Smurfit Kappa, Ireland, this week rolled out its "Board Referee," exclusively developed across all of its production sites in Europe. Board Referee, designed by the Smurfit Kappa Development Centre in the Netherlands, is the latest in a line of corrugated board innovations by the company. It reportedly is the first to apply the "Three Point Bending" theory (TPB) to packaging.

 

TPB, Smurfit Kappa noted, has led to a revolution in how corrugated board is composed and flutes are designed. It also follows the application of insights from the aeronautic industry to develop Paper-to-Box, recognized as the packaging industry's most advanced performance prediction tool, the company said.

 

The Board Referee allows a packaging firm to measure the performance of corrugated board using TPB theory.TPB provides data on the bending strength of the corrugated board used in packaging, so that it can be developed and improved accordingly. Ultimately, this guarantees that board used in the stacking and storage of boxes is perfectly optimized for its purpose—providing customers with packaging that is strong enough to carry the load of the product and stack, while using the least amount of raw materials possible, delivering a solution that is both efficient and sustainable. 

 

By using Board Referee in all of its production sites, Smurfit Kappa explained that it is able to gather board performance results immediately, in real-time. It provides the packaging firm with greater insight and understanding of the quality of packaging materials, complementing use of other "InnoTools" such as Paper-to-Box and Pack Expert.

 

Arco Berkenbosch, V.P. Research and Development at Smurfit Kappa, said that "this industry-first technology is perfectly suited to our customers' needs, allowing us to develop packaging that utilizes the full potential of paper in the most efficient and sustainable way possible. The Board Referee means that we will be able to measure the performance of 50,000 products each month, giving us a unique ability to make rapid improvements to packaging board where necessary. This is part of our commitment to ensuring customers receive high performance packaging, informed by smart insight and measurement." 

 

Walter De Smedt, V.P. Technical & Operational Excellence at Smurfit Kappa, added that "we're delighted to announce the use of the Board Referee across our operations, which will be vital in ensuring we're able to continue to develop consistently high quality products. The use of Three Point Bending across all of our production facilities will help to drive the packaging industry towards production processes that focus on the needs of the end-user, whereby the board is perfectly suited for use."