Addressing corrugated board warp with a 23 factorial design

Abstract

The corrugator is a machine that produces combined corrugated sheet stock from roll stock. A 23 factorial experiment was used to determine which factors and levels provide the optimal result - flat, rather than warped, sheet stock in a full-line box plant located in the Southeast. The factors include Edge Tension (T), Preheater Wrap Pressure (P), and Run Speed (S). The response variable is board warp, measured in 1/64ths of an inch. The two levels are indicated by (+) or (-) signs to indicate high and low levels, respectively. In a 23 factorial design, there are 8 treatment combinations and n = 20 samples of each combination of factors and levels were collected and analyzed using one replication for immediate use in a real-time production environment. The conclusion yielded the following best settings to produce flat 200#C sheet stock: loose tension, 25% pressure on the preheater wrap, and a run speed of 380 ft/min.