Nomar^®

Abrasion Resistant Coatings for Corrugated Packaging

Protecting Products During Their Journey from the Factory to the Customer

Appliances. Automotive parts. Windows. Doors. Electronics. Cosmetics. Food. Finished goods change hands across borders, mountains, and oceans, via truck, rail, plane, and cargo ship.

Supply chains are complex. A manufacturing site may be a long distance from the final consumer. Products go through extensive supply chains that may be local, regional, national, or international. Manufacturers rely on effective packaging to ensure products reach warehouses, retail outlets, and consumers in pristine condition.

Products are often shipped in multiple layers of packaging. Historically, primary packaging, which has direct contact with products, was used to protect products from secondary, and even tertiary, packaging. Primary packaging was used as part of a total packaging system to facilitate efficient storage, shipping, and distribution. However, consumer sustainability awareness, as well as increasing government regulation, are compelling brands to minimize excess packaging. There is a concerted effort, across multiple supply chains, to eliminate sources of packaging waste.

Enabling More Environmentally Responsible Packaging

The urgency to develop environmentally friendly alternatives in both the manufacturing and shipping of products continues to escalate. Governments, regulatory bodies, industry trade groups, and consumers are carefully considering the impact product packaging has on the environment. Packaging manufacturers are taking note and developing alternatives to improve end-of-life options for final structures. Trends include:

• Transitioning to fiber-based packaging, including corrugated and molded fiber 
• Minimizing the use of plastic packaging  
• Eliminating unnecessary layers of packaging   
• Increasing the number of products shipped per container (sometimes by using fiber-based partitions) 

Eliminating primary packaging is a common method used to reduce the total volume of packaging. Secondary packaging, when treated with an abrasion resistant coating, can prevent marring of products that no longer use primary packaging. Abrasion resistant coatings enable brands to minimize, combine, or eliminate packaging layers.

Reducing the environmental footprint of packaging can also be achieved by using recycled fibers. Applying an abrasion resistant coating is especially important when using recycled fibers, since they are more likely to abrade adjacent surfaces than virgin fibers.

Protecting Brand Image and Minimizing Costly Returns Due to Cosmetic Damage

Many products are susceptible to surface damage in transit. A few examples include household appliances, office furniture, and thermoplastic rearview and sideview mirrors. Packaging can be designed to minimize the possibility of abrasion due to direct contact of the product with the package. Types of corrugated and fiber-based packaging that might come in direct contact with these products include corner posts and partitions as well as shipping containers.

Fiber-based corner posts are frequently used to ship everything from large household appliances to office furniture to air conditioners. Reducing the surface friction between the product and the corner posts helps ensure products are delivered without scratching and marring.

Partitions, also called dividers, can be used to provide a separate cell for each product within a box. These individual cells enable safe shipment of items with fragile surfaces like glass, plastic, and ceramic.

More than ever, thanks to the ubiquity of e-commerce, consumers equate packaging with product value, and expect premium products to be accompanied by a premium unboxing experience. Products that arrive in pristine condition, especially those that use environmentally-friendly packaging, are more likely to be accepted by the customer—reducing costly and wasteful returns, and building customer loyalty.

Nomar® Optimizes Fiber-Based Protective Packaging

Trusted in the packaging industry for over 30 years, Nomar® allows corrugated packaging to meet both performance and sustainability requirements in different markets.

Tinted Coatings Streamline the Packaging Process

Factory floors are busy. Nomar® is available in several colors—blue, green, brilliant red, and thin red—to help workers quickly identify particular packaging components. Color coding is helpful both during the box construction process and during the product packaging process. When manufacturing a box, color coding helps associates recognize which linerboard to use and helps distinguish between single-faced and double-backed liners. When packaging products right off the production line, color coding can help packers quickly find the correct components, such as corner posts, to use for each brand that is being packaged.