CHATTANOOGA, TN–Southern Champion Tray is setting new standards in folding carton production:

Founded in 1927, the family-owned company, a Flexographic Technical Association member since 2023, now has 900 employees. It has invested a total of $60 million in a new location with highly automated production  to position the company competitively for the future.

Southern Champion Tray recently commissioned a Boardmaster inline flexographic printing press from Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG (HEIDELBERG). 

The Boardmaster replaces a 25-year-old machine and offers a new dimension of efficiency and quality with its non-stop job changes, automated plate setup, and AI-controlled Intellimatch scanner technology, which leads to a drastic reduction in waste.

Southern Champion Tray can now significantly increase productivity and shorten delivery times—a decisive competitive advantage as it pursues the winning aspiration of “making every interaction effortless for the customer”.

“In the past, flexographic printing was not efficient enough for smaller runs, but HEIDELBERG’s Boardmaster has changed that and exceeded our expectations—not only in terms of efficiency, but also in terms of print quality and ease of use. It is a key component of our strategy to redefine customer service,” said Brian Hunt, CEO, Southern Champion Tray.

With a production speed of up to 600 m/min and a web width of 1425 mm, the Boardmaster is twice as productive as the system previously installed at the plant. The integrated drying technology also opens up new possibilities for applying coatings that can replace plastic coatings in the future, thereby driving the trend toward more sustainable packaging solutions. .