AICC Breaks the ‘Pandemic Ice’ at Southeast Summit in Greensboro, NC

65 Members, Speakers and Guests attend the industry’s first ‘in-person’ meeting since March 2020

AICC, The Independent Packaging Association, hosted its Southeast Summit March 31-April 1 at the Grandover Resort in Greensboro, North Carolina. The meeting, the first “in-person” event for the corrugated and paperboard packaging industries in more than a year, was attended by 65 AICC members and guests. Ben DeSollar, President and CEO of Sumter Packaging, Sumter, SC, and Regional Director for AICC’s Southeast Region, chaired the meeting which featured speakers on the current state of the corrugated and containerboard business, a virtual plant tour of Packrite LLC, as well as a panel of boxmakers talking about how their businesses have fared in the face of the COVID pandemic.

AICC President Mike D’Angelo opened the meeting on the morning of Wednesday, March 31, and welcomed the audience which was seated at socially distanced intervals in the large ballroom. He thanked those attending and presented a brief state of the association, citing a membership retention rate of 94%; a surge in the use of AICC’s online Packaging School, and greater member engagement in the past year on weekly membership zoom calls, virtual tours, converter think tank sessions and the use of the All-Access Pass for education and training. He also introduced the Foundation for Packaging Education, chartered in the fall of 2020 by AICC’s Board of Directors to raise funds for the continued growth and expansion of industry-specific training programs for employees in AICC member companies.

Ben DeSollar, the emcee for the meeting, then introduced AICC Chairman Jay Carman, CEO of The StandFast Group, Carol Stream, Illinois. Carman is the first AICC Chairman to be serving two years in the position since AICC’s Board last fall deferred the normal election of officers and directors due to the pandemic. Carman thanked members for their support of the Association, and commented on the phenomenal spike in demand the past year has placed on the industry. He said that his company, as have many others, has struggled to keep up with customer demand and that AICC’s 2021 Spring Meeting in Amelia Island, Florida, later this month will feature speakers and topics to help members maintain consistency and excellence in serving their customers.

Mitch Klinger, Principal at Klingher-Nadler in Englewood Cliffs, NJ, keynoted the meeting with his presentation called “Looking Ahead at Market Force, Box Demand and How to Strategize.” In it he outlined the current state of the business: positive forces such as high box demand; record profits and elevated levels of capital investment in the industry. On the negative side he cited tightness in the containerboard market with rising prices; supply chain interruptions in other basic materials; a shortage of good people; high-profile ransomware attacks on larger paper producers and, of course, the ongoing pandemic and its uncertainties. Klingher also looked at the effects of high-speed converting on the business as more machinery suppliers roll out equipment with shorter set-up times and faster running speeds. He urged members to

educate themselves and their customers about using lighter weight containerboard as a means to cost reduction and improved performance.

Ralph Young, AICC’s Technical Advisor, picked up on Klingher’s presentation about lighter weight containerboard as he gave a rundown of the current North American paper market, especially the new capacity expected to be coming on stream in the next few years. Noting that nearly all of it is 100% recycled containerboard being made on machines converted from other grades, most notably newsprint, Young said that converters will have an opportunity to source lighter weights not previously available. He, like Klingher, sees a greater value proposition for independents’ customers in understanding and using these grades.

The meeting also featured Michael Drummond, President and Owner of Packrite LLC, High Point, NC, give a virtual tour of his plant. Packrite, which Drummond calls a “premier trade finisher for fluted, high-graphic packaging,” was founded specifically to serve other converters in the industry and not end-users of corrugated packaging. The 20-minute video tour, which will be reprised at AICC’s 2021 Spring Meeting in Amelia Island, was introduced by Drummond and showcased the company’s lineup of Bobst Asitrade, MasterCut and MasterFold converting and finishing technology.

Closing the meeting was a panel of AICC member boxmakers talking about their challenges and opportunities during the pandemic year. Moderated by Mitch Klingher, the panel featured Michael Drummond of Packrite LLC, Gary Brewer of Package Crafters, High Point, NC; Ben DeSollar of Sumter Packaging and Howard Bertram of Complete Design and Packaging of Concord, NC.

An evening reception closed the day and 22 golfers played on the Grandover Resort’s courses on Thursday, April 1.

AICC will host its 2021 Spring Meeting as a live event April 26-28 at the Omni Amelia Island Resort, Amelia Island, Florida. For more information go to www.aiccbox.org/meeting.