OEM Fall 2020

OFFICIAL P U B L I C AT I O N O F

VDG Drum Motor Designed for Efficiency.

Built for Performance.

FALL 2020

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The VDG drum motor conveyor drive eliminates all externally-mounted drive components, for a safe, efficient and maintenance-free operation.

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Sprocket-less Sanitary Series drum motors for food conveyor belt applications.

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Decades of science, imagination, and commitment that help bring your best products to market Heat and Control has been on a mission to modernize equipment solutions since our founding in 1950. For 70 years, our passion for advancing the food, pharmaceutical, and other industries has guided our work. From the machinery we

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info@heatandcontrol.com Learn more > heatandcontrol.com/alwaysinnovating

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Rethink What’s Possible

What if?....

At Yaskawa, we help you explore what’s possible, and open new doors to opportunity.

Rather than accepting the status quo, we invite you to wonder, “What if...?”

And then, we make it possible. That dedication to engineering and innovation is what makes us different.

So ask yourself: wouldn’t it be awesome to work with a company that can do all that?

Let’s Make Awesome Happen

Yaskawa America, Inc.

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7/21/2020 3:05:46 PM 9/21/20 9:40 AM

2

FALL 2020

OEM MAGAZINE

CONTENTS

CONNECT WITH US:

OEMmagazine.org facebook.com/OEMmagazine @OEMmagazine

VOLUME 3 • ISSUE 3

24

DEPARTMENTS B US IN ES S IN TE LLI G E NCE

13 THE DRIVE TOWARD 4.0 CONNECTIVITY

Gain insight on how CPGs expect their OEM partners to adapt to automation trends.

EMERGIN G LE A D E R S

16 MICHAEL MCCALLUM INNOVATES AT PLEXPACK

The OEM’s new engineering manager leverages continued education to deliver unique solutions.

IN D UST RY N E WS

18 FDT Group Releases Data Exchange Standard Learn more about the FDT 3.0 data exchange standards for next-gen automation.

MA RKET IN G F O CU S

20 CREATE A WINNING VIDEO PRODUCT DEMO

Attract PACK EXPO Connects attendees virtually with these five video creation strategies.

S PECIA L REPO RT

47 PREPARING FOR SUCCESSION

Consider these succession strategies when selling your company or appointing new leadership.

AS S OCIAT ION NE WS

51 GO BACK TO SCHOOL WITH PMMI

Learn more about the recipients of the PMMI Foundation scholarships.

PACK EX PO C O NNE CTS PR E V I E W

FEATURES O E M P ROFI L E

59 LIVE, VIRTUAL, REIMAGINED

34

24 INTRODUCING ALL-FILL

68 HERSHEY’S SUPPLIER ACCESS STRATEGY AMID COVID-19

See how Hershey is currently approaching visits from OEM partners, training, and service issues.

40

PERS PECT IVES

70 EDGE COMPUTING ENABLES MaaS MODEL

Learn how to improve machine performance on the industrial edge.

T E CH N OLOGY

WORKFORCE D E V E LO PM E NT

40 MAKE OEE WORK FOR YOU

Find out how OEMs are using the PMMI U Skills Fund to develop their workforce.

Manufacturers are keeping a close eye on overall equipment effectiveness to maximize productivity. Here is how OEM partners can help them achieve the OEE they are aiming for.

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65 MAXIMIZE CHAT AT PACK EXPO CONNECTS

VOICE OF T HE CU STO M E R

M A N AG EME NT

These aftermarket services are transforming manufacturing and creating new OEM business models and revenue opportunities.

EX HIBITOR’S CO R NE R

Implement these live chat techniques to engage attendees and prospective customers.

Balancing an agressive sales approach and a progressive culture, All-Fill debuts its new brand and its plans for the future.

34 UNCOVER AFTERMARKET OPPORTUNITIES

Get a first look at PACK EXPO Connects, and learn how to plan for the show.

73 BRIDGE THE SKILLS GAP

N EW PROD UCTS

76 INNOVATIVE MACHINE COMPONENTS

Check out the latest in controls, drives, motors, and components.

9/21/20 2:37 PM

Honey, I’m home!

Tired of working nights and weekends on motion control projects? It’s time to contact an automation specialist at SEW-EURODRIVE! We provide as little or as much help as needed, including a complete package from start to finish with project planning, software, components, commissioning, troubleshooting, and worldwide support.

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The official publication of PMMI OEMMAGAZINE.ORG

EDI TORIA L Stephanie Neil Editor-in-Chief sneil@OEMmagazine.org / 781 378 1652 Natalie Craig Managing Editor ncraig@OEMmagazine.org / 312 205 7917 Sean Riley Senior Director, Media and Industry Communications sriley@pmmi.org / 571 266 4419 ART & PRODU CT ION Jonathan Fleming Associate Art Director David Bacho Creative Director George Shurtleff Advertising Production Manager PU B LI SHING Jim Chrzan Publisher/VP Brand Development Ricky Angel Associate Publisher (Sales) rangel@pmmimediagroup.com / 630 805 3892 Kim Overstreet Brand Operations Manager Sue DaMario Director of Marketing Amber Miller Marketing Manager Janet Fabiano Financial Services Manager

PMMI Media Group

401 N. Michigan Ave., Suite 300, Chicago, IL 60611 Phone: 312 222 1010 | Fax: 312 222 1310

www.pmmimediagroup.com Joe Angel President Kelly Greeby Sr. Director, Client Success & Media Operations Elizabeth Kachoris Senior Director of Digital Infrastructure Sarah Loeffler Director of Media Innovation Jen Krepelka Director of Website Product Management

PMMI, The Association for Packaging and Processing Technologies 12930 Worldgate Dr., Suite 200, Herndon VA, 20170 Phone: 571 612 3200 | Fax: 703 243 8556

Less Effort, More Control

www.pmmi.org Jim Pittas President and CEO Glen Long Senior VP David Newcorn Senior VP of Digital & Data Tracy Stout VP, Marketing and Communications Laura Thompson VP, Trade Shows Heather Harvey Member Services Manager SU B SCRI PT IONS

To subscribe to OEM visit:

www.OEMmagazine.org/subscribe

To change or modify a subscription, please contact circulation@OEMmagazine.org

An automation platform that adapts to you, not the other way around.

OEM EDI TORI AL ADV IS ORY BOA R D Lisa Hunt COO, Plexpack Greg Berguig VP, Sales and Marketing, PAC Machinery Jeff Bigger President-CEO, Massman Automation Designs Rick Fox III Director, Engineering Services, Fox IV Technology Stacy Johnson Director of Marketing & Strategic Planning, Dorner Brian Ormanic Lead Applications Engineer, ARPAC Martin Prakken CEO-Owner, BluePrint Automation Colin Warnes Director Sales Engineering & Project Management, ADCO Manufacturing Tom Ivy, President, F.R. Drake

matthewsmarking.com/mperia 888.662.7183

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ROBOTIC END - EFFECTORS

Why ATI sells more Robotic Tool Changers than anyone else in the world.

Specially Tapered Cam

Superior Fail-Safe

Second taper produces high locking strength

Springless design maintains lock position in event of air pressure loss

Locking Balls

Lock Ring

Low-friction locking balls extend the life of the unit

Wide footprint of lock ring creates high moment capacity in locking mechanism

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Increase the flexibility of your robots by adding the ability to use more than one end-effector in an application.

Production line tooling changed in seconds for maximum flexibility.

Change tools in seconds for maintenance and repair.

Increase operator safety by changing tools automatically.

Food-handling models available.

Designed for easy integration with our vast selection of utility modules. ATI Robotic Tool Changers. Engineered for long life.

www.ati-ia.com 919.772.0115

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FALL 2020

8

FOR OPENERS

STEPHANIE NEIL EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

A Turn of Events If our cover image seems confusing and has you scratching your head, then we’ve effectively made our point. This year has been a dizzying array of new rules and revelations as COVID-19 changed the way we live, work, and interact.

Sometimes it truly feels as if the world has turned upside down. But this industry is resilient and packaging and processing OEMs are using this disruptive time to accelerate the business.

Specifically, in this year of “virtual everything,” manufacturers are finally embracing remote management of machines and virtual factory acceptance tests (vFATs). That’s a good start, but given the power of technology—from the machine edge to the cloud—we are entering a new age of service and support. Sometimes it’s simply a matter of optimizing OEE. On page 40, PMMI Media Group Editor at Large Aaron Hand investigates new

ways to leverage OEE to start the digital transformation and increase productivity on the plant floor and in the supply chain. Other times it’s rethinking the way you do business entirely. Flip to page 34 to learn how OEMs are embracing new aftermarket service offerings to generate new revenue streams.

PMMI is not immune to all that is happening in the world. Which is why the association launched a new virtual event, PACK EXPO Connects 2020, taking place Nov. 9-13.

It provides the tools and educational forums needed to help packaging professionals navigate a rapidly changing world.

I will be at PACK EXPO Connects. I hope to see you there!

Register here: oemgo.to/pec Stephanie Neil is the Editor-in-Chief of OEM Magazine. She may be reached at sneil@automationworld.com or at www.linkedin.com/ in/stephaniesneil.

We take linear motion personally.

Actuator systems built to your exact requirements Tolomatic got its start developing an innovative motion control product in response to a customer need.

As a family-owned company, we continue to deliver on our values every day: design flexibility—such as stroke-configurable modifications—exceptional product quality and legendary customer service. That’s Tolomatic.

Start a conversation about your application. www.tolomatic.com/Ask-an-Engineer

William Toles Company Chairman

800-328-2174 tolomatic.com

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9/21/20 2:47 PM

SIMATIC S7-1200 plcs Flexible and intelligent automation control

SCALANCE Ethernet switches

SIMATIC HMI Basic Panels

Reliable connectivity

Efficient operations monitoring

Totally Integrated Automation Complete solutions to streamline your process

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Simple and rugged motion control

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9/21/20 6:38 PM

FALL 2020

10

FOR THE RECORD

NATALIE CRAIG MANAGING EDITOR

New Collar Manufacturing On page 24 of this issue, All-Fill’s president and CEO Ryan Edginton refers to his company as a “new collar” manufacturer when he talks about how the OEM has been able to implement an aggressive sales approach that leverages high risk for high reward. The phrase “new collar manufacturing,” a play on blue collar manufacturing, has been established recently to signal the evolution that the industry has made over the last couple of years in terms of robotics, workforce development, and automation.

