint Group

• Goepfert Machinery USA

• Koenig & Bauer

• MHI

• Durst Image Technology

During the meeting, John Bird, chair and CEO of JB Machinery, was inducted

into the AICC Hall of Fame for his many contributions to the industry.

AICC recognized AICC member milestones, with Deline Box & Display and Viking Packaging each celebrating 50 years of continuous independent operation.

The following locations were also awarded the Independent Safe Shop Award for their safety record this past year:

• Air Conveying Corporation (ACC Filter)

• Akers Packaging Group, including:

º Hoosier in Richmond, Indiana

º Michiana in Sturgis, Michigan

º Middletown in Middletown, Ohio

º Packaging Logic in La Porte, Indiana

º Webster West in North Vernon, Indiana

Over 200 meeting attendees took to the links for the 9th Annual Independents’ Cup Charity Golf Tournament, proceeds from which help to fund the Foundation for Packaging Education.

Members Meeting

º Webster West Evansville in Evansville, Indiana

• Lawrence Paper Co., American Packaging Division

• Royal Containers Ltd.

• Unicorr Packaging Group/ Vermont Container

• United Engravers

• Welch Packaging Group, including:

º Bridgeview, Illinois, location

º Columbus, Ohio, location

º Romulus, Michigan, location

º Toledo, Ohio, location

º Heritage in Lincoln, Illinois

º IndyCorr in Indianapolis, Indiana

º Welch Packaging Brown Box in Elkhart, Indiana

Before the meeting, sales professionals participated in a two-day Sales Management Forum in which bestselling author Ed Wallace and millennial sales strategist Omar Abdullah helped attendees develop targeted conversations that lead to revenue, deliver sales results aligned with a buyer-centric approach, and learn to use application exercises to create fluency within sales teams.

More photos from the meeting can be found on AICC’s Facebook page, and videos of the general sessions will be available to meeting attendees on AICC NOW (NOW.AICCbox.org).

Questions about the Spring Meeting and the value a well-connected workforce

brings to a company can be answered by Cindy Huber, AICC director of conventions and meetings, at chuber@ AICCbox.org or 703-836-2422, or by Laura Mihalick, AICC senior meeting manager, at lmihalick@AICCbox.org or 703-836-2422.

THANK YOU, SPONSORS!

AICC is grateful for the support of our many meeting sponsors, which include:

• Flint Group

• Domtar Packaging

• eProductivity Software

• SUN Automation Group

• Haire Group

• Kolbus

• Mitsubishi Heavy Industries

• Stafford Corrugated Products

• Kao Collins

• Oklahoma Interpak

GET READY FOR THE NEXT BIG THING

The AICC 2023 Annual Meeting, September 18–20 in Louisville, Kentucky, will bring members to the heart of Bourbon City and offer three industry plant tours, eye-opening workshops, and thought-provoking general sessions. Two days of concurrent workshop sessions will offer attendees valuable information, and the Innovator of the Year will be chosen.

The plant tours will include Independent II, Premier Packaging, and Greif CorrChoice. All attendees are then invited to a relaxing lunch and bourbon tasting at the historic Farmington Plantation, which once hosted Abraham

Lincoln. The day will continue with a Focus Session featuring Gene Marks, Tim Bergwall, Group President, Paper Packaging & Services at Greif, and George Staphos. The opening-night reception will be another can’t-miss networking opportunity.

Keynote presenters Stephanie Stuckey, CEO of Stuckey’s Corp., and Dakota Meyer, former U.S. Marine and Medal of Honor recipient, will give attendees a new way to look at their futures.

The meeting will also feature a special presentation by R. Andrew Hurley, Ph.D., associate professor of packaging science at Clemson University of

• Koenig & Bauer

• CST Systems

• SRC America Corp.

• Global Boxmachine

• Huston Patterson

• Lewisburg Printing Co.

• Domino

• The BoxMaker

• Sun Chemical

• Durst

• Dusobox

• Hood Container

Clemson, South Carolina, on carbon neutrality.

Attendees are invited to a night at the Kentucky Derby Museum, with guided tours of the legendary Churchill Downs. Everyone is encouraged to don their derby attire to participate in mock racing, hat making, and mingling!

Other networking opportunities include a trip to the Hermitage Horse Farm, where they have bred champion thoroughbreds; a networking lunch with a keynote speaker; Emerging Leader events; and more.

Learn more and register at www.AICCbox.org/meeting

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What Is Our Progress in Going Lighter?

BY RALPH YOUNG

Often, we are asked about the initiatives of using less fiber in our corrugated structures. Many times, these questions are asked by the investment communities. We are still overpackaging but not at the levels where we were before the pandemic.

Increases in strength ratios (i.e., Short Column Test [SCT]) versus basis weight offer greater opportunities. I have often been a proponent of access to on-site labs

or sheet feeders willing to provide certificates of analysis for final key combined board properties, regardless of the basis weight of the components.

“Performance” grades of linerboard and medium are often overused terms like that often dreaded term “sustainability.” While the former description works smoothly in written marketing communications, it is not a real indication of variation in raw materials that we need

to look toward for comparing stacking strength potential to basis weights to price. Look for a major research investment firm to bring to life a template for comparing packaging strength and costs per pound of fiber.

Additional production is brought on by the new containerboard or repurposed newsprint and printing and writing machines. Using 100% OCC, DLK, and/ or mixed paper waste, opportunities

abound: 18# can be used for low-strength corrugated boxes where there is primary interior packaging such as folding carton grades or products containing cores or tubes.

Also, one would expect that with extended producer responsibility legislation being enacted by a few states, users of single-use plastic containers would be investing in containerboard options. Although items such as clam sheets are the domain of lightweight kraft and recycled papers, corrugated still has a replacement option for many

carryout and bakery containers. This is especially true with the continued development of oxygen, moisture, and grease barrier solutions that are also repulpable for recycling. This can be accomplished without the use of forever chemicals, such as per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, which we discussed in the May/June 2023 issue and earlier issues of BoxScore

The table below includes some statistics to explain the movements of basis weights over a 15-year period. Ranges in strength, as measured by

the SCT, are also included in the far right-hand column. The data here reports the combination of recycled and kraft linerboards.

One must choose wisely knowing the downward shift in nominal basis weights and the variations in ECT and stacking strength potential of the corrugated box based on the compression strength potential of the raw material SCT. The table does not include all of the 140-plus containerboard machines in the U.S. and excludes Canadian production.

Observations and Conclusion

• There are small increases in 26# and below-26# liners, as the newest recycled mills have introduced 23#, 21#, and 18# products for e-commerce and smaller lightweight boxes.

• Of greater significance in the light category is the replacement of 33# with 31# and 29# facings.

• The long-term mainstay 42# grade continues to fall to lighter liners combined with more substantial medium in the midweight category.

• The four heaviest grades have all declined. What started 30 years ago with 56# compression-based SCT engineered liner replacing 69# Mullen boards continues now with 52# liners and more significant mediums to meet ECT combinations.

• What I interpret as another movement to lighter-weight combinations and a move in the continued direction to reduce overpackaging is the large increase in 23# mediums.

Ralph Young is the principal of Alternative Paper Solutions and is AICC’s technical advisor. Contact Ralph directly about technical issues that impact our industry at askralph@AICCbox.org

Note: Some volumes are adjusted to allow for different data collection protocols between unbleached kraft and recycled liner.

Are Your Human Resource Events and Policies Hitting the Mark?

BY TOM WEBER

After three years of nearly continuous workforce turmoil, employers were hoping for relief in 2023. However, the unfortunate truth is that this postCOVID time has delivered a uniquely challenging array of circumstances that will be difficult for the U.S. packaging community to navigate, especially from an employee well-being perspective.

It is widely anticipated there will be some economic recession in 2023. Its duration and severity is impossible to know, but the high-level effect will be the same as in most economic downturns: Employers will need to tighten their belts and make do with reduced revenues and fewer resources. On its own, this wouldn’t be catastrophic— after all, the business cycle has always had its booms and busts. The problem is that the predicted recession by Q4 in 2023 will likely coexist with an extremely tight labor market, forcing employers into an unprecedented dilemma that puts significant strains on finite resources.

Employee Well-Being for the Rest of 2023

To balance the competing priorities of sustainable business performance and employee retention, leaders will need to implement and justify the investment in creative strategies that focus on the efficient delivery of wellness benefits employees want.

Traditionally, economic recessions have caused employees to cling to their current employer regardless of how satisfied they feel in their work because they do not want to jump into an unfavorable job market. However, if the job market remains strong during this recession, and workers are not as worried about their ability to find

employment elsewhere, they will not be willing to accept cuts to benefits packages and wellness programs companies typically make during tough times. Due to these unique circumstances, employers will need to devote more, rather than less, energy to employee benefits and well-being initiatives. Qualified employees are worth their weight in gold, and the realities of a long-term U.S. labor shortage mean that replenishing your employee head count once the economy recovers is no longer a sure thing. The brewing question for businesses in the coming year is how to satisfy elevated employee expectations around well-being, mental health, and flexibility without breaking the bank.

In the past, employee well-being would have been a different discussion from business profitability or performance. But today, intelligent employers position their people—or employee well-being—at the center of their business strategy. Forward-thinking leaders recognize that employee wellness is a prerequisite for business success.

With tight financial resources in mind, your engagement and well-being team should compile data from people leaders, industry experts, and employers across various industries to support business growth and power employee potential. Over the course of gathering this information, your team should be able to identify trends that leading organizations are embracing to boost employee well-being without overspending. The following bullets outline how each challenge provides an opportunity for employers to lean in and get strategic in solving shortand long-term workforce obstacles:

• Build a people-first culture.

• Find the balance between managing costs and supporting employee needs.

• Empower health, benefits, and financial literacy.

• Replace a one-size-fits-all approach with customized solutions.

• Tap into “purpose” as the secret weapon for higher employee engagement.

Reports consistently show that organizations that prioritize employee engagement and well-being experience up to a 21% increase in profitability due to higher retention rates and lower absenteeism.

Aligning Employee Well-Being With Business Objectives

To react quickly to support the needs of struggling employees or appeal to a shrinking talent pool, some employers have scrambled to meet the moment without thoroughly evaluating the needs of their business and people.

This results in many leaders finding themselves looking ahead unsure of where to focus their time and investments with the overwhelming number of options available. Additionally, factoring in the gap between solutions, employers want to combat health risks, drive costs, and satisfy employee interests.

Many businesses find themselves in the perfect storm of poor return on investment and unhappy employees. Studies show that employees who understand and are engaged with their benefits are 99% more likely to feel valued and appreciated and 78% more likely to be happy with their job. But without a clear business

strategy built on a shared vision of communication and employee engagement, an organization is unlikely to see success. Leaders should avoid:

• Short-term programs implemented quickly without defined metrics to measure success.

• Insufficient time allotted to define processes and communications to effectively gain adoption and participation.

• Overspending on programs that go unused or creating redundancy.

• Misalignment with overall company goals and long-term workforce strategy.

