PFFC - December 2008 - (Page 29) Taking Off Pounds Greg Smith, president of Printed Specialties Inc., says PSI’s sustainability efforts extend to its customers, many of whom are striving to meet targets established by the Wal-Mart Scorecard initiative. For example, one customer that sells flower bulbs to stores like Wal-Mart and Home Depot was using corrugated inserts to secure the bulbs during shipment and for in-store displays. But the inserts used a high volume of corrugated and didn’t prevent the bulbs from deflecting and denting the front panel of the box. GREEN CONVERTING Lean and Green It’s all about sustaining the business in a responsible way. —Greg Smith “We went to them and said, ‘You don’t really need to put the corrugated insert into each of those boxes,’” explains Smith. “‘If you let us put patch panels onto the front and back of these boxes, it will reinforce the folding carton and save you the time and effort of putting in the corrugated insert. Plus, it will help with the Wal-Mart Scorecard.’” On its first run of reconfigured boxes, the company was able to replace 120,000 lb of corrugated inserts with just 32,000 lb of patch panels. The company expects to save more on subsequent, much larger runs. “I had no idea that it would take 88,000 pounds off the first run, and they didn’t either,” explains Smith. “It was a good deal all around and really helped them with the WalMart Scorecard, and from a sustainability standpoint, it’s just a smart way of doing business.” WWW.PFFC-ONLINE.COM Most recently, PSI was certified by both the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) and the Sustainable Forest Initiative (SFI) for its use of “environmentally responsible substrates” that come from certified forests. FSC and SFI are the world’s leading nonprofit organizations dedicated to responsible forest management, with FSC being largely a European designation and SFI being popular in North America. To gain certification from these organizations, companies such as PSI must submit to an extensive thirdparty audit on purchasing practices and control systems. Smith says many customers have shown an interest in using recycled stock for their packaging but don’t have the volumes necessary to make it a viable alternative. The use of certified stock, he notes, “allows our customers to make their commitment to the environment clear in their retail packaging. “Recycled stock is really difficult for small companies to get in volume, on the folding carton side at least,” explains Smith. “You have to buy a truckload of it, which we can do, but a lot of our customers just want 5,000 or 6,000 sheets. We service a lot of small- to medium-sized have low or no volatile organic compounds and reclaims all of them. It also uses plastic rather uPrinted Specialties Inc. | than wood pallets, and recycles 5200 Columbia Dr., the wood pallets it does use: a Carrrollton, GA 30117 | local outbound school makes 770-832-1341 | Adirondack chairs out of the www.printedspecialties.com raw materials. “Those are the small things customers, and even the large that hopefully add up,” says companies want smaller runs, Smith. “It’s all about sustainso it actually can be a better ing the business in a responoption than recycled fiber.” sible way. We’re practicing Smith says the new lean manufacturing, which is certification should raise the elimination of waste in all the visibility and benefits of forms. It’s smart business; you working with environmentally don’t waste something if you responsible substrates, among don’t have to.” both converters and their customers, particularly in uSupplier Infot light of the industry’s overall uKomori Corp. | efforts on sustainability. www.komori.com “We’re still trying to PFFC-ASAP 322 educate our customers and uBobst Group | even ourselves about what www.bobstgroup.com the opportunities are and PFFC-ASAP 323 how it can work for the uKohmann GmbH & Co. | customer,” explains Smith. www.window-patcher.com “It’s early, and you can see PFFC-ASAP 324 the mills are still trying to uBrausse Group | get into it and figure out www.brausse.com how to present themselves.” PFFC-ASAP 325 Smith says that in its sustainability efforts, PSI pays close attention to the little Contributing Editor Edward things that can make a big difference, some more obvious Boyle, based in Reading, PA, has covered the converting than others. For example, the company consistently pursues industry for more than 24 years. Contact him at EJB makeready reductions, which Communications; 610-670save time and materials. It 4680; ejbcomm@aol.com. utilizes only chemicals that uConverter Infot Die-cutting (left) and folding/ gluing are accomplished on equipment from Bobst Group. DECEMBER 2008 | 29 http://www.printedspecialties.com http://www.komori.com http://www.bobstgroup.com http://www.window-patcher.com http://www.brausse.com http://WWW.PFFC-ONLINE.COM
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