Chattanooga, Tennesee based Southern Champion Tray is on the precipice of a rare and remarkable achievement: celebrating nearly 100 years in business. Started by machinist Milt Zeiser in 1927 as a paper dish manufacturer with just four employees, the company has grown its operation into a team of more than 900 across Tennessee, Ohio, and Texas.
Now led by its third and fourth generations, Southern Champion Tray remains a proudly family-owned company, committed to its identity as a true ‘Customer Champion’. Its enduring success stems from a strong culture built on four core values: trustworthy, servant-hearted, relational, and resourceful.
A Transformative Leap Forward
Keeping both customers and employees at the forefront, Southern Champion Tray recently invested $60m in a 320,000 sq ft greenfield facility in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Housing a fleet of state-of-the-art equipment, the space includes an innovation lab, wellness center, and an outdoor deck overlooking the Tennessee River.
“It was really designed and built with our employees in mind,” said Brian Hunt, President & CEO, Southern Champion Tray. “But from a customer perspective, we made significant investments in automation to drive efficiency and quality. This gives us great confidence as we go to market and deliver the level of care our customers expect.”
Earlier this year, Southern Champion Tray added its flagship press, the Heidelberg Boardmaster. With its cutting-edge capabilities, the new inline flexo press replaces a 25-year-old machine and represents a major technological leap forward for the company.
Impressively, the Boardmaster performs ‘on the fly’, non-stop job changeovers – meaning the press prints without interruption from job to job by fully automating the plate cylinder setup and coming onto impression with only thirty feet of waste. Each print deck has two print units: while one unit is busy with production, the second one is being readied for the next print job.
After seeing the changeovers firsthand in their facility, Hunt shared that Southern Champion Tray’s leadership team was struck by the machine’s sheer power and how little waste was produced in a real-world environment. “Right away, our brains were already starting to strategize how we go to market to support our goal of making every interaction effortless for our customers,” he said.
After just one month of production, Hunt reflected, “When we first saw the Boardmaster technology two years ago, we were hopeful it would be a significant leap forward. But for us, it’s been even more surprising just how transformative that jump has been. While the reduced changeover time has been critical, the graphics capabilities and quality controls have also far exceeded our expectations.”
Since installation, Southern Champion Tray has gained greater uptime and reduced waste, thanks to faster job set-ups and fewer errors with Intellimatch. While still ‘learning the bells and whistles’ of the new press, Hunt anticipates these already impressive performance metrics to continue to improve over time.
Fit For The Future
Over the last five to seven years, Southern Champion Tray has experienced growing demand for custom-branded products across its core markets of food service, grocery, bakeries, and event venues. “For our customers, it’s no longer just about providing a delicious donut or baked good. They want their packaging to reflect both their brand and the quality of their product, creating a meaningful and distinct connection with the end-user,” said Hunt.
Historically, flexographic printing has not been efficient enough for shorter run lengths, but the Boardmaster changes that. Its innovative technology allows the company to produce multiple customized SKUs back-to-back with minimal waste – helping it meet rising demand while remaining true to its mission of serving customers with great packaging and distinctive service.
Confidence In The Next Era
The Boardmaster marks Southern Champion Tray’s first inline flexo investment with Heidelberg. Hunt noted that his team was particularly impressed by Heidelberg’s deep understanding of competing manufacturers.
“United by a shared commitment to employees and customers, Heidelberg is honored to partner with Southern Champion Tray in this next phase of their business,” said Clarence Penge, President, Heidelberg USA. “The Boardmaster marks an important milestone in their journey, and we’re proud to stand alongside a partner whose values so closely reflect our own.”
Looking to the next 100 years, Hunt reflected, “As we start talking about where our business is going in its next era, we see technology as a critical driver of growth. As part of that, the Boardmaster gives our people equipment they can be confident in and the capability to lead and innovate for years to come.”
For more information, visit www.sctray.com.
