Customer Situation
A major industry-leading national e-commerce retailer faced significant challenges in achieving consistent quality when sealing cartons of varying sizes and weights. The customer, along with the IPG corporate account manager, identified this as a potential area for improvement in their shipping process.
Proposed Solutions
- Perform a proprietary adhesion force to kraft test at each location to measure the force needed to break the bond between tape and corrugate.
- Install IPG’s ET Xtreme® (ETX) tape head for superior wipe-down force, lighter
weight, and increased speed. - Test lighter tape, as ETX’s wipe-down
ability and IPG’s Corru-grip® adhesive
allow it to seal as effectively as heavier
tape. - Install IPG’s iTrack™ low tape/no tape
sensors to capture critical performance
data. Establish a service program for
IPG technical staff to conduct regular
maintenance on equipment and tape
performance.
Results
- Adhesion force to kraft showed 132% more force needed to break the seal with IPG tape than the competitor’s.
- Replaced all competitor tape heads with IPG’s ETX head.
- The ETX tape head enabled customer to move to a lighter tape which provided a 17% material savings.
- IPG installed iTrack™ low tape/no tape sensors allowing the customer to access data to increase efficiencies on each production line.
- IPG’s Cradle to Cradle® Bronze carton sealing tapes allowed the customer to use the tape change to meet their sustainability goals.
- The customer agreed to a service contract for IPG’s technical team to visit locations on a regular basis, ensuring efficient operation of equipment and allowing the customer’s internal maintenance staff to focus on other areas.
- IPG helped the customer achieve minority spend goals by purchasing from a minority owned vendor.
