Mid-North not boxed in.

Size and flexibility gives Mid-North Containers Ltd. a competitive edge in Northern Ontario.

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Run by Steven and Loretta Edwards, this New Liskeard-based company had its origins in Toronto where Steven's uncle, Harvey Edwards, worked in various cardboard manufacturing facilities. In 1980, Harvey and Steven's father, Harold, formed a partnership and ventured northward to begin a business.

A year later, Harvey returned to southern Ontario, and Harold bought the company. He ran it until five years ago, when Steven bought the business.

Initially a carpenter, Steven preferred the steady work provided by Mid-North Containers after he gained several season's of experience working for his uncle prior to the business moving north.

Now, the company has a 20,000-square-foot facility that employs 13 people, which includes one student, and averages about two million square feet of cardboard per month. Sales have increased four-fold since the doors opened 25 years ago.

Mid-North Container's largest market is in Northern Ontario and northern Quebec, although it services southern Ontario too.

During a time when bigger appears to be better for many companies, Mid-North Container's modest size has been a valuable asset to area businesses that operate on a smaller scale. Steven says they have the flexibility to receive smaller orders and still remain cost-competitive, because they don't rely on large production quantities like the bigger players.

"We have planned, well-travelled delivery routes every week to every two weeks," Steven says.

Most orders will be accommodated, whenever possible.

"We'll bend a little bit if they need an order earlier than we would usually do it," he says. They can be flexible, because they are not on an automated line. "So we can throw that order into the production mix."

This willingness to meet the needs of the customers has renewed loyalties of former customers who tried other companies that were unable to produce the same level of service.

Mid-North Containers has three printing presses that trim, score, glue corners and print up to two colours. The Steel Rule Die machine will trim and score the cardboard to the order's size for easier folding.

Cardboard thickness is categorized for its bursting strength and edge strength. Bursting strength is the amount of pressure applied on the wall of the cardboard before it breaks through, and edge or stacking strength has to do with the amount of weight placed upon stacked loads before collapsing. Type of load and method of shipping determines the necessary thickness

The company offers a variety of strengths, which range from single-walled to triple-walled, which can withstand 1,300 pounds of pressure per square inch.

Steven says the most common order in double wall cardboard combines B flute at one-eight thickness and C flute at three-sixteenths thickness.

The boxes are custom-trimmed to order, although the majority (80 per cent) are 12 feet by 12 feet by 12 feet cubed, with an average thickness of three-sixteenths inch C flute.

The company's non-unionized environment also has a low turn around of staff, which speaks well for its working atmosphere.

As the Edwards look toward the future, the company will continue to meet the needs of their customers with quality service.

By ADELLE LARMOUR

Northern Ontario Business