And while parts of the packaging and processing industry still tend to rely on blue collar traditions, COVID-19 has propelled new technology and practices forward, pushing the industry into new territory. It’s an exciting time for manufacturing as OEMs will have to evolve and take their place in the new world.

And OEM Magazine is excited to evolve with you this

fall during the live, virtual, and reimagined PACK EXPO Connects. Join us at PACK EXPO Connects where we will celebrate innovation like we do every year, but virtually.

This year, you’ll be able to attend or exhibit at PACK EXPO from wherever you are. Not only that, but you’ll be hearing from companies like General Mills, Nestlé, and more in exclusive, live interviews about robotics, remote access, sustainability, and workforce development. As someone working behind the scenes of PACK EXPO Connects, I am so excited for the opportunities this virtual tradeshow will present exhibitors and attendees from a reach, lead generation, and education standpoint. Learn more about PACK EXPO Connects on pages 20, 59, and 65 so your company can position itself to shine.

Natalie Craig is the Managing Editor of OEM Magazine. She may be reached at ncraig@pmmimediagroup.com or at www.linkedin. com/nataliedcraig.

PACKAGING MACHINERY MANUFACTURERS ARE YOU EXPERIENCING HIGH LEVELS OF SURFACE CONTAMINATION AND END-PRODUCT QUALITY ISSUES?

STATIC COULD BE THE CAUSE Let us put you in charge...

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Visit meech.com/packaging to download our FREE industry guide

Or call us on

+1 (330) 564-2000 9/21/20 2:45 PM

STEP UP YOUR BELT PICKING APPLICATIONS. Now streaming: On Air with SICK Available on your favorite podcast streaming app.

Need reliable and delicate product handling? Introducing SICK’s newest pre-programmed application solution, TriSpectorP 3D Belt Pick. With traditional 2D belt picking applications, damaged goods, production downtime, and reduced throughput are common due to faulty pick positions. The 3D Belt Pick solution provides a more reliable and gentle picking of objects on a conveyor. Measuring objects in 3D enables the handling robot to grip and sort items quickly and precisely. It can even eliminate objects that don’t meet your stringent quality standards. We think that’s intelligent. www.sick.com

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MANAGEMENT | ENGINEERING

FALL 2020

13

BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE

The Web of Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT)

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FALL 2020

14

MANAGEMENT | ENGINEERING

Five Takeaways on Automation Growth A new report by PMMI Business Intelligence shows that OEMs and suppliers who meet the needs of the changing times will thrive along with the CPGs of the future.

Kim Overstreet, Content Strategist, PMMI Media Group

C

PGs want partners that are transparent in their operations, willing to listen to unique needs, and offer appropriate suggestions and solutions, according to PMMI’s most recent Business Intelligence Report Automation Timeline: The Drive Toward 4.0 Connectivity in Packaging and Processing. End Users and CPGs in the food, beverage, personal care, pharma/ nutraceuticals, and household products markets were interviewed—many of whom also participated in the 2017 report—and PMMI found five key takeaways about automation today: 1. COVID-19 has affected most every manufacturing company, across all industries, drastically altering the course of many industries, but also providing opportunities to expand automation.

2. Since 2017, the needle on automation has moved forward in the adoption of smart technologies, in all markets and applications. Though manufacturers recognize the “big picture” advantages of automation, they may struggle to identify applications within their own facilities.

3. The obstacles to automation that are slowing progress remain consistent from 2017, including: Return on investment (ROI), labor, and internal resources. These are the primary challenges faced by manufacturers when considering automation expansions.

4. Manufacturing operations and machines of the future will be driven by an automated and integrated enterprise. The key to many future strategies is expanding the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) and

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integration at an operation—particularly automated data collection.

5. OEMs and industry suppliers have the opportunity to lead the way in identifying applications to deploy smart manufacturing technologies, and to educate manufacturers on automation integration across the entire enterprise.

While the bulk of automation is still concentrated at end-of-line, and larger companies are generally automating and integrating operations at a faster rate than small to medium enterprises, the study finds that implementing machine automation is an ongoing process that ebbs and flows depending on the specific product applications at a manufacturer.

Check out Three Steps to Leveraging the Power of Your Data at: oemgo.to/leveragedata Industry 4.0, with its foundational concepts of data, connectivity, continuous monitoring, and process optimization, will be a vital strategy to adopt to help manufacturers remain competitive.

“In 20 years, our plant will be 100% automated and IIoT deployed and active...we increasingly rely on our OEMs to help us better understand the potential capabilities of our equipment,” said one meat processing plant manager who requested anonymity.

To access this free report and learn more about the five takeaways, visit: oemgo.to/automation2020

Easily share this article with your peers: oemgo.to/biautomation2020

9/21/20 2:50 PM

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FALL 2020

16

ENGINEERING | HR | MANAGEMENT

EMERGING LEADERS

Michael McCallum Prioritizes Innovation as Plexpack’s New Engineering Manager Natalie Craig, Managing Editor

M

ichael McCallum got his start in the packaging and processing industries while he was studying mechanical engineering technology at Durham College. During that time, he had a unique opportunity to participate in a co-op work term at the Toronto-based packaging OEM, Plexpack. McCallum was quickly intrigued by the use of automation, pneumatics, and motors controlled by electronics and software in Plexpack’s bagging, sealing, and shrink-packaging machinery. The real-world insight McCallum gained at the OEM while still in school was crucial in leading him to his career path in industrial machine design. McCallum was recently promoted to engineering manager where he hopes to make a difference and boost innovation in regard to sustainability, data acquisition, and efficiency. But he’s not done learning. While working at Plexpack for the past 11 years, he has also completed an electrical engineering fundamentals program at Humber College, he’s been involved in PMMI’s Leadership Development Program, PMMI’s risk assessment course, and he is currently completing the robotics and embedded systems program at Ryerson University.

Since you have joined Plexpack, has it been everything you had hoped for in a career?

My time at Plexpack has been quite exciting. I have moved through a few positions starting as a mechanical designer where I was responsible for customizations to standardized equipment. During my time in this position, I found the controls end of machine design to be something I wanted to pursue further. So, I started taking night courses in electrical and software engineering. In a few years, I was the senior controls engineer at Plexpack responsible for all machinery, electrical, and software systems design. It was in this position that I found what I was most interested in as a career, bringing a team of capable engineers together to conceptualize and design automated processes.

Now that you have found your place at Plexpack, what do you love most about your position?

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The most fascinating part of my job is speaking with our customers to better understand the real challenges they face in their industries. With this inside knowledge, we can target and improve the processes an entire industry uses to process and package their goods. Being at the forefront of industry-specific innovation and providing value-added solutions to our customers is the best part of my job. And I help Plexpack innovate by staying informed and knowledgeable on new trends we are seeing in our industry as well as the broader automation industry in general. I cannot think of a time in the last 10 years where I have not been involved in some form of continuing education, and this has really allowed me to expand my expertise.

What are some technology innovations that you see revolutionizing the industry in the coming years?

H P R

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9/21/20 2:49 PM

ENGINEERING | HR | MANAGEMENT

One of the key trends we have been watching and working on is the collection and use of machine data to provide our customers with a scientific approach to process improvement. Whether it is one of our small bag sealers or large automatic wrapping machines, our customers expect feedback from our equipment to drive their production analysis. By utilizing capable control components, such as the B&R Industrial Automation C70 controller, and open communication protocols such as OPC UA or MQTT, we can integrate with a variety of material requirements planning (MRP) systems that collect and analyze our machine data automatically. By providing a means of performance measurement through data analytics, our customers can easily see how we are helping them meet their goals while providing us with valuable insight on how to improve our products. Another thing that really intrigues me about the packaging and processing industries is that there is always room for improvement. Whether it is a financially- or environmentally-driven process change, the fact remains that we must innovate to stay competitive in this industry. I think the biggest driver for change in the coming years will be environmental as our customers target packaging and processing technologies that are eco-friendly. Machine efficiency and sustainable packaging materials will be center stage.

FALL 2020

17

Since you are interested in learning different aspects of machine design, how has Plexpack supported you?

Plexpack has supported me and other employees through financial assistance for continued education, inhouse training programs, and by providing a challenging work environment that demands on-going skill development. Plexpack has also deployed many of the PMMI educational resources for its employees such as the train-thetrainer program, risk assessment workshop, and executive leadership program.

And as a rising star in your organization, what is next?

In the short term, I hope that as Plexpack’s new engineering manager I can use my skill set and experience to modernize the manufacturing processes we use to build our machinery, as well as drive innovation into our machine design philosophy. I see many areas within the organization that can be targeted for improvement, and I am excited to help lead us in a new direction. In the longer term, I hope to be a business owner myself as I think there are still a lot of problems people face on a day-to-day basis that need to be solved, and these challenges provide great opportunity for inventors and entrepreneurs alike.

Easily share this article with your peers: oemgo.to/michaelmccallum

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9/22/20 9:14 AM

FALL 2020

18

MANAGEMENT | ENGINEERING

INDUSTRY NEWS

FDT Group Releases Data Exchange Standard for Next-Gen Automation The FDT 3.0 standard and developer toolkits are secure, scalable, and platform-independent, providing remote access to device and network data which enables OEMs to deliver asset management services.

Stephanie Neil, Editor-in-Chief

T

he Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) is changing the automation landscape in terms of how data is being shared in the plant and enterprise. As part of that, manufacturers want open integration and standardized devices in the form of a data-centric model that can offer up information to the operations and business systems that need it. Companies also need mobility, scalability, security, remote access, and backward compatibility.

Now, more than ever, there’s a need for a platform to support a nextgeneration architecture that scales from sensor to the cloud and that will allow secure mobile field device management and improved workflow for plant workers and machine builders.

And FDT Group is delivering it.

FDT Group is an independent, international, not-forprofit industry association supporting the evolution of Field Device Tool (FDT) technology—which defines the data exchange interface between field devices and each control system as well as engineering or asset management tools.

In June, FDT Group announced the release of its platformindependent FDT 3.0 – FDT IIoT Server (FITS) and the FDT 3.0 Developer Toolkits.

The FITS architecture has removed all of the Microsoft Windows desktop dependencies found in earlier versions of the FDT standard so that it now works with Apple, Linux, as well as Microsoft environments, allowing users to pick the platform that is best for their environment.

