Corrugated Board

Quality

The quality of a box, be it a regular brown box or a highly printed box, is determined by the quality of the corrugated sheet produced at the corrugator. Characteristics that determine board quality are:

  • The flatness of the sheet in both directions
  • The strength of the sheet
  • The surface smoothness of the sheet
  • The final moisture of the sheet

Flatness of the sheet and the strength (ECT) are requirements for any board grade. The flatter the sheet the easier it is to run through the converting processes. The optimal final moisture of the sheet is important to avoid post-machine warp, cracked scores and for easy converting. The surface smoothness of the sheet is an important characteristic for direct printing.

In addition to providing a competitive edge because of high customer satisfaction, quality board also provides the benefits of reduced waste and higher corrugator and converting speeds.

Production Speed

The speed of the corrugator is a metric that is used for rating most corrugators. Management has a focus on machine speed or the square (feet/meters) of board produced per hour. There is a balance between board quality and machine speed. The quality of the sheet is dependent on the speed of the corrugator and the speed variations due to order changes and wet end changes. Similarly, the speed of the machine is dependent on the quality of the board. Flatter, well-bonded board will tend to run smoother with less downtime due to tear outs, stacker jams, etc.

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VIB Systems GmbH • Am Kreuzstein 80 • 63477 Maintal • Germany • Phone: +49 6109 606-0 • Fax: +49 6109 606-160

VIB Systems, Inc. • 4661-A Hammermill Road • Tucker, GA 30084 • USA • Phone: +1 770 491 8981 • Fax: +1 770 934 5716

Qualitek VIB • 4661-A Hammermill Road • Tucker, GA 30084 • USA • Phone: +1 770 543 0180 • Fax: +1 770 543 0181