Muller LCS Blog

The next time you walk to your grocery store, think about the journey each item available has taken. Without proper load security along the way, most of those products would not have survived. From raw ingredients, to processing to distribution, Muller has a history of proudly protecting pallets throughout the supply chain while simultaneously reducing waste and optimizing load containment practices.

More than 30 years ago, the Octopus ring technology was introduced, and while the technology embraced packaging in a new way, the wrapping industry embraced the Octopus. As Corrugated Week launched Sept. 24-27 in Indianapolis, Muller LCS featured the latest generations of Octopus technology at Booth 407.

The packaging industry leaders gathered Sept. 24-27 in Indianapolis to get caught up on everything that has changed in the four years since the last Corrugated Week convened. Managed by industry associations TAPPI and AICC, Corrugated Week brought together the top packaging and shipping experts to assess the state of the industry.

According to the Food Marketing Institute, the average number of items available in a supermarket in 2014 was over 40,000.1 Today that number is even greater. This abundant product availability and diversity poses both advantages and challenges. For the most part, the largest advantage is that it offers consumers more convenience and choice. That’s a great thing. But greater convenience and variety for the consumer creates greater challenges for the food supply chain. To say the food supply chain is extremely complex is an understatement. With safety and quality at the top of any food manufacturer or distributor’s list, multiple solutions to every day challenges must be acquired. At Muller, we have looked at solutions from so many different levels, from raw ingredients to processing and distribution and we believe the possibilities are abundant.

Corrugated boxes aren’t terribly sexy—unless your customer is counting on delivery of your products in one piece, on time and undamaged. That’s when boxes become the last critical link in your manufacturing supply chain.

Welcome to summer! It’s a season of holidays, picnics and the occasional thunderstorm. Rain is the enemy of outdoor plans, but it is fatal to corrugated cardboard. When Lachenmeier debuted its Multi FleXL stretch hood machine at CorrExpo 2017 in Providence, R.I., the goal was to provide the corrugated industry with a water-tight and secure shipping solution for box pallets of all shapes and sizes.

According to the American Trucking Association nearly 70% of all the freight tonnage moved in the U.S. goes on trucks - which equates to 9.2 billion tons of freight annually. In short, that’s a lot of product headed to customer destinations on a daily basis and unfortunately not all arrives as intended. Nearly every manufacturer in every industry understands the importance of properly securing pallet loads for transport. One proverbial wrong turn and the entire load can be damaged.

(December 20, 2016)- The food and beverage industry is high volume—millions upon millions of boxed items alone are packaged every single day. Items damaged through the shipping process are unnecessary losses. Increased product protection provides value to everyone in the food industry all the way down to consumers. But if you only view stretch wrapping as protective, you’re missing out on how wrapping can improve efficiency AND provide a branding opportunity.

Common practice to prevent damaged goods is to contain loads using stretch film. Whether by hand or machine, stretch wrapping pallet loads has been extremely effective for reducing product damage during transport. What are the steps to secure loads in ways that optimize the entire supply chain operation?

(October 5, 2016) - Rotary arms and rotary rings are the obvious choices when wrapping 60+ loads an hour. Although they use the same basic principle to apply stretch film to the pallet, the difference is in the application. What significance does this difference have on speed, footptrint, flexibility, maintenance, safety, and savings?