Paterson, NJ – Steve Townsend has been in the industry long enough to know that if it’s not broke, don’t fix it. The owner and president of North Georgia Paperboard in Chatsworth, Georgia, employs five paper cutters to supply top quality, high pressure laminated paperboard to a wide range of industries. He’s had good success with Harris-Seybold CJ paper cutters, the main reason why he just had Colter & Peterson install a reconditioned ’85 unit last month.

“Our number 1 machine is a Seybold that dates back to 1926, and our number 3 we bought eight years ago,” recalled Townsend, a former salesman who opened his pre-bindery business in December, 2006. “These are heavy duty workhorse machines that cut all day. They cut 10 tons a day, 24/6, and we limit our number 1 unit to 6 or 7 tons, mostly because of its age.”

Townsend said keeping up with production demand led to purchasing the latest Seybold from Colter & Peterson, www.papercutters.com, North America’s foremost authority on paper cutters and paper handling equipment and who provides service and support for the brand line.

“I’ve gotten to know them over the years.  After we purchased the number 3 unit, one of the technical reps at C&P came down here a couple of weeks later to service the unit and look at the others for me. The two other cutters are 61” and Colter & Peterson has parts for a lot of machines, including ones that are hard to find.  They certainly know about paper cutters.”

Townsend and his 25 employees certainly know the business of chipboard converting. They produce high caliber sheet laminate, the majority between 100-200 pt., for a local customer base. Their 40,000 square-foot operation is located in northwest Georgia, about 30 miles from Chattanooga, Tennessee, and includes a smaller division. PBPallets uses 100% recyclable high compression paperboard for a lightweight yet strong pallet system that saves on freight costs and is cheaper to ship. 

Townsend has seven or eight operators who work with the paper cutters, using custom tables they built themselves to handle the work. When C&P delivered the newest cutter - number 5 - last month, Townsend said no training was necessary because of his team’s familiarity with the other units.

“It arrived on a Monday and we were cutting with it on Wednesday night,” remarked Townsend. “I like the reliability of the Seybold brand and what C&P brings to the table. These cutters are heavily constructed and allow us to put a lot of pressure on thick boards to make large cuts. We cut a lot of material so there is lots of wear and tear on the machines, but we maintain them on a regular basis and they get the job done every day. They are better than anything else available on the market for what we cut.”