AICC Southeast Summit (CONT’D FROM PAGE 28)
Board Converting NEWS INTERNET DIRECTORY
tour of his plant. Packrite, which Drummond calls a “pre- mier trade finisher for fluted, high-graphic packaging,” was founded specifically to serve other converters in the industry and not end-users of corrugated packaging. The 20-minute video tour, which will be reprised at AICC’s 2021 Spring Meeting in Amelia Island, was introduced by Drummond and showcased the company’s lineup of Bobst Asitrade, MasterCut and MasterFold converting and finish- ing technology. Box Makers Panel At 3:00 p.m., a panel of four AICC member boxmakers moderated by Mitch Klingher shared both their challeng- es and opportunities during the pandemic year. The panel featured Michael Drummond of Packrite LLC, Ben DeSol- lar of Sumter Packaging, Gary Brewer of Package Crafters, and Howard Bertram of Complete Design and Packaging. Here are the answers to Klinger’s questions: Klingher : 2020 was one of the craziest years ever and it started out terrible for most of you after COVID hit. But it turned out to be one of the best years financially for almost all box makers. What were your challenges and what did you learn from the experience? Bertram : In 2020, we were building our foundation for our digital initiative. We had already invested in our people
ADVANTZWARE www.advantzware.com
Advantzware provides a flexible and comprehensive sys- tem to address the business management needs of the in- dependent box business, as well as the ERP requirements of full scale packaging plants and integrated companies. With modules for estimating, scheduling, production, inven- tory and accounting, this scalable system supports packag- ing plants that produce corrugated boxes, folding cartons, point of purchase displays, assembled partitions, paper- board products, foam fabrication, as well as distribution of packaging supplies. Advantzware has been in operation for over 30 years and continually enhances our system to ad- dress the needs of the industry. AIR CONVEYING CORPORATION www.accfi lter.com Air Conveying Corporation is a recognized leader in the in- dustry of Pneumatic Conveying Systems and has been in business since 1968. As an equipment manufacturer rather than simply a sales organization, we have complete control over the quality of material and products which make up your proposed system. Our equipment is found in Printing, Folding Carton and Corrugated plants throughout the coun- try and the world. Let us build you the best Trim Removal System you ever had. Contact us today. Amtech offers the industry’s most innovative and compre- hensive corrugated and packaging ERP, integrated sched- uling software, and engineered automation technology. For over 30 years, Amtech has remained at the backbone of successful businesses from the independent box makers to the largest integrateds. We keep our customers competitive in an ever-changing economy with options such as custom- er digital storefronts and workflows, business intelligence, automated scheduling for corrugators, converting and ship- ping, proactive roll stock and inventory management, and so much more in an integrated, single vendor environment. APEX INTERNATIONAL www.apex-groupofcompanies.com AMTECH SOFTWARE www.amtechsoftware.com World’s largest Anilox and Glue & Metering roll manufac- turer, providing the widest selection of corrugated engrav- ings and complementary services. Anilox engraving options available from our North American manufacturing facility include elongated 75°, 60°, 45°, plus Apex’s patented GTT technology. Glue rolls are produced with Hardened Stain- less Steel and a max TIR of 10 µ for Single, Double Facers.
and our emphasis on doing high graphics print. We were well pre- pared for something we didn’t know was coming. But to be hon- est, our daily lives didn’t change a whole lot. Obviously, we had to adapt to the changes going on around us where COVID was concerned. We spread people
Howard Bertram
out, took more breaks and cleaned the machinery regu- larly. Regardless, we still had a high percentage of illness but we did the best we could with it. Our challenges were trying to help people our employees’ families and those in our community. We all thought we were going to hit a wall in 2020 and there wasn’t a lot of joy, but from a business perspective, it was a great year. Because we’ve grown so quickly, we’re still challenged by trying to keep up while fortify some labor areas. Brewer : For us, the questions were where was the wall, how high was it and how hard would we hit it? At the end of the year, we ended up slightly down in revenue but the bottom line was shocking- ly good. When the ‘wall started coming at us,’ we controlled our costs. You’ve got to keep your people employed but what’s the right number of people, how do you assign them? We took the self-monitoring approach to deal with COVID and we were Gary Brewer
ALBANY INTERNATIONAL www.albint.com
Albany International has a corrugator belt for every appli- cation. Our reputation for durable performance is the trade- mark of the most dependable belts in service today.
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Aprill 12, 2021
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