You don’t have to be an expert to know that E-Commerce or “distance retail” is experiencing compound growth. The statistics are significantly out of date by the time they are published. Previously growth of between 3.7 to 4.0 percent was expected. DHL’s website is reporting 10.7 percent growth for the sector and that you can bet is already dated; quoting DHL “In 2013 the global distance selling market was worth €616 billion, but will grow annually by 10.7 percent until 2018.”

So, plain, robust, transport friendly, consignment packaging is replacing plastic shopping bags, fancy printed boxes and shopping trolleys to get consumer goods home.
What is the material of choice to satisfy the Amazon.coms and FedExs of this world – naturally it’s corrugated cardboard. It is light, sufficiently robust, fulfilment house compatible, transport efficient, readily available and economic.

Now imagine on top of those credentials there is a new board that is 30% lighter; 30% cheaper; offering increased stiffness, to eliminate corrugated board’s problem of bending in line with the flutes; and facilitates boxes being stamped out of sheets in any orientation to minimise waste.
And it doesn’t stop there. The developers are currently assessing the production savings in energy, water, and transport which will lower the board’s CO² profile. The manufacturing process only requires one pass through the high speed lines, so these savings will also reflect high values.  

This is big. It is believed that this new patented board is the most significant advance in the mechanical efficiency in the corrugated sector for 140 years. A new organisation is being set up to deploy the Design Technology worldwide. Based in the Netherlands, with Scandinavian paper engineers, the developers say that a final block of shares is still available to industry players.

Apart from the enormous savings the new board is expected to penetrate the market very quickly due to its unique and distinctive appearance. Brands that use this board will be seen as environmentally conscience, as consumers will readily identify with the best of breed “green” packaging.   

It’s a game changer. If you currently manufacture corrugated medium, either close shop or get a license to manufacture. Watch this space.