Happy New Year! 2020 here we come!

It’s a new year, and our sights are set on providing you with the best spiral paper tubes and edge protectors available.

This year, we’re celebrating our 71st anniversary since George Hibard Sr. founded Spiral Paper Tube & Core. As a small business with fewer than fifty employees, the term “family business” takes on a whole new meaning.

Thank you to all of our clients who have trusted us for so many years!

Are you ready for Thanksgiving?

Life is about family and friends, and Thanksgiving is an opportunity to gather around a meal with the ones we love the most.

With Thanksgiving just around the corner, we wanted to remind everybody that we’ll be celebrating with our families as well.

We’ll be closed Thursday, November 28 and Friday, November 29. We’ll be back in the office on Monday, December 2. We look forward to serving you this holiday season.

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Happy New Year!

To kick off the new year, we are introducing three metric length options to our 3″ ID x .125″ Tape & Label Cores.

Throughout this past year, we had a number of folks let us know that their products are metric and that a metric length would work better than our standard lengths for their products.

The following three lengths are now available for next day shipping:

  • 48mm
  • 72mm
  • 100mm

Looking for 3″ ID x .125″ Tape & Label Cores with a 48mm, 72mm, or 100mm length? Look no further. Click here!

Happy New Year!

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Christmas Update: Ordering 3″ ID Tape & Label Cores

We closed for Christmas and New Years today. We will re-open Wednesday, January 2, 2019.

Happy New Year!

Orders placed between now and then, will be processed and shipped Thursday, January 3, 2019. Like usual, you’ll receive an emailed order confirmation as soon as we’re back in the office and after we process your order.

And, like usual, you’ll receive another email with your UPS tracking number(s) to track your package(s).

Need your order by Friday, January 4, 2019?

If you’re in a hurry to receive your cores, when you place your order, select UPS Next Day shipping. This way, when we ship on Thursday, January 3, 2019, you’ll receive your order the very next day.

Our offices will remain closed until we return Wednesday, January 2, 2019. All phone calls and emails will be returned at that time.

2018 was a wonderful year and we’re looking forward to another great year! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

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We’ll be closed for Christmas

This year just seemed to come and go. We’ve had the privilege of meeting lots of new clients, and continuing to build lasting relationships with those we’ve been working with for years…and for some, decades. 

With Christmas just around the corner, we wanted to let you know that we’ll be closed for a few days. 

Here’s our Christmas schedule: 

Closed Friday, December 21, 2018 at 11:00 AM Pacific                                       Re-open Wednesday, January 2, 2019 at 8:00 AM Pacific 

With just over one week remaining before we close for Christmas, please be sure to make any arrangements to pickup any open orders. We’re open from 8:00 AM – 4:30 PM Monday through Friday. 

If you have any questions, and need a quick answer, call our office at 562-801-9705 and we’ll be happy to help. 

We look forward to a prosperous new year with you! 

Yunhee Min & Peter Tolkin, “Red Carpet in C,” at UCR Arts

It’s not always “business as usual” here at Spiral Paper Tube & Core. We recently had the opportunity to work with two greats, Yunhee Min, an artist, and architect Peter Tolkin, both working in collaboration with the University of California, Riverside.

Unlike most other custom orders, theirs called for thousands of light blue paper tubes, dark blue paper tubes, bright yellow paper tubes, forest green paper tubes, followed by an array of pinks, reds and oranges…all with a clean, flat white inside liner.

In addition to the fluctuating colors, the lengths were just as varied.

After numerous intriguing conversations, we felt we had an understanding of their project and began bringing in the custom colored paper. And, truth be told, the colors lit up our factory like never before!

Here’s the what the LA Times had to say about their art installation:

Inspired by the writings of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, who described music as “liquid architecture” and architecture as “frozen music,” Min and Tolkin have created an installation that fills the UCR Arts atrium with an undulating form constructed out of 150-foot bands of fabric and more than 17,000 colored paper tubes. 

The installation runs through December 29. The opening reception was held September 29 at UC Riverside, 3824 and 3834 Main St., Riverside, ucrarts.ucr.edu

“Yunhee Min & Peter Tolkin: Red Carpet in C is a collaboration between painter, Yunhee Min, and architect, Peter Tolkin. The idea for this project evolved out of Min and Tolkin’s shared enthusiasm for music, architecture, and color. These interests let them to Goethe who described the relationship between architecture and music as “Music is liquid architecture; Architecture is frozen music.”

