Field Trip: Lawrence Paper Company

INDD 508 Materials & Processes 

Field Trip Notes
Who is/ what is Lawrence Paper Company?

• Lawrence Paper Company is a retail display and packaging company who also provide industrial and retail design services. Their facility has been established in Lawrence, Kansas for 120 years. 

Products & Services: What do they do/ what do they make?

• Lawrence Paper Company makes retail displays for companies like Pet Co., Walmart, and Target. They also mass produce packaging products as well. Within their company, designers have a close relationship with the sales team in order to problem solve and strategize ways to efficiently make packages and displays in a cost effective manner. 

Vocabulary Terms & Definitions (Materials):

• The raw materials that are used to produce the displays and packages are sourced from companies such as George Pacific International Papers, and Green Pacific Packaging. Lawrence Paper Co. also outsources dying of cardboard and printed texts on some occasions.

• Programs such as SolidWorks and KeyShot are used to render cardboard boxes and shippers that are intended for retail stores.

Forming Technologies:

•  One of the primary machines used within the facility is the Flex-O-Folder-Gluer. Its name describes the job it is tasked with. It flexes boxes into certain shapes an forms, folds them, and glues them as the final stage in the machines cycle.

Cutting Technologies:

• A corrugated roll-cutter is used to cut the boxes after being produced. They also have die-cutting and pad printing as well.

Corrugated Roll-Cutter

Joining Technologies:

• Papers are glued using a corn based adhesive which is not only environmentally friendly, but cheaper. In order to help the process of adhesion, the paper is steamed.

Finishing Technologies:

• Shippers and packages that are sent out to retails stores are dyed using a variation of colors. Within the facility, the primary dyes that are used are red, yellow, green, blue and black. During the process of dying packages and shippers, any excess dyes produced during the process is recycled and repurposed as dye. There are only a few initial selection of colors because a white base can be used to achieve a different colors. 

Overall Impressions/ Epiphanes/ Aha Moments?

• I was impressed by how well organized the facility was as well as how vested the company was in being environmentally friendly. The facility seemed very efficient and the workers seemed to value time. In fact, time and space seemed to be highly valued in the company. Time is saved by keeping the facility organized, while space is valued in the ways in which packages and displays could be produced and shipped out. Keeping that in mind, I guess Lawrence Paper Company compared to the other companies we visited seemed more business oriented. When I think of being business oriented, I think of someone, or something attempting to save on every little thing that is possible. 

Raw paper used to produce displays and packages.

Here, you can see steam being used to help the adhesion process.

Tools that are highly organized for ease of use.