Additional new features include: • Built-in security using TLS for encrypted communi-

F20_IndustryNews.indd 18

cations and 509v3 certificates for authentication to confirm it is indeed the FDT Server. The server asks the client if it’s who it says it is so that only authorized devices can talk to the server. There is also role-based access control. In addition, the FDT Group and ODVA will add support for FITS to the Common Industrial Protocol (CIP).

• A native OPC UA Server is built-in to enable IT/OT integration of real-time data with support for OPC UA PubSub. • An embedded web server provides browser-based access and universal device integration.

In addition, the group rolled out the FDThub repository for FDT Device Type Managers (DTM), which is the software component that works on the device-specific data, functions, and rules. The hub, which can be in the cloud or onpremise, is where certified DTMs are stored and managed by giving the vendor community access to it.

9/21/20 2:40 PM

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MANAGEMENT | ENGINEERING

“This is probably the number one request from end users,” said Glenn Schulz, managing director, FDT Group.

“They want the DTMs, they like the features they provide, they just didn’t want to visit all the different vendor websites to find the DTMs that they needed for the facility, so we addressed that directly with the hub.”

But it’s not something the end user goes to browse. Rather, if a server is in need of a DTM to support the devices on the network, the server automatically logs into the FDThub, retrieves the DTM it needs and makes it immediately available to end users. “So the end user sees this as completely transparent to them, it is available to them without having to do any real interaction with the FDThub,” Schulz said.

As a single server environment, FITS can handle a plant, an entire enterprise, or could scale down to a single skid.

For example, “We see the skid-type application as something like a bottling line manufacturer which delivers a bottling line to their end customer and they are charged with making sure the line is available and operating at high efficiency,” Schulz said. “So they could put a small version of the server on a Linux application buried inside of the bottling line and monitor the health of all the assets, make adjustments as necessary, and develop KPIs, dashboards, and so on, in that application. And it all scales up to a cloud-based environment.”

Development with FDT 3.0

To develop products in the FDT 3.0 standard, there are IIoT-ready common components, which are development toolkits, including FDT Server, FDT Desktop for a standalone installation, and FDT DTM device drivers.

“We don’t want developers spending all their time learning the nuances of the standard to develop a DTM, we want them to spend time doing the value add for their product,” Schulz said. “Developers are free to innovate and add unique capabilities to any of the common components.”

After developing a DTM, it must be certified so there’s a tool called dtmInspector that can do a run of the DTM to make sure it passes the requirements. The vendor then contracts with an authorized independent test lab to repeat the tests and once they have indicated to the FDT office it has passed all the requirements it is certified and automatically uploaded to the FDThub to make it available to all server and desktop applications.

The FDT 3.0 architecture includes integration of all industrial networks in one project use. For example, connecting HART to Ethernet is handled within the standard, which seamlessly tunnels through all of the

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networks to talk with the device. It’s scalable, and the FDT Server sits at a peer level with the PLC and distributed control system (DCS) environment, so none of this data has to pass through those systems. It can securely get all device data throughout the enterprise without any special coding or authorization from the PLC or DCS. “This is a wealth of data that immediately becomes available to both IT and OT sides of the organization,” said Schulz.

And for the systems and device suppliers as well as OEMs, the standard can enable innovative business models, like FDT-as-a-Service where they pre-deploy multiple instances in the cloud and set up a hosted service and project structure for facilities with all of the devices and networks pre-populated. So, the customer realizes a complete turnkey system without having to touch any of the infrastructure themselves.

FDT 3.0 specification license agreements and developer toolkits are now available on the FDT website. In addition to the FDT 3.0 standard and developer toolkits, an IO-Link Interpreter DTM is under development along with FDT communication annexes for HART, Profibus, IO-Link and CIP networks slated for release in the latter half of 2020.

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STAND OUT WITH

MARKETING FOCUS

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5 Tips to Create a Winning Product Demo for Virtual Events Leverage these tips to create a compelling and interactive video demo for your PACK EXPO Connects virtual exhibit.

Sarah Loeffler, Director of Media Innovation, PMMI Media Group

V

irtual events present a major pipeline opportunity for machine builders and technology suppliers.

Where else can you find high volumes of prospects— with exactly the right interests—who are ready to engage?

As such, one of the most powerful tools in your marketing arsenal right now is a strong product demo.

Yes, being in front of a camera can be a bit daunting. But putting together a product demo for a virtual environment is far easier than most people realize. Here are some tips to help your team be successful: Figure out preferred balance between demo and Q&A. You’ve got a short period to make an impression. When you have a great product, it’s only natural that you’ll want to be sure the viewers understand all its amazing features. But wait, the best demos give prospects just enough to recognize relevance and whet their appetite. The true power is getting the viewer to want to talk with your sales team to learn more.

Many demos therefore follow a pretty similar format: A spokesperson describes the challenge(s) prospects often feel, discusses how the product addresses these challenges and the applications for which it is best suited, and then shows the product in action while focusing on just a handful of key features. From there, it’s best to transition the conversation to viewer questions, where you can start tackling more intricate details about features or practical aspects of adoption, such as typical install times, maintenance considerations, etc. Do not spend the whole period demonstrating your product and relaying every nuance, or you limit having the viewer engage.

Give yourself “supports” if needed. Feeling a little queasy at the prospect of speaking live in front of a camera? You’re not alone. One way the pros relieve this pressure is to record some of their presentation in advance and then devote the rest of their time to answering questions, where conversation flows more naturally. Others may find it helpful to use several slides to guide the discussion. (Just

be mindful to minimize the amount of content that you’re making viewers watch and read at the same time.) Making use of this support can reduce pressure on your speaker while still satisfying the information needs of viewers.

Get Your Company Noticed at PACK EXPO Connects

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Find opportunities to underscore live presence. Anyone can feature a product video on a website. What truly makes virtual events so special is the interaction. To make visitors feel like they are connecting with you “live” (even if

See

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MANAGEMENT | SALES & MARKETING

some of your presentation may be pre-recorded), consider the following: • Ask questions, even if rhetorical. (“How many times have we all experienced X challenge?”)

• Instead of simply standing in front of your product, don’t be shy about moving around. As you are describing how something works, walk closer and use your camera to zoom in on details. Viewers want to get a closer peek and feel like they are sharing a more intimate environment with you.

• Don’t be shy about relating real-life experiences. Take advantage of small opportunities to humanize your presentation by sharing the occasional brief anecdote (e.g., “I once saw poor integration lead to the worst flow-wrapping back-up—cupcakes were flowing everywhere!” or “I know a factory in Ohio that reduced changeover times by 30% simply by timing operators and making the performance data visible.” These narrative elements make your presentation more memorable and can breed a sense of familiarity that helps viewers feel more comfortable engaging with you.

Do a few run-throughs to get used to timing. Most presenters do best with a few bullet points of what they want to cover instead of a formal script, so they sound most natural. But that doesn’t mean presenters should “wing it”

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by any means. Practicing these points in advance is key, as it’s easy to lose track of time when talking about a topic you are passionate about. The more run-throughs the speaker does, the easier it becomes to deliver each point succinctly.

(Tip: Have a timer nearby, so the speaker can reserve enough time for audience discussion.)

Give viewers a reason for follow up. Before completing the demo, the presenter should encourage viewers to engage in some fashion. Ideas to keep the conversation going include: • Introduce a technical staff member who will be onhand for one-on-one chat or phone discussions about particular applications.

• Offer an exclusive white paper or case study to those who follow up via chat or email.

• Encourage attendees to schedule a more detailed demo for their entire team, where you’ll host the meeting during or after the show on your own preferred video platform (Zoom, GoToMeeting, etc.).

Remember: Your goal isn’t simply to produce a product demo. It’s to use the demo as a means to advance your engagement and sales efforts with prospects.

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SALES FOCUS

Selling on the Phone in the “New Normal” The ability to sell in a virtual situation vs. in person requires a different skillset for engaging the prospect.

Jay Speilvogel, CEO, Venator Sales Group “I am a face-to-face type of salesperson.”

“I don’t do well on the phone vs. physically meeting with people.”

“I like to press the flesh and sell in-person.”

Does this sound familiar?

T

hese are common responses to management when salespeople are asked why they fail to leverage the phone for selling. As a response to virtual selling during the pandemic, webinars and articles abound presenting tips and tricks for even the most seasoned salespeople on how to sell in the virtual world. “Be energetic; ask how they are impacted by COVID-19; use video when engaging and clean up before getting on the call.” This is all great advice, but are we ignoring a deeper issue?

Selling over the phone requires a comfort level with asking questions, listening actively, and most of all, engaging in honest dialogue. Compare this to the face-to-face meeting where the salesperson is a guest walking around the operational facility, asking technical questions, gathering information, and presenting. There is a safety net provided by the walk-in visit that disappears when a salesperson is forced to fully engage on the phone without all the props and distractions.

In spite of an incredible amount of investment in sales training, most salespeople are still defaulting to their old habits where they schedule a site visit to collect technical needs, bring their subject matter experts in to educate on solutions and present proposals. This common sales approach lacks any qualification steps including drilling down into the business drivers, inquiring about and getting access to key stakeholders, clarifying budget allocation

process, and remediating roadblocks.

Has the pandemic caused a new issue or simply exposed an existing one?

The answer to this question becomes obvious when reviewing opportunities that were carried into 2020 from the prior year. If you dig deep into the deals that were “stalled

by COVID-19,” the stark reality is that most were in distress for months prior to the onset of the pandemic. Before the shutdown, the “business tide” was so high that there was no time or need to dig deep past the dollar value and close dates for each opportunity. Now that business has slowed down, sales managers across the globe are beginning to look at the opportunity pipeline with a more observant eye for what is real and what is wishful thinking. It is only now that we are seeing these deep-rooted pre-pandemic issues, including a total lack of alignment with the real decision makers, next steps, budget, and timeline.

Since the phone is a much less forgiving medium and less comfortable than face-to-face selling, we need to retrain even the most seasoned relationship sellers on how to engage at a deeper level. Most salespeople see themselves as engaging when they are simply educating, presenting, and proposing. However, there must be a deeper connection with the prospect. Juxtapose this with the way VP or Clevel team members approach selling when asked to join a salesperson on a call. For the most part, they are not detailoriented and are not to be relied upon for the proposal and pricing follow-up. What they are good at is engaging with prospects, especially when asked to make a phone call on behalf of the salesperson.

