Sheetplant

6-7 March 2006, Stratford Manor Hotel, Stratford-Upon-Avon

SPA meets at Stratford

Members of the UK’s Sheet Plant Association have been given an exclusive update on the new regulations relating to both Packaging Waste and Control of Noise at Work, just two of the topics covered at the recent SPA Conference. Held at the Stratford Manor Hotel on March 6th and 7th 2006, the conference, which preceded the SPA Annual General Meeting, also gave members an opportunity to catch up on the latest developments in machinery and services.

Opening the meeting, Chairman Mr Graham Sutherland welcomed delegates representing sheet plants and sheet feeders, as well as machinery and service providers. Among the guests attending the conference was Mr Neil Whipp, representing both Pro Carton, (the European Association of Carton Manufacturers and Cartonboard Mills) and BPIF Carton, the latter being a special interest group within the British Printing Industries Federation. He told the delegates, ‘We feel that we share a great deal of common ground. Many of the problems facing the folding carton industry are the same as those confronting the corrugated board industry, and we are keen to find ways of working together.’

Important changes to UK Packaging Waste Regulations

First proposed in August 1992 and implemented in June 1996, the European Packaging Directive (94/62/EC) was an EU initiative aimed at harmonising the identification of packaging and at minimising packaging waste. The Directive required that national governments put in place a system of producer responsibility for the return and collection of used packaging, and the UK government chose to establish a system of shared producer responsibility with a legal requirement to comply. Originally introduced in March 1997 and implemented in January 1998 as the Producer Responsibility Obligations (Packaging Waste) Regulations 1997, in December 2005 this was replaced by the consolidated Producer Responsibility Obligations (Packaging Waste) Regulations 2005.
From the outset, the regulations have required obligated businesses to recycle, or cause to be recycled, a fixed percentage of the packaging materials that they handle, but most have chosen to enter into a contract with companies that undertake to take over the legal responsibility for meeting their obligations. One such compliance partner is not-for-profit company Paperpak, whose Chief Executive Mr Geoff Butterworth gave SPA delegates a summary of the latest changes.

During 2005 the UK Government undertook a series of consultations aimed at deciding how the UK would meet new recycling targets due for implementation in 2008. Mr Butterworth told the meeting, ‘New regulations will apply from January 1st 2006, but they will apply retrospectively to 2005. The changes are aimed at capturing previously unreported tonnage, but there are also modifications that should make things easier for smaller businesses.’

All businesses in the UK having a turnover of more than £2 million and handling more than 50 tonnes packaging per year are obliged to comply with the regulations, but, said Mr Butterworth, ‘An estimated 150,000 to 200,000 tonnes of packaging slips through the net simply because franchisees fall below this turnover threshold. Franchisors of businesses such as McDonalds, Wimpey, Pizza Hut etc, and of some pub chains, will now be re-christened ‘licensors’, and will be responsible for the reporting and recycling of packaging waste handled by their franchisees.’

Other categories of previously ‘lost’ packaging in the form of leased packaging such as wooden or plastic pallets will also now be drawn into the regulations. Mr Butterworth explained, ‘Hitherto, a company that leased such items from a provider would pick up only the raw material and converting responsibilities, simply because they did not own the packaging material concerned. That left the packer-filler and retailer responsibilities unallocated, and it will be interesting to see how the major leasing companies accept their new responsibility, which is to pick up an 85% obligation on the weight of all the packaging that they lease to their customers.’

Important news for Sheet Plant Association members comes in the form of a new compliance option open to small businesses, which, although it will be of benefit to some companies whose turnover is less than £5 million, will actually have the effect of reducing the amount of packaging waste recycled in the UK. ‘From 2006′, said Mr Butterworth, ’smaller businesses will be able to opt to calculate their obligation using an allocation method, which for this year will amount to 25 tonnes per £1 million of turnover. It is self-evident that any company that calculates that their obligation will cost less under the allocation method will use it, and if will cost more, they won’t! The cut-off point at which it becomes cost-effective for a £3 million turnover company to switch is around 39 tonnes of obligation, but the change of method must be for a minimum of three years.’

Rotacut update

Mr John Hamer, Sales Manager of UK machinery manufacturer Corserve Ltd, told the meeting that much of the corrugated industry is still using the equipment that he saw when he joined the industry in 1979. He went on, ‘Many of the converters who did re-invest had to contend with a small army of white coated technicians in order to support the new digitally controlled machines, not to mention the additional maintenance required. Recognising the need for a fast, accurate and efficient lead-edge feeder and a world class large format rotary die-cutter, Corserve set out to design equipment that would be more reliable, and with reduced maintenance and operator skills requirements.’

£2.5 million later, Corserve launched the Rotacut, a chainless, gearless servo-controlled range of rotary die-cutters that double as a slitter scorer. Says Mr Hamer, ‘Rotacut has the advantages of a rotary die-cutter without some of the disadvantages, and more and more we are also replacing flat bed machines. We are about to install a second machine for a plant in Ireland that will replace two modern auto-platens, and this company is already considering a third installation for later this year. We have a UK customer producing 350,000 pizza discs per day with no edge trim. The Rotacut will handle a blank longer than the circumference of the drum - we have a US customer producing 210 inch (5.4 m) long wraps using no more than 9 amps of power! One of our clients is producing a whole range of long, narrow five panel wraps up to 4000mm long, all using the same tool and using the software to change the length - he is now actively seeking such work, which previously required a different forme for each length. The ends of the wrap are cut using the same tool, and the length is taken care of in the machine setting. Rotacut can also be used as a slitter/scorer, and is so accurate that reverse scores can be produced using a double pass. The new 20 kw drive version enables even larger cases and die-cuts to be produced from a wider range of plastic and fibre based materials. In many instances, our customers are now using a Rotacut as their prime converting machine, and many are complementing its capabilities by using our Rotaprint printer, either in-line or off-line.’

