Five Questions With: Mary Gervais

MARY GERVAIS is brand manager of Toray Plastics (America) Inc. / COURTESY TORAY
MARY GERVAIS is brand manager of Toray Plastics (America) Inc. / COURTESY TORAY

Mary Gervais, brand manager, Toray Plastics (America) Inc., talks about some of the new products recently launched by the manufacturer. Gervais, who joined Toray in 2009, was appointed brand manager in 2015.

PBN: Tell me about RS03 RipStop film and why it was created.

GERVAIS: The development of Torayfan RS03 RipStop high-tensile-strength film is a great example of expanding a market by identifying an opportunity and then applying creative thinking, chemistry and innovation to make a new product. Let me first offer a little background about Toray and its products. Toray is the only U.S. manufacturer of polyester, polypropylene, bio-based, and metallized films for flexible and rigid packaging, lidding, graphic, industrial, optical and electronic applications that conducts all of its manufacturing and metallizing at one location. Our goal is not only to exceed our customers’ expectations, but also to enhance their customers’ experience. Regarding the industrial-tape market, it has existed for decades, uses a variety of materials to manufacture different types of tapes, and we have always been a major supplier of film to that market.

The journey to RS03 began when an existing customer approached us about the potential for creating a new kind of handle reinforcement tape for corrugated beverage cases, such as those used to package beer, wine and soda. Traditionally, a corrugated beverage case is reinforced with a polyester- or filament-based tape. The customer’s idea was exciting to us for two reasons: it presented a unique challenge, and if we were successful we would be not only entering a new market, but also expanding the use of polypropylene-based tapes. After researching the application, we discovered that by modifying the chemistry of our state-of-the-art polypropylene film we could manufacture a new film that exhibits excellent tear resistance in the transverse direction and high tensile-strength in the machine direction, which was ideal for handle reinforcement tape applications.

The RS03 also proved to offer potential important environmental benefits. It weighs less than fiberglass and polyester filament materials, so less material is needed to produce tape. When RS03 is integrated into the sides of boxes, the reinforcement provided may allow end users to transition to a box with a lower total board weight. The reduction in the amount of tape, paper and corrugated materials is good for the environment. We also found that the excellent tear resistance and tensile strength meant that RS03 can be used for reinforcement in bulk bins, which you see filled with produce in grocery stores, and for moving and storage boxes.

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PBN: Tell me about Lumirror MR20. I noticed that MR20 film can be returned to Toray for recycling. Is that something new that you are offering to customers only for the MR20, or is it available for other film products as well?

GERVAIS: Lumirror MR20 polyester metal-transfer film presented us with a different type of opportunity to apply our creative thinking, chemistry and innovation: take an existing film technology and improve it. Polyester metal-transfer film – film that has a metallized layer on its surface that can be transferred to a paperboard surface – has been on the market for a considerable number of years. Consumer product goods companies use it to create decorative packaging that has a premium appearance and shelf appeal; think shiny, eye-catching toothpaste boxes, perfume and cosmetics setup boxes, and personal-care packaging. Historically, the manufacture of a metal-transfer film is a multistep process that involves different companies. Once again, through the use of chemistry and the process of innovation, we found a new way to manufacture a super-bright metal-transfer film in-house, reduce the number of steps it ordinarily takes, and thereby shorten the traditional supply chain. MR20 was also robust enough to be returned to Toray for recycling after it had been used by the manufacturer, also known as a converter, who makes the metallized paperboard, which is then used to make the decorative box. In addition, decorative packaging made with MR20 can be recycled by the consumer, which is not true for packaging manufactured with an ordinary metallized film that does not have transfer properties and actually remains on the finished box.

Some of Toray’s other films lend themselves to recycling, and we work with customers on an individual basis whenever possible to help them recycle with us.

PBN: Are these products and this business competitive? How does Toray stand out?

GERVAIS: Film manufacturing is very competitive. We stand out because of our unique material technology and unique production capabilities, which enable us to commercialize film projects effectively and efficiently. Toray produces a variety of technologically advanced substrates: polyester, polypropylene and bio-based films, and offers multiple secondary processes, including extrusion, extrusion coating and metallization, which add significant value to the customer’s finished film, enhancing the final package and the consumer’s experience with the packaged product. Our customers appreciate that; with Toray, they really can have it all.

PBN: Do you have plans to release any more films in the coming months?

GERVAIS: Toray is heavily invested in R&D and has a large team with aggressive product launch plans. Yes, you will see new film technology in 2017.

PBN: How many employees work at Toray? Are there any plans to expand operations in Quonset?

GERVAIS: We have 600 employees at our headquarters in North Kingstown where we operate our Torayfan polypropylene film and Lumirror polyester film divisions. Toray Plastics (America) Inc., also comprises our Toraypef Division, located in Front Royal, Va., which produces polypropylene and polyolefin foams for the automotive and flooring industries. We have 120 employees at that location.

Expansion is underway now. In December, we completed construction on a new, 28,000-square-foot facility designed to house a new, high-speed metallizer. Production of the new metallizer is in process. The expansion is another example of our commitment to technological innovation in both the polypropylene and polyester film marketplaces.

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