So, what is their superpower? They are amazing at sharing stories, drawing the prospect into deep dialogue, and asking engaging “power” questions. The stories they tell are much different than the solution presentation most salespeople offer. They share past stories related to the issues, concerns and unrealized vision other prospect companies have experienced. They demonstrate credibility through experience rather than knowledge. Call it confidence, posturing, or simply an amazing ability to articulate past situations and draw prospects into the story. So, how do we teach our salespeople to do this?

Demonstrate credibility through experience, rather than knowledge (otherwise known as effective storytelling). The mistake most companies make is they focus all the training on providing their salespeople with benefitbased presentations. The salespeople become experts at presenting the products, services, and value proposition.

This approach is meant to drive interest in receiving additional solution information and pricing but lacks any

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triggers for engaging the prospect. Therefore, we hear so many salespeople in meeting debriefs say, “they loved our presentation and they are interested in getting more info and pricing.” This approach works well for in-person meetings because it leaves the reps with the feeling that they had a “great” meeting leading to an opportunity to send a proposal. Unfortunately, this approach falls short for phone-based selling.

To help salespeople transition to using the phone more often and qualifying better, we need to provide them with a library of stories that focus on the operational and business impact of the issues and concerns other clients were experiencing prior to engaging with our company. Much like a television commercial, the sales rep needs to be able to tell stories that evoke emotional engagement. The key here is to help our salespeople get comfortable with using stories as a bridge, engaging the prospect to share their similar experiences. This brings us to the second tool we need to provide the sales team.

Ask power questions. When placed in a selling situation, a high-level executive does not waste time with basic technical questions. They leverage the sales opportunity to ask a handful of powerful questions that are meant to create a bi-directional flow of dialogue. Where most salespeople focus on asking technical needs-based questions that

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help in crafting a solution presentation or proposal, the VP of sales or CEO will focus the questions on business impact and internal politics. These questions require a certain level of sales posturing and confidence. Some examples of these questions include: - Is there pressure on your department to fix this?

- Is this having any effect on your team’s operational or financial goals?

- Is the issue affecting other project timelines or goals?

- How is this impacting the overall company, operationally and financially?

- Is there a corporate objective or vision that is being hurt by this issue?

- How will this influence overall annual goals? Long term goals?

- What is the scale of this issue if it is not resolved?

- Is there external pressure from shareholders or customers to fix?

Most training programs focus on role playing the basic clarification questions as well as presentation skills. It is critical that salespeople are coached in using effective storytelling and “power” questions, especially if they are going to expand their use of the phone as a selling tool.

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OEM PROFILE

Reintroducing All-Fill

All-Fill has outgrown its traditional auger filler roots while flourishing into a “new collar” manufacturer that isn’t afraid to take risks. Take a look inside this familyowned machine builder driven by emerging leaders.

Natalie Craig, Managing Editor

A

midst the chaotic and almost uncertain state of manufacturing—caused by COVID-19, the generational workforce shift, and the growing skills gap— All-Fill is embracing the chaos and thriving because adaptation and risk propels them.

All-Fill has been providing auger fillers to the packaging industry for more than 50 years. But over the last couple of years, the OEM has exploded in growth and capabilities. From facility renovations to unique acquisitions, and a strategic branding move, All-Fill’s young management team is the definition of “new collar” manufacturing.

Richard Edginton founded All-Fill Inc. in 1969 after working as a shop manager for Diehl Mateer Company, a U.S.-based auger filler manufacturer. All-Fill gradually gained market share in the auger filler space until it became an industry leader by the mid 1980’s. In 1999, Glenn Edginton, Richard Edginton’s son, took over as All-Fill’s president until 2014. While 90-year-old Richard Edginton still visits All-Fill every Wednesday to interact with employees, the company is now led by Richard Edginton’s grandsons Ryan Edginton, president and CEO, and his brother Kyle Edginton, who is the company’s executive vice president.

“We consider ourselves very fortunate that we have this opportunity to run such a great business,” says Kyle Edginton. “We owe a lot of credit to the previous generations like my grandfather and my father.”

Blending tradition and new school techniques

Since Ryan and Kyle Edginton started leading All-Fill in 2014, they have flipped the script on old-school, traditional manufacturing. Thanks to the new sales and acquisition approach Ryan and Kyle have developed, the company has gone from $18 million in annual revenue to more than $40 million over the past six years.

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All-Fill, Inc. Location: Exton, PA & Downingtown, PA Established: 1969 Leadership: Ryan Edginton, President and CEO; Kyle Edginton, Executive Vice President; Eric Edginton, Executive Vice President of Auger Fabrication; Chris Trabbold, Executive Vice President Revenue: $20-$50 million Employees: 140 Field service personnel: 13 Facility: 108,000 sq. ft. combined across two Pennsylvania facilities and one Arizona service and support facility Markets served: Global Industries served: Packaging & food and beverage Product range: Auger fillers, baggers, checkweighers, labelers, and unscramblers Standard controls platform: Allen-Bradley, Yaskawa, Kollmorgen, Indramat – PLC and proprietary

(From left) Eric Edginton, Executive Vice President of Auger Fabrication, Kyle Edginton, Executive Vice President, Ryan Edginton, President and CEO, Richard Edginton, Founder, Chris Trabbold, Executive Vice President

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OEM PROFILE

In 2018, All-Fill’s Exton, PA headquarters underwent a $2.8 million facility renovation that modernized all aspects of the office.

Ryan Edginton and service technician Skyler Vandenbraak inspect bags after they were run through an A/1200 vertical form fill seal bagger.

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Culture is key

And All-Fill’s people get it, in fact, the OEM’s high retention rate reflects employee commitment and satisfaction.

“You take care of your own,” Ryan Edginton says. “You have to understand what makes your company tick. When we interview someone, I let them know that we want All-Fill to be a place where they can have a career. We want them

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“Because I’m 40, and Kyle is 38, we have an unbelievable opportunity,” says Ryan Edginton. “While our company is rooted in old school principles and values, as younger guys that are now leading the show, we don’t have anything inhibiting us from growing. We are able to make decisions because it looks and feels right, and we get to offer a different perspective by pairing the technological marketing aspect and aggressive sales techniques to cater to the culture of our buyers right now.”

Ryan and Kyle Edginton don’t answer to a board of directors, which enables All-Fill’s ability to play big when it comes to acquisitions and sales. And because of this approach, the All-Fill team has had to adopt a workflow that they refer to as ‘organized chaos.’ A lot of decisions are made at opportunistic times, which means that the OEM and its employees not only need to be nimble and flexible, but Ryan and Kyle Edginton have to be hands-on in all aspects of running All-Fill.

“We can be aggressive when it comes to price, lead time, or rearranging the schedule because we are hands on in running our company, and we control the whole entire process,” Ryan Edginton says. “We manufacture everything under one roof, which gives us added flexibility.”

It also gives them a unique approach. For example, being vertically-integrated and manufacturing and stocking an excess of inventory precludes All-Fill from implementing lean techniques, a common practice used by many manufacturers to minimize waste and maximize productivity.

“It would be virtually impossible for us to follow lean manufacturing guidelines, because if we did, we would lose our number one selling point, our aggressiveness and that ability to make decisions on the fly,” Kyle Edginton says.

All-Fill receives many custom orders that frequently evolve past its original plans, which is why the OEM needs to adapt on the spot.

“There are always things that are thrown your way, and our company culture has embraced the organized chaos,” Ryan Edginton says. “There is always a plan to follow from the start, but when it comes down to making the customer happy, sometimes you have to walk onto the floor and say, ‘We’re doing it this way now.’ We are always focused on how to keep making people happy to get the next sale. We are only as good as the next work that we book.”

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XTS Hygienic: The revolution in linear transport now in food-safe stainless steel

www.beckhoff.us/xts-hygienic Proven performance, ideal form factor and ready for packaging, food, beverage and pharma applications: XTS Hygienic delivers the exceptional flexibility of the eXtended Transport System to environments with stringent cleaning requirements. The intelligent transport system combines the advantages of individual product and package transport with a robust IP69K protection rating and new hygienic design. Ready for wash-down, all surfaces are chemically resistant, free of hidden edges or undercuts and easy to clean. Through the new stainless steel design of the XTS Hygienic, users benefit from the advanced mechatronics, flexible layout options and smaller machine footprints made popular by the original XTS.

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All-Fill employees work on the inside of a bulk hopper that feeds a PB Series bottle unscrambler.

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OEM PROFILE

All-Fill is vertically-integrated and keeps a stock of spare parts and materials in-house to speed up lead times.

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to be here for the long haul like the people who have been here for 20, 30, and 40 years.”

Many All-Fill employees watched Ryan and Kyle Edginton grow up. Being a family-owned business, All-Fill employees of all ages naturally feel like they work with their friends and family. And technically, they do. The OEM has built a dedicated workforce based on employee recommendations. And the people who have been at All-Fill from the beginning infuse the company’s new, progressive culture with tradition and loads of tribal knowledge.

“Our people are phenomenal at what they do, but more importantly, they’re our friends,” Kyle Edginton says. “I consider the majority of these people here to be my good friends in life, both inside All-Fill and outside. It’s really neat to be able to have that dynamic.”

But working at All-Fill looks completely different these days than it did 20 years ago—not only in terms of higher revenue and expanded equipment offerings—but the OEM’s headquarters has also undergone a major face lift.

Stepping into All-Fill’s Exton, PA headquarters feels similar to walking into a tech start up—or a Google office, as Ryan Edginton likes to compare the facility to. In 2018, Ryan and Kyle Edginton embarked on a $2.8 million facility renovation that modernized all aspects of the office. The OEM replaced closed off walls with open spaces and floorplans, glass windows and doors, and colorful accents and collaborative spaces that not only appeal to All-Fill’s people, but also the younger, incoming workforce.

“It helps us attract the younger generation because they walk in here and they can relate to it,” says Kyle Edginton.

And while there was some resistance from the OEM’s employees at first, the renovation has boosted productivity, morale, and collaboration.

Learn more about All-Fill’s renovation and see how other manufacturers are appealing to the incoming generations at: oemgo.to/cultureshock “It’s the glass,” Kyle Edginton says. “It’s boosted morale because you’re not stuck in a typical office. We went from a traditional four-wall offices with very little light from the outside to now having a bright facility and more collaborative spaces.”

Not only does the new office space enhance employee morale, but another reason why All-Fill employees look forward to coming to work is because they have multiple opportunities to learn different aspects of the business as the OEM expands its capabilities.