When building holistic, people-centric benefit programs, many employers succeed by focusing on impactful, data-driven offerings rather than short-term perks. It’s wise to use data to develop a plan, such as:

• Surveying employees regularly to understand their needs.

• Evaluating the use of existing benefits and programs.

• Analyzing health risk and cost data (either through your medical carrier or a third-party analytics platform).

• Thinking critically about the diversity of your current workforce and desired future workforce. (A person’s ZIP code can impact their well-being more than genetics.)

• Providing innovative benefits that tangibly improve well-being inside and outside of work.

• Defining short- and long-term success metrics and tracking these over time.

Organizations that have responded to the call to fulfill their workforce’s needs have realized measurable cost savings by reducing turnover, absenteeism, and health care costs while fostering an engaged and highly productive workforce.

In summary, a strategic employee well-being and communications plan that is practical at scale and flexible enough to support individual needs will ultimately drive positive gains in performance, cost containment, recruitment, and retention for the long haul.

Additional information about the various webinars AICC includes in its All Access Pass can be found at NOW.AICCbox.org.

If you have any questions, contact Taryn Pyle, director of education and talent development, at tpyle@AICCbox.org or Chelsea May, education and training manager, 703-836-2422 or cmay@AICCbox.org

Tom Weber is president of WeberSource LLC and is AICC’s folding carton and rigid box technical advisor. Contact Tom directly at asktom@AICCbox.org

AI and Marketing Content Generation: Understanding the Risks

BY TODD M. ZIELINSKI AND LISA BENSON

It doesn’t seem that long ago that for the average person, artificial intelligence (AI) was something of an enigma seen only in sci-fi movies. While AI has been used for years in many applications (smartphone voice assistants, autonomous cars, “you may also like” on shopping sites, social media algorithms, etc.), generative AI has recently been thrust into the spotlight as easy-to-use webbased interfaces have skyrocketed in use and controversy.

AI is a broad term referring to computer systems that perform tasks usually requiring human intelligence, such as learning, reasoning, and understanding natural language. Generative AI is a specific type of AI that focuses on generating content in the form of text, images, audio, and video. While they can be built on different learning techniques, one of the most common is a deep-learning technique called the generative adversarial network, which generates content by training on copious amounts of existing data and mimicking structures and patterns found in that data.

Explosion of Generative AI Tools

Many companies have begun investigating generative AI because it allows for the quick creation of content with minimal effort. Creating an AI tool is time-consuming and expensive, so most will rely on third-party generative AI solutions, such as those from OpenAI, Stability AI, and Google AI, among others.

ChatGPT is a text generator that has been given much media attention since its release in November. It is an application that uses the generative pre-trained

transformer (GPT) language model developed by OpenAI. Google AI created Bard based on Google’s Language Model for Dialogue Applications. To make things more confusing, some applications developed by other companies, such as Jasper and Copy. ai, also use OpenAI’s GPT language model. Soon there will be hundreds of generative AI solutions that will be stand-alone or added to other products, creating integrated sales and marketing solutions. Salesforce just announced its addition of Einstein GPT.

Generative AI is not without controversy. Like many innovative technologies and ideas, how it was intended to be used isn’t always how it will be used. All of the implications and risks are still being worked out, and those who wholeheartedly support it think generative AI will revolutionize sales and marketing. Others are taking a more conservative view, and many companies have banned its use. As generative AI becomes mainstream, companies should look at educating themselves about it and take steps to ensure it is being used responsibly. While there are concerns about cybersecurity—which should be a societal concern as there is a potential for generating nefarious code that can bypass current protections—this article is looking

specifically at using generative AI for sales and marketing content creation.

Risks Associated With Generative AI

Although generative AI can be used to craft emails, provide research, write blog posts, consolidate reports, and more, risks associated with it could jeopardize intellectual property, create erroneous information, and negatively impact your company if it is misused.

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

When discussing intellectual property (IP), we are referring to your current intellectual property and the content that generative AI creates. Generative AI is trained on large data sets and information input by users. The tool retains this information to continuously learn and build its knowledge. An issue arises if an employee inputs confidential or proprietary information, for example, asking it to provide

a report summary that contains financial data or a quality issue that isn’t public knowledge. That data could be delivered to another user as an output, exposing sensitive information to the public. In addition, the information generated could contain another company’s IP, which may create legal implications with ownership.

Regarding ownership, the question of whether the information can be copyrighted has been brought to light. According to a Legal Sidebar issue by the Congressional Research Service, the Copyright Act protects “original works of authorship.” The U.S. Copyright Office recognizes copyright only in works created by humans and has denied applications to register work created by AI. Lawsuits are pending, so it will be interesting to watch how federal courts will handle the widespread use of AI and copyright.

There is also a question of copyright infringement. Keep in mind that works on the internet are not public domain as many erroneously believe. However, if an image is downloaded from the public domain, you have permission to use it. OpenAI acknowledges that the data for training is derived from publicly accessible data “that include copyrighted works.”

Could the output infringe on copyright? According to U.S. case law, if AI had access to copyrighted work and created a substantially similar output, owners may be able to show that the AI-generated content infringed on their copyright.

INACCURATE INFORMATION

When using generative AI to create content, users must be skeptical and vigilant about using other sources to validate facts provided as outputs.

Generative AI is trained on available information that may not be accurate and may have bias. In addition, some information may be fabricated. OpenAI states,

“ChatGPT will occasionally make up facts or ‘hallucinate’ outputs.” Similarly, Google says, “Bard may give inaccurate or inappropriate information.” Many users have found that ChatGPT will fabricate sources and include fake URLs when asked for citations.

CNET, a tech media site, came under scrutiny when it published 78 AI-generated articles riddled with errors over the course of two months. The company was forced to pause the use of AI for generating content. If inaccurate content is referenced in new content and passed off as fact unintentionally, either by a human or AI, the inaccuracies will be perpetuated until it becomes difficult to decipher fact from fiction.

IMPACT ON SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION

Much discussion is happening on whether generative AI content can negatively impact your search engine results page (SERP) rankings on Google. In February 2023, Google released its new policy on AI-generated content. Google’s ranking system rewards content that demonstrates expertise, experience, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness (E-E-A-T). Google states that “using automation—including AI—to generate content with the primary purpose of manipulating ranking in search results is a violation of our spam policies.” While the policy states that Google will not ban AI-generated content that doesn’t violate Google policies, those seeking to rank in SERPs will have “original, high-quality, people-first content demonstrating qualities E-E-A-T.” Google can predict when AI writes content.

Researchers have been studying the detection of AI content, and generative AI content detectors have been popping up on the internet—although they are not infallible and can predict incorrectly. While generative AI is great at mimicking and following patterns, it has trouble

with randomness and variance found in human communication. There is no originality. AI content often contains repetition of words, a lack of natural flow and rhythm, and no personality. You will usually find that it repeats the same ideas worded differently. Its content will likely be written in a straightforward style with little detail. As generative AI continues to be improved upon, there will likely come a time when it is indistinguishable from human-generated material.

Since generative AI follows patterns, lacks originality, and can be repetitive, the blog posts it writes for one company may be similar to those it writes for another if given the same prompt.

Should You Use Generative AI for Sales and Marketing Materials?

We have looked at some of the risks associated with generative AI tools; however, they can offer many benefits, especially for companies that lack the resources to create sales and marketing content. Lower costs, scalability, and increased efficiency are attractive benefits to many. The answer to whether it should be used depends on how risk averse your company is and how your company intends to use it. Generative AI has been progressing at a rapid rate. Educating yourself on the changes (risks and benefits) will put you in the best position to make that decision.

Todd M. Zielinski is managing director and CEO at Athena SWC LLC. He can be reached at 716-250-5547 or tzielinski@athenaswc.com

Lisa Benson is senior marketing content consultant at Athena SWC LLC. She can be reached at lbenson@athenaswc.com

Andragogy

Summer Lovin’, Had Me a Blast

BY JULIE RICE SUGGS, PH.D.

Summer is in full swing, and for many of us, that means enjoying picnics, toes in the sand at a favorite beach, backyard barbecues, outdoor DIY projects (those pesky ones lingering since the new year), crisp beverages while basking in the sun, and hearing the local ice cream truck blaring that nostalgic tune.

Recently, I was at the store with my co-worker, Alli, where we were shopping for barbecue supplies for a Packaging School celebration. A pack of 12" plates that looked perfect for serving up burgers, hot dogs, and all of the fi xings literally spoke to us with the word “barbecue” splashed right on the front of the plate. After said plates were securely in the cart, our minds started spinning about package designs that celebrate summer togetherness. We decided to go on a scavenger hunt, so to speak, looking for new products, limited-edition designs, summery imagery, and seasonal color trends that embody summer moments.

First, we saw this freezer pop display that basically screams, “Summer’s here!” There’s no mistaking that this product earns its keep during the summer months, with images of sailboats, clear skies, and smiling kids placed all over the point-of-purchase display. Their slogan—“Kick back and beat the heat with a Fun Pop freezer pop!”—invokes a trip down memory lane of sweaty days, sticky hands, and colored tongues.

Photos by Julie Rice Suggs, Ph.D.

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Andragogy

at the pool (if we can’t get somewhere tropical). However, Smirnoff plans to sell this product year-round, so they are looking to diff erentiate themselves in this space during the cold months, as well.

Lastly, since you can’t think of summertime and cool treats without it, we took to the ice cream aisle. The relaxed summer schedule sets the stage for parties with family and friends, where we gather and enjoy delicious meals complete with yummy desserts—and ah, the fresh fruit is ripe and abundant. Speaking of fruit and dessert, Häagen-Dazs’ Summer Berry Cake

we saw was a 12-pack of hard cider called “Vacation Mode.” The brand, Blake’s Hard Cider, is clearly ready for warm weather, with new tropical fl avors and bright hues commonly associated with summer. Using scarcity marketing to capitalize on a customer’s fear of missing out, this colorful pack is available only from Memorial Day to Labor Day.

Pop ice cream gave us all the summer feels. Th is velvety strawberry ice cream is made with sweet cream ice cream, fluff y cake pieces, and raspberry sauce. Information is limited as to whether this will be a summer-only fl avor, so we’re going to enjoy it as often as possible while we can.

And, yes, this product is available all year round, but moving the display to the front of the store means it can be noticed more readily and becomes more tempting during these scorching summer months.

Next up, we headed to the beverage section because, who are we kidding, no summer barbecue is complete without a cold drink (and a strong one at that, for those 21 and older). The fi rst package

Moving over to the seltzer section, it took no time at all for us to spot the Smirnoff Ice Neon Lemonade variety pack. The bold use of palm trees on the primary display panel drew us in and is echoed on the lively, fun cans, and it made us long for a tropical vacation of some sort. Th is 12-pack boasts the perfect combination of tart, yet sweet fruit fl avors. Though Smirnoff says this hard lemonade will be a hit on any occasion, we think it pairs perfectly with an out-of-office message and at least a day

Th is trip was a fun break from our normal, run-of-the-mill shopping experience, and we had a blast searching for packaging that embodies summer with its vibrant colors, nostalgic images, and memorable design layouts. But what do you think? Did these brands successfully leverage a seasonal element into their packaged products? Let us know by emailing julie@packagingschool.com .

