Oshkosh and Twin Cities Plants Earn G7 Master Facility Re-Certification

Great Northern's qualified facility

Great Northern Packaging is pleased to announce that the Oshkosh and Twin Cities locations have been re-qualified as G7 Master Facilities and have both received a G7 Targeted designation for their digital and offset print presses. This qualification verifies that Great Northern’s digital and off-set presses meet G7 Targeted color specifications for grayscale colors, as well as primary and secondary colors (CMY and RGB).

Great Northern Oshkosh and Twin Cities achieved this certification by demonstrating through production of print and/or proofing, the knowledge, skill, and best practices required to effectively operate the G7 methodology in a graphic communications production environment. “I’m excited that Great Northern has again achieved the G7 Master Qualification,” said Phillip Broat, a certified G7 expert and technical color and graphics workflow analyst for Great Northern. “This allows us to maintain the efficiency and quality that our customers have come to expect.”

To learn more about Great Northern Oshkosh’s printed paperboard packaging capabilities, visit here.

Great Northern Packaging – Oshkosh Renews Their Safe Quality Food Certification

Great Northern Packaging – Oshkosh has completed its SQF audit for 2023 and is pleased to announce its renewal of the Safe Quality Food (SQF) Certification. This certification validates that Great Northern has robust food safety control systems effectively implemented in its manufacturing process. SQF is recognized by retailers and food service providers around the world who require a rigorous, credible food safety management system.

This year, the Oshkosh facility received its best audit score since it first attained this certification back in 2019. “The Oshkosh Team works hard all year long to make sure our facilities are kept in excellent condition”, said Galen Killam, the general manager of Great Northern Oshkosh. “Receiving a location best 97 out of 100 possible points on our audit reflects that hard work. This SQF annual re-certification allows our customers, both food and non-food, to be confident that they are receiving top quality, food-safe cartons.”

 

Great Northern Packaging – Oshkosh Earns Safe Quality Food Certification

Great Northern Packaging – Oshkosh is pleased to announce its renewal of the Safe Quality Food (SQF) Certification. This certification validates that Great Northern has robust food safety control systems effectively implemented in its manufacturing process. SQF is recognized by retailers and food service providers around the world who require a rigorous, credible food safety management system.

When the general manager of Great Northern Oshkosh, Galen Killam, was asked what the significance of this achievement means, he said, “Our team at Oshkosh has worked hard to recertify our SQF certification this year, allowing us to provide top quality, food safe folding cartons to our customers.” The Great Northern Packaging – Oshkosh facility has maintained this certification since 2019.

 

Great Northern Packaging – Oshkosh Facility Earns G7 Targeted Certification

G7 Master Certification

Great Northern Packaging is pleased to announce that the Oshkosh and Twin Cities facilities have both been recertified as a G7 Master Facility. The Twin Cities facility also received a G7 Targeted designation for its offset press while the Oshkosh facility received a G7 Targeted designation for both its digital and off-set print presses. This certification verifies that Great Northern’s digital and off-set presses meet G7 Targeted color specifications for grayscale colors, as well as primary and secondary colors (CMY and RGB).

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First Year of Collaborative Course Produces Sustainable Packaging Designs

Great Northern Packaging

Introduction
At the beginning of the 2021 fall semester at UW-Stout, the Great Northern Corporation Collaboration Experience kicked off. Six teams of packaging and graphic design students in the course were tasked with creating new, sustainable packaging for Reckitt, a client that makes Air Wick plug-in scented oils and diffusers. When the fall semester wrapped up, the students presented their final projects to not only the class, but also to industry professionals.

Each team was to design a single sustainable package that meets club store and Amazon packaging requirements for in-store display and online retail, while improving customer experience. During their research, the teams found Air Wick’s packaging to be unsustainable, difficult to open, and it didn’t have storage for oil refills once opened.

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Great Northern Corporation Collaboration Experience is Underway

Great Northern Corporation Collaboration Experience for students

Earlier this fall, University of Wisconsin-Stout and Great Northern Corporation kicked off a four-year pilot project called the Great Northern Corporation Collaboration Experience. This sponsored course is an advanced design selective for graphic design students and a senior capstone for packaging students. The course is to be held four times over four years and is co-taught by packaging and graphic design faculty.

The inaugural collaborative experience has 24 students working together in cross-disciplinary teams. “It’s an opportunity for students to better understand and grow in appreciation of each other’s majors, skills and methodologies. It’s a chance for them to challenge each other and compromise in order to develop a package that meets the needs of the customer, just like in the industry,” said Robert Meisner, packaging program director.

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Great Northern Packaging – Oshkosh Facility Earns Safe Quality Food Certification

SQF Logo

Our Great Northern Packaging – Oshkosh facility is pleased to announce its renewal of the Safe Quality Food (SQF) Certification. This certification validates that Great Northern has robust food safety control systems effectively implemented in their manufacturing process. SQF is recognized by retailers and food service providers around the world who require a rigorous, credible food safety management system.

When the general manager of our Oshkosh location, Galen Killam, was asked what the significance of this achievement means, he said, “Achieving the renewal of our SQF certification shows our commitment to the time and effort required to provide our customer with a food safe folding carton.” Killam also mentioned, “We work hard all year to operate in a clean and safe manner and this recertification is the outcome of that work.”

To learn more about our packaging solutions, click here.

Great Northern Packaging – Oshkosh Facility Earns SFI Sourcing Label Certification

Sustainable Forestry initiative logo

Great Northern Packaging – Oshkosh Facility is pleased to announce its renewal of the Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) Sourcing Label Certification. This certification verifies that products from our Oshkosh facility come from recycled content or from a certified forest and that all the fiber in our products are acquired from sources that are in compliance with state, provincial or federal laws.

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Great Northern to invest in UW-Stout advanced design and packaging class to replicate industry

UW Stout students in packaging lab

Great Northern is pleased to announce a collaboration with the University of Wisconsin–Stout to launch The UW-Stout Great Northern Corporation Collaboration Experience course, a four-year pilot project focused on advanced design and packaging. Students will receive instruction and work in cross-disciplinary teams to solve a packaging challenge or complete a project or competition.  “The Collaborative Experience is a multidisciplinary design and packaging class that replicates the way we work with our customers on design projects,” commented John Davis, Great Northern’s Chief Executive Officer. Read More…

Great Northern Partners with Paper Discovery Center

Paper Discovery Center

When people think about boxes, they think of the items inside the box. This year, Great Northern partnered with Paper Discovery Center to create the program, “Cardboard – Outside the Box,” as a way to inspire creativity in a child’s mind. With the cardboard donations from Great Northern, children were able to explore, create, and invent with this interactive program.

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New FBA Video: Boxes – the most extraordinary ordinary thing in the world

Fibre Box Association Logo

Check out the Fibre Box Association’s newest video, which takes a creative and fun look into why “ordinary” boxes are truly extraordinary!

Great Northern Joins Amazon Packaging Support and Supplier Network (APASS)

Amazon Packaging

Great Northern is now a member of the Amazon Packaging Support and Supplier Network (APASS), a select group of companies that Amazon officially recognizes as packaging experts who can help e-commerce vendors with their packaging challenges.

View the Press Release to Learn More.

Learn how Great Northern can assist you with meeting Amazon’s new standards.

Great Expectations

Great Expectations is more than a tagline, it is an attitude. At Great Northern, customer challenges are met by an undying spirit to doing what others can’t or won’t. It’s in our DNA. And it is what our customers have come to expect with Great Northern.

How can we exceed your expectations?