The Schumacher Packaging Group, Germany, reports that it put a new multifunction corrugator into operation at its Greven plant in Germany. The official start date for production at this newly-constructed, ultra-modern plant near Münster-Osnabrück airport was in June 2014. Since then, the plant has been producing corrugated board on its new 2.5-meter-wide, state-of-the-art equipment and converting it into packaging. This has provided the company with the capacity to produce all popular types of corrugated packaging on the doorstep of its customers in Northern and Western Germany and the Benelux area.

A special feature of the equipment is its ability to produce fanfold corrugated. In addition to a conventional printing unit, the corrugator also has a sleeve printing unit for preprint, which enables two-color, full-surface, or continuous printing on all grades of corrugated board. The machine, which was custom-built for Schumacher Packaging, is also capable of producing laminated sheeting and corrugated board simultaneously.

 

Uwe Kihm, works manager at Greven, noted that "our new corrugator represents a first for the Schumacher Packaging Group, because it is the first of all of our corrugators to produce fanfold board." This type of corrugated board is traditionally of great benefit for packaging items such as furniture and other large, bulky goods. "But we are also seeing a marked increase here particularly in e-commerce," he continued. "Instead of having to dispatch orders in oversized standard boxes, using continuous fanfold corrugated means goods can be individually packaged to suit the exact needs and size of the products. Not only does this make packed goods easier to handle, but bespoke packaging also offers better protection and greatly reduces the amount of filling and padding material required, which ultimately saves on both volume and costs." 

This machine is also capable of producing conventional corrugated board and laminated sheeting in parallel operation. Laminated sheets are only closed on one face as the fluting on the reverse face remains open. This single-faced sheeting is used by litho-laminating packaging plants, where the offset printed outer liner is laminated and converted into packaging. 

The plant in Greven brings the number of high-performance corrugating plants currently operated by Schumacher Packaging to a total of four—two in Germany and two more in Poland.