Julie Rice Suggs, Ph.D., is academic director at The Packaging School. She can be reached at 330-774-8542 or julie@packagingschool.com

Alli Keigley, who contributed to this article, is production coordinator at The Packaging School. She can be reached at alli@packagingschool.com

Killing Dumbo

BY SCOTT ELLIS, ED.D.

Let’s talk about the baby elephant in the room. For 20 years, we have been addressing the Packaging Pachyderm: Independents live or die by the changeover, and most do not optimize setup speed by delivering job-ready materials, tooling, and information. The good news is that many have now taken on Jumbo and reduced changeover time by up to 70%. Their crews don’t look for stuff or fix stuff; they just make boxes and do fast and predictable changeovers.

Those that have dealt with Jumbo are in a continual hunt to solve smaller bottlenecks. Enter Dumbo, the baby elephant. Technological advances in flexography allow many machine print stations to be set up while the press is completing another job, but this capability is ignored in most plants. Why would a plant that averages four-color jobs purchase a sevencolor machine? The answer: flexibility. Easy use of alternative anilox rolls and other considerations are included, but the ability to set while running was part of the purchase decision. The reason for so much time and money being wasted must be that the machine technology has outpaced the processes and preparation required to capitalize on this capability.

Having worked on setup reduction and overall equipment effectiveness with thousands of packaging folks, I know we have failed to measure and improve set while running capacity. The metric will include potential time savings versus actual time saved. More to the point, it will expose the reasons we missed that potential. Those reasons will then be explored, and systems will be improved. I hope it will become sufficiently understood to add a reliable algorithm to the enterprise resource planning software, but first it will need to be done close to the process and by hand.

Myriad factors are affecting the outcome. The mix of work, the preferred color sequence, and the average pieces per job are just a few considerations that determine the optimal utilization for a particular machine. However, Dumbo is hiding in the gap where we do not measure. Someone has said, “You cannot change what you are willing to tolerate.” To stop tolerating this loss, priorities will need to be made explicit, the crew will need a scoreboard, savings will need to be quantified, and the whole team will need to focus on improvement.

Prioritization

Gather the team of experts to determine the best use of the machine for the company. This sets a target for a desired future state. This team could include representatives of crew, supervision, prepress, scheduling, design, etc.

Target Machine Potential

The team will then be able to estimate the potential of the optimized machine. Data needed for this calculation will include:

• Average colors per job.

• Average time to set up a print station.

• Number of jobs per shift.

• Dollars per minute of production (sales or contribution).

Next, use a fishbone diagram to help the group generate common reasons for not optimizing set while running capacity. Once this is complete, the group might focus on the three most common issues. They don’t need to solve the problem yet, but only to estimate the impact, expressed in minutes and dollars saved. Then you will have Dumbo in the crosshairs.

Machine-Side Measures

Equipped with a measurement tool, the crew will compare potential versus actual on each job. Behind the scenes, you may calculate the percentages and potential savings,* but the critical data at this point is why the crew was unable to set while running. Those reasons can be captured on a whiteboard. I use a whiteboard because a list on paper or a screen is less likely to be seen and discussed by crew, shifts, and supervisors. Once a month’s data is collected, assign a cross-functional group to complete root-cause analysis.

Continuous Improvement

The cross-functional group will look at frequent issues that prevent set-whilerun optimization. The issues chosen for root-cause analysis will be discussed by the group to the point that the scope and the potential savings are understood. The issue will then be assigned to an individual or team to explore and describe a course of action for improvement. The potential savings of set-whilerunning optimization include the obvious decrease in changeover time but extend to reduced overtime, increased employee engagement, and improved productivity. And you will believe that an elephant can fly—away.

Scott Ellis, Ed.D., delivers training, coaching, and resources that develop the ability to eliminate obstacles and sustain more eff ective and profitable results. He recently published Dammit: Learning Judgment

Th rough Experience. His books and process improvement resources are available at workingwell.bz . AICC members enjoy a 20% discount with code AICC21.

*Contact me for a spreadsheet and other measurement resources.

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Digital BoxScore Has Moved

You can now read BoxScore ’s digital version at NOW.AICCbox.org. As AICC continues to evolve and adapt to your needs, this move will enhance your reading experience and provide you with a more integrated platform. You will see BoxScore in the left-hand menu under Browse Channels. From there, you can read the latest full issue flipbooks, peruse the newest features and columns, and access past features and columns— now all in the same place as other AICC member content.

SCAN TO PERUSE BOXSCORE ON AICC NOW!

With BoxScore on AICC NOW, you can take advantage of:

• Enhanced Searches: The new website offers an improved search that will allow you to fi nd the information you want, whether it comes in a BoxScore article, webinar, or an answer from one of AICC’s experts.

• Responsive Design: Whether you prefer browsing on a computer, tablet, or smartphone, our new

website ensures a consistent and enjoyable reading experience across all devices.

• Recommendations: On each page, you will fi nd related articles, webinars, and other resources you might be interested in.

Visit NOW.AICCbox.org/boxscore or scan the QR code on this page to check out the new-look digital BoxScore.

Royal Containers’ New St. Thomas Plant a Showcase of Smart Design

BY STEVE YOUNG

COMPANY: Royal Containers Ltd.

ESTABLISHED : 1980

J OINED AICC : 1980

PHONE : 978-632-3600

WEBSITE : www.royalcontainers.com

HEADQUARTERS: Brampton, Ontario

PRESIDENT AND CEO: Kim Nelson

Kim Nelson, president and CEO of Royal Containers Ltd., has created in her company’s new plant in St. Th omas, Ontario, an elegant marriage of effi ciency and style.

The 152,000-square-foot plant, which hosted its grand opening this past September, strikes visitors with its architectural appeal and engages employees with a fluidly flowing office and production environment. And though the St. Thomas plant stands today as the product of a deliberate, creative plan, the site was nearly ruled out at first. “When we looked at the outside of this building, and where we’re sitting today, it would be one of those moments when you say, ‘You really need a great vision to see this,’” says Kim. “So, we dismissed it at first.”

Royal Containers is based in Brampton, Ontario, in the Greater Toronto area,

colloquially known as the “GTA.” It was founded as a single sheet plant in 1980 by Ross Nelson, and Kim Nelson joined the company in 1992. In 2009, Ross handed on the leadership to his next generation, and Kim became president and CEO. In addition to its sheet plant locations in Brampton and St. Thomas, Royal Containers is also a shareholder in TenCorr, a sheet feeder in neighboring Mississauga, founded in 1983 by Ross, and nine other independents. In 2013, Royal further integrated vertically when the company, along with Cascades, TenCorr, and Jamestown Container Cos., became a shareholder in Greenpac Mill, a 600,000-ton-per-year recycled containerboard mill in Niagara Falls, New York. Royal Containers employs 300 people in its two converting operations.

The long road to Royal’s new plant in St. Thomas began in 2010, when Royal acquired Morphy Containers Ltd., a sheet plant in London, Ontario, 120 miles west-southwest of Toronto. Continued growth in this market, combined with the physical limitations of Morphy Containers’ existing building, were two of the reasons forcing the decision to relocate. The third was Royal’s 2020 acquisition of C&B Display Packaging in Mississauga. “We were having to do some major infrastructure changes, and the building was quite old,” Kim says of the Morphy site. “We were starting to burst at the seams in London, and then in January 2020, we purchased C&B.”

Now faced with two existing plants, both overcapacity in a very tight commercial real estate market in southern

Photos courtesy of Royal Containers Ltd.

Royal Containers’ St. Thomas leadership (from left): Greg Marcella, vice president of operations; Kim Nelson, president and CEO; and Michel Alvarez, plant manager.

Ontario, Kim had a decision to make: Invest in a new building in Toronto or find a location farther west and combine both plants. “We initially said, ‘Let’s go find something in the GTA,’ but we exhausted everything that was buildto-suit with nice highway exposure,” she recalls. “So, we started looking toward Cambridge,” referring to the city of 150,000 people about 50 miles west, “and there’s nothing available there either. So, we expanded the search geographically, and we found this spot.”

Kim possesses a key strength that makes her a great entrepreneurial leader: She knows her own limitations and has surrounded herself with a great team. Royal’s key management team consists of Chief Financial Officer Connie VanBoxtel, Production Manager Brent Hill, Sales Manager Kirk Cormier, Customer Service Manager Terri-Lynn Levesque, and Human Resources Manager Steve Robinson.

Greg Marcella, vice president of operations at the St. Thomas site, has been with Royal for 10 years. He was a key player in scouting out a new location for Royal. After earning a degree in packaging development technology at Mohawk College in Hamilton, Ontario, he began his career at Unilever in Brampton, where he dealt with the company’s vendors of plastics, film, paperboard, and corrugated. “That got me experience with everything,” he says.

After leaving Unilever, he worked for other industries in their packaging needs, ending up squarely on the paper side of the business at Sonoco. From there, in 2013, he joined Royal. “I’ve been here 10 years,” he says, “and I was the plant manager, then vice president of operations, now the general manager.” Pointing to the conference room around him, he adds, “It’s been a crazy journey to realize something like this.”

Marcella recounts the first visit to the prospective location: “I said, ‘Kim, I think we found a building.’” The building was the former site of an injection-molding company that had gone bankrupt. “Just watching Kim’s face as we drove up, I thought, ‘This isn’t going to work. I don’t think we can sell the vision or paint the picture for her to believe we can get there,’” he recalls. “It was a gut moment, for sure.”

How, then, did Kim Nelson and her team arrive at the decision to lease the St. Thomas facility that was, for all intents and purposes, ruled out? First, consider its location. St. Thomas is 18 miles south of London on the north shore of Lake Erie. Thus, for the employees of former Morphy Containers in London, the new location was convenient. “We could have moved to northern London and added 45 minutes to everyone’s commute and still be in the same city,” says Marcella.

However, he adds, they saw in the St. Thomas site an opportunity to give the employees “an improvement that

we could deliver to everybody’s life.” The town is an attractive destination, having been named in 2021 by Maclean’s magazine as the best place to live in Ontario and the third best place in all of Canada. The region is largely agricultural, although St. Thomas itself, historically a railroad center, has maintained some of that heavier industry such as metal stampings. Automotive is also moving in, with Volkswagen AG building what it calls “the world’s largest” electric-vehicle battery plant, which is slated to open in 2027.

Kim explains the larger reason for the change in their first impression of the site: “Driving away I said, ‘Greg, we have a decision to make: We can invest in real estate—it’s always a great investment. Even if we have to put in $20–$25 million to build a building and own it, we can do that. We’ll put everything from the two companies there with existing equipment.’”

