Linpac displays turns corrugated into cash with customized point-of-purchase designs

Pulp & Paper, May 2003 by Ferguson, Kelly

Although Linpac Displays is heavily reliant on intercompany supply for its sheets (approximately 80% supplied by internal channels), Moore says it isn't a requirement. "They don't make us use our sister plants, and sometimes it really comes down to whether our sister plants can respond in time, whether they can supply the trim size we need for a particular job, and whether they can be competitive on price. We try to buy from them, but we don't always. Conversely, Linpac doesn't force our sister plants to run a sheet for us when it doesn't make sense for them." Other sheet suppliers include American Corrugated in Lebanon, Tenn., and Jet Corr in Atlanta.

Cleanliness and flatness are the two primary concerns as sheets enter the facility. "As with anyone who prints on a substrate, dust and debris cause us problems,"Moore says."And moving the sheet from one print station to another is important, so if the sheet is warped it causes us problems."

Sheet warping is also an issue in the die cutting area, and this is where Moore uses the Michael Jordan example. "If the sheet is warped, we get print-to-cut register problems in our die cutting. I always use the example that if Michael Jordan's ears are not symmetrical, we have a problem. If it's an eighth of an inch off, the customer will reject it. In some cases we're actually hand spotting sheets with a clamshell-type die cutter to make sure that we get the print-to-cut registration that we have to have."

The specific types of corrugated sheets the display facility runs varies from job to job, including unbleached kraft, mottled white top liner, bleached liner, and color-coated liner. In many cases, the specific job will contain a variety of those substrates, plus plastics, foils, etc. Moore points to one of the Swisher cigar displays in his office and rattles off the combination of color-coated board, unbleached kraft, and bleached kraft. The display includes a "header" with a full lithographic label mounted to it.

"A display like that, with three primary components, includes three different substrates, and the printing for them is done in three different places," Moore says. "From direct print color coat on the corrugated from our Fort Worth facility to us printing on it with our flexographic printer to a lithographic label printed offsite is all in just that one display. And that's probably a perfect example of what we go through to get the right quality at the right price for the job."

Mitchell adds, "The ability to take the display project from design, manufacturing, assembly, and fulfillment has been a key aspect to growing our business. Our customers rely on our services a great deal, and we work very hard to ensure that their expectations are consistently met or exceeded."

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By KELLY FERGUSON, V.P., Editorial