Building a Smarter Substrate Strategy

You may think you’re saving money with a cheaper substrate, but in reality, a bargain substrate can become an expensive problem. Whether it slows production, sits unused in a warehouse, or fails to protect the product inside, for packaging converters, the purchase price is only one part of the material’s value.

This is where building a substrate strategy comes in. This means connecting customer requirements with production capabilities, purchasing decisions, and storage practices. Across several label and packaging formats, those decisions influence how reliably a converter can deliver the finished package.

“The most successful converters avoid evaluating paperboard solely on price per ton,” says Brian Boland, deputy president and senior VP of sales and marketing at Billerud North America. “Instead, they evaluate total value across the supply chain.”

Start With the Application

Before recommending a material, converters need to understand what it must withstand throughout its life. Product characteristics, filling conditions, distribution, storage, shelf life, and graphics requirements all help establish the specifications.

“Paperboard selection should begin with the end-use application, not the substrate specification,” Boland says. His advice puts customer requirements at the center of the selection process.

For paperboard, stiffness, compression strength, and caliper help determine package integrity and machinability. Surface smoothness, brightness, and coatings influence graphics and finishing. Flexible packaging introduces considerations such as barrier performance, seal integrity, and puncture resistance.

David Parsio, VP of sales and marketing for Multi-Plastics Inc., also recommends gathering information on equipment speeds, printing processes, sustainability targets, volumes, and forecasts. Availability must fit the customer’s requirements, too.

For film labels, the container and service environment matter. Kim Hensley, senior marketing manager at Mactac, points to squeezable containers, refrigeration, condensation, and chemical exposure as factors that influence construction selection. Facestock and adhesive must work together for the application.

Choosing between cavitated and solid core films illustrates those tradeoffs. Hensley describes cavitated films as offering opacity and lower density, while solid core films offer strength and dimensional stability. The choice depends on converting, dispensing, appearance, and end-use demands.

“The optimal choice is the one that delivers the lowest total cost of ownership while meeting the brand owner’s expectations for appearance, performance, and sustainability,” Hensley says.

Parsio gives converters a reason to scrutinize specifications as well as price.

“Ultimately, the best substrate is the one that delivers the necessary performance without adding properties — and cost — that the application does not require,” he says.

Test Beyond the Press

A substrate’s performance on press is one step in a longer manufacturing sequence. Surface treatment, ink adhesion, heat sensitivity, tension, and dimensional stability can affect film printing. Laminating, slitting, diecutting, and sealing introduce additional demands.

Parsio suggests considering the complete converting sequence when selecting films.

“Downstream converting is just as important as printing,” he says. “Laminating, coating, slitting, diecutting, and sealing can expose weaknesses that are not apparent during the printing operation.”

Paperboard requires similar attention. Fiber construction and surface properties can influence diecutting, score quality, cracking, and glue adhesion. Materials with similar specifications may behave differently under actual operating conditions.

To assess a substrate, Parsio and Boland recommend running production trials before full implementation, a process that Boland says should extend throughout the packaging operation.

“Testing should extend beyond the pressroom to include filling-line performance and real-world distribution testing whenever possible,” Boland says.

Parsio says qualification should begin with incoming measurements and laboratory evaluations where appropriate. Gauge, treatment level, coefficient of friction, seal performance, and adhesion can help identify differences before the material moves into a controlled production trial.

Plan Orders With Suppliers

Once a substrate is qualified, clear ordering information helps ensure the right material arrives. Parsio recommends documenting width, gauge, treatment, winding configuration, core size, roll diameter, and splice requirements.

Forecasts give suppliers visibility into upcoming demand, particularly for specialty materials that are not routinely stocked. Boland emphasizes communicating promotions, launches, seasonal shifts, and changing customer requirements so mills can plan production and position inventory.

“The most resilient supply chains are built on long-term collaboration rather than transactional purchasing,” Boland says.

Supply planning should also identify materials that are essential to customer programs, and determine whether alternatives are available.

“Where practical, qualifying a second film or establishing an agreed substitute in advance can provide valuable flexibility when supply becomes constrained,” Parsio explains. This makes qualification part of disruption planning rather than something that begins after a shortage.

Regular conversations about consumption, lead times, and inventory requirements give converters and suppliers more opportunities to respond before an urgent order becomes necessary.

Carry the Right Inventory

Larger purchases can offer volume pricing, freight efficiencies, and protection against short-term lead time issues. For folding carton manufacturers, longer runs can also improve efficiency and reduce grade-change waste. Those benefits depend on whether converters can use the material.

Customer designs, specifications, and sustainability requirements can change, leaving inventory obsolete. Therefore, forecast confidence, customer commitments, storage capacity, and historical consumption should inform purchasing decisions.

Parsio encourages converters to consider those costs when evaluating bulk purchases.

“A slightly higher material cost with greater flexibility can sometimes be less expensive than carrying a large quantity of slow-moving inventory,” he says.

Inventory visibility helps reveal which materials are moving, where they are located, and which programs depend on them. Standardizing compatible grades or gauges can consolidate purchasing and reduce partial rolls and slow-moving SKUs.

“A versatile construction reduces SKU complexity and supply chain challenges while providing flexibility to meet a wider range of customer requirements,” Hensley says.

That consolidation must preserve customer performance requirements. Both Parsio and Boland see benefits in reducing unnecessary material variations, while acknowledging that specialized applications still need suitable substrates. Forecasting helps determine which standardized materials should remain available.

“The objective is not simply to minimize inventory,” Parsio notes. “It is to carry the right inventory.”

Boland echoes a similar sentiment: “Better demand planning allows converters and mills to optimize inventory levels, reduce emergency orders, and improve service performance.”

Storage practices protect that investment. Films need clean, dry, controlled conditions and protection from extreme temperatures, humidity, and sunlight. Parsio recommends retaining protective packaging where practical, following supplier handling guidance, allowing acclimation, and generally rotating inventory on a first-in, first-out basis, particularly for treated films.

Paperboard also benefits from climate control, acclimation, and careful pallet handling. Temperature and humidity fluctuations can affect moisture content and dimensional stability, creating feeding, registration, and converting problems.

Balance Sustainability With Performance

Sustainability goals are changing material choices across these markets. Parsio describes interest in downgauging and monomaterial structures. Boland highlights lightweighting, responsibly sourced fiber, recycled content where appropriate, and barrier technologies. Hensley points to thinner film facestocks and liners alongside constructions that support package recyclability.

For label converters, material reduction can bring operational benefits. Hensley identifies more labels per roll, fewer roll changes, reduced packaging waste, and improved transportation efficiency among the potential advantages of downgauging.

However, a thinner or simpler structure still has to meet application requirements. Replacing a multi-material structure requires preserving its necessary barrier, stiffness, toughness, and sealing performance.

“A sustainable structure still has to perform reliably through converting, packaging, and distribution,” Parsio says. “If it creates excessive scrap, line downtime, or product loss, the environmental and economic benefits can quickly disappear.”

A strong substrate strategy gives converters a basis for evaluating those tradeoffs as customer requirements change. It connects what gets specified with what gets ordered, stored, and successfully converted. The payoff comes when the material delivers its intended value all the way to the finished package.

“Converters are increasingly acting as packaging advisers, helping brands evaluate tradeoffs between performance, sustainability, consumer expectations, and total system cost rather than simply selecting a substrate,” Boland says.