“Sometimes people are hired to do one specific task, but when we make an acquisition, the opportunity opens up for somebody that was on one career path to shift lanes and, all of a sudden, have their own division to run,” Ryan Edginton says. “Our people want freedom and the opportunity to make a difference. So, we let them do their thing. You have to trust your employees. I think that’s also what makes our company so great.”

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Beyond auger fillers

And over the past couple of years, All-Fill employees have had multiple opportunities to shift lanes as the OEM has been on an acquisition roll.

Offering more than the standard auger filler was always in All-Fill’s DNA, as the company developed its Alpha Checkweighers product line early on after its inception.

But the OEM really began expanding its offerings in 2011 when it acquired V-Line vertical form fill seal machines (vf/f/s) from Magnum Systems and rebranded the company as Avatar VFFS, paying homage to the original name of the company founded by Brian Klughardt. Over the past 10 years, All-Fill has grown its vf/f/s offering from $1 million in annual revenue to more than $6 million in annual revenue today.

“What we learned from that acquisition was that we need to have control and have these companies under the All-Fill roof,” Ryan Edginton says. “It is not easy to move a company and all of its operations across the country, but Brian taught our entire company about these vertical form fill seal machines, and now it’s a great part of our product lines.”

All-Fill then acquired Re-Pack labelers in 2018 and moved the operation from nearby Lansdale, PA to Exton, PA—bringing along four full-time employees including the company’s founder, Rick Surprise.

“It was 2018, and I was thinking about how else we could grow All-Fill,” Ryan Edginton says. “The company was doing about $30 million in annual revenue, and then we found Re-Pack and Palace Packaging Machinery. Kyle and I made calls to Palace and Re-Pack, and they were both received really well. They turned out to be a perfect fit for us.”

And in early 2019, All-Fill acquired Palace Packaging Machinery, which manufactured rigid bottle unscrambler machines. The OEM also relocated 12 full-time Palace employees to their Exton, PA facility. In addition to the business, All-Fill acquired Palace Packaging Machinery’s 35,000-sq.-ft.-facility, which was located 10 minutes away in Downingtown, PA. That facility just underwent a $2.2 million renovation project and now serves as the home of Auger Fabrication, All-Fill’s sister company, which supplies new and replacement augers, conveyor screws, feeder screws, and flight material for powder and bulk solids material handling equipment. Eric Edginton, the executive vice president of Auger Fabrication, runs the new facility.

“We knew from experience that we had to move Palace Packaging’s operation under our roof, but unlike most of the acquisitions, we acquired 12 employees, too,” Ryan Edginton says. “Suddenly, we had the challenge of assimilating these new employees to our culture here. It takes about a year for everybody to understand the All-Fill culture.”

And in a big move this year, All-Fill decided to eliminate the names of all the brands they had acquired and developed in order to consolidate everything under the All-Fill name.

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“At first, we were hesitant to make such a bold change,” Ryan Edginton says. “But we realized that the brand equity was in the name All-Fill.”

To the same tune of expanding its reach, the OEM recently opened an 8,000-sq.-ft.-office for service and sales in Phoenix, AZ, which is run by the Edginton’s cousin and AllFill’s executive vice president Chris Trabbold. The Phoenix office was set up to better serve its customers and partners out west and provide quick delivery machinery.

“The beauty of that building is that it has the potential to be anything we want it to be,” Ryan Edginton says. “I could see that possibly being a small manufacturing facility. But for now, 50% of the machines that we sell, we would consider them as stock. So, that facility will distribute our stock machinery to the West Coast.”

So, what’s next for All-Fill in terms of acquisitions or new product lines?

“It’s an interesting question because to be honest, these last two, most recent acquisitions kind of just fell into our lap,” Kyle Edginton says. “I don’t know what’s next, but I know what we need to do right now is get better at what we already have. We’ve changed a lot over the last couple of years, and we now have a lot of moving parts.”

And to that, Ryan Edginton adds, “We’re not actively seeking any more acquisitions, but with that being said, if something was to ever come up, we’re also never afraid to pull the trigger.”

Having acquired a full suite of equipment that complements All-Fill’s auger fillers and checkweighers, the OEM also considers itself an integrator. The Edginton’s see integration as a popular demand from customers today, and they say while they do integrate sometimes, they are more often selling product lines individually rather than complete systems.

Meet the new All-Fill at PACK EXPO Connects The Edginton brothers aren’t afraid to be bold. Typically, when you walk into their booth at PACK EXPO International or Las Vegas, you’ll be greeted by bright orange carpet. But this year, All-Fill still hopes to make just as big of a splash during PACK EXPO Connects, a live and virtual event hosted by PMMI Media Group. All-Fill will be introducing its new branding for the first time publicly during the live event.

“Of course, All-Fill will be using PACK EXPO Connects,” Ryan Edginton says. “At All-Fill, we are confident that we will not be missing the opportunities that would have certainly been presented to us during a normal show year.”

Over the past 10 years, All-Fill has acquired three companies. With each acquisition, All-Fill brought the company’s operations and assembly into its Exton, PA facility to ensure success.

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For more information about exhibiting or attending PACK EXPO Connects, visit: oemgo.to/PEC

CONNECTS

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“We’re pretty much at the point where we have become a one-stop shop for any customer,” Ryan Edginton says.

“There is so much opportunity out there for what we already have in-house right now.”

And while All-Fill has many capabilities under one roof, the company also relies on its membership with PMMI, The Association for Packaging and Processing Technologies, to boost its connections, integrations, and partnerships even further.

“We can go to PMMI meetings and PACK EXPO and build relationships with a capping company or with a film supplier for the labelers or vertical form fill and seal machines, and we can establish these relationships,” Ryan Edginton says. “If I’m putting together an entire line, and I need a capper, I can go to one of my contacts that I made through PMMI in order to get their equipment integrated with our lines.”

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when you stick to it, you make it work, and you give the customer a reason to believe in you, it really makes you feel good. What makes you feel even better is when they come back and order another duplicate system.”

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Embracing a fail-forward approach Looking forward, the Edginton’s are optimistic about how the industry will innovate as it adapts to the effects of COVID-19, specifically with data acquisition.

“A lot of times, we’re selling our checkweighers with data acquisition technology, and we are actually feeding that back to remote computers and databases so that our customers can evaluate their production cycles,” Kyle Edginton says. “We see reporting real-time data as being one of the advances that are actually really beneficial to us and our customers.”

When asked about the projects that the All-Fill team are most excited about, Ryan Edginton quickly chimes in. “The projects that we always remember are the ones that we initially fail on and then make work.”

One application in particular that he mentioned was for a fish tank filter for Spectrum Brands. The filter sits on the back of an aquarium and captures all the waste from the fish. All-Fill was tasked with dispensing charcoal and black carbon into the frame of the filter and then ultrasonically welding it to capture the carbon inside.

“When we first started doing this, the quality just wasn’t there,” Ryan Edginton recounts.

“We visited the customer at one point, and I remember the president telling me, ‘Ryan, thank you for coming down here, but you’re going to be leaving with your machine.’ But

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The Aftermarket Opportunity From training to pay-for-performance to features on-demand, the emerging machine builder business model focuses on services that reduce a manufacturer’s financial risk by shifting the responsibility of asset acquisition and management on to the OEM. Are you ready?

Stephanie Neil, Editor-in-Chief

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his past February, Robex, an automation and robotics integrator for the food, beverage, building, and container industries, rolled out a unique offering that delivers its custom-made robots in a usage-based finance model. This Machine-as-a-Service (MaaS) offering is a flexible way to install equipment on the factory floor without having to invest upfront capital. Instead, the customer pays for a successful outcome based on a predetermined agreement around productivity.

The service, called Robex Flexx, is powered by SteamChain, blockchain-based software used to measure a variety of critical machine productivity parameters in real-time which then calculates transactional payments based on a machine’s overall performance. Robex also bundles preventative maintenance into the contract. “If we see a robot is not performing or part of the solution is not working, we are on it right away,” says Craig Francisco, president of Robex. “Probably before a customer even picks up the phone, we know there’s an issue and we will fix it immediately.”

Robex is both an OEM and a turnkey systems integrator, and, while they’ve been in the business of providing

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services to manufacturers, they recognize the need to build out new, value-added aftermarket offerings in order to help their customers deal with industry obstacles—be it a skills shortage, or the need to improve machine uptime, or even how to operate amid a pandemic.

“We took action pre-pandemic, but I think the concept will gain more traction now as people are open to new ideas and ways of trying to automate,” says Francisco. “The customer is limiting their risk using the Flexx program because we are taking on responsibility.”

And, while the risk shifts to Robex, the rewards will be a great new revenue stream if they deliver on what they promise. In fact, all machine builders should be thinking outside of the box when it comes to identifying new sales opportunities. Specifically, food, beverage, and CPG manufacturers are on a mission to digitize plant floor and packaging operations. And by understanding their needs, OEMs are in the perfect position to be a strategic partner and accompany them on their digital journey.

According to PMMI’s Business Intelligence report released last year called Aftermarket Opportunities for OEMS

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2019, manufacturers are asking machine builders to add more skilled technicians who can supplement the skills shortage they are dealing with inhouse. In addition, an OEM’s spare parts business is a key factor in enhancing customer satisfaction and generating repurchase opportunities, as is the ability for OEMs to seize the opportunity to address machine performance after the startup phase.

Yet, the report states that end user aftermarket service satisfaction has slipped from 42% in 2015 to 21% in 2019.

“This is primarily due to the skill level of technicians as well as the availability and lead time of parts,” the report states. “That means OEMs have an opportunity to improve the kind of service and support they provide their customers through additional training of technicians and inventory solutions.”

Download PMMI’s Aftermarket Opportunities for OEMs 2019 report here: oemgo.to/aftermarketopps Opportunities are not always that easy, however, as OEMs struggle with the same issues as their customers, including retaining talent, learning technology, and facing new challenges as IT and OT worlds collide on the factory floor and new competitors emerge to deliver aftermarket services. “The biggest challenges are related to competition and the workforce,” says Joe Zale, principal with Deloitte Consulting. “The level of competition is growing in the industry as manufacturers operate in a complex environment with multiple stakeholders, including suppliers and partners. This is becoming more pronounced as OEMs are

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aggressively trying to increase their presence in aftermarket services.”

So it’s clear, aftermarket service is expected in the factory of the future. But where does a machine builder start?

Perhaps it just means taking a step back to understand a business obstacle related to a traditional service, like training, and delivering it in a different way.

