Better Together: 2024SuperCorrExpo Live! - Episode 1

Welcome to the first of two special SuperCorrExpo 2024 episodes, recorded on site and unscripted at this amazing event.  Maybe you missed this year's SuperCorrExpo... maybe you were there and want to recapture some of the awesome energy... maybe you just love corrugated professionals for the cool and interesting people they are. Whatever the case, this episode is for you!

Our guests include:

Steve Rote, technical development director, Metsä Board Americas:
"We need to adapt to the changing times, whether it's market demands or technology."

Sharon DiRé, senior product marketing manager, Advantive:
"So as circumstances change... the machines automatically update (to) keep things moving efficiently, which helps minimize waste as well."

Igor Tkalenko, CEO, Corruga.expert:
"We get many messages about how to bring young people to the industry, so for    SuperCorrExpo we came up with the idea of... a game."

Gokul Gopakumar, VP, technology and business development, Sun Automation: "It is very important to understand AI as a tool and not mystify it so much."

Jerry Vivlamore, corrugated end of line process application partner, Signode:
"We can provide the customer with a dashboard of how well their equipment is running."

Ludovic Tremblay, product expert, ConformIT:
"You meet people that have been in this industry for 30 years—and for a reason. Once you're in it, you get it."

These conversations were captured at SuperCorrExpo 2024, which was held September 8 - 12 in Orlando, FL. Held only once every four years, SCE is the premier trade show and conference dedicated to the corrugated packaging industry. It is organized by TAPPI and AICC.

SAVE THE DATE for SuperCorrExpo 2028, which will again take place September 8 - 12 in Orlando, FL.

Share, like, and subscribe!  We truly are.... Better Together.

Transcript

SPEAKER_08 0:00

Thanks for tuning in to this special Supercore 2024 episode of Better Together, the Paper 360 podcast. I'm Jan Bottelari, editor of Paper360, and your host for this special episode captured on the event floor in Orlando. Today we are talking to six industry professionals who cover a range of topics incorrugated, including new technologies, new markets, and even a board game exploring this dynamic industry. Our guests are Steve Rote from Metzaboard Americas, Sharon Duray from Advantiv, Igor Klenko from Karuga.expert, Gokul Gopakumar from Sun Automation, Jerry Viv Lamore from Signode, and Ludovic Trembly of Conformit. There's a lot to learn and a lot to cover. So let's get started. Now on Better Together, I'd like to welcome Steve Rote. He's with Metsa Board. Welcome to the podcast, Steve.

SPEAKER_02 1:06

Glad to be here. I'm uh happy to do this.

SPEAKER_08 1:08

Great. Um, you and I were just talking a little bit about the energy on the floor. Now you're a manufacturer with Metsa Board.

SPEAKER_02 1:15

Correct.

SPEAKER_08 1:16

Um, how have you been finding the show so far?

SPEAKER_02 1:19

You know, I I actually think we all missed each other. I believe that uh COVID uh uh really put a damper on all of us visiting each other. And uh, you know, for example, pre-COVID, I actually was 90% travel. Uh now now I'm more like 20%. You know, so this is a great opportunity to really catch up with a lot of customers and friends and and really really establishing the networks and uh talking a lot about getting together again and uh start doing joint seminars or in-house seminars and things like that. So this is the perfect form to start that process.

SPEAKER_08 1:51

Oh, I agree, I agree, and and there's tons of registrants and we've had just really great participation in everything. People aren't just here sort of you know, dully walking around the floor. There's been a lot of engagement.

SPEAKER_02 2:05

I I would agree with that. Uh I left two of my colleagues uh behind, uh, with a good friend of mine who's an engineer and I've known him for a lot of years. And uh, you know, in addition to to you know being engaged, it's also a good opportunity to bring the the newer people in our company to introduce them to uh the people I've known for years and uh kind of uh put them in the the learning process and uh help them develop a a network because we can't all solve problems by ourselves. We have to have a good support system and a good network. So if we don't have the answer, hey, I can pick up the phone and call somebody uh who can help me. Yeah.

SPEAKER_08 2:39

That's terrific. And you have a lot of experience solving problems and and troubleshooting, optimizing for the industry.

SPEAKER_02 2:46

That's right.

SPEAKER_08 2:47

Um, how did you get interested in that sort of role?

SPEAKER_02 2:51

Well, I actually was born into the industry. Uh my father and I had a printing club.

SPEAKER_08 2:55

So you had it you had greatness thrust upon you.

SPEAKER_02 2:58

Whether or not I had a choice uh is is debatable, but uh I'm actually in my 51st uh year of working. Wow.

SPEAKER_08 3:04

So you started as a kindergartner.

SPEAKER_02 3:06

Well, not quite. Uh I I started started in my teens and uh uh uh I've been with Metzah for almost 26 years, and uh, you know, one thing I've learned is no matter what phase of your career, you really need to be adaptable and uh uh don't be afraid to learn, don't resist uh new ideas, and a lot of what I promote, a lot of what I teach, uh uh whether it's with customers or in seminars is you know we need to adapt to the changing times, you know, uh whether it's market demands or technology, and and uh the latest and greatest of course is uh digital technology. Yeah, yeah. And uh, people don't realize yeah, exactly. So on the corrugated side, the corrugating side of the business need to adapt and improve and make changes to accommodate that uh side of the business.

SPEAKER_08 3:51

Yeah, I agree. Um really it's it's not a question of more success, it's a question of succeeding at all.

SPEAKER_02 4:00

Absolutely, I agree.

SPEAKER_08 4:02

Yeah. So tell me, um, is there sort of in the corrugated industry, since there's always so much going on at once and there's always such a focus on productivity and optimization, um what kind of mindset do you have to have to be able to look at this complicated process? What's a great mindset for a troubleshooter in Corrugated?

SPEAKER_02 4:23

That's actually a great question because uh what happens to operators, it's very easy to get tunnel of vision. Uh if you have a problem, whatever it is, uh very easy to get it focused on only one aspect of the machine. The beauty of what I and other uh uh industry consultants do is we can step back and look at the entire process. It's not unusual to point out that by the way, your problem is not uh on the dry end, it actually starts at the wet end. So we we we really need to uh be open-minded, and the the the other advantage too is we just see so many corrugators. Uh uh for many years my territory was uh Canada to Argentina and uh yeah and I work for a company in Europe.

SPEAKER_09 5:04

It's a pretty big territory.

