Kruger Packaging’s Legacy (CONT’D FROM PAGE 34)
to pay dividends: PM10’s annual production of XTR liner- board is sold to Kruger’s box plants in Brampton, LaSalle and Etown, with the remainder being sold on the open market in the U.S. and Canada, where it continues to be well received by box producers of all sizes wishing to pro- duce the lightest and strongest boxes possible. Changing Of The Guard “Canada is a great place to be in the container- board business, says Serge Desgagnes, Kruger’s former Vice-President of Containerboard Sales – whose recent retirement was reported in the pages of Board Converting News – citing the fact that U.S. has added about 40 new corrugators in the last couple of years while the last new corrugator in Canada was commissioned more than 10 years ago at Tencorr Packaging Inc. in Brampton. We hav- en’t had the capacity in Canada for several years, which is making the containerboard business very good here now.” The task of assuming Desgagnes’ responsibilities in helping to oversee this “very good containerboard busi- ness” has been assigned to Max Côté, who joined Kruger three-and-a-half years ago as an account manager, main- taining and developing new customer relationships in the Midwest U.S. and Ontario. With Desgagnes’ retirement, Côté is now General Manager of Containerboard Sales for Kruger Packaging and continues to benefit from the men- torship of Desgagnes, who will stay on with the company as a “Special Consultant.”
and completely rebuilt Paper Machine No. 10 (PM10) and in 2017 dedicated it to producing Kruger’s XTR™ 100 percent recycled extra high-performance linerboard and corrugat- ing medium. In 2024, seven years later, XTR has continued to satisfy North American box makers’ demand for light-
weight packaging without compromising strength, perfor- mance, or environmental footprint. Kruger’s investment of more than $250 million in the conversion – then more than twice the average cost of the project – represented a “culture shift” that continues In LaSalle, Kruger runs a 98-inch ‘hybrid’ corrugator with a BHS wet end and an updated Fosber dry end.
CONTINUED ON PAGE 38
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 8, 2024
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