Smurfit Kappa Diagonal Flute Reshapes Conventional Thinking
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 Smurfit Kappa, Dublin, Ireland, reports that technical experts in the design department at its operations in Herzberg, Germany, were recently presented with an interesting challenge—to optimize the existing transport packaging for premium hair care products. The tricky part was that no part of the construction could be changed.
To offer the best solution, the product designer at Smurfit Kappa went against convention and rotated the direction of the corrugations on the E-corrugated board. The twisted arrangement of the cuts on the punching sheet resulted in a considerable improvement in the layout. This led to customer savings of 20% in the packaging.
In addition, the improved technical characteristics meant that the diagonal corrugation achieved a roughly 13% higher BCT value (stacking compressing resistance, measured by a Box Compression Test). This also meant that the machine operation could be improved—with the improved flatness and uniform bending resistance of the grooves, the blanks are cut more smoothly and thus processed faster.
This packaging was recognized at the Smurfit Kappa Innovation Awards, winning in the industrial category.
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