Akers Packaging (CONT’D FROM PAGE 36)
too big and there simply isn’t the square footage in which to hold them. He also wants a new corrugator to replace the antique Langston, and add high speed converting equipment, so the search continues for a facility in the area that will accommodate all of the above and more. Ideally, it will look like Akers’ operation in Middletown.
that hasn’t been a problem. We’ve now got the capacity to satisfy demand in Tecumseh and Chicago, as well as our plants in Van Wert (Ohio) plant and Sturgis (Michigan).” The decision to invest in Isowa was made easier by the fact that Akers Packaging Service enjoyed prior success with the Japanese manufacturer (U.S. sales, service and support are handled by Phoenix, Arizona based Isowa America) in its Middletown, Ohio, headquarters and man- ufacturing facility, which boasts not one but three Isowa flexos: two Falcons and one Ibis, a 47-inch by 120-inch flexo folder gluer that kicks out 250 sheets per minute. ( Read about Akers success with Isowa machines in its Middletown facility in the 10/14/19 issue of Board Convert- ing News. ) “The operation in Middletown has great capac- ity and is already “world-class,” adds Akey, who credits the plant’s management team with leveraging the advantages of the Isowas. “We definitely could have saved money by going with a different flexo in Tecumseh, but we wouldn’t have the shared knowledge, shared parts, service and support that we have with our Isowa machines,” says Akey. “We can also move our dies between locations. There’s real value in that.” Relocating Chicago Akey says he would like to have one (or two) Isowa flexos in the company’s Chicago plant but machines are
“In the last few months, every building we’ve looked at moving into has been ‘gobbled up’ by Amazon or Walmart,” says Akey. “At first, in 2019, we were going to build an en- tirely new plant. We had a site picked out and had plans An EAM Mosca squaring bundler on one of the production lines in Akers Packaging’s Chicago plant.
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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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www.boardconvertingnews.com
April 4, 2022
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