Our History
Elie W. Labombarde recognised that the painstakingly slow process of hand-folding and gluing paper boxes could be automated. So he conceived of and invented an automatic folding box machine. His early patents covering that first gluer and the operational success it garnered prompted him to commercially manufacture these machines.
1903: The beginning
In 1903, Ellie Labombarde founded The International Paper Box Machine Company. The first machine was sold to the E.B. Munson Company of New Haven, Connecticut, USA. In its first hour, the machine produced as many Smith Bros cough drop boxes as an entire crew could hand-fold in a ten hour day. It replaced a costly process and gave birth to a new industry, as an increasing number of products would eventually benefit from the advantages of folding carton packaging.
1950: Our first sealer
In 1950, IPBM introduced the first machine engineered specifically for the production of liquid packaging. This unique machine utilized a gas fuelled flame to melt and reseal the carton’s polyethylene coating on Pure-Pak cartons, a gable-topped liquid carton which has become a familiar industry standard. The International Paper Box Machine Company is the only manufacturer that produces a full line of equipment to support this industry segment and continues to develop new technology, addressing new trends and increasing efficiency
1974: Expansion
In 1974, we acquired Multifold International. The Multifold International Division had been manufacturing material handling equipment since 1953. Multifold’s line of semi-automatic and fully automatic prefeeders and packers proved to be the ideal companion to International’s flame sealers, improving efficiency and maximising production.
1980: KF Royal 333
In 1980, we introduced the Royal line of flame sealers when we exhibited a Royal 33 at IPEX. Its ease of set-up, low maintenance and accurate, high-speed production generated immediate appeal within the industry. The KF Royal 333 includes a third, center carrier in the final fold which allows for the addition of a flame-sealing option for heat-sealing liquid, aseptic packaging.
2003: A new home
2003 - Another mile stone in the history of IPBM is the change of ownership of the IPBM and Multifold International liquid packaging divisions which where acquired by the Geneva branch now owning all IP and world-wide responsibility for manufacturing, sales. Consequently, The International Paper Box Machine Company became a Swiss owned company in 2003 and has been renamed International Paper Box Machine Company Geneva / Switzerland, with headquarters in Geneva (Switzerland), and North American partner in Grand Junction, Colorado is responsible for sales and after-sales in America.
2006: The LF-III 800/1000CH
We introduced our the LF-III 800/1000CH, a breakthrough sealer that reaches a maximum belt-speed of 1000 m/min, whilst integrading new innovations such as servo drive units, top and bottom belt drives and in-line quality assurance. It also eliminated the decades old issue of dust contamination, surpassing the previous LF-B in every way. The first LF-III was delivered to the market in 2004 and became operational in 2005.
2008: Leary x IPBMCO
To further increase the versatility of our sealers, we partnered up with the well-known W.H. Leary Company of Chicago. Leary is specialised in the development of In-Line Quality Control Systems. This partnership lead to the introduction of the LS-9.16 quality assurance system. It detects, tracks, and ejects faulty cartons thanks to an array of precise sensors positioned at key points on the production line, while also keeping track of the precise nature of defects and summarising them on a shift-end report.
2012: The LF-IV 800CH
In 2012, we reengineered and readopted many of the field proven elements of the LF-III sealer in the new LF-IV 800CH sealer. By merging pre-fold and skiving and moreover by merging burner and final fold into individual sections, we obtained a compact two section sealer. The resulting product delivers more output, allows for additional sleeve format flexibility and guarantees less dust contamination, decreased maintenance, lower energy consumption and investment costs. The LF-IV 800CH was made available to the market in second part of 2012.
Today: Hot air sealing
As a response to the growing adoption of hot air sealing technologies over gas, IPBM is teaming up with market leaders in hot air sealing technologies benefiting from their profound expertise in the discipline. Together with our American partner WSI we are introducing the LF-V 800CH, our new hot air heat source sealer, a modified version of our popular LF-IV 700CH. Today, hot air sealing is mainly used for the production of Combibloc format sleeves but can be adapted to suit gable-top sleeves).