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GBIG News

March 23rd Newsletter

Green Bay Innovation Group Newsletter 3/23/22

Stay up to date with the latest news, stories, and information on the 5P Industry.

GBIG NEWS | 72 Stories and Links on the Internet 03/23/22

GBIG News

Get links to the latest news, events, stories, and interviews from our 5P news sponsors. Our goal is to remind the decision makers in Wisconsin of the importance of our industry both historically, and more importantly, into the future.

Read the latest 72 Stories and Links on the Internet below.

Wisconsin

Industry

Sponsor

Converters

Russia

Women in Business & Manufacturing – Part 2

A Round Table Overview for GBIG

Hosted by Susan Stansbury, Industry Consultant
Part 2:

Hosted by Susan Stansbury, Industry Consultant

Ann Franz, Director, NEW Manufacturing Alliance

Kristin Manteufel, Director of Marketing, Resource One

Amber Schuh, Vice President, Press Color Inc.

Susan: What are some of the key issues you are seeing in 2022?

Ann Franz: As we promote the manufacturing industry, we are focused on employment, and this year, preparing people to rise to higher levels in business. We have heard that many are “data rich, but information poor.” Working with St. Norbert since 2019, more than 200 professionals improved their data analytical skills; and since then, many more have improved their skills, become more efficient and wise in their work.

Kristin Manteufel: We have been looking forward to coming out of Covid restrictions and seeing optimism in the markets. We have been seeing bids and projects that were on hold being revived. However, there continue to be hurdles such as delayed receipt of raw materials needed to manufacture our products. There are still a lot of unknowns for manufacturers such as staffing shortages, materials on allocation and some force majeure. Once these difficulties can be overcome, shipping becomes an issue with labor shortages and weather events affecting large sections of the US.

Amber Schuh: As an ink and coating manufacturer, the largest issue for 2022 is the uncertainly in the supply chain for raw materials. Constant communication with our vendors is essential for trying to reduce disruptions to our customers. The printing industry continues to see growth in flexible packaging and food packaging markets. Additionally, the market continues to look for advancement in the overall safety and environmental sustainability in the products they purchase.

Susan: Ann, what is the latest you offer to your 200 manufacturing members?

Ann: For middle management people, and others, we plan to offer project management training. In addition, we have female high school students on our radar. This includes a range of females, from STEM students to those in various club activities.

Susan: Kristin, what are some of the holdups in obtaining raw materials?

Kristin: In the paper industry, there have been mill conversions and shutdowns that have influenced what is made, the amount and types of papers being manufactured. These changes a have affected the sourcing of where our printing paper come from for wallpaper and gift-wrap at our Waldan division. Therefore, we have to be smart at sourcing and not have single sourced materials.

Susan: Amber, with your PhD in biochemistry, what are some of the developments you are pursuing?

Amber: Although my day-to-day tasks have taken me a bit away from the biochemical pathways my dissertation was on, I continue to use my Ph.D. experience for experimental design in our research and development pursuits. We tailor our inks and coatings for each individual customer to optimize performance on their specific equipment. Whether that is meeting a customer’s end use resistance requirements, CoF specifications, desired gloss, or a variety of other parameters our lab works one-on-one with our customers for optimization of their inks and coatings. Markets ranging from retail packaging and printing support, to business-to-business supplies, continue to be a focus among Northeast Wisconsin manufacturers.


Look for Part 3 next, featuring three more women with the spotlight on the converting industry.

Rebuild the Wisconsin Paper, Pulp and Forestry Industries

The war created by Russia in Ukraine has created huge issues with the Paper and Pulp Industries in Europe. Russia is a major exporter of oil, natural gas, minerals, pulp, paper and linerboard to Europe. Russia exports of paper, paperboard and pulp were US $2.41 billion during 2020, according to the United Nations. BIV reports that Russia exported $12 billion worth of lumber, logs, pulp, paper and wood pellets in 2021. The volume of packaging paper and paperboard exports from Russia reached 1.35 million metric tons in 2019 with expectations to grow 37.4 percent. Russia exported 2.316 million tons of pulp in 2022.

China had shifted its purchase of pulp to Europe, reducing imports from Russia and the USA over the past 3 years. However, we anticipate that China will go back to Russia due to the sanctions and price concessions. In addition, anticipate China will be purchasing rights to timber resources in Russia. As we see more sanctions, companies in the paper, pulp and related industries will no longer do business with Russia. We see a number of them already pulling out of Russia.

Wisconsin has a great opportunity with the embargo on Russia to supply Europe who is in desperate need of resources for pulp, paper and packaging materials, along with increasing the USA production to support America! Russia usually sends some 180,000-200,000 tons of kraftliner to Europe each year. Ukraine is a big exporter of kraftliner to Europe. Russia accounts for roughly 4% of global pulp exports.

