Sustainable Packaging
Industry Experts discuss all the new materials and ways that packaging can be more sustainable and how we can do our parts to help recycle and reuse. Sustainable Packaging is and will continue to affect us all in our daily lives. We have lots of fun and get down to the real data of what's working to help our planet!
Sustainable Packaging
Ranpak NEW Sustainable Innovations! (Bryan Boatner)
New Sustainable Packaging machines and materials
Form'it!™ / Cut'it!™ / Decision Tower™ / Pad'it!™ / Lid'it!™ / FillPak Trident™ / Wrap'it! ™
What's the latest in sustainable packaging innovations from Ranpak?
How can you move into semi-automated packaging?
When are you ready for fully automated packaging equipment?
Join us at https://www.xpressreg.net/register/pmat0325/landing.asp?ref=attendees Promat!
Check out our sponsor Orora Packaging Solutions
https://ororapackagingsolutions.com/
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https://ecoimpact.trayak.com/trial-registration
https://www.linkedin.com/in/cory-connors/
I'm here to help you make your packaging more sustainable! Reach out today and I'll get back to you asap.
This podcast is an independent production and the podcast production is an original work of the author. All rights of ownership and reproduction are retained—copyright 2022.
Welcome to Sustainable Packaging with Cory Connors.
Brodie Vander Dussen:And I'm Brodie Vander Dussen. Cory Connors: We're so excited from Ranpak . He is the Global Managing Director of Automation. And you're going to be surprised at how many new innovations and systems Ranpak has coming out soon or have recently come out. what's going on there is a. Total, change in the way that they're doing business, and it's a dramatic improvement. and things were great before. you're gonna see a whole bunch of new options and ideas. So very excited to have Brian on. Welcome, sir.
Bryan Boatner:Great. Thanks so much for having me.
Brodie Vander Dussen:Well, this is, Unfortunately, our first time meeting. Fortunately, we get to start now. but can you tell our listeners and maybe me a little bit more about your background?
Bryan Boatner:Sure. yeah, I've been in the automation and technology industry for over 25 years. actually, I started out as a manufacturing engineer. I was always intrigued by the show, how it's made. And, how different things are manufactured and that's what I, what I studied at school and, had an initial, job at G aircraft engines as a manufacturing engineer. but really the bulk of my career has been spent in machine vision. for about 20 years, I was at Cognex Corporation in a variety of different roles, initially focused on manufacturing automation, but then switching over to logistics and warehouse automation. in. In those roles at Cognex, we were looking at every possible process within the warehouse where you could apply barcode scanning or machine vision, and it gave me a really good foundation for understanding the flow through a warehouse from, incoming goods receiving to put away to picking and the various different ways you can pick orders and then to pack out and ultimately to, shipping and, and outbound. After about 20 years at Cognex in 2020, I, dipped my toe into the waters of, the startup world. there's a lot of, I live in the Boston area. There's a lot of, robotic warehouse automation, companies here. And, I was able to, move to, actually, I, in the last 4 years, I've been to 2 different, warehouse automation companies. And, they're more focused on picking automation. And so I got a really good exposure to the picking automation part of the warehouse. But then, in the last 2 years, where I've been at Ranpak have been all focused on packaging automation. And for me, it's really exciting because I feel like a lot of my career has been focused on studying all parts of the process, really understanding how a warehouse works, but packaging automation, not only Enables you to provide more efficiencies for the customers, but you're actually impacting the actual good that they're producing and what's going to show up in the customer's hands. And, that combined with Ranpak's focus on sustainability. It's really a unique position to be into. Bring new solutions forward, continue our innovation and investment in, automation solutions and sustainability solutions and, launch new products and talk about them. that's a brief history on my background.
Brodie Vander Dussen:Well, I'm excited to get into a little bit more about new products and some of the things that you guys have coming out in this episode.
Bryan Boatner:100%.
Cory Connors:Me too. Right before Brody got on, we were talking about, my first, sale at Orora Packaging was a Ranpak paper system, Ranpak TT machine. So I think, it's, it was such an easy thing to sell because not only was it a cost savings. You didn't have to sweep up after your shift because you're not using peanuts anymore. And I actually had warehouse people, shake my hand and thank me for, and hand me their broom and say, thank you, sir. We are so excited for this. So what this is not a new thing for Ranpak , what you've been doing is spent, I've been in the industry 23 years. I know I think Ranpak has been around much longer than that, but 50 years now. Yeah. Congratulations on that. Sustainability is often seen as a trend, but I think Ranpak has been doing it from day one. Can you speak to that a little bit?