This option, however, did not sit well with her because she felt that level of investment would not benefit the next generation of owners—a real estate play would be too long a payback for them, and they would be limited in the marketplace with the older equipment from the former Morphy and C&B sites. The other option was to lease a building and invest $15 million in new equipment, a choice she made because of a lesson she says she learned from her father, Ross. “I can’t be expert in everything. Ross taught me to stick to what I know, which

Royal Containers’ plant in St. Thomas, Ontario.

is manufacturing boxes. I don’t know the real estate market. I don’t know the large investment markets. I know how to manufacture boxes.”

Readying the St. Thomas plant to run that first box fell to Marcella and his team, while newly appointed Plant Manager Michel Alvarez managed the London plant during the transition. Alvarez spent the first 10 years of his career at Kruger’s packaging division, where he started on the machine take-off crew. He worked his way up to supervisory positions, eventually becoming an ISO auditor and a health and safety trainer. “Kruger gave me a lot,” he says, “and one of the things I learned from a human resources person there was whenever the company gives you an opportunity to get educated, take it. If you ever leave, you take that with you.”

While still at Kruger, he met Bill Routledge, then sales manager for Royal in Brampton. “I’m very familiar with equipment, and I knew what Royal could do,” he says. “I knew what Royal could sell. That’s when I became a sales rep at Royal.”

After seven years at Royal, Routledge returned to Kruger, spending another seven years in ISO, Six Sigma, and process improvement before being recruited by Menasha for a position at

the company’s plant in Brampton. He spent three years there creating training, motivation, and incentive programs to improve the workplace culture. While at Menasha, he happened to be guiding a tour of the facility, and Kim was in the group. He remembered the conversation: “‘If you ever leave,’ she told me, ‘Don’t you dare take another offer until you talk to me.’” He returned to Royal in June 2021.

In working to set up the new plant in St. Thomas, Marcella and his team were given a blank canvas. The conscious decision to lease, rather than buy, a building meant dealing with the building’s new owner, but this also provided unforeseen advantages. Marcella explains, “Our landlord purchased the building and all the contents just before we signed the lease. The prior tenant—the injection-molding business—had invested a great deal of electrical infrastructure, which was left behind and destined to be scrapped. We were able to build the entire electrical services using only labor; we repurposed switchgears, breakers, panels, transformers, and multiconductor wire. Th is saved us roughly 40% on the budget for electrical and allowed us to stay on track.”

In addition to the electrical infrastructure, the site had an enclosed rail siding

for receiving carloads of plastic resin and pellets. Marcella and his team converted it to house the dust- and scrap-collection machinery, isolating it from the converting equipment, thus creating a cleaner and healthier plant environment.

In choosing the St. Thomas location, Kim and her team ensured their equipment investments complemented the company’s entire mix of business. The workhorse is a 37" x 98" three-color Bobst 924NT flexo folder gluer. In addition, Royal St. Thomas has two Bobst die cutters—a 66" x 113" Bobst DRO 1628NT and a 66" x 113" Bobst Masterline DRO, both with A.G. Stacker’s XRI SERIES stackers; a 64" x 100" Stock laminator; a 47" x 63" Cobra fl atbed die cutter; a 55" x 67" Baysek C-170 die cutter; a Brausse specialty gluer; and a Bobst Expertfold 230 specialty gluer. Th is mix of high-speed converting, die cutting, and fi nishing equipment allows Royal to accommodate the display business it picked up in the C&B Display Packaging acquisition, as well as to serve the predominantly brown-box customer base it shares with Royal’s Brampton location.

“We don’t really sell geographically,” Kim explains, describing the mix of customers in the southwest Ontario market and how the plant’s equipment mix serves them. “We’ve got 1,500–1,700 active customers between both our plant locations, and we schedule to our capabilities in each,” she says, noting that the customer base is so diverse it insulates Royal from being top-heavy in any one industry.

“If I could sit here and say to you that 10% of our sales goes to this one industry, I would, but we can’t,” she says. “We do not still to this day have a customer that accounts for more than 6.5% of our sales.”

Showing pride in the accomplishments of her team, Kim adds, “Last year, Royal Containers reached $100 million in sales. Th is is a humongous milestone in our company.”

St. Thomas Bobst flexo folder gluer crew (from left): Tika Ram Humagain, Mohammed Ali, and B.J. Desmond.

Member Profile

Mohamed “Mo” Azzouz is Royal’s continuous improvement manager in St. Thomas. From the start, he worked with Marcella and Craig Andrews from C&B to ensure the optimum layout and workflow through the new facility. (Andrews has since moved over to TenCorr.) Azzouz came to Royal in 2017 and assumed the role of continuous improvement lead in 2019. He was instrumental in supporting the acquisition of C&B and the move of its assets to London.

Azzouz and the Royal St. Thomas team set and measure their improvement metrics utilizing the obeya principle, a practice of lean manufacturing first put in place in Brampton in 2019. Obeya (Japanese for “big room”) is a tool in which a dedicated room is set aside for employees to meet and make decisions about a specific topic or problem. The idea behind an obeya is to break down the barriers that prevent employees from collaborating and sharing information. Azzouz credits Les Pickering of Quadrant 5 Consulting for laying down the foundation of workplace organization and standardized work. Azzouz then introduced kaizen events and lean training to target specific improvements or work areas. A tour of the St. Thomas plant will likely include a visit to its obeya room, high on a mezzanine, so operators can see nearly every machine center and

the work in process. The room’s walls host an array of visual information about lean kaizen events’ key performance indicators, showing progress and potential problem areas. “At Royal Containers,” Azzouz says, “our utmost priority is the well-being of our employees. We firmly believe that fostering a culture of continuous improvement can have a profound impact on employee retention, morale, and customer satisfaction. Royal’s commitment to continuous improvement is not merely a concept but an absolute necessity in our commitment to delivering the highest value to our customers.”

In agreement, Kim adds, “We bought into lean manufacturing from the very beginning. I would say now we are a professional lean manufacturing company; we live it and breathe it every day.”

Royal Containers has a strikingly simple mission statement: “Building Partnerships in Packaging.” This ethos is infused in the company and extends not just outwardly to the company’s customer base but to its suppliers and, notably, to its employees as well. Kim and her team are passionate about the Royal Containers culture. “Luckily for us, we have defined our culture,” she says. “We know what it means—what it looks like, smells like, and sounds like.”

At Royal, she explains, the company’s culture sounds like, “If I want to be

responsive, how can I help you? What are we doing? What can I do to support you with that? Everything is transparent; it’s authentic.”

These values are reflected in the St. Thomas plant’s physical space. “If I want to be happy, I want to be in a beautiful place,” says Kim. “If I’m in a dark and dingy place, I can’t be happy. You want everyone to feel and have a beautiful working environment, and that’s what we’ve done here.”

Michel Alvarez agrees, adding, “There’s transparency, too. You look at this whole place, and it’s all open space. There’s nothing blocking the windows—no secrets.”

As a footnote to this story, the St. Thomas business community has welcomed the Royal Containers’ relocation with open arms. Says Marcella, “When local business leaders came in and did our tours, they clued into the fact that we’re producing a 100% recycled product and that we’re not a hazardous business. We are a very clean industry. The town absolutely loves that story.”

Royals Containers’ St. Thomas plant showcases smart design with a purpose: to be the best corrugated box manufacturer, to be the best in quality and service, and to be the best place to work in southwest Ontario. At the plant’s grand opening in September, Kim said, “Investing in our Royal West operations is a deep source of pride resulting from the insight, collaboration, and mutual hard work of the team. We know only too well the challenges brought on by the pandemic as well as the shifting economy, but Royal enjoys a collaborative culture with our employees and a loyal relationship with our customers. We open our new facility today with huge appreciation for both.”

Steve Young is AICC’s ambassador-at-large. He can be reached at 202-297-0583 or syoung@AICCbox.org

Employee break room at Royal Containers’ St. Thomas plant.

2023 MIDYEAR CONVERTERS ROUNDTABLE AICC member experts weigh in on the economy and industry in Miami

At one of this year’s strongest sessions at the AICC Spring Meeting in Miami, attendees heard from a panel of stalwart leaders on the current economic and industry outlook.

Moderated by Mike Schaefer, CEO of Tavens Packaging & Display Solutions, the panel discussed navigating inflation, spearheading employee initiatives, managing capital, and more. That session was transcribed exclusively for BoxScore and is as follows:

MODERATOR

Mike Schaefer

CEO TAVENS PACKAGING & DISPLAY SOLUTIONS

PARTICIPANTS

Howard Bertram

President COMPLETE DESIGN & PACKAGING

Brett Kirkpatrick

Director of Trade Business THE BOXMAKER

Joseph M. Palmeri

President of Corrugated Packaging JAMESTOWN CONTAINER CORP.

Ben Urquhart Sales Manager NEWW PACKAGING & DISPLAY

Photos by Jason Jackman.

Mike Schaefer: During the beginning of the (COVID-19) pandemic, we met and talked a lot about what do we need to do? What [do] we need to think about? What kind of changes do we have to make to survive both the lull before the pandemic spike and then the pandemic spike? We wanted to get together and talk a little bit about what things are looking like now and what sort of things we held onto through that. Right off the bat, Howard, how do you see things looking in the coming year? What kind of market are you expecting? Are you expecting a growth market in the box business specifically?

Howard Bertram: Th anks for having me; thanks for inviting me up. It’s good to see some friends here. A lot of what I heard earlier in all the statistics and all were kind of “gloom and doom.” Demand is down, and capacity’s up. Inflation’s here; recession’s inevitable. Business kind of sucks right now to be honest with you. I don’t know about you guys, but it’s flat to say the least. We’re doing the best we can to, as my friend Mitch says, “rightsize” the business and stay positive. I’m optimistic, but last quarter last year started to flatten off, and it’s been about the same for this fi rst quarter. So, I don’t know about you guys.

Schaefer: How are you guys seeing that?

Brett Kirkpatrick: For The BoxMaker, we’ve got two plants: one facility in Seattle and the other in Arkansas. So, two interesting areas to compare and contrast to each other. We’re about 10% off year to date currently, and we’re anticipating probably staying in that 6%–10% down through the rest of the year. As we look at next year, probably flat status is what we’re planning for.

Schaefer: You guys—anything diff erent?

Joseph M. Palmeri: Good afternoon, everybody. We are running the Great Lakes from Cleveland up through western Pennsylvania, Ohio, [and] Rochester,

Syracuse, up through Utica, (all in New York). So, we have four sheet plants, a foam fabricating facility, [and a] contract packaging and packaging supply facility. Sheet feeder Niagara Sheets—we’re a majority owner-operating partner along with Buckeye Corrugated Inc., Cascades, and WestRock. And we’ve got part of the Greenpac Mill. When Anna (Wong) presented, in my notes, I’m not necessarily optimistic for this year. I still think there’s going to be a softness. I’m not quite convinced we’ve bottomed out yet, so we’re approaching it that way at least through 2023 and into 2024. My two cents is we’re in a recession—at least our industry is in a recession—and many of our customers are currently in a recession. And I think historically you see, if you go back to like 2008, 2009—I know specifically for us it was November 2008—it was like a light switch shut off. I think the recession was recognized in March or April of 2009. So, that’s my take.

