The Corrugated Packaging Division focuses on the manufacture and use of corrugated containers and associated packaging materials and products. It serves as a forum for knowledge sharing in the corrugated packaging industry. The Division is comprised of members who work for manufacturers, converters, suppliers, consulting companies, and others in the industry.
The Corrugated Packaging Council (CPC) is the governing body of TAPPI’s Corrugated Division. It is comprised of eight appointed members from major integrated and independent box companies, and nine elected positions, including suppliers and current committee chairs.
The Technical Committees of the Corrugated Packaging Division work together throughout the year to solve problems, develop technical papers, plan conference sessions, and more.
By the end of the 1940’s, World War II had created an unprecedented demand for new kinds of packaging and packaging materials. The corrugated industry was flourishing, especially in Chicago; the area was home to at least twenty-six corrugated plants. Chicago was also the home to the Chicago Packaging Club, which hosted weekly luncheons where board and box makers and users traded the latest industry developments.
After the war, that group split into two parts: the Society of Packaging & Handling Engineers, and the Chicago Professional Paper Group. The latter grew so rapidly that it attracted attention of TAPPI, which invited the group to become TAPPIs new Chicago Section in about 1947. By that time, TAPPI had already established a Containers Committee, but there was a problem; meeting content catering to members in any one area (paperboard, bags, corrugated) would bore the other members.
In 1949, Committee members Gunnar W.E. Nicholson (for whom TAPPI later named its Gold Medal Award.), Des Long (Chair of Chicago TAPPI), and Harry Bettendorf establish a Corrugated Containers Subcommittee. Citing the strong corrugated industry presence in Chicago, the new Subcommittee launched an all-corrugated meeting sponsored by Chicago TAPPI. The response from the corrugated community was overwhelmingly enthusiastic. By 1956, Corrugated had reached full Division status in TAPPI and soon become one of TAPPI’s most active Divisions.
Today, TAPPI’s Corrugated Packaging Division sponsors conference that draw packaging professionals form all around the world. In partnership with the Association of Independent Corrugated Converts (AICC), every four years the Corrugated Division hosts SuperCorrExpo ® the largest trade show in the Western Hemisphere (and TAPPI’s largest ever) catering to the corrugated industry. The Corrugated Packaging Division also sponsors bi-annual CorrPack Competition, open to all corrugated packaging manufacturers worldwide.