The lobby of the Cobourg, Ont., plant resembles the interior of a trophy shop. Walls are lined four-shelves-high with perhaps 100 or more plaques honoring the company for excellence in package design and flexographic printing over the past 10 years. Glass cases display other laurels along with winning finished cartons. It's a testament to the quality and hard work from only one of the firm's six converting facilities across Canada and the US.

But while resting on one's laurels long enough can often be a good way to go out of business, have no fear. The Folding Carton Div. of Canada's Cascades Boxboard Group is in no danger of taking a breather anytime soon.

Headquartered in Montreal, Que., the group is part of Cascades, Inc., a US$2.42 billion maker of corrugated, tissue, fine papers and specialty products. The Boxboard Group achieved sales of US$213 million in printed folding-carton packaging last year. Operating income for the Boxboard converting arm was more than 7 percent.

Numerically, Cascades packs a punch as the largest folding-carton converter in Canada, controlling about 20 percent of a CAN$1 billion market. Its share of the huge, overall North American market, though, is only about 2 percent. Still, Cascades Boxboard counts among its clientele a Who's Who of retail packaged-goods giants such as Kraft Foods, Kellogg's, Unilever, Nestlé and Diageo.

"We have 50 percent of our business in Tier 1 accounts, anything over $10 million," says Mark P. Roy, vp-sales and marketing, Paperboard Packaging North America. "Roughly five customers total half of our business. The other half falls into very regional work and many niche customers."

These clients are served via six carton plants within the Boxboard Group (see chart). Three focus most of their production on a specific customer; three supply a broader range of businesses. Additionally, the Folding Carton Packaging Systems Div. extends Cascade's supply-chain reach by providing currently 75 pieces of packaging machinery into the marketplace.

Keeping all these systems humming is the task of Yves Ménard, vp-operations, Folding Cartons. Overall, Cascades emphasizes three strategies: operational excellence, product leadership and customer intimacy. "We basically operate on the three platforms but you have to have a core competency in one of them," Ménard says. "We focus on operational efficiency."

A variety of quality/efficiency programs are in place throughout the Cascades corporation (from ISO to AIB and HACCP), but the Japan-derived "5-S System" dominates. Representing the concepts of "sort, simplify, standardize, shine and sustain," 5-S is analogous to a NASCAR pit crew. Everything for a job is at the ready (or nearby if used frequently) to speed changeovers or deal with problems as they crop up during production. Twenty-six of Cascades, Inc.'s 160 plants are 5S-certified.

"In the folding-carton group, two plants are 5S-certified, and the remaining four will be by the end of the year," Ménard says.

Working efficiently is one thing, but Ménard also credits the honesty and risk-taking stance of the Folding Carton Div.'s employees for the group's success. Workers are encouraged to halt production in an effort to troubleshoot problems immediately. "We have a very strong philosophy that emphasizes a 'no-blame' environment," he explains. "We like to empower employees to take responsibility, and if you empower them, they have to take risks."

Although sounding like a cliché, partnerships seem to truly describe how Cascade Boxboard works with both its suppliers and customers.

With inks, for example, all Folding Carton facilities have an ink specialist employed directly by either Sun Chemical or SICPA to provide 24/7 on-site service. Monthly vendor meetings are also a staple. "We look at their innovation and R&D, the operational part," says Ménard. "We look at how to leverage best practices that are available throughout the industry."

And innovation goes both ways. "I think we're always challenged to meet the innovative requirements of our customers, too," says Roy. That means going either up or down the supply chain—from sourcing highly-specialized paperboard from outside Cascades when the product demands it, to leasing the aforementioned cartoning machinery for packaging lines. "Every customer is different, but we're doing vendor-managed inventory with some, EDI, order-entry transmission with others," he says.

For now, Cascades Boxboard looks more to grow with its present customers rather than targeting many new ones, Roy explains. Listening closely to its current customer base revealed a strong interest in high-quality flexography as a cost-effective alternative to other print methods. Ménard's research showed flexo gaining 7-10 percent greater market share against offset or gravure over the next three years. And the advent of CTP technology has helped break down barriers to using the process. The result: a major new CI-flexo press installation at the Cobourg facility (see sidebar).

"As we've invested in flexo, more customers are migrating toward that process," says Ménard.

"Obviously, customers are driving the process from offset to flexo," agrees Roy. "We think we've been the leaders for the last 10 years in flexo carton printing, especially with the number of awards we've won."

And what about tomorrow? Roy and Ménard envision a four-pronged gameplan for Cascades' folding-carton business: consolidate its position in Canada; keep increasing market share; explore "greenfield" operations in the US; and seek out targeted acquisitions across North America.

"We're always actively pursuing strategic acquisitions but those have to make sense and integrate nicely into our current mix of customers, as well as integrate with our mills," Roy explains. "We're also looking at potential greenfield operations where a customer would make a commitment to us, and we'd set up something near their operation. It's an arrangement that's worked well for us and Kraft in Cobourg, and Kellogg's and Hebron."

Several strategic acquisitions are likely across North America, Roy says. "We're excited and expect to grow our folding-carton business significantly in the next 12 to 18 months."

That kind of optimism and planning shows how Cascades is ready to land a "one-two punch" on its competitors.