Smurfit-Stone Container Corporation (SSCC) unveiled three new innovative models of its exclusive Meta packaging equipment line last month at Pack Expo International at Chicago's McCormick Place.The company's industry leading Meta(r) cases and equipment lines build on the full integration capabilities of Smurfit-Stone's Automated Packaging Systems. These systems combine to offer greater efficiency, operational flexibility, improved structural integrity and cost savings. Sustainability benefits include reduced waste and less fiber use. The result is better box performance on the production line and throughout the distribution system.
A leading integrated containerboard and corrugated packaging producer, Smurfit-Stone integrates its own corrugated with its Automated Packaging Systems and provides consulting and support services to ensure customers get the most from their equipment.
John Eaton, Smurfit-Stone's vice president of Automated Packaging Systems said: - We're a box manufacturer that understands equipment, and an equipment manufacturer that understands boxes or cases. Most equipment companies don't sell the consumables that run across the machine. We do, and as a result we are able to provide our customers an integrated packaging approach that reduces their costs and strengthens the sustainability of their packaging.
- With these cases, the customer doesn't have to compromise between appearance, strength, functionality and cost - Eaton said.
Smurfit-Stone's unique eight-sided Meta(r)-8 case provides compression strength 18 percent greater than a regular slotted container (RSC) using 6 percent less fiber as tested. For less intense applications, the Meta(r)-8 case provides standard RSC compression strength using 17 percent less fiber.
The result is a stackable eight-sided case with improved sustainability, greater graphic opportunities, improved fiber utilization and reduced costs related to the supply chain.
The Meta case is formed from a flat die-cut blank versus an RSC-KD, which is formed and glued at the corrugating manufacturer. This allows as much as 30 percent more Meta(r) cases to be placed on a single truck compared to an RSC-KD, resulting in fewer dock deliveries and reduced labor and fuel costs.
This year, Smurfit-Stone is expanding the reliable Meta(r) family of case formers with three new models.
Meta(r) Wrap-8 - Manufactured for Smurfit-Stone by Douglas Machine, the Meta(r) Wrap-8 utilizes electronic motion controls to maximize machine flexibility and speed, dramatically enhancing changeover repeatability for multiple case configurations. The Meta(r) Wrap-8 allows the use of 22 percent less fiber as tested to provide the compression strength of a regular slotted container (RSC) or can provide 25 percent greater compression strength using 6 percent less fiber.
Meta(r)-FS - Using full servo, or smart motor technology, the Meta(r)-FS forms the Meta(r)-8 case around a fixed mandrel, allowing quick changeover to different heights for boxes that share the same footprint. The Meta(r)-8 uses 17 percent less fiber as tested to provide the compression strength of an RSC or can provide 18 percent more stacking strength using 5.7 percent less fiber.
Meta(r) Tray-8 - Applying the eight-corner case benefits to the tray, the Meta(r) Tray-8 uses 21 percent less fiber as tested to provide the compression strength of an RSC or can provide 127 percent more stacking strength.
Smurfit-Stone is committed to providing sustainable packaging solutions to its customers through supply chain optimization, efficient machinery, innovative designs that reduce fiber consumption, and closed loop recycling. By combining increased stacking strength with reduced fiber content, Smurfit-Stone's Meta(r) systems help customers get their products packed faster at a lower overall cost.