Ben Urquhart: We’re an independent in central Massachusetts. We experienced a tremendous boom during the pandemic, and that very much has stopped. January [and] February were quite slow, and we’ve experienced a resurgent sense, hopeful that’ll continue, but many of our customers have told us that the best-case scenario for the future is flat.

Schaefer: OK. I know the things we’re worried about today are diff erent than they were certainly a year and a half ago. So, what keeps you up at night right now? What’s keeping you from sleeping? What’s the big concern? Anybody that wants to jump in.

Palmeri: For me, three things. You’ve got obviously the cost that we’re all dealing with of 2022 coming into 2023, but you’re looking at really business levels, or sales levels, that are back to pre-pandemic. So, 2018–2019, but we’ve got the costs up today. So, it’s really managing those costs. We’ve all worked hard on the labor side to

build things up, but at some point, things are going to have to get more in balance. I think about that. I think about the lack of really skilled labor, really more technically sound labor, to be able to deal with some of the more complex machinery we have now—entry-level supervision, certainly maintenance personnel. And then really the additional capacity coming into the market or currently into the market, whether on the mill side or on the converting side.

Schaefer: So, you’re really not sleeping at all. (Laughter.)

Palmeri: I can’t sleep. (Laughter.)

Urquhart: I worry. The increase in our energy costs was shocking over the past six months, and I also worry a great deal about negative price pressure when most of our costs are increasing.

Kirkpatrick: I would add onto that continued cost of compliance—regulatory, federal, state—taxes and things just keep escalating as well. Those are never going away.

Bertram: The concern I have is probably among my peers more so than—well, all those are legitimate concerns, for sure. All of us, I think we’re all talking from the same language here for sure. But we are all independent-minded people, and that’s why we’re in this business, and it’s a great industry still, and I remain optimistic. But we have to be ... careful ... . One of my good friends out here, we talked a few weeks ago, and he said as independents, we’ve got to be OK with making less money in a period of time when the economy’s down, when things are down a little bit. It’s not a loss if you’re looking at wins and losses like I do—it’s still a win to make money. Maybe you made less than you did before. Certainly, the last two years, the pandemic years, have been kind of out of control for sure, and certainly an anomaly. The people that just came along lately think that’s reality, and it’s not.

Schaefer: How about supply chain? Has the supply chain, for all of you guys, come back to normal pre-pandemic levels? What’s the residual difficulties or triumphs that you’re facing in your supply chain compared to pre-pandemic?

Bertram: For me, it’s come right back. I didn’t mention, we’re in Concord, North Carolina, near Charlotte, so we’re surrounded by great sheet feeders. We have some great independent thinking, sheet capacity. Their demand is down, too, so turnaround time has come right back. We’re struggling a little bit with quality there. I think they are struggling with labor like many of us were, but in the sheet-feeding industry, if any of you’ve ever worked on a corrugator—that was my glory days back a long time ago—today it’s tough to fi nd somebody that really wants to do that. And I think as a result, some of my good friends in that business are suffering trying to fi nd quality labor to run through the shift work and the summer-type work and all

that. It’s a tough, tough task. The result is, at least, we’re experiencing a little bit of quality issues there. But we’re battling through it. There’s no lack of effort there, and there’s no lack of effort on our side.

Schaefer: Knowing that you’ve got plants in two diff erent places a long, long ways apart—actually both of you guys do in your situations—are you seeing a diff erence in supply chain in one part of the country versus another? Is it all fl attened out for you? Are the issues all gone?

Palmeri: Not necessarily. I think for us it’s pretty much stabilized. Like we’ve talked or I’ve mentioned, historically the costs are really high. So, what we’ve tried to do is really leverage the supplier base, in particular who we’re buying from, where you may have to buy outside your market to get something, where you would historically just do it within the confi nes of that plant or facility. It’s also leveraging the buying power that you have, really utilizing that where

you’re maybe a bigger piece of the pie to somebody where you’re less likely to get shut off or rationed, those kind of things. But it’s pretty much back to normal. Urquhart: I would agree with that, very much so.

Kirkpatrick: Yeah, sheet supply is fast, lead times are short, and freight seems to really have mellowed out from a cost perspective. And availability of trucks and truckers has improved over time, too.

Schaefer: There was a time as a small sheet plant that we couldn’t get anybody to return our phone calls, and we needed sheets. So, they’re all coming to me now. It’s diff erent. When COVID-19 started, a lot of us talked a lot about the special initiatives you had to put in place to retain employees, to train employees. For instance, we put a productivity bonus in place at our plant because we needed to increase productivity without adding more people because there were no people to be found. A lot of special programs were put in place as a mother

Mike Schaefer, CEO of Tavens Packaging & Display Solutions, (at the podium) set panelists up with key relevant questions, sparking an engaging discussion before attendees. Panelists (from left): Ben Urquhart, of NEWW Packaging & Display; Brett Kirkpatrick, of The Boxmaker; Joseph Palmeri, of Jamestown Container Corp.; and Howard Bertram, of Complete Design & Packaging.

of necessity when the pandemic was going on. You guys have done some of those same things. Did those stick around? Are they fading away with business ebbing away? What are you seeing?

Bertram: For us, we practice culture at our facility. The way we started and the way we’ve evolved have always been a cultural lifestyle, I guess you say. So, we preach and talk a lot about our lifestyle, our culture there. Several of you have been through visiting and touring our facility in Concord, and oftentimes people leave talking about the culture. We didn’t develop that through COVID-19. We’ve enhanced it. We recognize it more and more, and people recognize it as well and tell us that we have a great culture. So, we have emphasized that. But we have added to it as well. One thing we did

do I learned from another friend in the business: As far as second shift, reducing that to four days and more hours, and that helped us bolster the second shift, fi nd higher-quality people who wanted to work there, supervision that wanted to work on second shift, and so forth. Obviously, everybody, I’m sure, in this room has increased wages. Looking back, I don’t know that that’s really changed the quality of anyone’s employee base. But, you know, the whole thing has been elevated, just as the world economy and Amazon and all those folks out there, elevating pay, and all of us bottom feeders, you know, we’re having to come along with it. Now they’re dumping people on the street, and we’re not going anywhere. So, we’re staying right where we are. We’re marching on.

Kirkpatrick: We hired an internal recruiter to help shore up staffi ng and get people where we needed them. Of course, wage increases, benefit increases, small things like people in leadership roles; we have unlimited PTO (paid time off ), as an example. So, things like that where you can try to engage a person and have them retained or just keep them on board, especially the key folks.

Schaefer: If I had unlimited PTO, I wouldn’t be here. (Laughter.) How about you guys?

Urquhart: On the management side, I think we’ve benefited from enlisting a very powerful cohort of young people right before the pandemic hit, and that’s served us very well over the past couple of years. Very little turnover. On the factory

As a decadeslong leader of the multigenerational family-run Jamestown Container, Joseph M. Palmeri (middle right) provides insights that garner the utmost attention.

side of things, it is still a significant problem. The three years I spent as production manager, I never once used a temp agency, and I’m pretty sure we churned through 200–400 in the past two years.

Palmeri: For us, Mike, it’s recognizing that you’re not necessarily competing just with your fellow boxmakers for labor— you’re competing with everybody. Every single employer now you’re competing against. We’re utilizing all avenues— direct hire, temp services, referrals, social media—so you’re bringing your competitive to the market.

Schaefer: You look like a Facebook guy. (Laughter.)

Palmeri: Th at’s me. No, you’re competitive in the market. We’ve all had to adjust wages, but it’s not just the incoming wages. It’s looking at your existing employees and not forgetting about the existing employees, the ones that have been there.

Schaefer: Speak to that. Have we all done more things to retain employees? What kind of things have those been? I mean, unlimited PTO is a perfect example. What have you guys done to hold on to that guy that you just couldn’t stand to live without?

Palmeri: We’re looking at different recognition programs, different fun things throughout, whether it’s on the office side, the manufacturing side. We all spend a significant chunk of time in our lives within the walls of those facilities, so you may as well have some fun while you’re there.

Bertram: For us, again go back to the culture side, but we try to make it a pleasant place to work, to call home if you will. To drive up in the parking lot and see people’s cars that you don’t mind being around all day. We emphasize that big. Over time, over years, that seemed to have paid off. It wasn’t intentional. It’s not a phony practice—it’s

real. People’s feelings are real. We have, believe it or not, counseling. And we’re actually considering or looking at having pastoral leadership there. We’re a very faith-driven company, my company is, and many of us who are there. So, it’s nice to know someone’s going to be around. Maybe you might be an employee who’s having some personal issues or needs some help making some decisions, and you know somebody’s coming through twice a week and can have some private time with that person. Some things like that. Again, it’s not a phony practice. It’s just trying to treat people like you want to be treated, try to live in your life together with them. We commune together. Like you said, you spend a lot of hours together, and yeah, we’re at the top of this heap, I guess you’d say, but we joke about it at our place. A lot of you heard me say it, but it’s kind of a company of misfits there. It works for us. It’s been a good 21-year run.

Schaefer: Sure, sure. How about you? Have you done anything diff erent?

Urquhart: There’s been an increase in compensation for people. The state of Massachusetts has a variety of paid time off policies that we’re all learning to manage. On the factory side of things, much of it is negotiated. Some of my co-workers who are here went through a very interesting negotiation during the pandemic that took some time. The results of that were very different than they’d have been in years past.

Schaefer: We went so far as to have more luncheons, more carnivals. And it might surprise you to know that they really enjoyed having me in a dunk tank. Kept morale up for some reason. Along that same vein, we’re finding and hiring people who are less skilled. What are you guys doing to bring them up to speed? We’ve got new, complicated equipment that we’re looking for

unskilled folks to run. How are we handling that today? How about you, Joe?

Palmeri: Well, we’re training, like you guys and like everybody out there, I’m sure. With new equipment comes new technology comes hopefully some training through the manufacturers and the reps. But, again, on our side, it goes back to the people. We use our local community system, community college, a lot. We happen to be lucky and have a really strong one in the area, and I’m a big fan. We’ve used them for years. They helped me in my early startup days, helped me fund simple things like forklift training and then, as I grew, software training and so on. And they would not only fund it, but they would bring trainers in. Th at was a big deal then. Fast-forward to now, we use it constantly, probably more than quarterly. Maybe six, eight times a year. We recently had active shooter training. It’s hard to believe that we talk about those things, but hey, it happens all the time. Everybody was really receptive to that. It was actually quite interesting. Th at was a half-day program that somebody came in and trained us on. We’ve had leadership training that’s four, five, six weeks long for certain people. We’re trying to give back to our people, spend money there. And then we offer even some upper-level training for those who want to do online school and earn some sort of a degree. I think there’s no substitute for training and education for those who want to do it.

Schaefer: Sure. And, Brett, you put together a whole plant? How’d you handle all that?

