With its focus on efficiency, value and returns as the main topics, the 10th Intl. Containerboard/Corrugated conference took place Oct. 17-18 at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Chicago.

Mark Widle, managing director of Deutsche Banc Securities, Inc., kicked off the event with a review of the containerboard industry. Widle says the industry must learn to operate differently where fewer "outs" exist, and it should shift toward "value" focus—and away from a production mentality.

Ralph Young, principal of Alternative Paper Solutions, Inc., spoke about grabbing market shares with microflutes and the material's growing potential, driven by retailers selling boxed product that must sell itself. Seventy percent of containerboard purchasing decisions are made by the stores, not the retailers' suppliers. Because consumers like bright colors, design, gloss and rigid containers, it should be easier to promote the sale of microflute packaging, Young says.

On day two, Wendy Wang, general manager at PACCESS's Shangai facility, spoke on the Chinese containerboard industry and markets. David Null, associate principal of JP Management Consulting Inc., focused on the containerboard business evolution in Western Europe; and Dr. Ulrich Stepski, commercial director of Smurfit Europe Paper Division, covered Eastern Europe's developing market for corrugated packaging.

Concluding the conference was a panel discussion on what big buyers expect from corrugated in the future. The panel was led by Roger Landrum, director of corrugated for ConAgra Foods; Thomas L. Grana, vp of procurement, tool and storage group at Emerson Electric; and James Push, purchasing business team manager of Unilever Home & Personal Care.