Bryan Boatner:Yeah, I think, it's one of the things that really interested me about coming to work here is that, the identity that they have and always being focused on sustainability. And I think, if you look at successful companies out there that have, endured success over the long haul, it's been those that, that have stayed committed to, Their purpose and what they're all about. And, if you want to have an impact and really, be credible with companies in terms of the solutions that you're bringing to market and the innovations that you're focused on to the extent that you've always been committed to it, I think, just really helps. Reinforce that message. And, Rampak has certainly, exhibited that throughout their history. I'm learning a lot about it as I go, but, there's interestingly, it's a, I mentioned this to, a couple other people that I've talked with just about the company and some of the innovations, but, there's, There's, the TV show Cheers had, the character Cliff Claven. So Cliff Claven was actually played by John Ratzenberger. So I always say this is like a Cliff Claven ism about Rampak, but John Ratzenberger was very focused on sustainability. He was, it was very important to him. So after he. Had his, success in Hollywood. He actually purchased the company, called sizzle. and it made this product that was competitive to those, the peanuts that you mentioned where we had to sweep them up. But this is a fully sustainable solution. It was basically, compressed pieces of paper, and the product was called sizzle. And, he. acquired it and got some momentum going and built it up to the point where Rampak ultimately, acquired them and it became a part of their portfolio for a brief amount of time. I always say that's my cliff clavinism about Rampak is that they actually purchased a solution from, the character that played Cliff Clavin on Cheers. but it, that I think was about. 15 years ago, and, the history of Ranpak goes back, beyond that 35 more years, and it's always been focused on, fiber based, fully sustainable solutions for the packaging industry. so that's like point 1, but the other thing that I like to highlight is there's always been a big focus on innovation. So there's innovation and materials. There's innovation in converting technologies. There's innovation and how do you optimize pack space? and more recently, there's innovations in automation. And, that's is the managing director globally for automation, working on the different solutions, in all of our global regions. And we're not just focused on automation. one part of the warehouse that you can automate from a packaging standpoint. There's a whole, suite of solutions that we've been able to pull together. and they're not all just automation focus. There's also a focus on machine vision again with my history, 20 years at a machine vision company. The fact that we do have vision based technologies that can help with efficiency, Okay. But also help with an enhanced sustainability profile is I think what really is our DNA. It's our core. part of our core values to focus on sustainability solutions and ensure that the innovation that we're focused on is all, aligned to our core mission of Providing more and, I'd say providing the most efficient and, the most breadth of sustainability solutions on the market.
Cory Connors:I think that it's an impressive thing to see all the automation, all the history, everything is paper. Everything's curbside recyclable and, recyclable with the corrugated box. And I think that's a, it's a refreshing thing in packaging. Well done.
Bryan Boatner:yeah, and, with paper, I've learned a lot about sustainability since I've gotten here, but, in terms of why is paper such a great substrate? Well, number 1, it's inherently renewable, and we source all of our. Paper from FSC certified sources, so it's we're ensuring that we're acquiring that from sustainably forested, from sustainable forests. secondly, it is, it's recyclable. and it's regularly recycled after use different than plastics, which, if you look at some of the statistics on how much of plastics are actually recycled, it's actually between 5 and 7%, depending on what studies you're looking at. Whereas, with paper, because it is curbside recyclable and all of the local recycling. Authorities, have, broad support for being able to recycle it. It's up towards, 70 to 80 percent recyclable. And then, the final thing is that it is biodegradable. if it doesn't happen to get recycled, after a few months, it's just, becomes, A part of the earth again, whereas obviously with plastic that can be around for decades and pollute waterways and just have all sorts of negative effects. yeah, it's been a focus for a long amount of time and, the paper fiber really is the most sustainable substrate to work with for those reasons.
Brodie Vander Dussen:I want to touch a little bit more about what you said about innovation within material and product optimization. You have a new product coming out called Pad'it! Can tell us a little bit more about what it is. how was that sustainable.
