Kevin Runtuwene loves learning languages, travels from Norway to Romania, and pushes VPK a little closer to its limits every day. His mission: to make boxes as light as possible without compromising on performance. A conversation about pushing boundaries, both within the packaging industry and beyond.
When Kevin joined VPK in 2018 as engineering and quality manager, it didn’t take him long to find his mission: to bridge the gap between paper and board. Today, he is a paper & board optimisation engineer, a role he has largely shaped himself.
“I want to develop a product that is as light as possible, whilst still doing what it’s supposed to do,” he says. “Exploring that boundary is a truly fascinating challenge. Where exactly does it lie? And how far can you push it? It’s precisely that question that drives me.”
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“I found the international aspect of this job particularly appealing. I had my baptism of fire straight away in Norway. I was, so to speak, thrown straight into the deep end. That first project was my real learning experience. I already had a basic knowledge of paper, but that’s where I began to understand how paper is turned into board: I got to know the machines, saw how the processes worked in practice and discovered where the real challenges lie.
I’ve learnt an enormous amount over the years; as a result, I now oversee testing processes in Belgium, the Netherlands, France, England, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Poland and Romania. The great thing about it is that I have to be there in person. I travel regularly, but that’s simply unavoidable. Some problems simply can’t be solved via email. Personal contact makes all the difference.”
“The shop floor often feels more real than a meeting room. It’s where you see how quality issues are actually tackled.”
When asked what drives him, Kevin replies without hesitation: “You’re not going to get a rocket to Mars if you don’t dare to push yourself to your limits.” For him, that means using as little material as possible in a box, whilst achieving maximum performance. Knowing where the limit lies. And pushing the boundaries a little further every day.
Are his weeks ever the same? Not at all. Another week takes him to Halden in Norway, where he works with Continuous Improvement Manager Lincoln Esau on a system to scale up paper measurements, prepare BCT measurements for three countries and launch the machine learning phase for FEMat Nordics. In between, there’s also an introduction to a group-wide project on harmonising the Quality Management System. And always, wherever he is: a visit to the shop floor.
Growing without borders
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