Rand-Whitney, an independent corrugated manufacturer in the US, opened a new manufacturing facility in Boylston, Massachusetts, to meet the growing demand for its packaging products.
The plant enables the company to deliver world-class service and quick turnaround times, ensuring the customers’ operations run smoothly.
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Construction of the facility began in April 2022, and the facility was opened in May 2023.
The project added between 50 and 100 new jobs to the local economy.
Location of Rand-Whitney’s new manufacturing plant
Rand-Whitney chose Boylston as the location for the new facility due to its accessibility to major transportation corridors and the availability of a talent pool.
Rand Whitney’s packaging manufacturing facility details
The facility spans 384,000ft² (35,674m²) within a 61-acre (24.6ha) site. It features efficient robotics and automation equipment and has a manufacturing capacity of 300 million boxes a year.
In addition, the facility features 32 shipping bays and 100,000ft² of storage space.
The site also has two large single-storey warehouses. A 373,500ft² building is occupied by Rand-Whitney and used for cardboard manufacturing and storage while another 297,000ft² building is occupied by Unified Global Packaging Group, a joint venture with Rand-Whitney Container.
Equipment details
Rand-Whitney’s packaging manufacturing facility is equipped with an Apstar RDC high-powered rotary die cutter and a BHS corrugator, which can produce eight million square feet of corrugated board a day. The corrugator accommodates both single and double-wall combinations and utilises automation for optimised process control.
In addition, four converting machines that collectively produce 2.2 billion square feet of corrugated packaging annually are part of the facility.
A wet-end controller ensures consistent quality by storing settings for each job. An autopilot system on the dry end regulates the corrugator boiler and conveyor systems, enabling automatic adjustments and speeds of up to 15 miles per hour (24.1km/h).
Mitsubishi Evol flexo folder gluer (FFG) installed at the facility can produce more than 22,000 boxes an hour. The facility features an Engico dual-size jumbo rotary die cutter with both 66in and 99in die-cutting tool cylinders, robotic load formers, and a twin box slitter placed in line at the end of an FFG.
In addition, the facility features smart carts, an automated system of track-mounted carts designed to transport sheets from the dry end of a corrugator to the pre-feeder of the designated machine.
Rand-Whitney’s product portfolio
Rand-Whitney provides packaging products across three categories, namely corrugated packaging, retail and promotional packaging, and protective packaging.
The corrugated packaging products and services offered by the company include regular slotted containers, shipping containers and inserts, half slotted containers, folders and partitions, custom die-cuts, auto lock bottom (ALB) with speciality glueing, bulk containers, special coatings, flexographic print, lithographic printing, and digital printing.
The company uses corrugated wood, foams, and other protective materials to provide innovative protective packaging solutions. Its products in the protective packaging category include wooden crates and pallets, including knock-down assemblies, reusable crates, cushion pallets and skid mates, shock absorption mounts and skids, and foam inserts for positioning or cushioning.
The retail and promotional packaging range includes floor displays, counter displays, pallet displays, PDQ [pretty darn quick] trays, kiosk displays, product launch kits, marketing sales kits, and prototype packaging.
Furthermore, the company provides customised packaging design, engineering, and testing services.
Sustainability initiatives
The facility is built as a sustainable facility with energy-efficient initiatives and other sustainability features.
Most of the corrugated packaging produced at the facility utilises 100% recycled material and recycled water.
The facility manufactures packaging using 100% post-consumer waste liner board produced at Rand-Whitney’s mill in Connecticut.
It produces 700tpd of recycled linerboard from more than 900t of old corrugated containers. The linerboard is employed to produce high-performance recycled packaging.