Bryan Boatner:certainly. And you've probably noticed all of our. Products are named by what they do. So it actually makes it pretty easy to talk about them because, Pad'it! Will place a, a cushioning pad on the bottom of a carton. it comes after a Form'it! Which forms the case or the tray, that's being used for, the packaging operation. And then after we put in the pad, it'll go to a pack station where the items will be packed and then it goes to a. Cut'it! When that is where we cut the carton down and right size it. in the context of that whole flow, Pad'it! enhances sustainability. Number one, by the fact that it uses the, our fiber based, cushioning material. So it's basically. Getting a cushioning pad, placing it in the bottom of a carton. This is typically used by those in those verticals where, cushioning, for, cosmetic products or health and beauty products is really paramount. So that's really where it's seen the most, traction, but, um. so it's providing a sustainable solution by virtue of the fact that we're using a fiber based material for the cushioning. But then, secondly, because it's a part of that overall network of Form'it!, Pad'it! Cut'it! And it's going to a device, a piece of automation that's doing the right sizing, that's where we really see the big sustainability benefits because that. Carton is being right sized. So we're not shipping a bunch of air. we actually sense the height of the materials in the carton before we height reduce it. So we're always assured the maximum amount of void reduction by virtue of how our automation process works. so in that sense, it's, it's a new product that we have, it was, as a result of, customer demand that we had heard from some of our key customers that were using, Form'it! and Cut'it!, but wanted a way. Okay. Where we could automatically insert the cushioning pad into the carton. So it's actually done with a robotic inserter. And then, it moves along to the Cut'it! where it's right sized and, goes out to shipping. the other thing I'd like to note is, so that's one of our, newer products that we've. recently announced, but upcoming at pro mat, which is just in a couple weeks, you'll see the launch of paper wrap. And so if you then take, if you go through that process, form it, you form the case, pat it, you place the, the cushioning pad in there. Yeah, it goes to a manual pack station and then it goes to the cut it where it's right size. All of those cartons now need to be palletized and shipped out. and one of the big areas where I think everyone has always looked at single use plastics being used extensively is in that pallet wrapping process where you're using shrink wrap plastic to wrap pallets. And so what we've, Done is invested in a new technology where you can use paper based wrapping material as opposed to plastic based wrapping material. And again, this is another great example where we're, we're providing efficiencies because there is a fully automated process where it can handle, a pallet from a conveyor and without any manual intervention, fully do the wrapping process, but number 2, it uses these paper fibers and the particular, Paper fiber that we're using is 10 percent stretchable. So there's been significant, research and development done in this space to find a fiber that can actually work well to do, this paper wrapping, because this is not the 1st time the market has seen this type of solution. I do anticipate. There is going to be some skepticism among our customer base as to will this actually provide the same stability as plastic shrink wrap. But number 1, because the paper fiber is 10 percent stretchable, that helps. Secondly, there's a lot of electromechanical innovations as to how we're doing the wrapping. For example, number 1, we're actually folding the paper at the bottom to reinforce it. Number 2, there's a cold glue that's being applied as it's being wrapped. So you have. you know that strength being reinforced upon every rap that's being performed on that pallet and then, number three, there's a fair amount of mechanical engineering that goes into, automatic tensioning of how, how you maintain that tension without pulling it too hard that you're causing a tear, but hard enough that you're really securing all those items on the pallet. And we have all those addressed So really excited to not only, show Pad'it! upcoming here, but also the paper wrap solution, because I think the market is really looking for a solution like this, where you can save all of that single use plastic while at the same time, having an effective process that secures the load and you can have confidence and maintaining shipment integrity as it goes through the supply chain.
Brodie Vander Dussen:And I think to like another benefit of that, that maybe you haven't mentioned, but it's definitely something that I think people should be thinking about is when we talk about packaging, EPR, extended producer responsibility laws, stretch wrap is considered to be a covered material in some of the states so far, and we're expecting it to be part of it. It is considered packaging. And plastic versus paper. In this case, this is a, it might. Okay. Might make sense to switch over when you're looking at it through that lens as well.
Bryan Boatner:Yeah. No, that's certainly a great point to call out. It's a yet another option. We can bring to these customers to enable them
Brodie Vander Dussen:to
Bryan Boatner:conform to the newer regulations that are coming out.
