Star Corrugated (CONT’D FROM PAGE 22)
Logic Systems knife controller, cutoff accuracy was poor and end trim was required. Because a triplex slitter was used, dry end order changes required the machine to stop. Splicing required slowing down to a crawl, assuming that the splice wasn’t missed altogether, in which case ev- erything came to a screeching halt. Waste and productivity were more appropriate for the early 60s when the equip- ment was installed, than in the mid 80s.
35-inch Koppers flexo was added, and shortly thereafter, a two stage Samuel automatic strapper and Economation finished goods conveyor system were installed. In 1974, Richard Etra, a fourth-generation member of the family joined the firm after five years at Bell Telephone Laboratories. At that time, the company was equipped with 86-inch and 75-inch corrugators, the former of which had double deck A and B XD singlefacers in addition to the “new” S&S single facer, six letterpresses, two flexo folder gluers, a Bostitch automatic folder gluer, a coloring machine, paraffin coater, Miehle and Cotrell cylinder type die cutters, Thompson clamshell die cutter, and a variety of semi-automatic joining equipment.
Above, the Marquip stacker discharge; below, is the stacker.
Die cutting was on the first floor, but the corrugators and converting equipment were on the second floor. Roll stock was delivered by the overhead crane to a balco- ny adjacent to the corrugator, and finished goods were brought downstairs via freight elevators. Although press and corrugator scrap were collected pneumatically, die cut scrap was collected in bins and conveyed manually to the baler which was a labor-intensive upstroke baler. In 1975, Etra installed a new Ward rotary die cutter which overwhelmed the scrap system. Within a few years that led to reconfiguration and conveyorization of the die cutting department, and the installation of a new scrap handling system including cycled scrap pickups and a belt-in-floor trench system in the die cutting department. At that time an S&S Model 707 flexo folder/gluer was in- stalled; making space for this flexo required decluttering, so the ZA, ZB, Bostitch folder gluer, and paraffin machine were eliminated. The plant now operated six presses and three flexos: one 50-inch and two mid-sizes. By the mid 80s, it was clear that the plant needed an upgrade, as its equipment was dated and/or showing its age, so Etra approached his family for permission to pro- ceed. It was clear that the upgrade had to begin with the cor- rugator. Star’s oldest 75-inch corrugator still used shaft type roll stands, and its newest still utilized a motor gen- erator set on the double facer and a Reeves mechanical drive to adjust cut length on the cutoff knife; even with a The Langston double facer tail drum and Marquip shear.
Etra and the production manager, Rick Palumbo, began the process by relaying out the second floor, eliminating all but two letterpresses, and converting the remaining two to flexo. Largely due to the location of the paper warehouse, the only practical location was to place the new corrugator in that of the existing primary 86-inch corrugator. Not only would that require shutting down the corrugator for a pro- longed period, but there were other significant challenges. A new state-of-the-art corrugator was considerably longer than the existing one, columns were closely spaced, and overhead clearance was only fourteen feet—problematic given the requirements of modern bridges and stackers. Furthermore, moving the equipment into landlocked posi- tion on the second floor was seemingly impossible. Simultaneously, Jim Stevenson, previously president of the CID project, was retained to assist in selecting equip- ment, and the team began working on a phased plan to revamp the second floor, leaving only the flexos in place. Because of its extreme weight and second floor location, Fred Severud of Severud Associates, the structural engi- neering firm involved in the design of the St. Louis Arch
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April 21, 2025
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