Performance packaging for sheet plants

In the UK, the nominal grammage configuration of corrugated materials may now be only an approximation of the make-up of the board, and a grade such as 150 kraft/test might have test liner 3 and kraft liners down to 135 grammes per square metre. The advent of multi-ply liners and continuing improvements in fibre selection have brought about enhancements in board performance that have allowed progressive reductions in fluting and liner weight to take place.

Recognising that this is a fact of life allowed Mr Arwel Cooksey of UK sheet feeder Western Corrugated to argue that the industry should consider the possibility of specifying board by performance rather than weight. He said, ‘Our paper suppliers no longer have to lay down a thick blanket of pulp in order to guarantee performance. They are capable of laying down a relatively thin blanket of pulp, using fibres that have been highly processed. In parallel with these improvements in paper performance, there have also been developments in the manufacture of corrugated board. The advances in starch technology and in single facer and double backer design have been phenomenal, and as a consequence, the paper is treated much more gently as it progresses through the corrugator, the quality of bond is better, and there is far better flute profile. In many cases, the equipment in use by the sheet plant sector is capable of treating the board with a good deal more respect, so that this improved performance is preserved in the finished box. If we can get past the idea of specifying purely on grammage, we can begin to look at real cost savings right down the line.’

Mr Cooksey argued that, despite improvements in paper performance, we were no less capable in times past of specifying by performance than we are now, but what has changed are the reasons for doing so. He went on, ‘Continued pressure on costs is giving rise to the need for greater vision for cost saving opportunities, and the challenge is to deliver to the customer the best possible packaging solution at the lowest possible supply chain price. Performance packaging is one way of achieving this, but only if there is an understanding between paper suppliers, converters, the packer/fillers and so on down the chain. Over-specifying costs us all money.’

Citing one example of how specification by grade alone costs money, Mr Cooksey pointed to the number of grades run by his company over a three-month period. ‘Just 80 board grades accounted for 96% of our throughput. The remaining 4% was made up of another 132 different board grades! Ultimately, the cost of slowing down the corrugator, and of changing reels, appears as an additional cost somewhere along the supply chain. Let’s not forget that as a sector, we are competing with the integrated plants, and they are already rationalising - the modern packaging market-place does not take prisoners.’

Being different

Mr Neil Osment, whose career includes 21 years in the corrugated industry, believes that, to a lesser or greater extent, everyone is now adopting ‘lean’ principles and ideas. Working with the Manufacturing Advisory Service, a UK Government sponsored aid to business, Neil Osment Associates are specialists in helping companies to take the next steps towards improving performance.

He said, ‘Integrated plants are encroaching into our market, but if we respond on price we will often lose out. Currently we have a large bias towards industrial products in our customer base, but the industrial base of the UK is changing and shrinking as business disappears overseas. What we need are new approaches to find, sustain & grow sales and to give us an edge. This means taking time out to think “where next”, and involving the immediate team in this journey. We need to formulate more ideas and to make a practical strategic plan that we will actually carry out.’

Mr Osment went on to give an overview of a Business Management Programme, outlining the processes involved from benchmarking - where am I starting from and how do I compare with my competitors? - through to implementation - what is the best way to achieve my goals and how do I make it happen? Small to medium enterprises can take advantage of Strategy Development programmes supported by the Manufacturing Advisory Service on a discounted basis.

Control of noise

One or two eyebrows were raised when guest speaker Mr George Bebbington, of Bureau Veritas drew attention to the fact that the latest regulations aimed at preventing hearing loss are entitled ‘The Control of Noise at Work Regulations 2005′. In his opening remarks, he said, ‘Time and again in the past we have carried out noise surveys that have identified problem areas, only to find that nothing has been done to improve the situation when we go back two years later. The emphasis in the new legislation is on ‘control’ rather than on measurement, and as employers, from 6 April 2006 you will have new obligations.’

There are new limits for exposure, and more stringent requirement to carry out risk assessments and to show that an action plan has been formulated where it is shown to be necessary. Most importantly, in future, there must be clear evidence of implementation of such plans.

Five star for suppliers

At the September 2005 SPA conference, it was announced that the successful National Packaging Council Five Star accreditation programme was to be rolled out to include supplier members of the SPA. The scheme is now well established as a means to measure and certify competence in the areas of employee relations, customer relations, supplier relations, health and safety and quality. SPA Chairman Mr Graham Sutherland presented Five Star accreditation certificates to Mr Paul Dade, Operations Director of Abbey Board, and Mr Adrian Swindells and Mr Alan Davies, respectively Operations Director and Systems Manager of Abbey Corrugated.

In closing the conference, Mr Sutherland said, ‘As SPA members I’m sure that we all appreciate the opportunity to talk about the problems that we all face, and to share ideas as to how we go about solving them. In listening to the guest speakers at our conferences, it’s good to know that the presentations can offer a way forward in difficult times. There must be hundreds of sheet plants out there who would benefit from the access that we have to our advisors, and to the training programmes and conferences that deliver real benefits to our industry. From the largest independent groups to the smallest converter, the SPA exists to help us all to continually improve our businesses.’

Don Haines