On the banks of the Mississippi River, lined with sand bars in the current drought, sits Granite City, IL. An old steel town, it's the headquarters of Gateway Packaging Co. (www.gatewaypackaging.com), a converter with big plans for the future and a brand-new bagmaking system to match. Supplied by trusted partner Windmoeller & Hoelscher Corp.(www.whcorp.com), Gateway managers hope the AM 8115/PB 2555 system, the first installed with the tuber and bottomer combined in an in-line configuration, will give it a boost in the competitive U.S. multiwall bag market.

"Our business is 60 percent bagmaking, 40 percent flexpack," says Gateway CEO and president Roger Miller. "In bagmaking, our largest growth area is in pet food, but ingredients such as starches, sugar, soy and flour are also important. For all these applications, the new value-added bag will be a big plus." Since the bagmaking system started up in May of this year at the Granite City plant, it has become the focus of 3–8 month packaging trials for six different customers, according to Miller. Each of these customers seeks to reap the benefits of Gateway's mitered-bottom open-mouth pinch bag, or MBOMP. The sift-proof, squared-off design stacks better on the pallet and prevents in-transit damage.

Gateway is experiencing annual growth of about 8 percent, competes and ships nationwide, and considers its competitors to be the "big boys" in bagmaking: Bemis, Exopack, Hood, Smurfit Stone, and Werthan. Miller and new-product development manager Leon Sparks used the Drupa 2004 trade show to shop for new bagmaking technology and were intrigued by the AM 8115/PB 2555, which offers features such as speedy changeover and total servo control. Gateway has a longstanding relationship with W&H, who has supplied numerous equipment to its Kansas City plant (Gateway purchased Percy Kent Bag Co. of Kansas City in 2001). Miller saw the advantages of the bagmaker immediately, and ordered it.

"Gateway Packaging was a natural for our first AM 8115/PB 2555 in this configuration," says Heine Heininga, W&H's sales manager for multiwall equipment. "They're flexible in their thinking, and they have a value-added philosophy." W&H conducted on-site training for operators once the machine was installed, as well as extended production support. It takes two operators to run the bagmaker, and another two to three workers to load reels and take away finished bags.

Gateway's bagmaker, laid out in an elongated "U" shape, begins with the unwinds and progresses through tube forming, turning and deviating, ultrasonic corner sealing, heat-sealing of the inner PE layer, bottom closing, tear-string application and accumulation.

Gateway's MBOMP bags are multiwall paper with up to an 8.5 in. gusset and a PE liner. They have the following structural advantages, according to Miller:

• Heat-sealed bags are sift-proof
• Ultrasonic sealing provides attractive flat block appearance and better stacking, preventing damage
• Design resists oil migration and insect infestation
• No "weeping" of oil or other moisture through seams
• Square end shape provides "billboard" for graphics, better display
• Ideal for pet foods, powdered, granular, and dry goods, especially with oil content.

According to Miller, Gateway can charge more for these bags because the converter can quantify how they solve customers' damage problems. Even better, there is currently no competitive bag in the U.S., so Gateway currently enjoys a very favorable market position with its value-added MBOMP bags.

"By far the biggest issue among our customers is product returns from bag damage," Miller says. It happens when the longer-shaped bags hang over the edge of the pallet and are damaged in transit or get sliced when the shrink-wrap is removed at the retail endpoint. "We're able to reduce that product-return loss by 90 percent. Looking at it that way, customers don't mind paying a premium for the MBOMP bag."

Running Gateway successfully means a lot more than just producing a competitive package. The converter's laboratory and in-house technical services can help prospective customers with graphic design as well. Lean manufacturing practices are being instituted with the help of a quality-control manager who has responsibility for both Gateway plants.

Taking advantage of an Illinois state training subsidy of up to 50 percent, Miller has begun building the management skills of his staff through a nine-month program at a nearby community college. Hands-on management/supervisory skills such as conflict resolution and team building are taught in a monthly class that results in a better-prepared pool of managers and potential managers.

All in all, Gateway has taken all the right steps to provide a one-stop approach for customers, along with a value-added package that should serve their needs.