is the company’s Sales/Operations Planning Manager. However, this effort is ultimately customer focused,he added.“It’s not enough to be green, it’s got to be competitively green.” Bernie Scibienski, Vice President of Operations, noted,“A lot of our competitors are ‘or’ organizations.

FBA President Dwight Schmidt praised Landaal’s customer- centric approach. “They are all about the customer and making sure their needs are met.”

Giving Back

The Landaals are also all about the community and the industry they have labored in. A video shown at the gala highlighted the family’s contributions to the civic, social and cultural environment of the Flint, Michigan region in which they do business. Particularly touching in the film was the salute to the late Tom Landaal, Steve’s brother, and his work on behalf of the local food bank. “We were taught to use the blessings we’ve received to better the world, and you start that in your own backyard,” Steve said. Last spring, Tom Landaal was inducted into the International Corrugated Packaging Foundation’s

Steve and Bob Landaal, left, with ICPF Chairman Jim Akers at Tom Landaal’s induction into ICPF’s ‘Circle’ this past spring.

Circle of Distinguished Leaders and this fall, Landaal pledged $50,000 to support the ICPF. “We have been impressed with ICPF’s recent work [in promoting corrugated] and its success in expanding existing and jumpstarting new corrugated curricula at colleges and universities,” said Landaal.

They can be this or that. We are an ‘and’ organization. We want to have great designs and terrific delivery. We want to be low cost and provide unique products. It is a challenge to us as an organization to say ‘good is never good enough.’”

Landaal Packaging Systems has also focused a great deal on a 100 percent biodegradable shipping cooler that is a viable alternative to the polystyrene coolers often discarded in landfills. The company continues to fund R&D to discover and provide eco-smart options to plastic pails, jugs and tin cans for many liquid packaging applications. In addition, the company reports, it has formulated a breakthrough technology that reduces the recycling process up to 70 percent - a development that will be good for the environment and for Landaal’s customers looking to reduce expenses. Bob Landaal, a third generation family boxmaker, is Vice President of Sales and Marketing.The job, he says, has a future component.“The balance of my time is to be thinking six months to a year ahead of what’s going on today.A lot of what we do is planning for our future - what products and services are we going to bring to market.”