Conceived as performative architecture, this large fabric installation functions as both an object to be viewed and a space to be inhabited; a virtual translation of music into three-dimensions. Constructed of fabric and colored paper tubes, its soft, undulating parabolic shape is set in visual relief against the classical proportions, meter, and time signature of Culver Center of the Arts’ historic atrium.

Yunhee Min & Peter Tolkin: Red Carpet in C is organized by the Barbara & Art Culver Center of the Arts at UCR ARTS and is co-curated by Tyler Stallings and Zaid Yousef. Yunhee Min & Peter Tolkin: Red Carpet in C has been possible with support from the National Endowment for the Arts, the University of California Institute for Research in the Arts, Spiral Paper Tube & Core, Francine Tolkin Cooper and Herbert Cooper, Susan and Jim Crawford, Clara and Tim Daniels, Freya and Mark Ivener, Avery and Miles McEnery, Marla and Jeffrey Michaels, Laurie and Marc Recordon, Jonathan Tolkin, and Barbara H. Hirsch. UCR’s College of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences and the City of Riverside provide support for UCR ARTS programs.

 

The team that made possible Red Carpet in C

 

TOLO Architecture participants include Peter Tolkin, Sarah Lorenzen, Socrates Medina, Karl Kachele, Kare Tonapetyan, Parker Amman, Jeremy Schacht, Trenman Yau, Chelsea Rector, and Karl Blette.

 

Matthew Melnyk from Nous Engineering

 

Robert K. Williams from UCR Architects and Engineers

 

Cal Poly Pomona Architecture (CPP ARC) students included Athenna Ann Lim, Yewon Hong, Romi Ann Grepo, Victor Daniel Macias, Emily To, Cheyenne Capener, Vi Phan, Stephanie Contreras, Stephanie Toro, Chelsea Steiner, Paola Murillo, Karla Vich, Julie Habib, Kenza Abourraja, Karen Venegas, Jose Luis Hernandez, Grace Liu, Rusxanne Londonio, Son Vu, Osvaldo Guiterrez Munoz, Sam Rubio, Sharifeh Diabdallah, Amaris Vasquez, Joseph Nandino, Emily Bandy, William Tan, Emily Ta, and Karla Camarena.
UCR ARTS team included Zaid Yousef, co-curator and exhibition designer, Cody Norris, senior preparator, Tim LeBlanc, assistant preparator, and Grace Saunders, preparator, along with Rene Balingit Jr., Samuel Cantrell, Ivy Son, and Jennifer Rodriguez Trujillo, along with guest co-curator Tyler Stallings.” – UCR Arts

Summertime packaging tips

The US economy is on the up and up. Manufacturing is increasing. How has that impacted your supply chain?

Here are 3 packaging tips to consider this summer:

  1. Pay attention to the details on the front end
  2. Overestimate the amount of time it will take for your custom order to get delivered
  3. Make sure your invoices are paid on time

1. Pay attention to the details on the front end

When an inexperienced buyer is in a hurry for a custom order, they express a variety of emotions. The more emotions expressed, the fewer details they pay attention to. Have you ever noticed that grumpy people tend to spot every single little problem? Don’t let your client’s emotions distract you. Remain focused on the details: product, style, size, dimensions, color, material, shipping details, and payment terms.

If you are going into this order already in a time crunch, the last thing you want is to overlook an important detail, manufacture the order incorrectly, and end up having to make it again. This will only cost you more time and more of your money. If needed, have a coworker double-check the purchase order and details to confirm accuracy.

2. Overestimate the amount of time it will take for your custom order to get delivered

If you have a product getting ready to go to market, and the packaging is the last component you’re waiting on, give yourself plenty of time. Manufacturing is increasing across the board and, as a result, lead times and turnaround times are getting extended.

Budgeting a little extra time on the front end, will help you avoid having to expedite shipments unnecessarily. Sure, you can air freight that LTL shipment, but what does that do to your bottom line? Extra time will also come in handy in case the manufacturer makes a mistake, uses the wrong color, or something as simple as their shipping guy calls out sick the day your shipment is supposed to go out.

