Sappi is expanding its corrugated raw material product line with topliner and fluting with a new containerboard product group Containerboard. Bernd Gelder, Product Group Manager for Containerboard, is responsible for the enlarged product group.
The product group now includes corrugated paper (fluting) and topliner. The bright white Fusion topliner is the primary topliner product, while the cartonboard Algro Design and the new folding carton atelier can also be used as topliners. Weights from 90 g/m2 to 400 g/m2 are available. In Europe, Sappi now also offers the corrugating medium Ultraflute. The fluting was specially developed by Sappi in weights of 125 g/m2 to 165 g/m2 and is manufactured in South Africa for the global market.
"My goal is to establish Sappi as an attractive, long-term and innovative partner in the corrugated card industry with the Containerboard product group," says Bernd Gelder. "The trend toward high-quality yet environmentally friendly packaging solutions offers opportunities for growth for packaging converters and their brand owner clients. We help our customers to exploit these opportunities and make their products stand out from the rest of the market. Our products allow them to be visually distinct, save glue and weight, and make processing more efficient. They also benefit from our reliable service."
Austrian-born Bernd Gelder studied mechanical engineering and started his career as a trainee at speciality paper manufacturers Brigl & Bergmeister, where he worked for many years as Product and Sales Manager. He joined Sappi in 2010 as Sales Manager for Austria, Switzerland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary and the Balkan states. Prior to this, he worked at EnBW Austria, Europapier and Mondi Coatings.
Sappi is continuing to develop the new Containerboard product group. One aspect of development is the range of supported printing processes. With digital printing set to become ever more important in the years ahead, Sappi is collaborating closely with selected digital printing machine manufacturers and is achieving good results with Fusion across various applications.
Another new development is barrier solutions for corrugated card. The MOB liner/Leine Guard with special barrier layer (MOSH/MOAH barrier) has already undergone successful market testing as an inner liner.