SPEAKER_02 5:06

It is well defined. Uh there's no question about that. But it it does give you an advantage of looking at uh who has solved particular problems and sharing those ideas with with other customers. And uh uh so we we like people to think of us as a resource. You know, we don't want to see you look at us as like, hey, you sell me a good product and that's all well and great, but you know, call us when you have a problem. I get that a lot. I get people calling me all the time, Inspider White Steve, it's it's not your product, but I'm having a problem. Can you help me through it? Absolutely.

SPEAKER_08 5:34

Wow. Well, some what are some of your favorite problems that you've solved then? Either something unusual or some common problems.

SPEAKER_02 5:43

Well, I would I would say the most common problem today is especially due to uh digital is uh producing flatboard. And uh it could be uh uh the the equipment may not be up to snuff. Uh there may be some modifications or recommendations we need to make there. Uh a lot of of course is crew training and already mentioned that uh uh the skill sets are are a problem today and that's a challenge.

SPEAKER_09 6:06

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 6:06

And uh, you know, even uh uh uh the products produced by paper companies like ourselves, and that's subject to variation. So when I go into a corrugating plant, what I explain to people is, you know, I'm here to help you. Uh at the very least, I want to arm you with information to be able to re to reverse engineer a problem that you've had difficulty analyzing. So give you the tools, get the information, and uh you always have me as a resource, but uh uh educate you on where to look and how to identify and how to collect evidence to uh fix the problem so you don't get that repeat problem.

SPEAKER_08 6:41

Right. So really the everything along the process stream influences the next thing along the process stream. Oh, absolutely.

SPEAKER_02 6:48

Yeah.

SPEAKER_08 6:48

So you really the more information you have about all the parts, the more problems you can solve.

SPEAKER_02 6:54

And that's very true. And it's not and I I I focus on corrugating, but uh, you know, if we look at the converting side of the business, uh a lot of our emphasize this, you know, and uh, you know, there are there are some great people on the converting side and they give great seminars. My point is that's great. You you you guys are great or ladies, you're great at what you do, but let's produce good board to work with in the beginning. Otherwise you're kind of chasing uh your tail to solve a problem which started before your department.

SPEAKER_08 7:22

Right. And you might not know that.

SPEAKER_02 7:24

Right.

SPEAKER_08 7:24

So what's maybe the most unusual thing that you've come across where either the problem was staring them in the face or the problem was maybe something that you never would have considered.

SPEAKER_02 7:35

Well and my best example is uh in my training, uh when I start talking about paper temperatures, you know, and boiling point. Well, people don't think about well, boiling point changes with altitude.

SPEAKER_09 7:46

Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_02 7:46

And uh actually a few years ago I visited a corrugating plant in uh La Paz, Bolivia, which is thirteen thousand six hundred six hundred feet above sea level. Okay. So where where you and I are, boiling point's two twelve. Well, they have difficulty, uh cracking, brittle board, and they couldn't they were scratching the heads, and I said, Do you realize that boiling point here is 190 degrees?

SPEAKER_01 8:07

Wow.

SPEAKER_02 8:07

So you need to compensate and adjust for your altitude. So and these are things, these are simple things, but people don't always step back and look at it.

SPEAKER_08 8:14

Right. And again, like what you said, sometimes you need that outside set of eyes to say, Oh, I see where it is.

SPEAKER_02 8:20

Yeah, exactly.

SPEAKER_08 8:21

I see where it is. Well, you're talking about knowledge and training and that knowledge transfer. You know what's a great way that we have found for knowledge transfer is we have Tappy Press, and Tappy Press publishes books, and we have a great new one out called Corrugating Defect Remedy Manual.

SPEAKER_02 8:39

I am somewhat familiar with it. Yes, I have.

SPEAKER_08 8:42

So tell me your role in in developing this.

SPEAKER_02 8:46

Well, uh, yes, my uh my good friend Rick Putsch reached out to me and said, you know, uh we're we're doing a rewrite of the book, and I recommend that Thabby that you can involve on the corrugating side because he and I we've collaborated and worked together for for 20 years, and uh and what I do is uh a prelude to what he is doing, meaning I feed you good sheets and you take them and produce, die kind of and produce beautiful boxes. So uh he reached out to me and said, you know, I think this is a good opportunity and uh you could certainly help. So I actually uh asked a couple of colleagues of mine uh to assist me because I said I don't want to I don't want to make this one pair of eyes. I'd like to see a couple of pair of eyes on it. So we really give you the full opportunity to get uh the full impact as far as uh troubleshooting and what's required.

SPEAKER_08 9:28

Nice, nice. Well, I actually talked to Rick and he was telling me that one thing he likes about the book is that it doesn't only help you pinpoint the defect, it points you toward a remedy.

SPEAKER_02 9:40

That's right, exactly.

SPEAKER_08 9:42

Yeah, so yeah, what's what's a common one that you might find in the book?

SPEAKER_02 9:45

I'd say the most common is warp, and uh there are several reasons for it, and I think the book does a good job uh explaining many of those, uh whether it's starch application or uh moisture content of various paper grades and and having balance sheets. Uh I mean that's a subject we could talk about for a couple hours, obviously. But uh uh I I think it does a good job of steering people in the right direction. I mentioned earlier how people tend to get tunnel vision. I think the book allows people to open up and explore other parts of the process that may be affecting uh the product.

SPEAKER_08 10:18

Yeah, that's really interesting. So before I let you go, let me ask you one more question, just kind of out of the blue. What is something that is not currently being made out of corrugated that you can imagine someday might be made out of corrugated?

SPEAKER_02 10:36

Wow, that's a great question. Um Well, obviously, I am a big advocate of any paper product replacing plastic.

SPEAKER_09 10:44

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 10:45

And uh um there are some folks out there that are are are playing around experimenting with uh waterproof boxes. And uh that's a work in process. I mean, we do the same thing in our own company, uh looking to replace uh uh uh PE products, for example, because they're non-recyclable. So I think there's a good opportunity to, or further development needed to work on bio-based products which are recyclable, uh making uh good vapor barriers or waterproof uh boxes, uh food packaging.

SPEAKER_08 11:17

Food packaging, absolutely.

SPEAKER_02 11:18

I mean I've seen some good progress, but there's still more work to do there.

SPEAKER_08 11:21

That's what makes it exciting, right?

SPEAKER_02 11:22

Exactly. It's never boring.

SPEAKER_08 11:24

Never boring. Well, Steve, it was not boring talking to you. Oh, great, and I really appreciate you stopping by the podcast table.

