High-end graphics and structural integrity with faster turnaround and greater efficiencies

Presto Products Company, a business of Alcoa Consumer Products, wanted to achieve cost savings in the packaging of its trash can liners and sandwich bags. An additional challenge was to achieve a higher-end look from its packaging graphics without sacrificing any of the structural integrity provided by the fluted boxes it was using.

The solution was StrataGraph, Great Northern Corporation’s new packaging product where
high-end graphics and laminated paperboard packaging come together in a unique web-based
process.

Two years ago, Presto Products switched the packaging of its own high-count food and trash bag lines as well as many of its private label brands from e-flute corrugated boxes to StrataGraph.

The results have been impressive, according to Bill Garvin, senior packaging engineer with Presto Products.

“We wanted to have the most appealing carton on the shelf for the consumer. Price was also a consideration,” Garvin said. “But the real key in making the switch was

whether StrataGraph could give us performance as good as or better than the fluted boxes. We have been able to achieve the benefits without incurring any negative change in performance.”

Before switching from fluted boxes to StrataGraph, extensive testing was performed, both in the ISTA-certified testing laboratory of Great Northern and in the field with actual shipments. “The results have been very positive,” Garvin said.

In lab tests, the StrataGraph package withstood 210 pounds of force while the e-flute package was only able to withstand 180 pounds.

“StrataGraph was consistently as strong or stronger in the lab tests than the fluted boxes,” said Don Schroeder, president of Great Northern Corporation’s StrataGraph operation, located in Oshkosh, Wis.

“Because StrataGraph’s web-based process runs at much higher speeds than a typical corrugated process, we can offer customers much quicker turnarounds,” Schroeder said. “We consistently turn new items in two weeks or less.”

Other advantages StrataGraph has over fluted boxes include:

• Structural integrity at only half the thickness of its fluted counterparts, producing economies in shipping and storage.

• Quick changes of graphics on multiple SKUs, delivering significant cost efficiencies, especially in private-labeling runs.

• Custom design capabilities that offer sufficient strength options without over-packaging.

• More resilience than fluted boxes, allowing compressed packages a greater ability to spring back to their original shape.

“StrataGraph is building a growing reputation for the quality of its graphics,” said Schroeder. “Our work with Presto Products shows how we combine those high-quality printing capabilities with packaging performance that meets or beats the structural performance of fluted products.”

“The results for us and the response from our customers have been consistently favorable, Garvin said. “After nearly two years, what started as a cost-saving initiative has also produced positive results in the look and feel of the packaging while retaining or improving on structural integrity.”

As part of their bundled solutions value proposition, StrataGraph reinforces Great Northern Corporation’s commitment to being their customers’ first call for all their packaging needs.

Great Northern, based in Appleton, Wis., designs, manufactures and distributes packaging solutions and point-of-sale display programs for industrial, commercial and retail products. In addition to StrataGraph, other Great Northern operations include Laminations, which manufactures VBoard® edge protection, and Rollguard, which manufactures protective packaging systems for rolled and cylindrical products.