Photo / Courtesy J.S. McCarthy
From left, Matt Tardiff, Jon Tardiff and Amy Tardiff — CFO, CEO and vice president and general respectively — stand in front of JSM’s new Heidelberg Press.
Updated: May 27, 2025
Augusta printer’s high-tech press pays off with world record for carton production
Photo / Courtesy J.S. McCarthy
Jason Baird, J.S. McCarthy’s pressman and a member of the Heidelberg team, works on the Speedmaster XL 106.
In early 2024, J.S. McCarthy Packaging + Print in Augusta installed an offset press said to be one of the fastest and most automated offset presses in the world and the first such machine installed in the U.S.
This month, the company claimed a world record for folding carton production, using the machine to print 429,000 cartons in 24 hours.
The run was powered by J.S. McCarthy’s Speedmaster XL 106-8+L press, made by Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG in Heidelberg, Germany. It replaced an older press that didn’t have the same speed or reliability.
“We’ve transformed our business to focus entirely on where packaging is going, not where it’s been,” said Jon Tardiff, the company’s president.
Running CKB board — a type of food-safe packaging material — supplied by a renewable materials company in Finland called Stora Enso, the production team maintained top speeds of 21,000 sheets per hour on the Speedmaster.
Machinery investments
The folding carton market accounts for 60% to 70% of J.S. McCarthy’s business.
Founded in 1947, the business has evolved from its roots in commercial printing to the folding carton packaging sector. It delivers customized packaging solutions for the food, pharmaceutical and cosmetics industries, markets that require strict adherence to safety, regulatory compliance and visual precision.
The company had been owned by the Tardiff family since 2000, and transitioned to an employee stock ownership plan, or ESOP, in 2019.
It operates from a 150,000-square-foot facility, employing 106 individuals operating 24/7. They include press operators, sheeting crews, logistics coordinators, material handlers and apprentices.
The company has been investing in the growing market for folding cartons with the addition of high-tech machinery that have included a flatbed die-cutter, folder-gluers and machines that can both mass-produce cut shapes — called die-cutting — and apply metallic foil to substrates such as carton board — called hot foil stamping.
Together, the machinery accelerates workflow and handles a diverse range of box styles – for example, processing multi-fold packaging with a choice of left, right or simultaneous folding, the company has said.
“We’re not just keeping up with innovation — we’re driving it,” said Tardiff. “Our focus is to pair the most advanced tools in the industry with the most skilled team in the business.”
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