I am troubled by inferences that may be drawn from an Oct. 15, Page 20 article titled “Linpac product has drop-down door.”
At first glance, the story appears to be coverage of a typical new product introduction, with a little developmental history added for reader interest.
In the fourth paragraph however, your correspondent quotes Linpac's Jeff Ditter: “New technology has been required to come up with the drop door that can have access to the long side all the way across, and still have a container that is rigid enough to stack.” The statement may be factual insofar as it pertains to Mr. Ditter's company and its products. A less-informed reader might conclude from the remark that existing technology was inadequate for the task no matter who the manufacturer.
In that respect, the statement is both misleading and incorrect.
In December 2000, Buckhorn Inc., a Myers Industries Inc. company, was the first company to introduce an extended-length bulk box with the drop-door option on the long sidewalls. The product was formally released to the materials-handling industry at the ProMat 2001 Show in Chicago in February, and the release was reported in at least five trade publications.
The extended-length bulk box uses a unique Buckhorn design that allows the container's long sidewalls to collapse first, followed by the end panels. This design feature protects the sidewalls from bowing while collapsed, the most common point for this occurrence. Once bowed, containers will not stack securely. Our extended-length container with the drop door was the first available to the market that allowed safe stacking by minimizing the potential for sidewall deflection. The carrying capacity of the container is rated at 2,000 pounds with any type of load.
The Buckhorn product is molded of high density polyethylene only. We selected HDPE structural foam for its strength characteristics and ease of molding. Knowing the container would eventually be recycled, we rejected the use of dissimilar materials such as the fiberglass-reinforced PP.
I hope this information will clarify any misunderstandings in the plastics and materials-handling industries that may arise from the article. I am available to address any comments or questions you may have regarding this matter.
John Orr
Buckhorn Inc.
Milford, Ohio