Pricing models

PAC Machinery, for example, changed its startup and training pricing model to make it easier for customers to buy. “And it directly increased our revenue for this service,” says Greg Berguig, vice president of sales and marketing for PAC Machinery, an OEM offering a comprehensive range of bag sealing equipment and materials for the flexible packaging industry.

Many OEMs concur that when there is a problem with the installation of a new machine, oftentimes it has to do with the lack of customer training. During a factory acceptance test (FAT) the customer is most interested in understanding if the machine does what it is supposed to do.

Regardless if the machine was operating as it was supposed to after the FAT, if the customer runs into trouble, many times it’s assumed the machine doesn’t work and it’s the OEM’s fault.

“The better approach is that the factory technician does proper startup and training on the equipment which could be one or two days or three to four days if it’s a big piece of equipment,” Berguig says. “One day to get the machine up and running, the second day to be there to watch and provide assistance to the customer and take questions or do a changeover.”

PAC put this strategy into place before COVID-19 hit, but even though it was in everyone’s best interest to have a technician onsite for a few days to educate the operators, the OEM was not getting many customers to buy into the startup and training service, Berguig concedes. The reason, the team surmised, was due to the pricing model that billed at an hourly rate, including travel time, onsite time, and expenses. “Maybe they wanted it, but it was too complicated for them to purchase. So, we looked at how to make it easy to purchase and offered it as a flat rate for startup and training, no matter where you are in the country.”

The result was an exponential increase in the purchase of startup and training services—before COVID-19,

The Robex Staxx palletizer is offered on the Flexx Machine-as-a-Service program.

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of course. Now, it’s a bit more challenging, Berguig says, so they’ve added virtual startup and training via webcam, which is working well.

Indeed, the pandemic has changed the way people work.

And while it is a business disruption, progressive OEMs recognize the potential to reinvent themselves.

According to a recent Deloitte report called Aftermarket Services Transforming Manufacturing in the Wake of the COVID-19 Pandemic, changes in customer demands, increasing market maturity, cyclical fluctuations in new equipment sales, and pressure on pricing, are among the major factors driving many manufacturers to seek new aftermarket service revenue opportunities. This shift is taking place because customers are emphasizing service level agreements (SLAs) that guarantee product uptime and are looking for partners who can proactively support their equipment before it is out of service. In return, these customers are willing to pay a price premium.

And, in order for this to work, new kinds of partnerships between machine builders and technology suppliers are emerging. “In many cases, the most significant competitor within the aftermarket business is the customer who may handle maintenance and repairs,” says Deloitte’s Zale. “Addressing this requires an ecosystem to work cooperatively and collaboratively with all the players, including hardware and software technology providers, more traditional channel partners, and customers.”

The power of partners

Robex, for example, partnered with SteamChain—a company founded in 2017 by engineers who came from Rockwell Automation and who experienced firsthand the need for aligning relationships between OEMs and end users through accountability. By partnering with SteamChain there is a ripple effect where Robex is in a position to form close relationships with its customers.

“Robex offers Machine-as-a-Service and includes onsite service, so it’s like contract manufacturing under your own roof,” says Michael Cromheecke, SteamChain co-founder and CEO. But it’s much more than that, as the performance of the machine is what drives revenue. “Instead of selling a service with a break/fix warranty, using SteamChain [the OEM] can offer a performance-based warranty. They are paid when the metrics are achieved vs. getting paid upfront knowing they’ll have an obligation to fix something when it breaks.”

In addition, SteamChain does its part to support its OEM customer, whether it’s having a conversation with the CPG’s finance and procurement teams, designing the terms and conditions of the MaaS, educating the sales and marketing teams to help create awareness, or offering financial services—which is brand new. “When we sign on a new OEM partner, we are partners for life,” Cromheecke says.

“Our interest is the same as theirs—to sell more machines on MaaS terms.”

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Deloitte’s Zale notes that the move to pay-for-performance has long been anticipated in manufacturing, but the business model has moved slowly. That is expected to fasttrack given the current circumstances. “Like many trends that have seen a massive acceleration in this crisis, the conversion to more creative contract designs that balance risk between equipment providers and customers could quickly become the norm in a broader set of use cases and segments.”

Partners will be key to pull this off. And within the ecosystem of partners, industrial control system (ICS) suppliers and integrators offer a lot of value to OEMs and end users alike, especially now as remote access, predictive maintenance, and digital convergence capabilities are in demand.

A quick glance around the ICS landscape and you’ll notice some unique partnerships emerging. There’s Rockwell Automation and PTC, for example, where Rockwell made a $1 billion equity investment in PTC to have a seat on the board of directors and a joint road map. In addition, just this year, Rockwell acquired Kalypso, a software delivery and consulting firm specializing in the digital evolution of industrial companies, as well as Italy-based ASEM S.p.A., a provider of digital automation technologies including industrial PCs, HMI hardware and software, remote access capabilities, and secure Industrial IoT gateways. And, earlier this year Rockwell announced it will acquire Avnet Data Security, LTD, an Israeli-based cybersecurity provider. All of this activity is on top of the 2016 Rockwell Automation acquisition of systems integrator Maverick Technologies.

Last November, Rockwell announced its Digital Partner Program to streamline industrial IoT implementations and connect manufacturers to a variety of digital expertise from companies including Accenture, Microsoft, PTC, Ansys, and Eplan. For example, Accenture can work with companies to create a business plan and develop use cases with ROI. Microsoft can help manufacturers access high-quality data from an intelligent edge to the cloud to drive better companywide decisions. PTC can help connect devices and systems from the edge to the cloud and provide augmented reality (AR) technology to solve problems in new ways. And Ansys and Eplan can solve complex challenges related to creating a “digital thread” which helps in design, operations, and maintenance activities.

“We are going through our own transformation as a company,” says Tom O’Reilly, vice president of global business development at Rockwell Automation. “Different partnerships will play a bigger role as we transform ourselves in order to help our customers transform themselves. We don’t say [we are an] industrial software company, we say we are an industrial productivity company.”

And new services that Rockwell rolls out will be valuable to both OEMs and end users. “We believe there is benefit to both, and we are working on doing things with Microsoft later this year that will enable machine builders and others

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to participate in a broader way to provide value,” O’Reilly says.

One such offering that has already rolled out is Factory Insights as a Service, a turnkey cloud offering from Rockwell powered by PTC and Microsoft, that delivers real-time production performance monitoring, asset monitoring and utilization, connected work cells, and digital and augmented work instructions.

Similarly, Siemens recently rolled out its new Manage MyMachines, a cloud-based Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) that, combined with edge technology, enables data tracking of machine kinematics as well as production data.

As a MindApp within Siemens’ Mindsphere portfolio, Manage MyMachines is integrated in the cloud-based, open IoT operating system and it allows access to all critical machine tool information, from bearing temperature to production by shift or job, all in a selectable priority scale, based upon user needs. Unexpected line downtimes and off-normal machine kinematic conditions can be quickly identified and rectified. Predictive maintenance can be programmed, so an upcoming failure can be anticipated, with alerts sent to a local distributor, for example, to deliver the needed components.

“Simply stated, this concept will be a gateway to the digital factory for all of our associates in the machine tool world, including builders, integrators, and end users,” said Sascha Fisher, head of the machine tool systems group at Siemens in the U.S.

Service at the edge

The industry is seeing even more targeted offerings for machine builders from other industrial technology suppliers, like Hilscher, which launched a new way for OEMs to service and monitor equipment at customer installations.

Hilscher makes a full line of edge gateways, and the recurring theme from the OEM market and large end users has been how to maintain these devices, how to upgrade when a new release comes out, and how to change what they do with the applications that runs on them.

“It became evident that having devices in the field only maintained locally—as in walking up to the device and using a USB stick to load firmware to get another level of features—required another way of doing it,” says Craig Lentzkow, business development manager for Hilscher’s IoT solutions.

The Hilscher platform, called netField.io, brings intelligence to field devices, providing the ability to update firmware from a remote location via a container-based management system. Hilscher created an Industrial IoT Operating System, called netField OS, that runs as containers in a Docker runtime environment. (Docker is an open source software platform and a Docker container is a lightweight, standalone, executable package of software that includes everything needed to run an application, including code, runtime, system tools, sys-

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tem libraries, and settings.) To that end, netField OS along with netField Platform includes a self-service management portal (netField Portal) as an interface for local or remote set up. And then there’s the edge gateway.

The edge gateways are set up to be information-gathering devices, not controlling devices, and, for security protection, the customer does not get access to the PLC or machine controller via the edge gateway. The device sits on a machine and “listens” to the controller and in some instances directly to the I/O device to gather the status of the machine. The goal of the edge gateway is to stream data in real time to where that data needs to be acted upon. Data can be streamed from the edge gateway to cloud-based artificial intelligence (AI) applications, such as prescriptive maintenance software that predicts device failures, or the data can be acted on in the edge gateway by containerized applications (often referred to as edge computing).

“We call it ‘no touch’ because you don’t have to be physically present, just physically connected to the device,” Lentzkow says. “The goal of the open environment is that it is highly customizable by the customer. We provide 85% of the necessary software framework so the customer can focus on applications and what they want to run…Millions of devices can be monitored on a system like this.”

And, it’s not only access at the edge that is important but building intelligence in as well that will drive new functionality. For example, One Tech, a provider of edge AI technology, offers MicroAI Atom, which is designed to be embedded onto a microcontroller unit (MCU) in order to train and run AI models at the endpoint. The company suggests this will make it easy and affordable for OEMs to bring intelligence to the machine. And, not only that, it can be added or “turned on” as needed.

“We know there are many machines deployed that obviously do not have the capability of providing the level of

Siemens’ Manage MyMachines securely connects machines to the cloud and all of these machines, connected to MindSphere, can be managed around the world.

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insight that equipment owners would ideally have,” says Chris Catterton, One Tech’s director of solutions engineering. “MicroAI can be deployed to provide asset performance management for these assets that are already in service with relative ease. Furthermore, the adoption of AI is as simple as embedding it into the equipment and activating the training process.”

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and bring as much value as we can to the market and to customers, we have to do something different. This to me is a phenomenal way to offer a flexible solution to our customers. And it’s limitless what we can do with it.”

Easily share this article with your peers: oemgo.to/aftermarket

The ‘easy on’ switch

There’s a new trend emerging in machine management called “feature management” or “features on-demand.” The on-demand concept is pretty clear when it comes to video streaming your favorite movie, but it has transferred to more tangible products, like cars, in which customers have the option to add features to their car as required. Automotive manufactures may install hardware components in the vehicle and then customers can activate those as needed, such as heated seats, the ability to check email, cashless payments at toll booths, etc.

