Acme Corrugated Box (CONT’D FROM PAGE 1)
mitting but the pandemic hit and work stopped. Like every other box plant, we were busy trying to meet demand but in November of 2020 we said, ‘What are we waiting for?’ and went back to the work of expanding the plant and One of the Acme team’s early discussions was with Jim McLaughlin of WSA USA, a long-time supplier. Acme was one of WSA’s original clients when WSA USA’s first entered the North American market in 2011. McLaughlin was intimately familiar with Acme’s plant and the complex requirements the historic expansion dictated, which is why he accompanied Jeremy Cohen on a site visit to a box plant in Romania to see a vertical WIP storage system by Spanish manufacturer Warak. “When we saw it, we realized immediately that was what we needed,” says Cohen. “Like many other Europe- an box makers, we didn’t have the luxury of building out our plant horizontally, so we went vertical. It was the solu- tion to being able to store about one day’s worth of work at our theoretical maximum, so Jim helped us design our system accordingly.” growing our business.” The Power Of Partners Much of 2019 and 2020 was spent refining and vali- dating the Acme’s overall layout and performance capa- bilities with WSA USA’s 3D Digital Twin Factory Simulator Model using its actual order data. According to McLaugh- lin, “This allowed us to test in simulation every facet of CONTINUED ON PAGE 36
cost. On multiple occasions, we had to temporarily cease operations on the corrugator until we created more space. Bob Cohen tasked his son, Vice President and General Manager, Jeremy Cohen, to lead the massive undertaking with the help of Ryan Stashko, Acme’s Engineering Project
Manager. The pair began the process of investigating the possibilities and scenarios before making the commitment to dive in, begin construction, and procure new equipment. “We had discussions with engineers, architects, attor- neys, builders, contractors, and suppliers,” says Jeremy. “We had to get three zoning variances, then went to per- Acme Corrugated’s headquarters and manufacturing facility.
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August 28, 2023
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