SPEAKER_02 11:31

Well, thank you so much.

SPEAKER_08 11:35

Well, now I'm pleased to welcome Sharon DeRay. She's with Kiwi Plan, and she's a senior product marketing manager. Sharon, thank you for being on Better Together.

SPEAKER_07 11:45

No, thank you for having me. I'm excited to be here.

SPEAKER_08 11:47

Yeah, it's great to have you. So Kiwi Plan is a name that I've heard a lot around the Corrugated industry. Um, so I know that uh Kiwi Plan has a lot of experience in the industry. What do you do for Corrugators?

SPEAKER_07 12:01

So Kiwi Plan is actually it's a software solution, and it's an integrated MES and ERP solution that it really manages the entire operation for box plants, sheet plants, we're in like for display manufacturing, market display, specialty manufacturing we do. So it really enables like automation through scheduling, transportation, um, all that sort of stuff. It runs everything from making sure the right materials are at the right machines, they're running optimally. We have an ERP system for ordering management, sales management, and all that stuff as well that's integrated within the system.

SPEAKER_08 12:42

So you do a lot for the industry, and that is such a major problem with Incorrugated is getting everything scheduled really efficiently.

SPEAKER_07 12:52

So, yeah, what's great about QB Plan, and I think what sets us apart from any of our competitors is that scheduling is what we do best. It's um automated 24-7 from scheduling machines. So as circumstances change within your floor, or if an order gets canceled, the machines they automatically update. Okay. And they'll move things around, they'll keep each machine running, they'll keep things go moving efficiently, which helps minimize waste as well, but keeps your floor up and running. Um, and then our truck scheduling, which you can also do as it tracks everything that's going through the machines and scheduling, and it'll make sure that trucks are full and optimized before they go out, make sure they have the optimal routes. So you're blowing your carbon footprint across the board and sending out as few as possible maximum.

SPEAKER_08 13:38

That's terrific. You actually anticipated my next question, which was gonna be how hard is it to sort of make changes on the fly? Because that's something that Corrugators are act asked to do a lot.

SPEAKER_07 13:52

Yeah, this does it, it updates. It's like every 15 minutes it continues to update the scheduling system. Yeah.

SPEAKER_08 13:58

That's terrific. Okay, so um is there anything at SuperCore Expo that's new that you're particularly excited about introducing to the industry?

SPEAKER_07 14:09

Yeah, we have a new feature that came out recently and it's uh kind of to help manage sets and kits production. Um so if you think about the core gated displays, like end caps that have sh different shelvings that are part of it, plus the actual, you know, base itself. And our new feature allows you to kind of track them all. You can see everything on one screen, make sure all the right materials get to the same machine, so it's all being produced and then packaged and shipped out together.

SPEAKER_08 14:36

So do you find that your customers in Corrugated are demanding that more often, that they're producing these multi-part kits more often than in the past?

SPEAKER_07 14:48

Um, it was definitely something, I'm assuming I'm kind of new to the industry, but it was something that was asked for. And customers have been waiting for it. So it was exciting when we did finally launch it.

SPEAKER_08 14:59

Yeah, because I see that happening a lot more where it, you know, what people can do with Corrugated and what they can make as far as displays and point of purchase um eye-catching, right? Um the the printing capabilities are always changing and expanding. So I I think that's really an exciting avenue for corrugators right now is getting those those multi-part kits. So yeah.

SPEAKER_07 15:29

Yeah, and I think and I think there's gonna be demand for it, because being that I'm in marketing, you know, everyone's trying to cut through the clutter, and that's one way that they do it on on retail floors.

SPEAKER_08 15:41

So um, Sharon, I know that Kiwi Plans been in the industry for a long time. So um I'm assuming this is not Kiwi Plans for Supercore X, Pop.

SPEAKER_07 15:50

It's not Kiwi Plans. Kiwi Plant has been here before. It's the first time Kiwi Plans here as part of the Advantive family. Oh. So it's under the Advantage Brellum now. It was purchased. Yeah, so it's the first time we're here as Advantive as a company. Oh, okay. But the Kiwi Plan solution has been here for years.

SPEAKER_08 16:06

Yeah, and how are you finding the show so far?

SPEAKER_07 16:08

I find it. This is my first one. I find it absolutely amazing. Um the stuff that people showcase here is phenomenal. I was walking around looking at all the machines. Yeah. Educating myself.

SPEAKER_08 16:19

Oh, yeah. So that was really interesting. Learn something particularly eye-opening. And I know it's only your second morning, so it's you haven't been here that long.

SPEAKER_07 16:28

Um I think what I noticed here as I as I walked around was really seeing the um digital, digital printing coming into the space a lot. Yeah. And seeing that come to the forefront in a lot of the machines and the capabilities.

SPEAKER_08 16:41

Yeah, I think there are just so many avenues that you can take with digital. Yeah. Really opens things up. Exactly.

SPEAKER_07 16:47

So I saw a lot of that.

SPEAKER_08 16:49

Yeah. So And has the booth traffic been good for for Kiwi Plans?

SPEAKER_07 16:53

Yeah, actually, it's been great.

SPEAKER_08 16:54

That's true.

SPEAKER_07 16:55

Quite a few demos. We have a great video playing at our booth too, if anyone wants to stop by. That's great.

SPEAKER_08 16:59

1931. Oh, I love it. I love it. This show will probably drop after. Oh, okay. But hopefully, Kiwi Plan will be back at future Corrugated events. And so always check out their booth and you can get demos there. What do you like most about working with Corrugated so far? You say you're a little new to the industry.

SPEAKER_07 17:20

I am. I think what I like about it is it's a very small but tight-knit group. Mm-hmm. Yeah, I think that makes it it, that makes it interesting.

SPEAKER_08 17:29

I hear that a lot. I hear that a lot. So any last thoughts from you before I let you go? Um, I know you're a little new to the industry. Um, you're already working with customers, you've already been out on the shelf floor. Is there anything that you see in the future that could be made out of corrugated that's not being made out of corrugated right now?

SPEAKER_07 17:50

That's a good question. I could see some furniture being made out of corrugated.

SPEAKER_08 17:54

My gosh, you were not the first person to tell me that. And I've seen some furniture on the floor made out of corrugated.

SPEAKER_07 18:01

Oh, I haven't. I I maybe I missed that part, then I'll have to go see if I can find it.

