A new diagonal flute corrugated box developed by Smurfit Kappa “reshapes conventional thinking”, the company says.
The technical experts in the company’s design department in Herzberg, Germany, were recently presented with the challenge of optimising the existing transport packaging for premium hair care products, with the proviso that no part of the construction could be changed.
The solution involved the rotation of the direction of the corrugations on the E-corrugated board being used.
As well as the twisted arrangement of the cuts on the punching sheet resulting in a “considerable improvement in the layout”, the company says it also led to customer savings of 20% in the packaging.
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,” the company says. “With the improved flatness and uniform bending resistance of the grooves, the blanks are cut more smoothly and thus processed faster.”
The new diagonal flute deisgn was recognised at Smurfit Kappa’s internal Innovation Awards, winning in the industrial category.
Smurfit Kappa operates in more than 30 countries globally, with over 330 production sites that produce 5.1 million tonnes of containerboard and 5.0 million tonnes of corrugated packaging, with sales in 2011 of €7.4 billion and around 38,000 employees.
Diagonal flute corrugated box developed by Smurfit Kappa
