History

Polypropylene Plastic is used by many industries, such as the US Postal Service in their stackable plastic totes, as pallet liners, for commercial, political and real estate signage, and for retail displays.  It can be manufactured in 2 mm (1/16”) to 13 mm (1/2”) sheets, with 4 mm or 1/8” being the most common for real estate and political signage. However, there are few PP manufacturers who have 10 mm dies and just 1 with a 13 mm die.

Farm Corr’s manufacturing process begins with our unique, specific resin. Resin is a granular plastic that is similar in appearance to rock salt that melts snow.  Production is a technical process as there are different resins for various applications. Manufacturing is similar to a Chef cooking a recipe. To manufacture corrugated plastic sheets, there are primary ingredients (resins), along with unique additives in the “recipe.” For example, Farm Corr™ uses proprietary Impact Modifiers, microbial anti-mold UV polymers and other additives that are particular to our unique Enhanced Polypropylene (EPP) sheet product.

Once our proprietary resin recipe has been mixed together, it is melted and flows through a die that gives it the rigid fluted shape. Once cooled, the corrugated plastic sheet is fed continuously through a machinery line that is approximately the length of a football field. There, the Farm Corr sheets are Corona treated (above). This is an electrical process that increases the surface energy of the PP and allows ink and adhesives to adhere. The final step is to guillotine or cut the material into the panel sizes desired and palletize it.

The finished sheet has channels which are called “flutes.” This term originated from the corrugated cardboard industry, where the wavy, paper center is called a “flute.” The flutes typically run the length of the sheet, as that parallels the manufacturing line. Vertical flutes allow outdoor signs’ rain or condensation to drain out.