Kirkpatrick: I found the skill level to be about the same. For us, that wasn’t a difference or a change. So, we invested in the onboarding process and the education piece to get people to continue to be engaged and educated. And the Corrugated 101 classes offered through AICC have been one avenue of great

benefit to get those new people through. Going through those modules online is really cool.

Schaefer: How about you guys?

Palmeri: We’ve got basically employees at all locations on all shifts identified as the trainers. So, it’s more of just the general industry knowledge, particularly the safety side, so there’s a consistent message when people come in. They may know the general understanding of operating a machine, but not the exact operation, so they’ve been working on standard operating procedures and just the core training. Certainly relying on AICC and what it has to offer, but trying to keep the message consistent and ongoing.

Urquhart: Th is phenomenon hasn’t changed for us much over the years, but I will say that we’re doing a much better job than we traditionally have in documenting and being consistent with the training that is executed. Much of what happens at our place happens in an apprenticeship-like program, where there’s a veteran who’s taking on board someone who needs to learn. But the problem, of course, remains we have to fi nd that person who’s going to be there every day and continue to show up fi rst of all. Then you get to train them.

Schaefer: You have to train them to show up as the first step. As an official old guy with strong opinions that sort of disagree with what’s going on out in the world around some things, anybody still have remote workers?

Urquhart: When someone tests positive for COVID-19, they have five to 10 days where they work remote to the best of their abilities. We do have a couple of people with persistent health concerns who remain out of the office but not those who need to run presses.

Schaefer: There are strong opinions out there about it. Are you seeing the reported

productivity increases or the reported productivity slacking? (Laughter.) Urquhart: No, seems like the work is getting done.

Schaefer: OK. How about you guys?  Palmeri: Obviously it’s mostly geared to the office, but it’s also part of retention. It’s about a little bit of recognition. It’s hard to have a flexo operator work remotely. There’s certain jobs that you have to be in the facility. But we still do it.

Schaefer: It’s hard to operate a press remotely. Kirkpatrick: We went through and addressed every job description and made a designation if it’s an in-plant, in-office job, out of office completely, or hybrid. And once we established that, we then looked back and we said, “OK, we got about 70% of the people in IT (information technology) and development that are remote. Got about 50% of customer service and technical that are remote. And the rest of the office staff is two to three days a week remote.” So, we’re pretty heavy. I think that’s what we’re going to see in what you want to call “future work.” And ... it’s going to be a blended scenario of at-home work and in-office work. If you look at the activities that people do, there’s a big grouping of activity that people do well by themselves, in their home, in remote work, and there’s another group of things that we’re required to be in-office for, really. I think that’s what we’re going to see: a discernment of those activities and breaking that up for people who can have remote.

Schaefer: So, lastly, capital: Are things changing for you guys with the economic news that we just heard and what we’re experiencing? With that, if you are spending money, are you seeing lead times coming back into line versus pandemic-style?

Bertram: We’re spending less money, I will say. We’ve spent a bunch of money in recent years, but we have made some purchases and some commitments mostly on the technology side, upgrading software, some robotic features for unitizing and things like that. ... We purchased some more cutting capabilities and whatnot. But we’re not committing to what we were a few years ago. Like I said earlier, we’re trying to wrap our arms around what we have, rightsize what we have, circle the wagons a little bit. But, again, trying to stay optimistic and aggressive to a degree, and hopefully just run this thing out.

Kirkpatrick: We’ve got plans this year for software enhancements, software upgrades, continuing automation with software through workflow, honing that, refi ning it. Additionally, we need a die cutter, upgrading some equipment that’s existing—stackers and things like that— that are required. Just overall moving forward. Not at the pace of pre-pandemic, but moving forward.

Palmeri: I would agree. We’ve slowed down some as well. We’ve added some equipment over the past couple of years, but right now you’re waiting for more of the support pieces that are coming in from being ordered last year.

Schaefer: And that lead time hasn’t improved? If you’re still waiting … Palmeri: Lead times are improving now. They’re showing up; things are coming in.  Urquhart: I’m not sure I would know much about lead time right now. We need to take a deep breath and digest what it is that we did during the pandemic. We made some great, prudent investments that have turned out wonderfully, and it’s time to see what we can do with them.

Schaefer: All right, guys. I appreciate you spending some time, sharing a little bit of your personal insights

WHERE SUSTAINABILITY MEETS BRANDING

By Robert Bittner

From woodlands management to milling and converting, the boxmaking industry has proved itself to be potentially sustainable at nearly every point in the manufacturing process.

But sustainability is not just about the box or the display. Many AICC members are taking sustainability to the next level, making it an integral part of what distinguishes their brand. In some cases, sustainability is an all-encompassing philosophy behind how they manage every aspect of their business.

Strengthening Connections

“Sustainability means so much to me and our company,” says Cory Connors, director of sustainable packaging at Orora Packaging Solutions (OPS) and one of the industry’s leading sustainability spokespeople. “We’ve been at the forefront of innovative, sustainable packaging for decades, and we remain committed to leading the industry in this space because it’s the right thing to do. We are dedicated to making packaging that is reusable, recyclable, compostable, with the lowest impact possible on the environment, because we’re passionate about making a difference and helping our customers drive toward net zero.”

When it comes to the packaging itself, Connors continues, “we strive to use the highest level of post-consumer or post-industrial recycled material whenever possible, while maintaining quality to ensure that the product stays protected throughout the supply chain and delivers that impactful experience that differentiates their brand in the marketplace.”

Keith E. Thomas, director of strategic initiatives and business development at Michigan City Paper Box, says, “We’ve been producing a sustainable product prior to ‘sustainability’ being a key goal of some of the major retailers. It’s always been that way for us, and now it’s gaining greater traction with customers.”

Michigan City Paper Box’s expertise is rigid boxes, typically used for jewelry

and other presentations. “If you want to service some of the big brands and the big retailers, you need to have a focus on sustainability,” Thomas says. “Some of the opportunities we’re being given now from some of the big jewelry manufacturers and distributors are specifically requiring 100% recycled materials.” Those customers are also asking for certification pages on the raw materials involved so they can better support sustainability claims to their own customers.

The more manufacturers can strengthen the connections between their own products and services—your “brand”—and customers’ desire to support sustainable paper-based packaging, the better.

“Our message is that a paper box is the most sustainable project packaging in the world,” says Bryan Hollenbach, executive vice president of Green Bay Packaging Inc. “Future buyers are very focused on the environment and sustainability. Those of us in this industry need to be addressing that. It’s not only right for the environment; it’s the best way to grow your business. If you get it right, it gives you another strong selling point when you’re in front of the customer.”

Part of “getting it right” is making sure your brand message is actually connecting with its intended audience.

A Core Message

The Paper and Packaging Board is an industry-funded organization whose goal is to help build widespread preference for paper and paper packaging, representing the corrugated and paperboard sectors, as well as printing and writing papers.

“Sustainability is our core messaging focus,” says Sarah Meiburg, the board’s senior director of industry outreach. “We believe—and promote—that paper and paper-based packaging is good for the environment and the planet, and we want consumers and customers to understand our sustainability story.”

A growing number of boxmakers are making sustainability synonymous with their products as well as their business

The organization’s latest initiative is called “Box to Nature,” a program that delivers on-box messaging directed at improving the consumer-residential recycling rate, which for corrugated is estimated around 40%. “By contrast, on the commercial side, it’s closer to 90%,” Meiburg states.

“Box to Nature” educates consumers to empty, flatten, and recycle their boxes through an on-box graphic. A scannable QR code provides additional recycling information. “It gives the companies that want to participate the ability to offer their customers a recycling message that is consumer-friendly, educational, and

directly connects the brand to sustainability messaging,” Meiburg says.

Green Bay Packaging has been a fi nancial supporter of the Paper and Packaging Board from its inception, according to Hollenbach. So, when the board was seeking packaging companies to present the “Box to Nature” message to their customers, “we were involved in that very early on,” he says.

“When we’re meeting with customers, we also present the campaign and try to get them to buy into the concept of adding the ‘Box to Nature’ logo on their boxes.” While not every company is willing to give up such valuable real

estate, notes Hollenbach, “customers that are more environmentally conscious and looking for ways to make an overall impact are very open to it.”

Some may dismiss the value of on-box messaging; Hollenbach says he believes it’s important to highlight sustainability whenever and wherever possible. “The industry has opportunities to improve the [recycling] message to end consumers, i.e., residential,” he says. “We need to increase the recycling rate at this level by getting the message out, making it a priority, and ultimately expanding the resources they have to recycle. Sometimes the best way to do that is through a panel on the box to remind people that, ‘Hey, this is sustainable. Th is product is not something that should be thrown away in a landfi ll.’”

On-box messaging is just one way to highlight a brand’s support for sustainability. Companies are continuing to fi nd innovative ways to highlight sustainability for their target markets.

From Sales Tools to TikTok

Michigan City Paper Box’s sales are made up of a combination of about 50%

“The next challenge is for our plants to become carbon neutral. … We think that’s the next logical step in being a sustainable manufacturer.”

—Keith Thomas, director of strategic initiatives and business development, Michigan City Paper Box Co.

stocked product that people purchase from the company’s printed catalog and 50% custom orders. Th at makes the catalog a significant sales tool for the brand as well as an opportunity to connect that brand to sustainability.

To ensure the company’s catalog reflects its values, says Thomas, “we produce our printed catalog on a similar substrate to our boxes, using paper made from 100% recycled material produced from hydroelectric power.” Th is approach puts an actual example of the company’s commitment in customers’ hands.

OPS has taken a similarly innovative approach to further link its brand with sustainability. Th is spring, the company launched a new magazine called Sustainably Packaged. “It’s an educational and inspirational resource that explores sustainability trends and challenges and offers inspiration and insight on how customers can make improvements in their packaging and operations to execute their sustainability goals,” Connors explains.

In today’s media climate, print and digital catalogs and publications may reach only a limited segment of the market. Younger buyers are used to acquiring information in other ways. Th at realization led Connors to take a decidedly unexpected step: “About three years ago, I started making TikTok videos about sustainable packaging,” he says.

“A lot of people said, ‘What are you doing? Why are you wasting your time with this?’ Well, you might be surprised,” he adds. “TikTok videos are usually only around 20 seconds long. In that time, I could talk about sustainable packaging materials and help people understand what can be recycled, what can’t, and what they can try in their own businesses. Because this was around the time the pandemic hit, suddenly hundreds of thousands—if not millions—of people were starting their own businesses in their homes. They needed packaging materials to ship their products. My

Connors, director of sustainable packaging, Orora Packaging Solutions

TikTok page became very popular with these small business owners because they didn’t know what to do about packaging, and they couldn’t afford to hire consultants. I was able to provide a lot of the information they were looking for so they could package their products securely and sustainably.”

The popularity of his TikTok videos encouraged Connors to develop the Sustainable Packaging podcast, which he hosts. In the two years he has been podcasting, he has released over 200 episodes, which have been downloaded more than 40,000 times. Each episode includes a prominent mention of Orora’s support.