SPEAKER_08 18:05

I think that's a great answer because I think particularly um it's easy to move, it's easy to pack, it's easy to right? It's recyclable if you change your mind. It's lightweight. It's lightweight. Absolutely. Man, there's did you see our rocket ship over here?

SPEAKER_07 18:20

No, I'll have to go check it out. I definitely want to see that. Um I think I saw um a lion in there though.

SPEAKER_08 18:26

Oh, cool. I'll have to check that out. I don't think I saw that yet. You can't do the whole floor at once, right? No, you can't. It's too big. It's too big. It's too big. Well, Sharon, thank you for sharing your enthusiasm and your excitement about the corrugated industry. Thank you for what Kiwi Plan does to help corrugators get scheduled. And I really appreciate you being here on Better Together. Yeah, thank you for having me. And now I'll welcome Nadia and Igor Tlenko. They're with Corriga Expert, which is an online magazine that had previously served the Eastern European corrugated industry. But as we know, there's a war going on in Ukraine right now, and that has deeply impacted the corrugated industry there. And I hope you can tell us a little about that. Igor and Nadia, thank you for coming on to Better Together.

SPEAKER_05 19:20

Thank you, Jane. Uh we are from Kyiv. And now uh that we want to we we understand that uh all worlds are tired from our war. But now I see that missiles come to Kyiv now in this moment. And we have our ch children in the in Kyiv and uh and of course we can't can't think about but I'm I'm stuck. I I'm I must focus in my in corrugated industry. Well that's uh that that's we we uh I I'm journalist and I I'm start in uh millennium like twenty-five twenty four twenty-five maybe years. I'm writing only about korrugated board. Right. It's uh um unusual for our market. Um and we uh I create first uh korrugated board magazine in uh uh our area 15 countries of Sovjet Union, it's Russia, Ukraine. But this magazine like what is in Kiv in Kiv um Ukraine and our audience was about uh four hundred uh korrugated vårtproducers like plants in uh this country, yeah. And um yes, and it was plants and this uh audience uh the work employee of this and owners all this plant. And uh we write uh about corrugated corrugated industry, corrugated board in uh Russian language, right? And then now uh now we have uh war like big mess, and uh we have many partners in Russia who support Ukraine and who support us uh in this situation, but now it's a it's dangerous, and we like broke it's dangerous to communicate with some Russia partner because uh dangerous for them and for for for Russian people and for Ukrainian too, because uh everybody looking for for spy. Sorry that I talk not not about corrugated uh

SPEAKER_08 22:01

It's it is about the corrugated industry because it is a necessary industry. It must go on in spite of the incredible hardships that you're facing. So you're now publishing in English, is that correct?

SPEAKER_05 22:17

Yes, it uh this situation push us to um prepare more information, more news about uh situation in Ukraine, the corrugated industry, and because uh in Ukraine, in East Ukraine was destroyed about thirty thirty uh percent of uh the capacity uh my goodness industry. Yes, it's uh like destroyed uh big plants uh from uh um de a smith and other companies was like Dunapak. Um they lost uh uh it's big big corporation, European corporation. Even some international companies, like you said, yeah, they would they was what destroyed and we uh start preparing this information and make it in in English and push uh like publish it in our our uh resource and uh uh we saw that people uh needed this information. And we start uh well publishing more news in in English uh than in Spanish because we have uh like this Spanish speaker speaker uh our um um uh guy, our partner, and then we use uh Ukraine and the Russian language too, and um that's after two years of war, like like two and a half years of of war, uh we became like new uh forty uh forty thousand uh forty-two thousand subscribers in all the world. But they they use it in LinkedIn, uh uh like in LinkedIn, LinkedIn uh 12,000 people subscribe us, and then we understand that our news maybe from our area or from global area, how we we publish it. It's interesting for uh for our audience uh and and for every everybody. And now uh we we we don't plan it, but we became like little international global magazine.

SPEAKER_08 24:30

Well, I'll make sure we have a link to your website on the landing page for the podcast. Um hopefully sooner rather than later, you'll be ready to rebuild more of that Ukrainian industry. And I understand as a journalist, you're interested in seeing the industry be able to rebuild and come back, like our keynoter was talking about, and attracting young people to the industry. But what I'm really excited about, and uh Nadia can also weigh in on this, is you've developed something really interesting to possibly help people learn about corrugated industry, to help young people become attracted to the corrugated industry, and to see how interesting it can be. And tell me a little about that. It's a game.

SPEAKER_06 25:21

Yes, I just wanted to tell that we are so excited to be here at uh this show, and so we came up here for this Supercore Expo with the idea of game, Koruga uh game, and I think we are like uh matches with uh uh topping m messages.

SPEAKER_05 25:42

It's this game called we call it Koruga Empire, but there this is Monopoly. Yes, Monopoly, Monopoly game, and uh uh we have uh corrugated box producers.

SPEAKER_08 25:57

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 25:58

Uh and we have uh suppliers of equipment and uh you've really got some of everything on there, yes.

SPEAKER_08 26:07

Yes, so team building it is it's monopoly based.

SPEAKER_05 26:12

Yes, monop monopoly-based based is like uh corrugating uh corrugated plants, plants.

SPEAKER_09 26:17

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 26:18

You see uh uh corrugators, uh you see corrugators uh area, you see uh pedaphy, you see converting area, you see uh storage, and uh uh all this machine, all equipment we we try to to show like for young people or new employee that if they if they start to play this game, they they can learn that they can learn history, they can learn technology, they can learn some something, and and uh we're looking for a really case, uh and this is a funny story. Uh one um corrugated producer uh tell me this story that uh Catholic Pope come to his uh uh like to big mesa in his uh city and church uh like uh priests uh ask him to um create uh chairs, uh chairs from chairs from corruption for listening to the Pope. Uh this is because it must be like half million people in this, and many people who can't stay and because it was in uh uh big public square like public public square and he made it it's um few thousand this this uh corrugated chairs this corrugated chairs because I asked him, Oh, what is it? What's a beautiful chair? And he said, Oh, it's what story that both come and and then this is gonna end and how we can use in this game.

SPEAKER_08 27:49

There's yeah, that's something fun about the game though. As you move your piece around, you collect these cards, you collect different equipment, and then you collect the cards with the the different situations. Can you make this? Do you have the right equipment? Um and so you're you're looking for these real life situations to put on the cards.

SPEAKER_05 28:15

We ask uh um uh exhibitors and and exhibitors, uh exhibition visitors, uh corrugated uh corrugated uh um uh uh producers, and if they hear us and they send us some uh case from those life, of course uh they will be will be in history. Well of corrugated stories.

