Let’s talk tolerances!

Well, let’s throw around a few ideas and dispel a few myths.

I (Gary here) was given the task of finding a grade to compete against a 600 micron Carrier Board.

Our customer was interested in looking for an alternative material and so we started looking at options from our range. This led to us downloading a series of specifications and comparing them. These challenges can be quite enjoyable because, unlike many papers, products in the Cartonboard sector have differening characteristics that can be compared and contrasted.

An example is that our Maule RC is a Kraft backed FBB, offering a brown backed alternative in this instance. However, stiffness is much lower than a solid Carrier board, but yield advantages mean that we might be able to offer a thicker caliper to compensate.

So I looked at stiffness comparisons and noticed that whilst our tolerance on Taber 15 degrees was -10% the other boards differed. Whilst all Mills published the Taber 15 degree readings the tolerances varied meaning it was not just be a simple matter of comparing board to board.

Of course there is then the issue of grammage. Maule RC has a consderably better yield than a Carrier but of course this results in inferior stiffness values, which can be expected when comparing Solid Unbleached Sulphate boards to Folding Box Boards..

We checked on our Chipboards too and discovered our Group (MM -Karton) publish a -15% tolerance on their White Lined Chipboards. The majority of others I found seemed to be similar but we would urge anyone performing a comparison to check the small print and determine the particular grades’ tolerance before finally choosing.

Of course our argument will always be to try ours alongside others and let the samples be the ultimate decider. It is amazing how often the final package surprises us, especially when a perceived lesser grade matches up to a supposedly better other.