“It shows that there are people out there who are very interested in being

sustainable and learning about how to be a better steward of the environment—even with the small things in their daily life, like recycling or not buying something that isn’t packaged correctly,” he says.

Sustainable Business

Finally, a growing number of manufacturers are looking beyond the box when it comes to embracing sustainability—evaluating everything from equipment purchases to hiring practices and succession planning in terms of its potential environmental impact as well as its overall impact on the long-term future of the company.

“Sustainable packaging is really just a start for us,” Thomas acknowledges. “The next challenge is for our plants to

“TikTok videos are usually only around 20 seconds long. In that time, I could talk about sustainable packaging materials and help people understand what can be recycled, what can’t, and what they can try in their own businesses.”

—Cory

become carbon neutral. We’re going to go through the process of measuring our carbon footprint and seeing what it would take to off set that and achieve carbon neutrality. We think that’s the next logical step in being a sustainable manufacturer.”

“Sustainability plays a role in everything we do,” says Hollenbach, “from how we recruit employees to our capital investments and in our discussions with customers. It includes a focus on the environment, but we also look beyond that. Sustainability is also about making the right decisions to sustain our company for the years ahead. For example, three years ago we made the largest investment in our history: building the new Green Bay Mill, a net-zero water mill. It is the only net-zero water mill in the United States, and I believe one of only two in the world. We did that, frankly, because it was the right thing for the company today, and it’s the right thing for the environment for the future.”

Th at message resonates with current employees and helps to attract future employees, Hollenbach points out. “They respect the fact that corrugated packaging itself is a very sustainable product. But they also respect the fact that we put our money where our mouth is, setting specific, companywide goals for environmental improvements across box plants, paper mills, woodlands, and so on. For example, one of our goals is to attain zero landfi ll for all of our box plants. We apply accountability and

resources toward those goals. As a result, it’s something that employees get pretty excited about.”

Connors says he believes it’s critical for companies to consider the future and how your business can thrive in a sustainable way. “We can all look at the way we’re working and living to fi nd ways to make beneficial improvements,” he says. “For example, think about the way that you set up equipment to run materials in advance, and see if it’s possible to eliminate that 10% waste produced before you start to work on the order. With circular design thinking and maintaining a focus on sustainability in every action, I believe we can also impact the bottom line.”

An Ongoing Education

While sustainability is no longer a topic of interest for a limited few, many customers still will not be aware of the innovations and advantages coming from boxmakers unless they’re told.

Hollenbach, for example, says the life cycle of paper boxes needs to be talked about much more. “A corrugated box can be reused seven-plus times, and it can be recycled into the very same product and used again,” he says. “The fact that it can be reused and then recycled is, I think, a much better story than you’ll find with some other packaging substrates that our customers are using.”

Meiburg adds, “Anything we can do as an industry to help consumers understand the great story that is paper packaging will be beneficial. The better job we do at educating them, the more they’re going to prefer paper packaging.”

Robert Bittner is a Michigan-based freelance journalist and a frequent BoxScore contributor.

“Future buyers are very focused on the environment and sustainability. Those of us in this industry need to be addressing that. It’s not only right for the environment; it’s the best way to grow your business.”

—Bryan Hollenbach, executive vice president, Green Bay Packaging Inc.

The Associate Advantage

The Value Proposition of AICC

BY TIM CONNELL

In the early part of 2002, as I transitioned from the world of plastic packaging fi lms to a future in corrugated converting equipment sales, I considered resources that would bring me up to speed quickly. In addition to learning the products of a new company and industry, I had to understand the needs and issues in our industry from the perspectives of the customers, suppliers, industry experts, and regulators that had already gained some of this experience.

When I was fi rst introduced to AICC, I knew I needed to get involved, engage further, remain committed, and understand better all AICC has to offer. The AICC staff works hard to research new and relevant topics for training programs, management and leadership skills training, technical workshops, and seminars with industry experts who help members grow their businesses.

AICC national and regional events became my most valued learning resource, enabling me to make contacts, meet new friends and mentors, entertain customers, and “compare notes” with other suppliers and even friendly competitors. AICC’s content committee does an outstanding job of keeping the meeting agendas and speakers fresh and exciting. Whether your business is looking for financial or operational guidance, considering new technologies, or creating new business partnerships, the meetings and networking events have so much to offer. The Emerging Leaders program, CEO advisory groups, and new member welcoming programs continue to evolve and emphasize the organization’s networking value. Over 20 years later, the value proposition of my AICC membership is still present, apparent, and appreciated at every event.

Years ago, the opportunity for networking was most of what AICC had to offer.

Now at AICC, while networking events are still a primary membership benefit, they are not practical for every employee in your organization. To overcome this, AICC offers various educational programs, mostly online, to assist members with employee education and skills development that makes recruitment and retention easier.

The AICC Packaging University proudly offers 100-plus online courses and has educated over 15,000 industry team members in the past five years. Many member companies have incorporated university content into their respective onboarding programs for new team members. The new AICC NOW (NOW.AICCbox.org ) platform is the single source for online AICC programming that makes the educational content and membership benefits more accessible than ever before.

The true benefit of the Association can be best demonstrated by the growth of the members that get involved and stay involved. Usually, these are the same people who feel compelled to serve the Association by sharing their experiences and success stories to encourage other companies and individuals to do the same. I believe the passion and enthusiastic sharing of knowledge present in our Association is either high-functioning due to AICC’s efforts or simply unique to our industry—thanks and keep up the good work, AICC.

In closing, I would like to offer this quote from the great U.S. industrialist Henry Ford: “Coming together is the beginning, keeping together is progress, working together is success!”

Connell is director of sales at A.G. Stacker and is vice chairman of AICC’s Associate board.

JEFF DIETZ KOLBUS AMERICA INC. DIRECTOR JEFFREY.DIETZ@KOLBUS.COM

JOHN BURGESS PAMARCO SECRETARY JOHN.BURGESS@PAMARCO.COM

TIM CONNELL A.G. STACKER INC. VICE CHAIRMAN TCONNELL@AGSTACKER.COM

JOE MORELLI HUSTON PATTERSON PRINTERS & LEWISBURG PRINTING CO. IMMEDIATE PAST CHAIRMAN JMORELLI@HUSTONPATTERSON.COM

GREG JONES SUN AUTOMATION GROUP CHAIRMAN GREG.JONES@SUNAUTOMATION.COM

Tim

What the Tech?

Improving Operations Through Comprehensive Testing, Experience, and Support Services

BY RICK HANTKE

Providing value above and beyond the physical equipment is a key challenge for suppliers and original equipment manufacturers in the corrugated industry. Leading manufacturers leverage decades of experience in producing innovative automated solutions to recognize and act on trends in customer behavior. From installing fully customized lines to optimizing specific applications, a leading manufacturer’s ability to reimagine customer operations for improved efficiency has revealed key insights into the unseen benefits that should be considered before choosing a supplier.

The people behind the equipment and technology can be key differentiators in improving day-to-day operations. Supplementing these technologies with advanced product knowledge and testing, diverse industry experience among team members, and flexible and reliable support post-implementation allows boxmakers to level up their operations.

Product Knowledge and Testing

Whether the leap to automation and its investment is large or small, change management is significant. In response to this challenge, one industry manufacturer recently expanded its packaging and testing lab. Th is facility enables customers to test the resiliency and efficacy of packaging performance by replicating real-world transit conditions. Manufacturers can observe fi rsthand how their specific pain points can be addressed by automation prior to mass rollout across operations.

A large-scale investment, meaning a complete shift from manual processes to full automation, can feel daunting.

Conducting a comprehensive series of tests that mirror real-life conditions and processes ahead of committing to such an investment is a game changer for manufacturers on the fence about automation. Test results often reveal that adopting an automated process provides significant savings in overall cost and materials, all while supporting more consistent packaging performance and enhanced load protection.

Small-scale integration also requires strategy and planning, considering that even the most efficient processes could still improve. For example, a successful solar panel supplier is looking for cost savings without compromising the security of its fragile loads. Testing for this challenge in the lab could indicate that it doesn’t need to revamp its whole operation. By simply switching to a thinner strap to package the solar panels, it may realize immediate material cost savings while maintaining load integrity. Th is minor adjustment could also expand the possibilities for future automation and output growth for this manufacturer.

Diverse Industry Experience on a Team

A team with diverse industry backgrounds offers a range of perspectives and approaches to problem-solving, leading to creative and comprehensive solutions to operational challenges. Many times,

while testing for a solution to a specific challenge, additional opportunities for process improvement can be found. These discoveries not only uncover potential for automation but also strengthen the trust and partnership between the manufacturer and customer.

Not every production challenge requires a complete process and equipment overhaul. Rather than applying a generic solution, a team with niche industry experience can provide tailored upgrades that address specific needs and lead to impactful improvements.

Across the board, manufacturers are focusing on their physical equipment offerings, but what will separate the good from the great is the knowledge and experience of the teams that support the ongoing integration and upkeep of your automation investments.

Rick Hantke is director of marketing for automation and packaging technologies at Signode.

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Materials, People, and Capital

BY MITCH KLINGHER

When you cut through all of the details associated with fi nancial reporting, you will likely fi nd the three largest items in any set of fi nancial statements for a manufacturing company are materials, personnel costs, and capital expenses.

Materials are generally somewhere from 40% to 60% of the income statement. Aggregating all of your employees’ costs (e.g., salaries, taxes, benefits) will usually be between 20% and 30% of your income statement, and capital costs, when you consider depreciation, equipment, and facilities rental, maintenance, repairs, and interest expense, will be between 10% and 15% of your income statement. Fixed assets and debt are often the largest numbers on your balance sheet. Yet, conventional fi nancial reporting is geared more toward categorizing things by department or function and does not

in any meaningful way aggregate items in this manner.

Most business owners get used to a fairly standard set of fi nancial statements developed early in the life of their businesses and are hesitant to make changes. Often, the owners come from the sales or production side of the business and struggle to some extent with fi nance, and although I hate to admit it, most accountants seem to lack the creativity gene. The typical fi nancial statements I see are mostly a listing of expenses categorized by function (e.g., cost of goods sold, plant, selling, administrative), often with a comparative to a prior period and to a budget.

I’ve written numerous articles over the years about how to improve the basic statements by creating profit centers and cost centers, adding analytics, and bringing other nontraditional performance measurement data into

the statements. I have also strongly advocated the use of diff erent reporting formats for the same period—tailored for diff erent areas of management, such as sales, production, and maintenance. One of the formats I like the best for executive management focuses on what I call the big three—materials, people, and capital—because at the end of the day, managing those three key resources is crucial to the success of the enterprise.

Materials

In most cases, it’s not enough to simply look at materials as a percentage of sales. Material margin in the aggregate is the key indicator of profit potential in a converting business, but unless your sales mix is exactly the same from month to month, you need more information.

Sales less materials are often called “throughput dollars” and, in my opinion, the simplest and truest measure of the

Strength in Numbers

variable profits of the enterprise. But every converter has different sales categories: single-machine operations, multiple-machine operations, simple print, complex print, hand labor, labels, outsourced items, etc. So, the fi rst order of business is to match the materials up against the sales in each category.

