Huhtamaki Field Trip

SO there is a business off of K10 on my way into Lawrence called Huhtamaki Inc. I have driven past it many times and was always interested because it looked like a large manufacturer by its exhaust system and building infrastructure. I had assumed it was a Japanese owned Sailboat manufacturer by the logo. (it really looks like a sailboat = I think it one of the worst examples of branding and graphic design I have ever seen) We went there on a field trip and it was interesting that they actually produce paper plates, cups, bowls, and a multitude of other food containers. They say they specialize in shaped paper board products. Their main client is Chinet, although they also make cups and containers for super clients like Subway and McDonalds. Their clients markets are mainly in consumer goods, retails, and foodservice. Huhtamaki is leader in their market, so it’s amazing to see that they are headquartered in Desoto, Kansas. They didn’t appear to harbor any sort of design studio in-house. It seemed that many of the forms were engineered and designed and then the clients send in graphics that are simply applied to the container. Its my thinking that must foster some staff that specialize in design to some level, they just didn’t seem to have a emphasis in it. It doesn’t seem like a place I would find good ID department to work for. This being said, it was an industrial designers dream to a see facility to such scale and capacity! Our tour through the plant was very exiting due to the large volume of product they produce.  One of the most interesting processes we observed was that of the Comfort Cups that are produced in this plant.  These cups are made with insulation built in that keeps the contents hot while protecting the consumer’s hand from burns.  What makes this cup more special is in the way they are produced.  The insulation and the outer liner are applied in the same process that the cups are rolled allowing Huhtamaki to manufacture a high volume. They sat us down with an engineer that gave a fascinating lecture on plastics and materials, what materials they used, why, and what their effects were. We asked about environmental concerns…they seemed to give a pretty straight answer and the recycling problems with their products and that they could do a better a job of materials selection. They placed blame on UNILEVER and Nestle Food Services for being resistant to changes in methods and that ultimately these companies has the power to dictate change (these are the industry food service leaders).  I am sure if you asked UNILEVER or Nestle why they don’t change, they would have some excuse or other person to blame for the lack of change. (One engineer mentioned that it would simply cost a lot to change machines to use the bio friendly plastic and that the plastic would be harder to work with and more costly. The key material that Huhtamaki used in most of its products was bleached white SBS. SBS is a premium paperboard grade produced from bleached virgin fiber. It features a lower stiffness ratio to allow more flexibility in carton design and a consistent, bright appearance for excellent printability. Its an ideal material more commercial food containers, yet has its downsides like toxins and difficulty breaking down. The paper itself in SBS breaks down very quickly….but its not all paper. SBS is laminated on both sides with a Plastic. The plastic used is usually a poly coated with LDPE that makes it water tight when sealing. This water tight property is ideal for making cups and ice cream containers but trapped the normally biodegradable paper between a sandwich of plastic. Engineers there gave a PowerPoint on materials that was very helpful: some of the ones they use are low densisty polyethylene(LDPE),polystyrene,polyester,crystalline PET (CPET), polylacitc acid (PLA), compostable resin, and polypropopylene. Polypropopylene is durable even in high temperatures and its processes include injection and thermoforming. Polystyrene is more brittle and has a poor heat seal, but has great optical clarity. Polyester is tough and durable. Crystalline PET has extreme heat durability and is ovenable. There are also engineered plastics which consists of ultra high molecular density polyethylene (UHMW), acrylics, polycarbonates, and nylon. These plastics are mostly paired with Paper products consist of paperboard which can be bleached white, unbleached, newsback and recycled grades. They also use air expanded form. They used specific forming technologies for the specific container they were making. It was automation machine manufactured, humans were just there inspecting, reloaded machines, moving materials from one machine to another. I really enjoyed the chance to tour their facilities.