Brodie Vander Dussen:Yeah, absolutely.
Cory Connors:Well said. I was excited to go to your facility in Eigelshoven, Holland, and get to see all these machines working, even some that we can't talk about yet, but I think it was really impressive to see the machine that you were talking about, and to see the decision tower and the Trident machine working in congruence. Can you talk about that innovation? Because I think consumers and customers will be really excited about it.
Bryan Boatner:yeah. So Decision Tower coupled with our Trident and, a converter is a great solution. It's what I'd call a semi automated solution. So it's more, it's for a lot of brownfield customers where they're trying to see where they might benefit from automation. And this is a great, you 1st step towards full automation by employing a semi automated solution. So Decision Tower coupled with Trident, what does that do? 1st step is Decision Tower. That's our vision system. And it's a 2D and 3D based camera that can effectively scan the contents of whatever's inside a carton. And determine the amount of void in that carton. So a lot of customers will typically struggle with, either under packing or over packing the void fill on a carton. The challenges with under packing is that you're sacrificing the cushioning and protection that you're providing in those materials in the carton. the drawback to overfilling is that, it's wasteful and you're actually using material. You don't have to because you're over stuffing the carton. The other issue might be that there's conveyance issues or packability issues with an overfilled carton. Decision Tower solves that problem by scanning the void in the carton, communicating to the to the trident converter. Hey, this is how much paper that needs to be distributed to accurately fill the void within this carton. And then from there, the carton can be processed. So it's still a manual process, but the semi automated nature of it is that you have a vision system that as the carton goes under the vision system, it's being triggered image system takes image of what's in the carton communicates to the tried and exactly how much paper to distribute. And then that can be passed along to the operator. So there's no judgment. In terms of like, should I use more? Should I use less? It, it lessens the training time for new operators just because the system just works. It's going to see what's the amount of void that's there and just pass that along to the operator to pack it out and seal it up for shipment.
Cory Connors:Incredible. Yeah, it's exciting. And you're right that often that position is an entry level position for many companies and training is a steep curve. Whereas this will be very simple and make it much easier for the newer employee. Well, well done. Yeah, great innovation.
Bryan Boatner:And, labor is a lot of the customers we talked to. It's always on their mind. they've, they train good employees that, you know, and finally get them to a point. And then, there's another DC that opens in the area that's offering, 3 more per hour. And then you just have this significant turnover. inherently those jobs, you don't have a lot of turnover and you just, there's a high demand for, For good, warehouse associates and to the extent you can find a solution that's easy to train new people on the market's definitely looking for them because of the turnover, in the industry.
Brodie Vander Dussen:I imagine that's, a huge cost savings as well as a, it's something that just builds brand loyalty to being able to have brand or brand pack, within each of this sections of the process. that's huge. So we've talked about. We've talked about pad it. We've talked about form it. We've talked about, there was another one. Cut it. Cut it. tell me about Print'it!. What does that mean? How does that fit within the process? How is that sustainable?
Bryan Boatner:yeah, certainly. So Print'it! And all of our. Our products are designed with a modular strategy in mind. We recognize that everyone's warehouse process is a little bit different. So we want to ensure that if you want to take advantage of the full line of products that we offer, you can do that. But also, if you want to pick and choose, depending on how your process is laid out, we enable. You to do that as well. So the where Print'it! Fits into the sequences after the cut it. So after we place the lid on the carton, printed enables on demand printing for, for the customers. this is a big trend within packaging right now. There's this, out of box experience that everyone's focused on ensuring they can provide the best out of box experience. Part of that is Just a making sure that the, the package doesn't show, show up, crumpled or damaged. making sure that the contents are not damaged, but also there's a marketing effect of really wowing that customer and reinforcing, a lot of the elements of the brand, to the customer, when they have that. that emotional response to getting a package. every day, when I'm working from home, you'll have the, Amazon and FedEx show up. And, my kids are always, there's that, like, anticipation of like, oh, what showed up? Like, what did, what did mom and dad get us? Or did I get my new shoes or whatever the case may be? Right? there. There. That's real and that's something that I think a lot of customers are trying to ensure that they can continue to achieve and see that result with their own customers. Print'it! Enables this on demand printing. So that if you wanted to get as detailed as customizing each. Package to, printing, a happy birthday message to someone that's getting a package or, be able to print different elements of a seasonal marketing theme that you change throughout the year. Print'it! Enables you to do that down to the box. Now, we've got other solutions out there. Like, called multi lead, for example, where you can, tie in 4 different leads to a cut it. So that's typically more for 3 PLS that have different brands that they're trying to manage through their facility. And if they have brand a, it has 1 lead brand B has another lead. that's a solution that we have, and that's there's a place for that in the market. But what's really exciting about print it is you can customize down to each box that's shipped. So you tie that into your WMS where, the customer that it's going to, maybe depending on the region where you're sending it, you want to apply different graphics or if you want to enable them. To put a birthday message or put a happy holidays message on that carton, you have the full capability to do that. And it's not just a small printer. it's a 12 inch wide printer. It uses inkjet technology. You can do really rich graphics, high resolution. We're really excited about that. We actually are planning to show a demo where you scan a QR code that can send a certain message and then we'll print that message, live on demand at the trade show just to demonstrate the flexibility and the capability of the solution.
