2023 and Beyond: Executive Outlook from Colbert Packaging
Wisconsin Eagle/10225936

KENOSHA, Wis. - WisconsinEagle -- As a family-owned, independent organization, Colbert Packaging's business strategy aligns with our commitment to our employees, our customers, and our industry. Since 1959, our employee-focused culture and customer-oriented perspective has ensured our success and enabled us to effectively manage the challenges of the past few years.

Colbert Packaging celebrated a successful 2022, and I'm very proud of our Colbert Packaging team. We've recently implemented capacity improvements, invested in advanced technology, reduced lead times, and generated innovative, sustainable packaging solutions. In alignment with our long-term strategic plan, Colbert Packaging maintained our history of capital investments in smart, new equipment and technologies. In 2022, we announced the initiation and installation of:

• A new 8-color UV offset sheet-fed printing press, installed and in full operation.
• Two new die cutter/blanker presses, installed and in full operation.
• A new outsert folder and tabber for complex pharmaceutical inserts/outserts with patented folding features, installed and in full operation.
• New glue extrusion equipment installed and in full operation.
• New serialization equipment installed and in full operation.
• PackSize® box-making equipment for each location to construct corrugate shipping cases on demand, installed and in full operation.
• New robotic palletizing equipment, with installation anticipated in early Q2 2023.
• An updated paper scrap handling extraction system, with installation planned for Q1 2023.
• Expansion of an additional 40,000 square feet at our Kenosha facility, planned for Q3 2023.

We've maintained our certifications in G-7, GMI, AIB, and Global Vision, which further support our processes and quality commitments; and have prioritized continuous training for our associates to ensure staunch adherence to cGMPs (current Good Manufacturing Practices), including internal and external audit verifications.

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During the past year, we've increased our labor headcount, allowing us to effectively utilize all our assets, and we are now close to full staffing levels at all of our production facilities. Although paperboard supply challenges continue, we have been able to secure increased volume commitments for 2023, due to our valuable, long-standing relationships with our material supply partners.

We consider our environmental and community responsibilities to be key components of our corporate identity. Colbert Packaging is committed to sustainable electrical use through validated wind RECs (Renewable Energy Credits), and we maintain our qualifications with third-party chain of custody validation for the paperboard we source. All paperboard scrap generated through our manufacturing processes is recycled, as we move toward zero manufacturing waste to landfill.

Colbert participates in various community activities, including TICCIT (ticcit.info), a community outreach program from the Paperboard Packaging Council in which a team of Colbert associates visits nearby schools to offer hands-on activities to teach students about forestry, the life cycle of trees, and sustainability. We further engage with our community through participation in Toys for Tots, Women and Children's Horizons, the Boys and Girls Club, and an extremely successful Youth Apprentice program.

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Our active membership in the Paperboard Packaging Council ensures we remain in touch with industry issues, and as a member of the Independent Carton Group, we benefit from group purchasing power, collaborative technical training seminars, and business continuity support.

To our customers and future customers: Most of you are aware of recent industry challenges.  In times like this, your expectations and requirements drive our business toward innovation, process improvement, and enhanced capabilities and capacities. You make us better. We truly value your business and your loyalty to Colbert Packaging. We appreciate your flexibility, communication, and collaboration.

All of us at Colbert look forward to strengthening our relationships and collaborating to deliver high-quality, innovative, sustainable fiber-based packaging solutions.

Respectfully,
John Lackner
Colbert Packaging President & COO