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ISU gains big assists from industry (sidebar)

ISU’s R&D lab has a lot on the ball

Pw 11133 Isu Grote

Indiana State University’s Indiana Packaging Research & Development Center has conducted testing and other projects for a range of companies including Bemis Co., Biomet Inc., and Pfizer. And also for Grote Industries, where Kyle Young, who earned a bachelor’s degree in packaging technology at ISU in 2001, is a packaging engineer.

Young is responsible for designing packaging for Grote products that includes vehicle lighting and safety products that target original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and the auto aftermarket. Grote’s products are primarily shipped in bulk to customers such as Carquest.

Young says he has used the ISU lab—now the formalized IPRDC—for testing of about 50 items yearly. Young regularly makes the three-hour trek to Terre Haute from Grote’s HQ operations in Madison, IN, to deliver products personally and observe testing.

According to Young, about 90% of Grote’s tests center on bulk products packed in corrugated cases using partitions or layer pads. For example, most recently, Young had IPRDC test a new 50-count bulk pack for a new light-emitting diode cab marker (light) that comprised a corrugated container with plastic-coated chipboard partitions.

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