SPEAKER_08 28:43

I'll have to put a link in the on the on the landing page too. If you have some great stories that you would like to see immortalized in the uh Corga Empire game.

SPEAKER_05 28:53

Some story is like not not happy about its life, like some for example, if uh tsunami come or a typhoon uh and uh like some uh some corrugators build uh corrugated houses or or but our our Ukrainian companies make uh bed for bomb shelters because uh every night uh like uh people uh like we have many refugees, like millions of refugees there, yes, and they sent roof, like free corrugated bed beds for them. And uh that's uh this is like it's it's a life. Yeah, yeah. We we never think that that that's that's war, it's uh realistic uh, but um it's calm.

SPEAKER_08 29:40

But again, we're talking about a game, but we're also talking about an industry, as we said, that has to go on, that has to grow, that has to attract young people, right? Yes, that has to collect these sometimes crazy stories about what we are asked to do. It will attract uh young people. I think so too. Yeah, yeah, it's telling stories is the most powerful way to attract people.

SPEAKER_05 30:08

That's what we what we what we try to do that now in the Yeah, tell your stories.

SPEAKER_06 30:12

Tell your story.

SPEAKER_05 30:14

In in in East European language, in in European language, in all language, but uh and uh we uh the Tapi Tapi was our uh uh partner, support uh advertiser. They always like we we are so grateful for for Tapi and uh for Supercore Expo.

SPEAKER_08 30:34

Well Nadia and Igor, thank you so much for coming on the podcast and sharing your story.

SPEAKER_09 30:41

Thank you, Jen.

SPEAKER_08 30:42

And I look forward it's been great to meet you at this Supercore. And I look forward to the Supercore when you can again bring a bunch of your customers and share their stories as well. Thank you.

SPEAKER_05 30:54

Thank you, Jen.

SPEAKER_08 30:59

I'm here now with Gokel Gopakumar. He's with Sun Automation, he's vice president technology and business development. And um I've spoken with Sun before on the podcast, but you guys always have something new going on. So welcome to the show again.

SPEAKER_04 31:14

Yeah, thanks for having me.

SPEAKER_08 31:15

Gokel, I I don't think I've ever spoken with you though.

SPEAKER_04 31:18

Sure, yeah, I think I believe this is my first first time.

SPEAKER_08 31:21

Well, welcome then, welcome then. How's the show been going for you and for Sun?

SPEAKER_04 31:25

It it's been a very good show. I think we've got um we've got a great attendance, and I think the uh the the general excitement, um, the energy has been good. It's that's uh it's a kind of loose way to say I people on the supplier side have have really invested a lot of energy in bringing good solutions today, this this year specifically to Supercore. And I think customers have come thirsty for new ideas. So this um it's been a great breeding ground for um you know that that sort of it in both the interest and the demand kind of fits really well. So I I think this has generally been a very um very successful show for us. So yeah, very happy to be here.

SPEAKER_08 32:06

That's terrific to hear. I've been picking up on that same energy and I think you know, there were a few years there in the industry where while the industry didn't have the luxury of stopping, right, there was not a lot of room for connection. Right. You know, there was not a lot of room for improvement. That it was uh a very stressful time, and now I think people are really, as you said, looking for the new ideas, yeah, looking for the new solutions.

SPEAKER_04 32:34

Right. Yeah, and and I think there was um that it was an unprecedented time in history by all accounts, and that introduced uh a level of uncertainty that made it really difficult to pick your head up and look look further.

SPEAKER_06 32:48

Yes.

SPEAKER_04 32:49

Um and there was real needs that no immediate needs. And so um and that became the focus. So it's we're finally around the corner, we're finally able to pick our head up and look ahead, and I think we learned a lot in the last few years about the business, about a lot of different things. I think it's uh it's forced a lot of good change across across different industries, including ours. And yeah, I think that that all of that to say it's put people in a place where they're finally finally able to open their eyes to well, what else can what does it look like in few years? And feel feel confident that they they have the ability to um find find the right solutions for that. So I the n energy is the best word for it. It's not a very objective thing to say. No, it's you know, I know foot traffic or something like that is a good metric of that, but I think you know, I've been to shows before where people are there, but not but they're more worried than they're um than and I think that general that general consensus here is not that way. I think both big and small companies, you know, independence on the integrators, I think they've come here feeling positive.

SPEAKER_08 33:58

I hope I h I think you're true you're correct. I feel it as well, and I hope that really bodes well for our future.

SPEAKER_04 34:04

Well yeah, me too. Me too.

SPEAKER_08 34:06

You you have some working equipment right at the Sun booth, right?

SPEAKER_04 34:09

We do, we do. We we you know, we've always been uh we're constantly looking to solve the problems that customers bring to us. And and in invariably in the last couple of decades, it's been around bringing new automation solutions. Um and one of them one of the most exciting things about what we have here, it's a it's a low tag insert inserter. Okay. It's the it's the last piece on a full production line that isn't automated. There isn't a solution. People have been trying for a long time, um, because it's a it's a difficult problem um to solve with automation. So you know, we were very excited when we found a solution um out of Spain, Algar, and Spain that that are close to to a complete solution in this area area. They've already tested it out, and you know, we're excited to bring it to the to the market here in the US because ph there is an active need. You know, we've we've got uh we've got a smaller workforce than we ever did. And um taking one, especially uh in inserting low tags, is a very repetitive um low-end task in terms of like intensity. But so it even it's not even reducing the the the the person, it's about repositioning them to use do something more valuable. And I think for those for those and multiple other reasons, I think this the solution provides a a a new product that we haven't seen. It's the only one we know of that's working out there, so it's pretty pretty exciting to be.

SPEAKER_08 35:36

That is exciting. And I think that is, and we've heard this many times at this conference because there have been entire sessions devoted to the use of AI. And you know, we've all we're always talking about the use of technology, but it's really not about replacing people. Right. It's about optimizing people.

SPEAKER_04 35:55

100%. And then, you know, in that vein, we've you know, we also have a product named Helios, which we came out with at last supercore. Um which it it was it was cutting edge back then, it still is, because we've we've long felt the need to bring a solution that every box blend can access. Right. Um that may gets them further ahead with the machines they have, with the people they have to help them run more optimally. Um and invariably a solution like that had to be data based, and the problems that needed to be solved needed something f um sophisticated. So we started playing around with machine learning and AI to kind of try and help with that.

SPEAKER_08 36:38

Um and that's at the heart of Helios, that is, yeah, that is what the product is.