Machine builders in packaging and processing industries are considering the same on-demand model for their equipment.

“For us, there are various sensors we could turn on,” PAC Machinery’s Berguig says, noting that the company could build a “standard” machine preconfigured more to completion, but understanding not everyone will require all of the bells and whistles. “In the future we could turn something on, which they would pay for it then.” Having all of the future features standardized in the base models could also help shorten lead times, he says.

SteamChain’s Cromheecke agrees that it’s a smart aftermarket business model. “This feature management allows the end user to buy a [basic] machine, but there are features built-in that can be turned on later, which creates more revenue [for the OEM].”

Of course, all of this requires a new mindset around machine automation as it relates to buying a service vs. a product. “We are careful with our customers,” Robex’s Francisco says. “We want someone who sees the value and wants us to be a partner. This is a win/win if we can be open and honest and grow together.”

The good news is, manufacturers are waking up to the possibilities, especially since more factories don’t have the technician expertise they had a decade ago, Francisco says. “We believe for us to reach our goals

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MANAGING OEE HELPS PRODUCERS THROUGH DIFFICULT TIMES Today more than ever, manufacturers are trying to squeeze every drop of productivity out of the assets they already have. Machine builders can help them achieve the OEE they’re looking for.

Aaron Hand, Editor at Large

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n the whole, manufacturers understand the importance of measuring overall equipment effectiveness (OEE). It exposes losses within their operations to better drive the decisions for improvement. It’s about finding bottlenecks, improving efficiency, and reducing downtime—and squeezing as much productivity as possible out of existing assets.

The trend toward tighter capital has been in place for a few years. But this year, more than ever, the COVID-19 pandemic is pushing more manufacturers to get serious about their digital transformation to achieve the agility and flexibility needed from their machines. And OEE is a great place to start.

Improved OEE can not only help manufacturers increase productivity, it can help them react to changing demands in the supply chain. When suddenly one product is sold out everywhere (toilet paper, say) while

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another sees a significant drop in demand (deodorant or, perhaps, pants), manufacturers need to be able to adjust.

They need to understand if existing equipment can handle a rise in demand.

“If you’re not collecting the OEE information, or not looking at what’s going on on the shop floor, you don’t have the data to understand where you’re at now, or if you have a change in demand, if you can meet it,” says Matt Giordano, technical evangelist for Information Solutions at Rockwell Automation. You might have the capacity on some machines but not on the line overall. Or you might be constrained by a particular operation on the line. “Until you start looking at that stuff, you’re going to be struggling to adjust.”

This year has been a wakeup call for a lot of businesses, Giordano adds. “We need to understand what’s happening here so we can manage through these difficult times.”

And that’s where OEMs are in a position to help, especially when it comes to incorporating new technology that will move manufacturers toward a more information-driven future.

AN ESSENTIAL FOR IIOT

For any manufacturer looking to start an Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) initiative as part of their digital transformation, OEE is the go-to key performance indicator (KPI) to get the ball rolling. It’s tangible and relatively easy to measure, and can boost productivity right out of the gate, says Luke Durcan, director of IoT Consulting and EcoStruxure for North America at Schneider Electric.

Too many IIoT programs are overzealous from the start, getting everyone excited about big dreams. When they don’t deliver the planned ROI, the project gets canned and people get cynical about what benefits IIoT might actually provide.

“But…put in a solution that’s going to drive OEE, and you

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could deliver $2 million in the first six months,” Durcan says. “It helps move people along the IoT arc. You get the hard cash returns of productivity.”

The data gained from a small-scale OEE project can be used to deliver value further down the line. “We can get 20 points of OEE in the first year,” Durcan says. “Then in year three, we can continue to grind out incremental OEE as we go forward.”

OEE is an essential first step for getting the data that’s needed to start digital transformation, Giordano says. “You can’t really start to do a digital transformation until you understand what’s going on on your shop floor,” he says. “You need data. You need to understand what’s happening.”

STARTING WITH THE BASICS

Edward Jump, M-Powered IIoT digital analytics leader for Milacron, an OEM that makes technology and equipment for plastics processing, has seen a shift over the past few years where more customers have established ways to efficiently track OEE in some capacity.

“There’s a varying range of what that means for customers, but it is a metric that most of the industry is starting to utilize and measure themselves,” he says. “But even companies that measure it, they still struggle with writing things down on clipboards, and not having accurate information because it’s relying on somebody saying a machine was down for two hours when it was really down for four hours.”

There are still a large number of plants just beginning to enter the digitalization age, but it doesn’t need to be a big leap, says Jim Hulman, manager of business development at Bosch Rexroth. “The fundamental data to gather is always OEE, and then further analysis comes from there, using data analytics and Industry 4.0 tools to give further and deeper analysis of root causes,” he says. “But you don’t need much

Bosch Rexroth’s IoT Gateway software makes machine and process data more transparent. Source: Bosch Rexroth

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data analysis or machine learning or any of that to solve a 14% discrepancy in OEE. It’s just simple analysis—walking it through, identifying the issue, and getting the team together to solve it.”

However you proceed, basic OEE is where you should start, Hulman emphasizes. “You find your big problems first,” he says. “Secondly, you look for simple solutions, like putting a robot in place to fix the process. Or look at ways to predictively determine when the problem’s going to occur.”

THE GREAT EQUALIZER

Once you’ve tackled smaller issues, taking OEE across the operation can bring considerable gains. As Schneider Electric’s Durcan puts it, to understand OEE on a particular machine is interesting; to understand OEE on a particular cell is useful. But you really need to understand OEE across the entire plant to know where your criticality points lie.

It’s the critical bottlenecks in a facility that drive productivity, Durcan contends. It’s a concept that Schneider Electric refers to as production synchronicity—looking across assets to synchronize OEE. “Everyone knows what their bottlenecks are,” he says. “It’s the synchronizations between bottlenecks that drive productivity.”

Production synchronicity integrates OEE and data to study more complicated relationships between OEE and productivity across an entire facility. An OEE issue together with a starvation event upstream, for example, could send an alarm to an engineering or production manager to let them know that an event might be about to occur further down the line. “It’s giving you a window to get in and maintain productivity,” Durcan explains.

Too often, the default measurement for manufacturers is looking at how many pounds they ran on a given machine, says Dan Sileo, chief coach of manufacturing at the FSO Institute, which helps CPGs understand how to adopt improvement programs. But this becomes very difficult at a corporate level because running production of plain pretzels, for example, is very different than running production of peanut butter pretzels. “The dollar delivery is different. The waste numbers are different,” Sileo notes. “OEE becomes the great equalizer.”

Manufacturers with multiple plants can find themselves talking dollars when looking at machine performance. But it always makes sense to look at OEE instead, Sileo argues.

“It’s dangerous when you talk dollars because you’re not recognizing the complexities in each plant,” he says. “Then you let the complexity or differences in plants become excuses.”

the performance of the OEM’s equipment. “They use OEE in factories as acceptance criteria for machines coming into their plants,” he says. But OEE can also be pushed from the OEM’s side—showing that their equipment is OEE-ready, with the right logic and tags incorporated to help the end customer collect OEE data.

Some OEMs are taking the initiative to help end users be smarter—providing a service element to proactively come in and help them operate their machine at the highest levels, notes Derek Thomas, vice president of Marketing and Strategy for Emerson’s machine automation solutions business.

Read more about OEM aftermarket services on page 34

↓ The right HMI can help machine operators react to live OEE data and make needed changes. Source: Milacron

THE MACHINE BUILDER’S PLACE

With manufacturers looking at OEE across a workcell or even the entire plant rather than just machine by machine, where does the OEM fit into this equation?

Giordano has seen OEE used as a validator, measuring

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↓ Milacron combines machine data with industry expertise to help its customers understand and improve OEE. Source: Milacron

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Milacron, for example, has taken the initiative to help its manufacturing customers get a better handle on OEE. “Where the machine builder comes in—or where we come in anyway—is by trying to help gather that information, to automate it, to get it into a true system. And then by really listening to the customer about what their problems are and then focusing on those specific areas of OEE and tailoring our solution with our partner ei3 to help them tackle those unique problems,” Jump says.

Milacron uses ei3 technology as the backbone of its MPowered IIoT suite to make sure it has a secure and reliable connection to remotely troubleshoot customers’ assets.

Along with ei3, Milacron combines the data with industry expertise to help its customers understand and improve OEE. “If certain downtimes are continually plaguing our customers or certain components are affecting their downtimes, we study those and we put things in place with ei3 to quickly deliver to our customers what they need to do to improve that score,” Jump says.

TAKE IT TO THE CLOUD, OR THE EDGE

Higher-level analytics often rely on cloud services to crunch complex data across the enterprise. But OEE is also becoming more powerful with edge technology, Emerson’s Thomas says. You can capture machine parameters at the edge, trend them as they’re operating, and look backwards as well. “It lets you bring intelligence down to the operator,” he says.

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Milacron’s team of data scientists typically start with a lot of computation and digestion of the data in the cloud.

“We take large swaths of data every day from hundreds of connected machines. And we pull that up, we analyze it, we look at it for common patterns, we look for areas where failures occurred, and we study those patterns as well,” Jump says. “And then as we start to get better at detecting when those patterns are going to occur and start to affect a machine’s performance or eventually cause a downtime, we can package up those algorithms and deliver them to our edge devices, which are also supplied by ei3. And those edge devices can do a lot of this computation for us so that we’re not continually sending all of the data to the cloud.”

A CAUTIONARY TALE

Providing a machine with a high OEE score is one thing.

Making sure your customer understands what can affect the machine’s OEE is another. Bosch Rexroth’s Hulman recommends that machine builders give their customers the tools they need to understand what information is relevant. “It gives them a great starting point for continuous process improvement,” he says.

For example, Bosch Rexroth has an OEM partner that sells its machine at a 95% efficiency rating. Part of why that rating is so high is because the changeover is fully automated, running 200 different product configurations with all electronic setup and automatic configuration. An end user had come to them to say that they were only getting 85% efficiency, but the problem turned out to be upstream, beyond

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the control of that particular machine.

