Our teams at Coalville, Preston and Eurocentral manufacture 500 msms of corrugated board each year.

With five corrugators, including the newest one in the UK currently at our Eurocentral site, our production capability is incredibly varied.

We manufacture a range of corrugated board types utilising a range of paper types to create outer walls, liners and fluting. The combination of each of these is which makes up each specific board grade.

With so much choice though, how do our sheet plant customers know what the best board for each individual job is, particularly when paper grades change from time to time.

Manufacturing with purpose

The key to success is that we manufacture with a purpose; to give our customers the right boards grades, in the right quantities to allow our onward sheet plant customers to fulfil the requirements of the packaging they manufacture.

This can range from the full spectrum of FEFCO code boxes, to complex point of sale, luxury gift packaging and large-scale transit packaging. Many of these sheet plant customers have the capabilities to manufacture the full range of packaging solutions due to a range of technologies which includes printers, die cutters and finishing end machines.

By supplying the most appropriate board grade and finish, production efficiencies can be maximised.

But how do we determine what those board grades are?

Testing facilities

Much of it is from the knowledge and experience of our team. Many have years of experience in the industry and understand the facets and anomalies of corrugated board.

They understand paper, they understand the production process, they understand what makes good board.

But when our customers require something a little different, we can help them find the perfect board to support their design and project.

One way we do this is through our lab testing facilities.

This is a range of options that our customers can tap into ensuring the right board grade is specified and that it will perform as required.

Supply Chain Considerations

To help establish the required Box Compression Strength of a case, there are several questions which can assist with calculating an appropriate board grade, for instance the case size, number of cases per pallet, transportation conditions, how long the cases are stored and what the ambient conditions are.

Different board grades offer two types of benefits: performance and logistics. 

Performance benefits can be improved print finish, perforation tear or board strength whilst logistics benefits can offer improved load fill, reduced warehouse space, reduced number of forklift truck movements, lower storage costs and lower delivery costs.

To determine the correct board is specified, board analysis processes can  be used to determine the weight of the board, the thickness of the board and the weight of the component papers of corrugated board after separation. This test method provides the weights of the constituent papers. The weights given should be considered alongside other performance related test methods.

This is due to papers of the same type and weight from different sources typically have differing performance values, causing board grades of the same weight to differ dependent on the paper origin.

Understanding paper and how it performs

Our expert team understand paper and the impact it has on corrugated board and packaging.

Paper properties are broken into three elements, optical, surface and physical properties. Optical properties are primarily related to the visual element of paper. Surface properties are important for corrugated board manufacturers, specifically the bonding process. Physical properties are of most interest to board performance. 

As paper performance contributes to box performance there are several tests that are key in determining the required structural specifications. These include SCT (compression strength of paper), ECT (compression strength of board) and BCT (compression strength of box). The latter determines the maximum load a box can withstand when palletised and also considers the length/width/depth ratios, palletisation, logistics and environment.

Re-assessing Board Grades

Corrugated board serves a lot of purposes, making it the ideal packaging material. Once a board grade is assigned to a specific job it is rarely reassessed unless it is not performing sufficiently. 

However reassessing board grades and understanding the variable elements of packaging can influence its strength, performance and cost. Therefore, considering board grade is not just for new specifications it can provide valuable information on existing specifications. Exploring the purpose of the box can help identify scope to trial an alternative board grade which could provide beneficial outcomes.

Frank Hay, Group Managing Director, Board24 commented; “There is not always a straightforward prescription for corrugated board, and it is important that we work with our customers to ensure the correct board is ordered and utilised.

“We urge all our customers to communicate with us on new and unusual board requests, or simply when a review of board grades needs to take place. Together, we can ensure performance is maximised and customer expectations are met.”