SPEAKER_04 36:42

And um, you know, if I'm honest, when we first started talking in 2021 at last supercore, we did talk about AI. And in the past couple years, I I try not to color the the perspective that way because you know, we had the production forum here uh the last couple of days, which was about AI and then you know, lots of talks. It is very important to understand AI as a as a as a tool that you can use uh and not so not mystify it so much. Right. And the reason why we're excited about Helios isn't so much that it has some AI components in it, but I think the exciting thing is it is made for the box plan. Like we haven't been in the industry almost 40 years, exclusively supplying to the corrugated business, have a lot of knowledge here and we've spent a lot of time using that knowledge to customize uh a product that has AI, but the value is that it's from a box plant. It it is from a box plant supplier for a box plant, right? I think that's the key part. There's going to be a lot more, um, it's such a big area of growth. There's gonna be a lot of products out there that is for everybody. Right. But we wanted something that's you know that uh really understands the pains and struggles and the needs of this business. Um and we didn't want it to be something that people had to figure out on their own. And so that's the part we we were able to do with it.

SPEAKER_08 38:02

So what kind of information can the Heliosystem synthesize for a specific corrugator?

SPEAKER_04 38:08

So if you're on a corrugator or or or or a converting machine, what we what we do effectively is collect data off the machine. Um that includes any like settings and real-time data, like anything that's sensor-based over there. We can incorporate or augment with more sensors. Um but invariably we start there and then we also collect information that gives us context for what's happening in the box plane, like what job is running, um and what the what the um what downtime has happened. And the AI piece of it is necessary because it's this is a large volume of information. So we wanted something that could process this without it being expensive, resource intensive, um, and provide you insights to reduce your downtime and prevent failures, which was the first part. And then we've added some features that allow you to optimize your runtime. So allow you to better uh judge whether you're running as good as well as you could at any given point in time.

SPEAKER_08 39:07

Such a low margin in our industry for not getting that right.

SPEAKER_04 39:12

100%.

SPEAKER_08 39:12

You're just leaving money on the table.

SPEAKER_04 39:14

Yeah, and I you know, it was really funny today, two different customers, um, one an integrated and one a small box plan both said the most important thing for them was lead time, delivering on time, not not not even priced, um, which always we've had you know competitive it was it's we've always been competitive there, but it is so competitive on lead time that you really can't afford to make too many mistakes operationally with quality, with uh with machine downtime and paper. So keeping on track of all that, you know, you could do it with a lot more people, but we don't have the luxury of doing that either. So how do you f solving that? That's where you you kind of need to look to look to technology to help you and using the tools that are available um around around AI and machine learning gives you a chance.

SPEAKER_08 40:03

Well, now that it's been in the field for a little while, uh have you been surprised by anything? Has a customer come back, you know, after implementing Helios and said, you know, look what we we can do that even surprised you.

SPEAKER_04 40:18

Yeah, and I I think like when we started off, we were very, very focused because we were machinery-based, like our history is in building machines and building machine-based solutions. Um and because of that, a lot of the uh customer feedback we've gotten were around machines failing or not performing well. So we were very focused on um reducing machine-based downtime. And the most people that people have used to and we all the data we collected for us for that for that reason, but people have been using Helios to improve their production efficiencies in ways, and you know, just today we were talking about uh finding ways to connect what we're collecting in Helios to the contribution of a shift and all these other factors which are wildly different from anything, you know, that we wanted to start with.

SPEAKER_08 41:02

Isn't it fantastic?

SPEAKER_04 41:03

Yeah.

SPEAKER_08 41:04

I always feel like any new technology, you can't 100% predict the way it's going to be used until you get it into the user's hands.

SPEAKER_04 41:13

Yeah.

SPEAKER_08 41:14

And they might surprise you.

SPEAKER_04 41:15

Yeah, and I and I think what we what we also added in trying to get this out there is an ability to quickly access information and make it very and and make it easy to interpret. So those are you know, it may seem small. You may have had information somewhere else. Um, but in the process of what we're doing, we added some color, and that's kind of what I'm seeing is that we've added color in a way that people can interpret information pretty easily. Uh-huh. They can see information from different systems in one place, which before you would have had to print a report out from here and print a report out from there and look at it together. Um and if you want to ask well, what what was happening back then? You can quickly answer that. So that helps a lot of decision makers um make more effective decisions without spending and laboring a lot of time creating, you know, complicated reports and and dedicating complicated resources to that. So that's I think that's been that's allowed people to be flexible.

SPEAKER_08 42:13

Yeah. Well, and then again, you know, frees up their minds for more creative innovation and doing more things. Well, Goku, thank you for being on the podcast today. Uh it's gone quickly, and I really appreciate you sharing what Sun Automation is up to.

SPEAKER_04 42:27

All right, thank you very much for having me.

SPEAKER_08 42:31

Welcome now to Jerry Vivlemore. He's with Signode, and uh Signode is an exhibitor here at Supercore Expo. Jerry, thanks for coming on Better Together.

SPEAKER_01 42:43

You're welcome. Thank you for inviting me.

SPEAKER_08 42:45

Yeah, how's the floor been for you at Signode so far?

SPEAKER_01 42:48

The floor's been great. The traffic this year has been just phenomenal. Um you know, after a a short year after COVID and and then three years off, it it's been a great experience this year.

SPEAKER_08 43:01

Oh, that's terrific to hear. I've been hearing from a lot of my podcast guests that there's just a great energy on the floor.

SPEAKER_01 43:08

Oh, very positive vibe out there. People are very interested in in what's new and and what new things you have to offer.

SPEAKER_08 43:15

I think that's really true. People are finally ready to sort of take those next steps towards the future. It's exciting.

SPEAKER_01 43:22

Yes.

SPEAKER_08 43:23

So tell me something you're really excited about with Cygno that you've brought here to the show to uh show customers.

SPEAKER_01 43:29

The the one thing I'm really excited about is our Internet of Things. And with the Internet of Things, we can have 24 hour monitoring at real time of our equipment. And it if there's a stumble with the equipment, if there's we're starting to see um maybe some slowdowns of speeds of the equipment, that can be online monitored, and and people can now have uh an insight to say, hey, maybe I need to go out and take a look at this, send my maintenance guy. out or my my senior operator say, Hey, maybe I need to clean this a little bit, do some housekeeping, maybe I need to do some preventative maintenance. Before they run into that, oh no, it's down, it's broken.