Brodie Vander Dussen:That's so cool. We've talked on this podcast a little bit about the power of social media and packaging. I personally, if I find something cool, I post about it just to my friends who do not care, I think when you have a big platforms or if there's something that's customized to you, this like out of box, unboxing experience has really blown up on social media and it's been this new wave of marketing. It's not actually new. It's just a new thing. on what has always been door to door or, friend to friend marketing. So I think having something like that where you could customize per box for per person, per recipient, whether that is a happy birthday to a specific person, I'm posting that if I get something that says happy birthday, Brody, or something that's specific to what I ordered I think that was. It's a marketing benefit that you're going to get from something that's, maybe you wouldn't consider to be something that marketing is not considering when they talk about like the outer box, so that's huge. I'm bummed to miss that trade show to see that in person, but hopefully you'll find a video online or something. Maybe Corey will take one.
Bryan Boatner:For sure, there will be no shortage of those. I can assure you. And, it's interesting. You bring up the point about, marketing because with some of our beta customers that we're trialing this with, some of them are, three PLS and fulfillment houses that are working with a lot of different brands and it's really changing the business model of what they do as fulfillment because now they have, you can almost think of it as like a, as a, as, However, many items they're shipping out per day. Each one of those is a little mini billboard and it's going to, an exact customer where they know, from a marketing standpoint, there's a lot of value there because if, someone's ordering, some health food that, they might be interested in, the latest, sneaker promotion from a, from a shoe brand. one of these fulfillment houses is actually selling, Advertising space on the carton that they're shipping to a customer and by using printed they can, print out a QR code and a message that says, hey, save 15 percent at, shoes dot com or whatever the website might be. And, there's really an enhanced business model. That's a result of just printing technology, which is way more than just a personalized message. And now it's actually a vehicle for these 3 PLS to have another revenue stream by virtue of the innovation that we have with the printed. 10 technology.
Cory Connors:That's
Brodie Vander Dussen:amazing.
Cory Connors:packaging is the final frontier for advertising. I really believe that it is. It is the most intimate experience for a consumer. they are handling it in their hands. They're going to have that opening experience. Like you said, that out of box and it's such a. Such an important part of our lives now, as people get things delivered to their houses more and more, and go to the retail with less and less. this is exciting. I did want to reiterate the fact that we'll be at Promat. that is March 17th through the 20th. I'll be there on the 17th. And, if you're going to the show, you can actually come to the Rampak booth and see this in action. You can type your message on your own, lid and, and I think you get to take it home as a souvenir. So this is a really exciting innovation and be, come see us at the show.
Bryan Boatner:Yeah, we're really excited to show it off and, would welcome you to the booth if you're attending ProMAT.
Brodie Vander Dussen:if you're not going to ProMAT, like me, unfortunately, what's the best way to get in touch? How do I get my own box that says Happy Birthday Brodie in my
Bryan Boatner:production line? we have you covered so, you can, you can find us obviously at Ranpak . com and also via email. It's automation at Ranpak. com and that's, so automation K. com and, we'll be happy to help you out and, let you know where a Print'it! Might fit into your, warehouse process.
Brodie Vander Dussen:That's
Bryan Boatner:great.
Cory Connors:so much, Brian. Appreciate it. All right. Thank you.
