FBA Panelists (CONT’D FROM PAGE 22)
Bergwall: We’re a conglomerate with mills, converting sites and recycling sites. We’re now starting to get more applicants, so hiring is improving a little but it is still down significantly and it’s not just among the hourly workforce, it’s across the board. For example, right now we’re see- ing a big gap in IT but overall, I am encouraged by seeing more applicants. Kenyon : Charles, you have facilities in both Canada and the U.S. Do you see any differences in hiring across the border and is there a difference between the U.S. and Ca- nadian workforce. Are they looking for different things? Malo : There are more things that are alike than different. We are also having difficulty in finding and attracting em- ployees. We’ve spent so many years in trying to under- stand what our customers are looking for, but now I think we have to understand what our employees are looking for. That is probably going to make a difference in the fu- ture when it comes to hiring and retaining people. Kenyon : As you’re looking for employees, what do you see as some of the challenges in hiring them? Malo : I see that employees are looking for a good work/ life balance. The environmental issue is also important for people. They want to know where they are working and what our company’s purpose is. And of course, they want to know what’s in it for them. We’re having success in mak- ing sure that locally, we getting our team involved in find- ing the right people for our organization.
has also declined, meaning that people who are coming into the country looking for manufacturing jobs are not ar- riving in the numbers they once were.” Kenyon introduced three executives from FBA member companies — Charles Malo, President and COO of Cas- cades; Tim Bergwall, Division President of Paper Packag- ing at Greif; and Bob McIlvane, President at CEO at The Royal Group — to discuss their challenges and solutions to the serious labor issue facing the corrugated industry. Kenyon : I’m going to ask our three panelists what the la- bor environment looks like for them. Bob, you have a lot of manufacturing facilities and several in the Chicago area, which is a big hub. What are you seeing there? McIlvane : For us, like many others, hiring people contin- ues to be a big issue across the board. The salary gap between what the manufacturing industry is paying versus what the service industry is paying continues to shrink and we as manufacturers can only afford to pay so much. Over the last decades, we’ve been stagnant and the demand for our product has been flat but a lot of other industries have experienced the opposite. They now have the infrastructure and processes in place to hire, train and retain employees and we haven’t had a lot of that in the past few years. As an industry, I think we’re behind in building the infrastructure to retain our employees.
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Do you need printed sheets? We have your answer.. Introducing Heartland’s ColorCorr. This is “flexo-printing in the round”. On our corrugator we can print up to 109” wide. The advantage is that we can print the equivalent of ½ roll at a time and not be required to keep several rolls of very expensive preprinted paper on the floor. Much less waste and risk. In continual print mode, we use either laser-engraved rubber rolls or solid rubber rolls to print a “flood coat” or a repeating pattern. If we are printing a repeating pattern, we can run a two-color design on the paper. Customers have found that running sheets we print can allow them to run a lighter-grade due to reduced caliper loss, and in some cases eliminate one or more machine passes.
For more information contact: Charlie Freeman | 816-500-8889 | cfreeman@heartlandsheets.com Tim Kramer | 816-841-8317 | color@heartlandsheets.com
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April 25, 2022
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