Manufacturing lead time +  shipping time + a little extra time = your best bet

3. Make sure your invoices are paid on time

Paying your bills on time is not just the best way to conduct business, it will benefit you in the long run. If your company has terms (an open account) with vendors, but doesn’t pay within the time period agreed upon, you establish a poor business reputation with your vendors. As unsecured creditors, they become hesitant-maybe you’ll pay late again…but maybe you won’t pay at all this time?

Make a conscious effort to always pay your bills early or on time. This will help establish a positive, trusting working relationship with vendors. Then, when that time comes when you’re in a hurry, made an internal mistake, or just need a favor, the positive reputation you’ve established and maintained over the years will pay off.

Don’t be that person who doesn’t ever seem to pay on time, but always seems to be in a rush or needing something obscure.

You Won’t Find Custom Poster Tubes at Your Local Office Supply Shop – Part 1

Color: Kraft aka Brown

End Closure: White plastic plug

 

Local office supply stores stock some of the common poster tubes – 2″ inside diameter x 24″ usable length, 2″ inside diameter x 36″ usable length, 2″ inside diameter x 48″ usable length and 3″ inside diameter x 24″ usable length, 3″ inside diameter x 36″ usable length, 3″ inside diameter x 48″ usable length.

For some, these sizes are sufficient. But many are left wondering where they can find a custom poster tube with something besides kraft brown or matte white outside wrap.

If you’re finding yourself in the latter group, this blog is for you. Here are a few pictures of some customer poster tubes we make. You’ll notice that most of these poster tubes have white plastic end plugs – white plastic plugs are the cheapest, lightest, most common way to secure the ends of a poster tube. These plastic plugs are available from 1 inch to 12 inches.

Custom Pantone color end plugs are available in quantities of 50,000 – 100,000.

 

Color: Matte Black aka Flat Black

End Closure: White plastic plug

Color: Glossy Red

End Closure: White plastic plug

Color: Glossy Yellow

End Closure: White plastic plug

 

Color: Glossy Black

End Closure: White plastic plug

 

Color: Kraft aka Brown

End Closure: Crimped Ends aka Snap Seal

 

Crimped poster tubes or “snap sealed” poster tubes are an alternative to “open end” poster tubes with plastic end plugs. Because glossy paper is much thinner than kraft brown paper, it tends to tear or rip when crimped, so crimped posters tubes are usually ordinary kraft brown, though sometimes matte white or matte black.

Crimped poster tubes don’t require plastic end plugs, but they do require a little more labor. Open end poster tubes are manufactured and ready to go. Crimped end poster tubes are manufactured, then sent to get crimped. Because of the additional step, the lead time or turnaround time for this type of poster tube is a little longer.

A great way to brand crimped end poster tubes and increase product visibility is to add a one color print (like a rubber stamp). To see examples of custom printed poster tubes and crimped end poster tubes, stay tuned for Part 2 of You Won’t Find Custom Poster Tubes at Your Local Office Supply Shop. 

 

Serving Los Angeles since 1949

Spiral Paper Tube & Core was founded by George Hibard Sr., a US Marine and World War II veteran, nearly seventy years ago.

A machinist by trade, he designed and fabricated most of our first machines. From 1949 to 2004, we were located south of downtown Los Angeles at 8802 S. Graham, Los Angeles, CA 90002.

Bursting at the seams, we needed a bigger building, more more efficient transportation, and additional office space.

Originally, we manufactured spiral paper tubes such as garment tubes, tape cores, and mailing tubes. All were, and still are,  relatively simple to manufacture and serve a wide audience.

Over the years, we’ve explored more industries, discovering even more spiral paper tube needs. This has resulted is us making smaller diameters, larger diameters, shorter tubes, longer tubes, thinner tubes, thicker tubes, as well as adding custom paper, plastic and metal end closures.

In 2002, George Hibard Jr., like his father, designed and fabricated a machine that manufactured a paper product with a few different names: edge protectors, corner protectors, or simply “v-board.”

Invisible to most retail consumers, this v-shaped corner protector can always be seen at big box retailers such as Costco and Sam’s club on pallets of merchandise still shrink wrapped on the shelving.

 

With nearly seventy years of business under our belts, we’ve learned, grown, adapted, and have enjoyed serving Los Angeles with our paper packaging and shipping products. We’re looking forward to another seventy!

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