Unboxing Innovation with Clemson University Packaging Science Program

We’ve just wrapped up another exciting year partnering with the graduating seniors from Clemson University’s Packaging Science program – and what a journey it’s been! The 2025 capstone project challenged students to design packaging for a coffee mug, and they delivered creativity, technicality, and a whole lot of passion.

Our brief was simple but ambitious: create packaging for a ceramic mug that could serve both utilitarian and premium needs. From cost-effective, direct-to-consumer shipping solutions to high-end unboxing experiences, the students explored a wide range of design possibilities. We even threw in a curveball: develop a package that could survive a three-story fall. Think egg drop challenge, but with fragile ceramic mugs.

 The students rose to the occasion. They iterated, tested, and reimagined their designs multiple times, showing a great deal of ingenuity. Their questions during our check-ins were sharp and insightful, revealing a deep curiosity about how packaging functions across the supply chain. It was inspiring to watch their ideas evolve and their confidence grow.

We were thrilled to attend the final presentations in person this year. The teams were polished, professional, and impressively prepared. They breezed through their demos without a hitch. It’s clear these Clemson students are ready to make waves in the packaging industry.

Sponsoring this capstone project is more than just a partnership, it’s a window into the future of packaging. It keeps us connected to emerging trends, fresh perspectives, and the next generation of talent. We’re proud to share our knowledge and resources with these students and look forward to collaborating with them in even bigger ways down the road.

Here’s to another successful year – and to the bright minds already shaping 2026!

Our Commitment to Sustainability & Customer Service

Our corrugated manufacturing facility has expanded its capabilities to provide even more options for sustainable, innovative, and customer-focused packaging solutions that protect products and improve supply chain efficiency.

Here are some of the benefits our customers can expect from these changes:

• Located just outside of Charleston, South Carolina, our corrugated plant exists to help our customers succeed with some of the best production lead times in the market.
• Whether it’s designing for multiple SKUs or creating multi-component packaging with interior forms, we deliver unmatched value.
• Our hybrid business model strikes the perfect balance between packaging distribution and value-added manufacturing — representing 30% of our revenue.
• From regular slotted containers to jumbo boxes and retail displays, we tailor each solution to meet your specifications with efficiency, flexibility, and superior care.

 

Our Hybrid Approach

“We’re able to cover all different types of corrugated solutions, from really high-volume regular slotted container boxes all the way up to jumbo boxes, with our different capabilities across all our different equipment,” says Eric Quisenberry, regional sales leader. “Really what makes it special is we’re able to integrate it into our full-service model within the distribution network, so you can take what would be a manufacturer’s corrugated price point but integrate it into a distribution service model which is really kind of a hybrid system that is unmatched in the industry.”

The Impact of Partnering with Atlantic

As a trusted partner to Fortune 500 companies and small businesses alike, we handle both high-volume orders and complex, custom packaging solutions. Our just-in-time delivery and inventory management save you warehouse space and allow you to focus on production, while we take care of the packaging.

We Take our Commitments Seriously

With in-house design, testing, and manufacturing, we provide quick, customized solutions that minimize damage, boost efficiency, and promote sustainability.

Our real-time customer service ensures you’re always in the loop — no matter the intricacy or size of your order.

Let’s Work Together to Create a More Circular Supply Chain

We deliver complete, end-to-end sustainable packaging solutions with unmatched service and flexibility, giving you peace of mind from design to delivery. Contact us today to see how we can help!

We now offer microbiological testing at our facility in the Dominican Republic!

Microorganisms such as bacteria, molds, and yeasts have the potential to contaminate your products. It’s important that your packaging protects against threats that are difficult or even impossible to see with just the human eye.

We’re always searching for additional ways to provide value for our partners, and investing in testing equipment and training for microbiological research to meet strict industry standards is a testament to this. The laboratory is an amazing supplement to our testing capabilities.

Radilenni Beriguete, Microbiology Laboratory Supervisor, brings a wealth of knowledge and many years of experience to the Atlantic team. She oversees operations at the lab and manages a team of scientists that are trusted by the world’s largest brands to carry out virtually any type of microbiological analysis. The facility has the capacity of processing approximately 100 samples per shift on most analyses!

Clients that utilize the facility will be guaranteed efficient, secure testing. The top-of-the-line lab is in accordance with the P&G analytical laboratory design standard, it adheres to ISO 9001: 2015 quality management systems standards, and the ISO/IEC 17025:2017 general requirements for the competence of testing and calibration of laboratories.

We are so excited to add this valuable resource to our business offerings. The lab increases our contract manufacturing capabilities, saves our clients’ time and money, and opens us up to new business opportunities with customers interested in advanced packaging research and testing.

Atlantic’s Solution Center now offers climate testing! Its new Environmental Test Chamber simulates climate conditions on single parcel packaging. Our partners can now be certain of how varying temperatures and levels of humidity will impact their packaging.

The test chamber reaches temperatures of -73°C to 200°C or -99.4°F to 392°F and replicates any level of humidity. With these settings, we can simulate the conditions of every climate on Earth.

The Environmental Test Chamber is a great complement to our testing capabilities at the Solution Center. If your company is experiencing a packaging challenge, reach out to Atlantic’s Solution Center today!

At Atlantic, we don’t just test packaging. We test, refine, and test again. Testing is a critical component of our packaging methodology and helps us maintain a standard of excellence that is unrivaled. Minimizing load failures and costs for our clients are our top priorities.

Altering packaging material use by as little as a gram can have a drastic impact on the supply chain at scale. Atlantic helps its clients save money and meet sustainability goals by finding the exact amount of material they need for their loads.

Atlantic’s phased approach of auditing, testing, optimizing, and monitoring is a winning strategy for any business’ packaging process.

Jake Wyns, Packaging Development Specialist, discusses Atlantic’s commitment to testing in the video above.

Atlantic’s Film Lab in Charlotte, North Carolina, provides customers with data-driven solutions that reduce product damage and save money. We provide our partners with thorough testing and hands-on training to ensure stretch films, trash bags, shrink films, and meat packaging films are all up to standard and consistent. Consistency of film is crucial in any business’ packaging process.

John Cook, Atlantic’s Stretch Film Technical Director, explains the importance of finding the right film and wrap pattern at the Film Lab in the video above. John Cook is a polymer chemist who has been innovating polyethylene resins and films since 1973. John’s work at Atlantic brings material knowledge and insight that benefits our customers.

In 2017, Atlantic founded its Film Lab to continue its pursuit of being the most innovative packaging company in the world. Investing in research & development is important because it allows Atlantic to provide its customers with the most innovative packaging solutions. Atlantic preforms a detailed investigation into its clients’ needs to select the best & most relevant films for their specific application to ensure optimal performance and cost savings.

Atlantic is making a push toward more sustainable fiber-based packaging. Our innovative packaging engineers are now operating a hub in the Solution Center focusing exclusively on fiber technology.

Atlantic is on the cutting edge of fiber-based packaging research and can design, test, and implement fiber-based solutions for all our partners’ packaging needs. Consumers are demanding sustainable packaging alternatives, and Atlantic is here to provide them.

Kyle Pischel, Director of Atlantic’s Solution Center, discusses the many exciting advancements surrounding fiber-based packaging at the Solution Center in the video above.