askralph

In late July, 2015, Taryn Pyle and I (Ralph Young ) attended the independently presented Paperboard Packaging Seminar at Clemson University. While this seminar moves around the country, and can be delivered at any facility where there are 15 or more participants, attending at the Clemson location offered additional value and convenience. Andrew Hurley from the Sonoco Institute at Clemson delivered an overview on the psychology of print and color perception. Beyond graphic design is the entire brain’s comprehension of size, shape, design, color, and location of packaging design. This one hour segment was well worth the entire fee for the two day course.

The seminar provided another aspect of fibre based packaging. It was rewarding to discover how closely it aligned and complemented the resources that AICC also provides through The Science of Paper Schools, the DVD on Understanding the Elements of Containerboard Manufacturing, How to Get the Best Box, The Key Characteristics of Linerboard and Medium and Their Impact on Combined Corrugated Board articles from BoxScore, and the AskRalph blog. The aforementioned does not even include the benefits of National Meetings, Regional Meetings, and webinars.

Similarities, which complement and build upon the Science of Paper School and other AICC products, include paper manufacturing, forestry, recycling, sustainability, surface and physical properties of packaging grades and prepress. While the printing process discussions focused more on offset and gravure. They provided an enlightened view of processes beyond the flexo and digital processes more familiar to converters. The instructors shared that flexo and digital were the fastest growing segments of the market especially in the area that they labeled high-resolution flexo at 175 line screen. The segments on sheeting, cutting, creasing and finishing were rather targeted just to the paperboard sector.

In the allotted time the session did not venture into overlapping markets where fine flute corrugated is replacing solid fibre paperboard. Overall a very good course with relevant information that applies to corrugated and folding carton/rigid box.

Phillip asks:

Could you recommend any hands on training classes for first line production supervisors? I can’t seem to find anything.

Training for First Line Supervisors is very import, even more so for first time supervisors. Often these employees are moving up through the ranks from an operator or mechanics position into a position where they now may be supervising those who they used to work beside.

AICC offers a number of training courses throughout the year that focus on production and production management. You can check the AICC Event Calendar for a list of current courses. If the desired courses are not currently on the schedule, you can contact Taryn Pyle at AICC for additional information and on-site training options.

Below are some of the AICC course that may fit your requirements.

Machine Mastery for RDCs and FFGs are courses offered through AICC and presented by Les Pickering. Each seminar is two days in length and address common best practices for RDC and FFG operation. Other topics included in these seminars include,

• Identifying and understanding value and non-value work and process
• Understanding the layout of an area to plan or change the environment to improve productivity
• “Reading” the actions of the operator at job changeover to understand issues with the process.
• Understanding and know best practices to control consistency of color on the run. Control ink quickly at start-up and throughout the run
•  Learn uptime and downtime duties of the operator and the importance of countermeasure items in production.
• How to reduce your job changeover time 20%-50%
• Understand why the process performance is static and learn methods and acquire tools to increase productivity by 20%

Production Leadership for Profit is a two-day training course offered through AICC and presented by Scott Ellis and Scott Heilmann. The course is designed to enhance the attendee’s ability to manage people with confidence and to achieve outstanding performance on the production floor. The management disciplines that will be presented – some of the industry’s best production practices – have been perfected and implemented by numerous production personnel throughout the packaging industry with proven, exceptional results.

This course covers,

•  Leadership Best Practices
•  Time Management Skills
•  Effective Measurement of the Production Process
•  How to Build a Visual Workplace
•  Critical Communication Skills
• Building Accountability and Sustainability in a Company’s Best Practices

In the Spring of 2015 AICC will be introducing a new course focusing on leadership training for department managers and supervisors. Watch aiccbox.org, your email and our BoxScore Magazine to see when this course becomes available.