Simply stating that your material margin is 46% is not enough information. Comparing your material margin month by month in each meaningful sales category may tell a completely different story and isolate areas where your company and your pricing decisions are strong or weak. Adding machine hours to this equation and getting a sense of the dollars per hour yielded in each manufactured category will give you even better information. If you aren’t prepared to start looking at the hours, at least start calculating the margin for each category.

Margin information is certainly crucial information, and while this is often predicated mainly on pricing decisions, other factors can influence this in a meaningful way. Remember that each 1% improvement in margin will yield significant dollars on the bottom line, so if you are a company doing $25 million in sales with a 50% material margin, every 1% increase will yield $250,000 in profits. Therefore, it is important to look at things such as:

• Waste: What you need to look at here is not baled waste as a percentage of sales, but rather the paper or sheets you paid for but didn’t bill your customers for. Th is concept is known as shrinkage and something you need to start measuring.

• Basis weight: I have attempted to survey this many times over the years and have found that most of you simply don’t know the basis weights of the packaging you are selling. At the end of the day, the heavier the weight of the packaging you sell, the

higher the sales price, and thus, the margins should be.

• White and mottled white content: Again, more expensive paper or sheets should yield a higher sales price and higher margins.

• Inside/outside print and heavy ink coverage: These should yield similarly higher prices and margins.

So, analytics showing material usage by category of sale and these other factors are ultimately the keys to understanding your material margins.

People

Personnel costs are all over your income statement. Cost of goods sold generally includes direct labor, indirect labor, temporary labor, maintenance labor, supervision labor, schedulers, and plant management. Shipping and delivery expenses generally include a shipping manager, material handling personnel, and drivers. Selling expenses generally include salespeople, designers, customer service representatives, coordinators, and departmental managers. General and administrative expenses include everyone else.

Almost all of you employ more than 50 people, and in some of the larger converters, the number may be closer to 250. While it is important to know the cost of each function (e.g., plant labor, design, customer service, maintenance), there is also value in aggregating all of the employees and all of the expenses relating to the employees to give you a sense of the cost of your people and the overall cost of managing them. You should still list them by function and provide head counts and compensation levels, as well as break out overtime and bonuses (and maybe even add some productivity measurements). You also need to make sure all statutory and incentive costs associated with employees are included (e.g., payroll taxes,

health insurance, pension contributions, workers’ comp insurance, incentive programs, training programs, travel, seminars) so you can see the full cost of the add-ons.

Capital

How you fi nance your business varies greatly from company to company. Most of you purchase major pieces of equipment but lease tractors and forklifts. Some of you own your real property, and some of you lease it (often from related family entities). Some of you are well capitalized with relatively small amounts of debt, and some of you are more highly leveraged. Therefore, your capital costs show up in various places on the income statement, so you may not ultimately appreciate the full cost of capital in your company.

Aggregating your capital costs can often give you a different insight into how you are funding your business and what percentage of income or assets relate to capital costs. These costs would include depreciation, lease expense, interest expense, rent expense, and related occupancy and repair costs.

So instead of just publishing the traditional sales less cost of goods sold less operating expense equals operating income statement you normally see, ask your controllers to give you an alternative income statement that shows sales less materials less people costs less capital costs less all other expenses equals operating income. Make sure they add all of the appropriate backup, and I think you will see your business from a different perspective, especially when compared from period to period.

Mitch Klingher is owner of Klingher Nadler LLP. He can be reached at 201-731-3025 or mitch@klinghernadler.com

Pledge to the Future of Your Business

AICC has just wrapped up its Spring Meeting 2023. One of the highlights of this very successful gathering was that the 9th Annual Independents’ Cup Charity Golf Tournament brought 240 golfers to the Red and Golden courses at the Trump National Doral Resort in Miami.

After the golf fees and sponsorship contributions are tallied and netted against the expenses for the tournament, the Foundation for Packaging Education will be awarded a check as the event’s receiving charity. Th at money will join with donor-pledged dollars to build the foundation’s fund to a point where it can sustainably provide programming for the education of those working in the paperbased packaging industry.

The Foundation for Packaging Education salutes the Red Course winning foursome of Mike Butler of Domtar,

Mark McNay of SMC Packaging Group, Tom Phillips of Bobst, and Kevin Miller of Royal Group/Schwarz Partners, and the Golden Course winning foursome of Cade and Paige Haglund of Central Packaging & Display and Austin and Olivia Umlauf of Haire Group.

If you are not a Foundation for Packaging Education donor, please consider joining the 35 companies and 10 individuals that have made a commitment. Your pledge will bring a return to your operations, as the foundation’s commitment is to your employees and their continuing education and improvement.

The foundation is a 501(c)(3) education charity administered by AICC. Your pledge is tax-deductible and will ensure the future of the independent in this industry. Yours is a generational business.

If you are thinking a year ahead, sow seed. If you are thinking 10 years ahead,

plant a tree. If you are thinking 100 years ahead, educate the people.

Please click the “Donate” tab at www. packaginged.org or snap the QR code below, and join your colleagues in supporting the important work of the Foundation for Packaging Education.

Snap this code with your smartphone to join your colleagues in supporting the Foundation for Packaging Education.

The best of two worlds

Two companies team up

International Corrugated Packaging Foundation

Add Plant Floor Employees Through Exciting Apprenticeship Opportunity

The International Corrugated Packaging Foundation (ICPF) has an exciting new opportunity for corporate partners to fi ll plant fl oor positions: registered apprenticeships. ICPF is working on a partnership with SkillsUSA Illinois to make its registered apprenticeship program available to interested partners. Th is program targets specifi c positions and allows high school students to participate in work-based learning experiences while in school.

Th is solution is designed so you can create your own unique talent pipeline. SkillsUSA Illinois handles all of the U.S. Department of Labor paperwork for you and helps recruit the candidates. You then get to participate in the selection process and bring on apprentices who want to work, can learn under some of your more senior employees to close the knowledge gap, and go on to become

full-time employees at your company. Students 16 years or older can participate in the program, and this will work in a union environment.

The registered apprenticeship program is currently available only to those with facilities in Illinois. However, SkillsUSA Illinois is currently working on a grant that can include a national rollout for our industry. All they need is for us to show interest.

Don’t miss out on this great opportunity. Have your human resources department contact ICPF President

Register Today for ICPF’s Holiday Weekend in New York

Please join us for the International Corrugated Packaging Foundation’s (ICPF’s) Holiday Weekend in New York event, December 8–10. Register by July 31 to receive the early bird rate and save $200.

Support ICPF’s educational programs and initiatives while enjoying New York’s holiday season. The event will begin with a Friday evening reception, sponsored by Pratt Industries. ICPF guests will then attend a Saturday

matinee of A Beautiful Noise: Th e Neil Diamond Musical , sponsored by BW Papersystems. Th is is an excerpt about the musical:

“The story of the legendary Neil Diamond comes to life on stage in an uplifting new musical featuring all his hit songs, including ‘Sweet Caroline,’ ‘America,’ and ‘Cracklin’ Rosie.’ From those exhilarating early days in New York to the sold-out spectacles that defi ned his career, A Beautiful Noise explores the

Caitlin Salaverria at csalaverria@icpfbox. org for more information and to set up an informational meeting with SkillsUSA Illinois today.

International Corrugated Packaging Foundation

refuge for locals and cultured visitors in present-day New York. Drawing inspiration from their early life as a hat factory, each of the 197 rooms at Refinery Hotel features industrial details such as 12-foot ceilings, large windows, and distressed hardwood floors. ICPF has reserved Studio King rooms ($649) and suite Atelier Executive rooms ($799) for the event. Hotel reservations are the responsibility of participants.

life of a rock icon through the music that made him ‘a national treasure.’ ” Saturday evening, participants will attend a reception and dinner sponsored by Bobst North America at a location to be announced.

Additional weekend sponsors include Green Bay Packaging and Hood Container Corp.

ICPF is also excited to announce a new hotel partnership for the event, Refinery Hotel, two blocks from Bryant Park in Midtown Manhattan’s Garment District. This luxury hotel’s stylish loft rooms, acclaimed Parker & Quinn restaurant, and trendsetting Refinery Rooftop bar create a fashionable

Space is limited to a first-come, first-served basis. Scan the QR code on p. 64 to register.

Caitlin Salaverria is president of ICPF.

The Final Score

EPR Is a Solution in Search of a Problem

Extended producer responsibility (EPR) is gaining momentum in several states. AICC, your Association, is tracking developments and keeping members informed. There is an inevitability to EPR—even though AICC members manufacture the most sustainable packaging media on the planet.

For those who don’t know, EPR is a fi nancial mechanism to support the creation of recycling services and performance to ensure the transition to a circular economy. Financial means taxes, and taxes mean legislation. The legislation places an obligation on producers of covered products—including packaging, containers, food service products, and paper, regardless of recyclability, compostability, and type of material—to design, maintain, and fi nance programs to collect and process product waste. In other words, replace the state and local entities that currently may be providing these services.

Once these measures are legislated, producers would work together through a producer responsibility organization to take responsibility for the package at the end of its life in such a way as to reduce its environmental impact and maximize the amount of material returned to the circular economy. Producers will invest in U.S. recycling and composting infrastructure and waste management and cleanup, as well as promote awareness of these programs for covered products.

Eunomia recently published The 50 States of Recycling. Th is study assesses and ranks each state on its container and packaging recycling rates.

Those with a fi nancial background are familiar with black ledger, green ledger accounting. The data presented by Eunomia has a similar ring to it because it produces state-by-state recycling statistics for common containers and packaging materials in two ways: without “cardboard/boxboard” and with. Without paper-based packaging included, West Virginia is the lowest-ranked recycling state in the U.S. at 2%. With paper, the recycling rate jumps to 31%, and West Virginia goes from ranked 50th to 40th. AICC’s home state of Virginia ranks 26th without paper at 26% and moves up to 20th at 42% with paper. Inclusion of paper similarly moves the numbers for each state, except for Maine, which is No. 1 in either case at 72% without and 74% with (Go Maine!).

What this means is that EPR legislation, which is obviously required to solve a plastics problem, is rolling up good performers such as paper and aluminum and will force producers utilizing highly recyclable packaging media to subsidize those that do not.

We’re proud that AICC members offer their customers solutions using the most sustainable packaging media known—paper. AICC will continue to educate members on how to differentiate themselves with this advantage. And keep you up to date on EPR legislative developments.

The American Forest & Paper Association has been on the point of EPR legislation and keeping AICC and other paper-based alphabet soup organizations informed.

We agree with them—when it comes to paper-based packaging, EPR is a solution in search of a problem.

Michael D’Angelo AICC President

Contribute to the Circular Economy

Offer sustainable corrugated packaging solutions with HP PageWide digital technology

Right from creation to final disposal –corrugated boxes today can have a sustainable life cycle.

With HP PageWide corrugated technology, you can contribute to the circular economy while promoting your sustainable offering.