With the strike at UPM, the US market is in desperate need for fine printing paper resources, and we will see less and less paper coming from Europe. The projections for printing papers are to decrease 1-2% over the year. However, that is not the case for 2022. We have seen a lot of demand for printing and packaging papers! With NO PAPER or LIMITED PAPER from Europe, this creates a large market for the USA-based paper manufacturers to support the fine printing paper production.

The USA companies have increased the production of board which could supply the USA and the world market. Wisconsin has a large number of companies in the board and corrugated industries! These are questions for the US-based paper companies to use the Wisconsin resources to rebuild our pulp and paper industries. Obviously, Green Bay Packaging has been a great asset for Wisconsin, setting a great example!

The Green Bay Innovation Group has had some success with finding paper for the printing industry and/or coming up with some alternative solutions. We are building a library of resources to support you. We would like to set up a meeting and invite ALL parties to better understand the impact of paper on the 5P and Converting Industries! The Paper Industry is the backbone of our industries and at this time, it is BROKEN! If you are interested, please send me an email to:

martinpochs@gmail.com or text to: 608-698-3333. We welcome your feedback, too!

Print Pro – Flexographic Printing Capabilities

Print Pro prides itself on exceptional customer service and turnaround time from order entry to delivery.

To continue meeting and exceeding customers needs, we’ve invested in equipment, facilities, and personnel.

Baum Machine – Custom Replacement Secondary Arms for a Paperboard Mill

A Wisconsin paperboard mill had experienced a failure of the Secondary Arms on the reel section. This is where the paper sheet is wound onto a spool that is driven from a reel drum. Continuous production requires that spool changes can occur “on the fly”.

The problem was that the portion of the secondary arm that supports a cam follower broke off. An emergency welding repair had to be made. Unfortunately, the resulting downtime was costly due to lost production hours. Additionally, it was unclear how long the repair would endure before it would fail.

One challenge to the mill was that it had difficulty sourcing a replacement part in a reasonable amount of time. The age of the machine played a factor as well. After contacting Baum Machine and inspecting the reel section, it was determined that they could manufacture new Secondary Arms to meet the customer’s requirements.

On a scheduled down, Baum’s engineering team visited the mill to take measurements for reverse engineering. Since the parts were on the machine, a few critical bore dimensions could not be recorded.

However, it could be possible once they were removed from the machine, but that would lead to more costly downtime for the mill. That problem was solved by proposing to manufacture complete less the critical bores. When the mill had their scheduled down, the parts would be removed and brought to Baum Machine, dimensions recorded, bores completed, and the new Secondary Arms returned to the mill for installation on the same day.

The mill operators were pleased to learn that the new Secondary Arms could be replaced during the course of the scheduled machine down, eliminating unnecessary downtime. Also, the new Arms were made from steel, not a casting, and modified for additional strength.

• Custom replacement part
• Cost-effective solution
• Steel construction
• Longer service life
• Made in the USA

New North – Converting Corridor of the U.S.

#1 State and Region in Paper Production!

For more information, contact Barb LaMue, President and CEO of New North. 920-336-3860.

Converters Expo April 26th-27th, 2022

Special Offer

The Green Bay Innovation Group would like to provide a special offer to members who attend the Converters Expo on April 26-27 at Lambeau Field. Save $50 off the standard rate of $100, and attend the Expo for only $50 with this GBIG members-only code. The Green Bay Innovation Group is a supporting organization to Converters Expo.

GBIG NEWS | 69 Stories and Links on the Internet 03/09/22

Get links to the latest news, events, stories, and interviews from our 5P news sponsors. Our goal is to remind the decision makers in Wisconsin of the importance of our industry both historically, and more importantly, into the future.

Industry

Total U.S. Printing-Writing Paper Shipments Increased 3% in January 2022

The Existential Threat of a U.S. Paper Shortage and its impact on the Wisconsin Printing & Converting Industries.

Looking for Answers to Paper Shortages

Paper shortage now on mainstream agenda and it’s NOW TIME for Wisconsin to act on it!

Amplify to present Print Finishing  & Embellishment Event June 14-16

Paper Shortage: Threat of further extension to UPM strike

Verso financial results

Plastic vs Paper Packaging: The Pros and Cons

Is It Better to Plant Trees or Let Forests Regrow Naturally

UN Plastic Pollution Treaty: Industry giants send powerful single ahead of Environment Assembly

Huge shipping company will no longer move plastic waste

INDA Appoints Jennifer Greenamoyer as New Director of Government Affairs

Cellulosic Fibers: A World of Opportunity

Flexible Packaging Market Know the Untapped Growth Opportunities to 2030

Rising Consumer Spending, Manufacturing Activity to Boost US Packaging Demand

Key issues for the specialty-paper market in 2022

BASF has developed new adhesives for labels that no longer interfere with paper and paperboard recycling

Unlocking Flexible Packaging Opportunities With Digital Printing

How Republicans and Democrats agree on USPA overhaul

Five Trends for Industrial Inkjet Printing in 2022

Printing Impressions annual ranking reveal Worzellas fifth largest book printer – Based out of Stevens Point

Creating good packaging for packaged goods

Bio plastics boom: Global production will triple in five years as Asis dominates.