SPEAKER_08 44:12

Right. So Cygno does a lot of equipment at the end of the line, is that correct?

SPEAKER_01 44:16

Yes, we specialize in end of the line packaging.

SPEAKER_08 44:19

Okay, well what makes it really important do you think for customers to keep an eye on that area?

SPEAKER_01 44:25

Well it everything has to go out through our equipment.

SPEAKER_08 44:28

Hmm.

SPEAKER_01 44:29

It it we have to be able to package that equipment to hold it securely while it's in that truck or on a train or maybe even on a boat across the ocean.

SPEAKER_08 44:38

Oh yeah.

SPEAKER_01 44:39

So it it's really important for our customers to know that we have solid equipment to be able to supply uh strapping and wrapping and be able to uh contain their products while it's in transit. It reminds me of when I was a kid my brother and I would be like well you touched it last exactly okay well that's true and are you finding that customers are shipping farther than they than they used to um you know shipping farther I I'm not have a real good insight on that but definitely shipping more right um you know with all the automated companies now that are processing online orders and whatnot everything is shipped in a corrugated box today. Yeah. So we really have to um ensure that that corrugated box makes it to its end user.

SPEAKER_08 45:33

Right absolutely absolutely there's a lot of um I think a lot more tightness in the supply chain too people are much more interested in getting things exactly when they want it. There's less of a room for error I think. Oh absolutely um you know we we all um we all want real time answers and real time you know we we want products now right and you have to have that in a corrugated way what are your c what are you hearing from customers about what they hope to achieve with Signode Um you know they hope to achieve that that we can live up to our reputation and and we can supply them with a product that's gonna contain their product throughout transit to their customers.

SPEAKER_09 46:19

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 46:20

And you know part of that is our fabulous service team that is able to get out there and help maintain and actually train you know internal maintenance people um operators and so forth in order to use our equipment maintain our equipment um and and we can supply guys to help fix that equipment as well.

SPEAKER_08 46:40

Yeah I don't I don't know if you were in our executive panel this morning, but there was a lot of talk about working with equipment suppliers and asking them to you know not only provide the equipment itself and not only provide a way for your customer to get data but to help them understand and use that data.

SPEAKER_01 47:01

Is that something you can help a customer with absolutely so we can provide a customer with a dashboard of how well their equipment is running. And and that's part of the Internet of Things is being able to monitor that equipment 247.

SPEAKER_08 47:14

Right, right.

SPEAKER_01 47:15

Um and one of the other things that we have to offer is we have a brand new facility in Roselle, Illinois. Oh and we actually have a an entire showroom of equipment on the floor.

SPEAKER_08 47:25

Cool.

SPEAKER_01 47:26

And we have large classrooms where we can train our customers now.

SPEAKER_08 47:30

So they can send their whole team out absolutely wow so customers who are interested could just ask you hey can we come by and take a look at what you have on the floor? Absolutely and then do you say what can I do to get you in this news trapper today? Yes ma'am to have you drive it home today.

SPEAKER_01 47:50

That's correct. It and we have working equipment on the floor that we can go out with our customers and you know we can let them operate we can operate that's really neat so they can see it and use it before they actually buy it.

SPEAKER_08 48:04

Oh that's the test drive I like that you offer a test drive well let me ask you this Signote does a lot with as you say the wrapping and the strapping everything you need to sort of send your perfect materials on their way and stay perfect. So what's next?

SPEAKER_01 48:23

Do you see something ahead for the future what is what is Signo looking at in the future absolutely so Signote is is becoming an automation company as well as just a strapping and wrapping company. Oh okay so we're really focusing on the end of the line solutions for uh everything that you can imagine in your qu in your plant. So we're we're building right now automated warehouses so that we can have you know your product comes in it'll get strapped it'll get wrapped it'll go into the warehouse and we don't have anybody operating this this is fully automatic. Wow and when it's time to ship it to a customer the shipping department can select it and the rack will go get it for you and bring it down and then all you've got to do is load it onto your truck.

SPEAKER_08 49:08

Oof I bet a lot of customers who are finding it hard to stay staffed up are interested in those automated solutions.

SPEAKER_01 49:16

Absolutely um you know lit the labor force is shrinking.

SPEAKER_08 49:20

Yeah it's tough.

SPEAKER_01 49:21

And um but we want to be able to help our customers with with any kind of situation like that to to reduce labor that in their plants um and and to bring automation into the mix.

SPEAKER_08 49:33

And keep those human minds more engaged in the creative thinking right? Absolutely I like that I like that is there anything before I let you go Jerry is there anything that you can imagine that's not being made with corrugated right now that you think might be made with corrugated someday? Furniture Oh my goodness you're probably the third person who said that and I think we've seen some on the floor.

SPEAKER_01 50:01

Absolutely and it makes so much sense to me and I think we just had an Olympics where our Olympians actually had corrugated furniture in their dorms.

SPEAKER_08 50:11

They did and I think it's a great use when you when you have so many people to serve like that in this pop-up village I also think there's a lot of opportunity there for um dorm furniture playroom furniture anything that you wish could be recycled after a year or two or and you know change your style. Absolutely who didn't love playing in a refrigerator box when they were a child oh I know I did well Jerry thank you so much for coming on uh Better Together talking about the future what's ahead a lot of automation solutions and a lot of innovation I hope for Signode. Yes you're welcome thank you for having me and now I'd like to welcome Ludovic Trembly he's with Conformit and Ludovic you and I talked at Tapicon as well I was a little surprised to meet you here at Supercore Expo is this your first time at Supercore?

SPEAKER_03 51:09

It is our first time at Supercore it's been great so far.

SPEAKER_08 51:12

Oh that's terrific so tell us a little bit about your product expert for Conformit. Tell us a little about what Conformit does and um why you're here.

SPEAKER_03 51:23

All right so Conformit we provide a Locka tagout solution for the pulp and paper industry. We've been present for the last 35 years with most of the mills in Canada and a lot of the mills in the US as well and we're basically exploring Corrugated because we believe that the solution we've developed and we've had great success in the pulp and paper industry in the mills we think it's a good fit for corrugated but it's trying to understand the people the pain points and figuring out what's the best approach to to show them that this could bring value to their mill or to their facilities.

SPEAKER_08 51:55

Yeah I can't think of a better way to learn about the corrugated industry than by coming to Supercore X absolutely absolutely so tell me a little about who you've met what you've seen on the floor what are you learning about Corrugated?

