Luxury brands demand white cartonboard with a smooth printing surface that can be easily designed, and a reverse side that can be printed upon. We’re almost there. Korsnäs will launch a new white cartonboard in the first quarter of 2007, and it’s clear that luxury is not cheap. We invested SEK100 million in a new reverse-side coater.
"We have invested in the future with our reverse-side coater," says Ola Karlsson, Frövi White’s project manager. "The reverse-side coater is dimensioned to run the cartonboard machine much faster than is currently the case. Our development efforts are focused on gradually increasing the speed of the machine, meaning that bottlenecks must be handled through new investments. The cartonboard machine at Frövi is currently one of the largest and most modern in the world, and by purchasing it Korsnäs is demonstrating its intention to stay at the forefront in the future as well."
WHITER AND IMPROVED PRINTING SURFACE
The majority of cartonboard production still has a brown reverse-side even though Frövi Bright, with its white quality, has been on the market for about five years. It will be replaced by Frövi White in the first quarter of 2007, which is even whiter and has a coated reverse-side.
"The printing surface is noticeably improved and smoother than Frövi Bright. The aim is for whiteness to increase by about 40%," says Tommy Andersson, R&D specialist within the area of printing. Reverse-side coating was a must for Frövi White. Although Frövi White will be the only product with a coated reverse-side in the Korsnäs product range, the new coating-unit will be used to treat our other grades to improve reverse-side smoothness.
STRONGER CARTONBOARD
Frövi White is a stronger cartonboard in general compared to Frövi Bright. "We achieved this by using bleached long-fibre pulp in the middle layer as well as bulky CTMP pulp," stated Magnus Gyllenrapp, who was responsible for the basic cartonboard development of Frövi White.
"This is an enormous investment, and we have created a niche for ourselves between fully-bleached pulp and GC1 (reverse-side coated FBB)," noted Ola Karlsson. "An investment of this magnitude must be well substantiated. Market analyses have clearly indicated what customers want, and it is upon this knowledge that our development is based. After around 15 trial runs and a great deal of effort, Frövi White is coming soon."