Stand Up Pouch Packaging – The Perfect Package for Your Product

Wisconsin

Green Bay Innovation Group updated website

$1B from infrastructure plan sets up work to restore polluted sites across Wisconsin, Great Lakes

President Biden to visit Superior next week

Converters Expo April 26-27 Lambeau Field

Kohler – The Winter Village In Wisconsin That Will Enchant You Beyond Words

WDNR Board votes to weaken standard for PFAS in drinking water

Wausau Coated: Paper innovation meets latest label and packaging trends

UW Platteville – New grant to advance entrepreneurial mindset for Platteville engineers

Poll finds people are willing to pay to protect the Great lakes amid rising water concerns

Study finds more than 1M tons of salt is flowing into Lake Michigan each year

4imptrint to Build Solar Array at the Distribution Center

Printing Impressions annual ranking reveal Worzelaas fifth largest book printer – Based out of Stevens Point

Labor

FUTURE FOX CITIES CAREER EXPO

Why everybody’s hiring but nobody’s getting hired – America’s broken hiring system

Workforce and Employment: Reskilling

These tech giants want to help prepare the world for the future of work

Evolve or die: Wisconsin’s labor shortage could last years.

WTC: Race for foreign talent is on: Will U.S. get off the starting line?

Converting

Succession Planning for Label Converting Businesses

Digital Decorating – Where Does It Fit and Where is It Going

Wisconsin Converting, Inc. People, packaging solutions for bag manufacturing

Fox Converting – Coating, Printing, and Custom Converting

Converting Unlimited top-quality carton sealing tape large or small quantities.

Pro-Con: CONVERTING AND LOGISTICS partner for the North American Paper Industry

Bay Converting: Your Private Label/Contract Manufacturer Partner

American Custom Converting Adding Value with Integrity

Vidya Holding has acquired all the assets of Dedicated Converting Group, Inc.

PCMC partners with Fox Valley Flexo services to provide flexographic printing education to the print industry

Appvion highlights culture, expansion in new VideoBite

First Business Bank Promotes Chase Kostichka

Korber offers high efficiency rewinder with short lead time

Graphic Composition: YES, TO THINKING DIFFERENTLY

MWES: Robotic Stack Handling System

Precision Paper Converters: So Long, 2021

Rotocontrol Video

ISG Adds Depth and Expertise to Design and Commissioning Teams

epac: Sustainable Food Packaging Trends in 2022

ASI Welcomes GBIG and the 5P Industries for a Company Tour

ASI Welcomes GBIG and the 5P Industries for a Company Tour

Tour Date: March 24, 2022 at 2:30 p.m. 

Location: 1031 Ontario Road, Green Bay, WI 

1031 Ontario Road 920.468.5477 Green Bay, WI 54311 www.asitti.com 

ASI, Division of Thermal Technologies, Inc., designs and manufactures custom drying, curing,  and cooling equipment for the converting and continuous process industries, including coating  and casting lines, pressure sensitive adhesives and release liners, construction materials, and flexible packaging. We are based in Green Bay, Wisconsin, and have been designing and building drying equipment for over 36 years. We specialize in forced air convection dryers that  transport the web or product using air flotation, roll support, or a belt/conveyor. We build lab line  dryers as small as 36 inches to dryers more than 200 feet long. 

We currently have several dryers on our shop floor in various stages of fabrication, including a 25-foot, single-zone downdraft style dryer for a vinyl casting line and an 83-foot, four-zone roll  support dryer for a battery line. We also have drying systems on our floor for an EPDM rubber  roofing line, as well as an integral plenum dryer system for a digital printing and coating  customer. 

Three-zone drying system for EPDM rubber roofing converting line.

If you are having any drying issues with your current lines or have any upcoming projects, ASI  would love to learn about your processes and how we can help with your drying needs. We  have a dedicated service team that is available for preventive maintenance visits,  troubleshooting, spare parts, installation supervision, startups, and upgrades and retrofits. 

To learn more about ASI and our drying, curing, and cooling systems, visit our website at www.asitti.com or our YouTube page at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLReNB9PlJAY2Ftu60LFk9A

Visit www.greenbayinnovationgroup.com to register!

Green Bay Innovation Group

Bringing Green Bay Companies Together. Green Bay Innovation Group is committed to building an authentic networking experience where innovation can thrive.

Contact Information

Phone: 608-698-3333 
martinpochs@gmail.com
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