Unwavering Warneke: this Denver folding carton converter adapts to whatever obstacles are tossed in its way

Paperboard Packaging, March, 2004 by Esther Durkalski

The Warneke family has stayed triumphant in the board converting business for more than 90 years, shifting its focus to survive in the changing times. Third generation president Steve Warneke has continued his grandfather's determination to make Denver-based Warneke Paper Box Co. a true success story.

Steve's grandfather, Maynard, and his brother George worked in a Cincinnati box plant in the early 1900s. While on vacation in Denver, George saw that Denver was a wide open market--there wasn't a box plant there so the two brothers opened one. Inland Paper Box Co. formed in 1907 in Denver's original state capital building as a corrugated, folding carton and setup box converter.

A few years after George died, Maynard passed away in 1934. Steve's father, Bill, just out of high school, took over the business. In 1937, Bill sold the corrugated division and changed the company's name to Warneke Paper Box Co.

In 1970, Bill asked Steve if he was interested in joining the company and Steve did after running seven successful tennis shops. He took over the business in 1975. While Steve isn't the oldest of his siblings, he was the first to join the family business. Shortly after he joined, his older brother Bill joined and then his younger brother Greg came on board, both in a sales capacity. Several years later, their sister Marye "felt left out," and she joined the company, in charge of billing and shipping. Within the past year, Steve's daughter Stacy also has joined the company, making her the fourth generation of the Warneke family to be in the board converting business.

Within the last three years, Steve has had to shift the focus of the business. With more consumables being produced offshore, the company expanded into other markets. The company's primary markets are pharmaceuticals, software, food and beverage, and still consumer products, but definitely a smaller percentage of the business.

In 2002 alone, three customers, a total of 34 percent of the company's business, moved to China. Despite that big hit, Warneke has stayed strong and is trying to focus on packaging that will stay in the United States, like the pharmaceutical jobs. Last year the company was hit further with the loss of one customer--equaling $1 million of business--to China.

"Staying alive is the point," Greg says. "The shift of manufacturing overseas has definitely hurt us but we've been very resourceful."

Even in the face of those customer losses, Warneke has not laid off any workers or cut wages--something Steve hopes he can still say is true in a year. The company strives to find not only new customers, but help its existing clients manage their businesses better.

"We strive to be as efficient as we can--no one can run as efficient as we are," Steve says.

The company sells the value-added as much as selling the packaging. Warneke has a program to assist its customers--it will evaluate how an order is done, from start to finish, and find out ways to save money for the customer. On average, Warneke customers have been able to save about 20 percent. "We're the experts in the area," Steve says. "We know how to run the board and what graphics will work, so we know where to save and how best to do the job."

The company's sales were up last year, almost 20 percent over the previous year, which is very positive, Greg Warneke says.

From Beer Boxes to Paper Dolls

At the time Steve joined the company, the business was still located in downtown Denver in a 16,000-square-foot, three-story building. "Imagine the machines on the third floor of a building--imagine the work getting the presses up there," Steve reminisces. The company had as many as 250 employees since so much of the business was handwork for items like hat and hinge boxes. A few years later in 1978, the business was moved to a 35,000-square-foot building.

The business kept growing and in 1990, it moved into a 105,000-square-foot facility in the suburbs with another 30,000 square feet leased for finished goods. With its 63 employees, the company has continued to add capacity but Steve has a novel approach to handle the upsurge. "I always handle the increase in volume with faster and better equipment," he says.

"We can and have created anything," Steve says. "From beer boxes to paper dolls, we can help our customers craft the perfect presentation for their products."

For the past 12 years, Warneke has been the only carton company in the United States to do calendaring, which Steve says rivals the gloss of UV coating but is water-based and in turn, better for the environment. The company has a Billhofer DSK high-gloss calendaring system.

Within the last year, the company has invested in a Heidelberg UV double-coater, one of only two in the United States and capable of coating at 15,000 sheets an hour.

Warneke also has purchased a new fully-automatic Bobst Sprintera diecutter, the first one sold in the United States. The diecutter has a speed of 12,000 sheets per hour and the machine is hooked up with Bobst's Lausanne, Switzerland headquarters. A camera watches the run and easily gives Warneke any software updates.