SPEAKER_03 52:09

So the first realization that we had is compared to like General Mills, it's a lot of smaller facilities smaller companies and just that is a big shock because we're used to dealing with Georgia Pacific West massive companies and then most of the people that we've met family owned business two three facilities maybe four or five so really the completely different vibe from let's say size perspective but same kind of people really nice people you get a good sense of community here so it's it's really nice to see that even though it's a bit uh like a a sub part of the industry yes it's still the same great people.

SPEAKER_08 52:53

Yeah that is true that is true I don't know if that's the tappy effect or I think also it's the finally we can be all together networking again effect that makes people really just excited to meet others.

SPEAKER_03 53:08

Absolutely I think so too. And so what's special we do a bunch of different shows with different industries and what's special with the pot and paper industry in general is just how people like to share experience between each other. Even though they're competitors they will still share knowledge share experiences to make everyone better. It's it's a really special industry for that.

SPEAKER_08 53:28

Yeah and I have heard that from others as well sort of this idea that the rising tide lifts all boats, right?

SPEAKER_09 53:34

Absolutely yeah.

SPEAKER_08 53:35

Well again Tappy is a great place for information sharing um Tappy and AICC both put on this show and it's really all about coming together. Mm-hmm oh yeah okay so lockout tag out I I think another thing um with lockout tagout is there's such an emphasis on safety. Oh yeah absolutely so definitely in Corrugated you are gonna find that same interest in safety and attention to safety um what makes your solution a good fit for Corrugated specifically?

SPEAKER_03 54:09

Specifically for Corrugated I think again compared to the mills where the breadth of our solution and the depth at which we at which we go is a good fit for Corrugated I think it's the simplicity of the solution. It's really easy to stand up really easy to deploy because again these are smaller facilities less employees faster turnaround time so having something that's tedious or hard to deploy like really really doesn't fit the mold. So I think that's really what our major difference is is we can stand up a facility in a matter of a couple days.

SPEAKER_08 54:42

Yeah I think that makes a lot of sense actually and you know our keynoter yesterday um Jake Jake Hall the manufacturing Yeah right you were you there for the Yes absolutely so you heard him talking about attracting you know people into our industry and how difficult that can be I think when you have a lot of new people in the industry having something that's easy to deploy like that how how do you teach people how to use the system?

SPEAKER_03 55:13

So historically we use we did training like pretty much everybody else but lately uh we've been using basically like a self-learning approach. So we have videos of the solution that people can watch at any time because the reality that we faced over the last 35 years is like we'll go to a plant we'll implement the solution train the entire team and everybody's happy then three five four like a couple years down the road some of the people that we trained either graduated to new positions or maybe you've left the company to go to another facility. I don't know so you kind of lose that knowledge so and then you have to call us back get some more training so and and that's tedious. So we decided to let's try to find a way so that people can learn the solution on their own at their own pace so that the facilities don't ever lose knowledge anymore.

SPEAKER_08 55:59

That's true. That's exactly what Jake Hall was talking about in his keynote that you have to provide information in the way that millennial workers are used to retrieving information and online and video information is much more popular with them.

SPEAKER_03 56:17

Absolutely and and even for let's say the older generation like we've had great success because again like sitting in the classroom eight hour like an entire day is not their job. That's not what they do. So having a way that the solution is easy enough that you don't really have to be trained on it but if you do need something you can get it really quickly.

SPEAKER_08 56:39

Yeah and that's like that's been a game changer for us for yes for millennials absolutely but even with the older generation that makes really sense yeah so I may have asked you this last time at TappyCon as well but I'm gonna ask you again do you have any favorite customer interactions where you've really been able to help them improve their safety program, change their attitudes you know among the frontline workers any any little anecdotal stories you can tell us about working with a customer?

SPEAKER_03 57:09

Uh let's let me think. I think okay one of the clients that we've met yesterday understanding the because so that's the one of the main differences that we've seen from a safety perspective these are smaller facilities again less employees a lot more tornover and they're the amount of risk in these kinds of facilities are lower than in a typical mill. So safety culture is not at the same place. So wow it going through like discussion with this client basically understanding okay where are you at today what are you doing what's your culture and basically some of the people that we talked to came from larger international papers and were like I we used to work there like there were like arms lifting to let yeah forklifts go by and that was amazing safety wise I can't even buy a forklift. So going like understanding that and then helping them moving towards okay but this is unacceptable. We can the satisfaction we can do better. Exactly and yeah it's not complicated it's not overly expensive it drives good profit in the end so having that interaction just I mean 15 minute going from look I don't even do lockout tag out to maybe I should consider this and this is absolutely worth it.

SPEAKER_08 58:30

Yeah oh that's a great interaction to have I mean there because there's always room to improve in safety. Oh yeah absolutely so yeah I think that's important to people so before I let you go just give me an overall impression that you have of either the Supercore event or the folks that you've met or what's ahead for Corrugated the big blue sky view from Ludo.

SPEAKER_03 58:56

From the people's perspective I think this is one of the greatest industries the people are just so nice they'll just chat with everyone it's really really cool. From an industry perspective I think there's a lot of growth and there's a lot of opportunities that can be taken it's like it like Jake said yesterday it's not as sexy an industry as maybe tech but there's still great things that could happen in it.

SPEAKER_08 59:21

Yeah I think it's it might not be as sexy when you when you first think about Corrugated but then when you get to know corrugated you see people that have been in this industry for 30 years and for a reason. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 59:34

Because once you're in it you get it.

SPEAKER_08 59:36

Yeah once you're in it you get it. I think that's a great place to stop. Lulo thank you so much for coming back to Better Together and I hope you have a great rest of Supercore. Thank you for having me again it was a pleasure I'm so glad you tuned in for this special episode recorded at Supercore Expo 2024 in Orlando Florida. I loved speaking with Steve, Sharon, Igor and Nadia, Gokul, Jerry and Ludo. Big thanks to them all for taking the time to drop in and share their perspectives with me and with you. And guess what? We have a second Supercore Expo 2024 episode ready for you. More new technology for Corgators more of the inside scoop on this special event and even a few laughs along the way. If you haven't already done so please share and subscribe to Better Together Conversations with industry leaders.

SPEAKER_00 1:00:31

Thanks for listening hello everyone this is Larry Montague, president and CEO of Tappy the pulp, paper, packaging, tissue and converter industry's go to resource for news, industry trends, and technical and management information. We hope you enjoy today's Better Together podcast. And remember there are two types of people in our industry Tappy members and those who should be have a great day