Corrugated packaging manufacturer helps its customers “stand out”, not “blend in” on store shelves

• Certified woman owned business serving nationally-recognized brands
• Fulfilling additional press capacity with ever expanding customer base
• E-commerce growth propels need for high graphic packaging

One of the key reasons that New Jersey-based Accurate Box has remained extremely successful over its 74 years is investment: in its employee base, in its equipment, and in its customer’s ongoing needs. With a stellar reputation for providing exceptional high quality graphics for corrugated packaging for nationally-recognized brands such as Kellogg's and Pepsico that line the aisles of big box retailers like Costco and Sam's Club, this third-generation, woman owned business consistently seeks the best and brightest local employees, the most automated and technically-advanced equipment, and keeps its fingers on the pulse of the fast-moving trends in its niche of the market.

Founded in 1944 by Henry Hirsh, Accurate Box has remained in northern New Jersey, first in Newark and for the past 35 years in Paterson, NJ. Its 400,000 sq ft headquarters sits in an industrial area of the city and draws its 270 employees from the nearby community. Henry’s son Charlie led the company from the 1960s until 1997, guiding the company through tremendous growth as a folding carton manufacturer specializing in large format packaging. When his daughter, Lisa Hirsh, joined the family business and officially took over in 1997, she maintained that tradition of reinvesting in the company’s future. Since then, she has built on the solid foundation laid by her father and grandfather, modernizing and expanding its capacity, and building it into one of the largest independent box manufacturers of litho-laminated packaging in the U.S.

“We continue to deepen our relationship with our customers,” says Lisa Hirsh, president and CEO of Accurate Box. “Our goal is to help them stand out—whether it be on store shelves or as an e-commerce delivery, not blend in. Our team is constantly collaborating with our customers’ product management and graphics teams to find new ways to enhance their packages and increase wholesale club store sales or direct to consumer sales revenue. We want the graphics to entice customers to purchase the products. To achieve those results, we are always seeking to leverage the innovations and advanced technologies available to our market.”

At the end of June, Accurate will be adding to its pressroom firepower with a new Koenig & Bauer Rapida 164 seven-color press. The newly designed blue and gray model will operate 24/7 alongside the firm’s two existing Koenig & Bauer Rapida 162 64-inch seven-color sheetfed printing presses, providing Accurate with even more press capacity, faster speeds, improved set-up, new computerized quality systems and enhancements. An additional key feature of this fast large-format Rapida is a logistics system for the feeder.

Working with major brands and their specific color schemes, logos, and graphics, it is imperative for Accurate to match those shades and images box-to-box and run-to-run. Aiding in this endeavor is the combination of Koenig & Bauer inline QualiTronic Color Control capability and System Brunner Instrument Flight print quality measuring system on the new Rapida 164. Having earned a reputation as the leading inline color control system on the market, the Koenig & Bauer QualiTronic Instrument Flight emphasizes color balance and gray balance, taking into account more than 30 process variables. This will allow Accurate to produce the highest quality images on strong corrugated material that will withstand shipping, storage, and display.

“Our reputation has always been as a world class manufacturer that produces high graphic corrugated boxes,” says Hirsh. “As the marketplace continues to rapidly transform, our strategy is to fully embrace the e-commerce sector. Marketers who focus on online consumers are searching for other ways to create a different type of branded consumer experience. High graphic, corrugated packaging offered through our company has often filled this void through its process of creating unique packaging for online consumers strategically branded on the inside. As the e-commerce market grows, the ‘unboxing’ experience is increasingly more important to online consumers.”

As its customers continue to require high quality brilliant graphics, Accurate decided to equip its new press with LED-UV technology, providing the firm with greater color fidelity and even more stunning results. The added benefit of the LED-UV technology is its ability to speed job cycle times and deliver a bindery-ready sheet to Accurate’s post-press department. Having the press specified with the high-speed package will provide Accurate’s press operators a major increase in productivity.

While the management team at Accurate Box did look at other competing press manufacturers, their decision to purchase a new Koenig & Bauer press rested on a number of issues. “We determined that Koenig & Bauer brings exceptional value to its customers,” says Hirsh. “There are a lot of fine presses on the market but Koenig & Bauer delivered on the capabilities that we needed. Plus, our on-going relationship with KBA North America and our sales manager Ed Heffernan was definitely an important factor. In the end, we were quite comfortable with our decision. Koenig & Bauer produces exceptional presses.”

At the end of June, Lisa Hirsh, president and CEO of Accurate Box, will be adding to her firm’s pressroom firepower a new Koenig & Bauer Rapida 164 seven-color press, which will enable the firm to continue to create high quality packaging for the club store, e-commerce, and quick service food industries.