From:Packaging Digest

Vp Don Reggio shows off WestRock’s new all-paper ecommerce solution with an integrated kraft-paper protective insert.

This “smart ecommerce solution” is a case former that uses patented and patent-pending technology to form corrugated cases with an integrated kraft paper liner that eliminates void fill.

The growth and interest in ecommerce was evident at Pack Expo with a number of inventive solutions to make the process speedier and more efficient if not more sustainable. One of the most fascinating was found at the booth of WestRock and its latest member of the company’s Meta series of case-forming equipment, the Meta e.

The new Meta e relies system relies on the Meta series’ “precision mandrel” case forming operation using die-cut blanks with an added twist for ecommerce: An adhesive-strip coated kraft paper sleeve is cut inline from roll and affixed to the inside of the corrugated blank before the case is formed. 

The result is an all-paper, ecommerce-optimized case with a protective kraft insert that provides “blocking and bracing of primary product” without the need for void fill. The entire packaging is 100% recyclable in paper streams.

Don Reggio, vp of marketing, corrugated packaging solutions, says the system outputs 25 cases per minute. He says it will be field-tested soon and that they are “in conversations with a dozen” potential customers.