April 28, 2026
We Broke Our Own World Record — Here's How
J.S.McCarthy sets a new global benchmark in folding carton production
One year ago, J.S. McCarthy set a world record. We printed 429,246 net sheets in 24 hours on our Heidelberg Speedmaster XL 106 (21K)— and the industry took notice. But for our team, records aren't destinations. They're baselines.
In March 2026, we did it again.
In a continuous run spanning 30 hours and 26 minutes, our press team produced 569,220 net sellable sheets —including 460,149 sheets during the strongest 24-hour window. That's a new world record for folding carton production, measured and verified by Heidelberg.
Here's what that looks like in real numbers:
· Average production rate: 19,173 sheets per hour
· Peak speed: 21,000 sheets per hour
· Total material processed: 210,000+pounds of paperboard (five trailer loads)
· Number of makereadies: 8
· Total spoilage: just 0.5%
The run was produced on 18pt SBS PrintKote folding carton board from Smurfit WestRock. Partnering with the right substrate supplier isn't a footnote — it's foundational. The consistency of the board across five trailer loads was critical to maintaining the speeds and quality we achieved throughout the run.
Our XL 106 21K press, installed in 2024, was built for exactly this kind of performance. Push to Stop technology, Prinect Inpress Control 3 inline color management, and automated plate changing allowed our operators to complete makereadies in just three to four minutes — keeping the press running and the sheets moving.
"Everything Heidelberg publishes about its machine capabilities performs exactly as described," said Jon Tardiff, President + CEO. "Every element works as intended."
Technology sets the ceiling. People determine whether you reach it.
Operators across multiple shifts kept the press dialed in for more than 30 consecutive hours — monitoring quality, managing material flow, and staying focused on consistency from first sheet to last. As a 100% employee-owned company, every team member has a personal stake in outcomes like this.
"It takes a lot of coordination that people do not always see," said Jason Baird, Press Operator. "Everything has to come together perfectly from start to finish."
"Our team is constantly pushing to improve," Tardiff added. "They are focused on doing things better, faster, and more efficiently — without ever compromising quality."
This record is meaningful not just as a headline, but as a signal. It tells our customers that when you bring a complex, high-volume folding carton job to J.S. McCarthy, it goes to a team that runs at this level every day. Speed, quality, and reliability aren't trade-offs here. They're expectations.
We'll keep raising the bar. That's just who we are.
Watch the behind-the-scenes video of the record-setting run here.
See the full press release here.