There are so many variables that are out of the machine builder’s control once the customer has the OEE is a tool that helps manufacturers view their operations through a consistent machine on the plant floor—operator and objective set of measurements. But if those measurements become less training, proper maintenance, other consistent or less objective, they won’t be as valuable. That’s a key reason the OpX machines upstream and downstream, Leadership Network—facilitated by PMMI, The Association for Packaging and etc. “The best thing for an OEM to do Processing Technologies—developed OEE Guidelines, establishing a roadmap for is to sit down with the customer and a systematic approach to tracking OEE for any piece of equipment or process. get a common understanding of what “People love to say that we’re different and deserve to be measured differently,” OEE means to them,” Hulman adsays the FSO Institute’s Dan Sileo, who is a founding member of the OpX vises. “If I’m supplying you a machine Leadership Network Executive Council. “I’m going to take out changeovers here or that has 95% efficiency, these are the downtime there because that’s muddying up the way I look at it. But if you do that, parameters that I’m basing that on. So you lose a huge opportunity to change.” now when an end user says I’m only The team established by the Alliance for Innovation and Operational Excellence getting 85%, let’s take a closer look at for Overall Equipment Effectiveness, provides guidelines for initiating an OEE it.” program. They also share best practices about how to review the business drivers, OEE will point you to the problem, how to get started, and how to gauge the efficacy of an OEE program. but it doesn’t necessarily give you the solution. Maybe the machine is jamming because it hasn’t been set up right. Or the customer isn’t doing proper maintenance. Or pinned up,” Hulman says. “It allows the machine operator they’re using a new material supplier that the machine was to view the live data, make changes, and fix things right not built to handle. “So it’s very important for an OEM to away.” clarify their understanding of OEE and which parameters are outside of their control,” Hulman says.

MAKE OEE WORK FOR YOU Measuring OEE enables manufacturers to not only identify the underlying losses of their equipment, but to NUDGING THE OPERATOR TO benchmark progress and improve productivity. OEE in BETTER OEE itself, however, does not hold all the answers. ManufacturThe human-machine interface (HMI) is the ideal place ers need to dig beneath the surface to find the causes of any to “nudge the operator to do the right thing from an OEE given OEE score. perspective,” Durcan says. In one case with a premium “Tracking is just the beginning,” Rockwell Automation’s cosmetics company, Schneider Electric had implemented Giordano says. “That score can guide you as to where you a manufacturing execution system (MES) at the facility but want to look next.” was also working at the OEE level in terms of root-cause Hulman agrees, noting it’s a good chance to open up analysis, he recalls. Feeding that information back to the other opportunities in efficiencies. “Opening up one bottleoperator as a standard operating procedure (SOP) drove neck allows you to view the other possibilities.” better productivity. “They got more specific in the SOP so But Giordano emphasizes the need for buy-in from they were less likely to get a human error on the machine. It customers—a commitment to use the information OEE prowas a virtuous feedback loop into the MES.” vides. “Just because you throw an OEE number up on the Shifting workforce patterns have been a significant TV doesn’t mean it’s automatically going to improve. There driver in changing HMIs to better help operators be a part has to be a cultural change as well, a commitment to use it,” of driving OEE. “We’ve been working on this for many he says. And keep using it. “If you don’t continue to use it, years—making it as simple as possible but as configurable you’ll start to lose value in it.” as possible,” Durcan says. “It’s taken us a while to develop those tools to be agile and robust enough to deliver value.

At the system and enterprise level, they can ingest that Download the OEE Guidelines—along with the OEE complexity of data and do something with it.”

Starter Tool and OEE Benefits Calculator—at: oemgo.to/ It’s not atypical for manufacturing facilities to have opxproductivity paper-based pie charts and graphs hanging up on bulletin

Stick with consistent measures

boards for weekly analysis. Instead, Bosch Rexroth shows OEE data in real time on a large monitor on the shop floor.

“If you’re running during that shift and your OEE data is not where it should be, you can immediately react upon it and not wait for meetings to take place or new charts to be

F20_F3_Technology.indd 44

Easily share this article with your peers: oemgo.to/OEE

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9/21/20 10:21 AM

MANAGEMENT

FALL 2020

47

Preparing for Succession: Selling Your Company From large companies to small ones, every business will change hands. A succession plan is a prudent and necessary step in the lifecycle of every company. Who is going to get it and what type of process will it be are up to you, the seller.

Jim Chrzan, Vice President of Brand Development, PMMI Media Group

A

very popular myth is the younger generation does not want to be in the same family business as their grandparents and parents. As soon as they get control, they sell the business, maybe for a lake house or to fund college tuition.

But the fact is, while some packaging machinery companies do get sold outright because the current generational owner does not share the same passion for the business as older members of their family, many companies are sold by families who want to take some of their chips off the table, but have big expansion plans and want a financial partner to take the company to the next level.

In some cases, an older partner wants to cash out, and a younger partner wants to continue, but is unwilling or unable to “buy out” the retiring partner. In such cases, a partial sale—known as a majority recapitalization—is often pursued as it allows the parents or older partner to transition out of the business and enjoy the fruits of all their hard work, their share for retirement, or to pursue other business interests. Then, the kids or younger partner will take their share of the sale, plus reinvest some back into the new business to retain meaningful ownership going forward.

What is so appealing about this scenario is not only do the engaged family members get to parlay their experience and drive growth with a new partner rich in resources, they are most often not required to make any personal guaran-

F20_F4_Selling.indd 47

tees for their share of the new enterprise. They fund their new investment in their old company with financing that typically does not require a personal guarantee.

They can enjoy years of continued growth and success, aggressively taking on business challenges, without worrying about their home (mortgage) and family (life savings).

And best yet, there will inevitably be another liquidity event somewhere down the line where the minority holders once again profit from a sale of their portion.

Just the sale alone sounds complicated. Factor in all the other issues about what and when to tell employees vs. key managers, as well as the many pitfalls you can encounter, and you’ve got major stress.

“That’s why it’s critical you use an investment banking firm to help you navigate through this major life change, a transition that requires a lengthy and complex process,” says Bob Contaldo, chairman and managing partner of XLCS Partners, Inc. Contaldo has been advising middle market companies on merger and acquisition (M&A) transactions for 38 years, primarily representing founder or family-owned businesses looking to sell or recapitalize.

His son, Anthony Contaldo, is a partner in the firm and the chairman of their Packaging Industry Practice Group.

He has led the sale of many packaging OEM companies specifically, and he was recently involved in the Integrated

9/21/20 3:42 PM

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48

MANAGEMENT

Anthony Contaldo is a partner in the firm and the chairman of its Packaging Industry Practice Group.

Packaging Machinery sale to Kingdom Enterprises Inc., as well as the sale of Nortech Packaging and Tishma Technologies to Intertape Polymer Group.

“M&A activity in the packaging space has been extremely strong the past several years, with high demand from strategic and financial buyers alike,” says Anthony Contaldo. “We expect this to continue post-COVID-19, which has really accelerated the already growing automation trend in food, beverage, pharma, and other manufacturing.”

What goes on in preparation for the sale? There is a myth that sellers “clean up the books” or streamline the operation to make it look more attractive for sale.

Actually, successful company owners have often already maximized their processes, that’s why the operation is an attractive acquisition target.

Once the decision has been made to sell, it is important to manage confidentiality within the organization and in the marketplace. Investment banking firms like XLCS have specific processes in place to allow the inclusion of the highest caliber strategic and financial acquirers without sacrificing confidentiality. With regard to employees, most are not aware of the sale process until after closing, whereas certain key managers may need to be informed earlier in the process. Not only is their expertise often needed in finance, legal and operations to prepare for and complete due diligence, the buyers might even want to meet the key team to assure them continuity is critical to success. When to notify the management team often depends on the company’s culture, the personalities involved, and how critical they are to the operation.

In any event, rarely does a new owner come in and cut people. Contrary to popular belief, keeping things humming with the team in place is a major goal for most successful transitions. Indeed, if the prospective buyer found people were leaving, they might not be as inclined to proceed.

Market conditions: Why do packaging OEMs look so attractive to investors?

Bob Contaldo has been advising middle market companies on M&A transactions for 38 years, primarily representing founder or familyowned businesses looking to sell or recapitalize.

F20_F4_Selling.indd 48

Small equipment footprint is key in today’s plants. Flexibility with quick changeover is a necessity. Companies designing and building automated, high-performance machines that come at a mid-range cost with simple operation, are at a premium and attract investors.

Often these investment firms are assembling suppliers from all parts of the line to be able to offer a one-stop shop for packaging solutions. This is in response to CPGs wishes to reduce the number of suppliers and find one major manufacturer to tie it all together. Anthony Contaldo says this trend is driving large OEMs to expand their product offerings via acquisition and is also putting a major emphasis on the role of integrators.

End markets like food, beverage, and pharma are recession resistant and attractive to buyers, as the industry has

9/21/20 3:42 PM

MANAGEMENT

seen with COVID-19 and the list of essential businesses.

Once a buyer is interested, and a non-binding agreement has been signed, 60-90 days of due diligence takes place. At this stage, buyers are principally concerned with vetting the information they have received thus far and doing more detailed legal and financial diligence. If the seller was represented by an investment banking firm that put a comprehensive Confidential Information Memorandum (CIM) and other marketing materials together, most buyers will not be surprised at this stage.

Top three considerations when contemplating sale • Good advisors • A well-run process • A personal motivation that trumps the financial motivation.

A good lawyer, a good accountant, and help from an experienced investment banking firm can help you navigate the complexities of the process and keep a check on any potential issues that can arise from poor or incomplete preparation. After all, you often only get one chance to do it right.

Common issues in due diligence include poor financial performance since the last reporting period, major changes to the customer base, and undisclosed liabilities or litigation.

Pitfalls are many, and the buy/sell process often leads many sellers to experience fatigue and stress. They are tired of waiting, tired of providing more information, and can even grow stressed with partners. Anthony Contaldo has seen what they refer to as “deal fatigue” or “deal strain” in a lot of transactions and conditions his clients early on about what lies ahead. “One of the benefits of working with a firm that knows the packaging machinery space as ours does is knowing what information industry buyers will want to see ahead of time and incorporating it into the marketing materials. Our goal is to shift as much of the burden off of the sellers and onto our firm as possible, making the process as smooth as possible while maximizing the likelihood of getting to the finish line.”

FALL 2020

49

Just how emotional is the process? Anthony half jokes that his dad Bob has often compared selling a business to the five stages of grief—denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance.

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9/21/20 10:24 AM

PMMI MEMBERS

FALL 2020

51

ASSOCIATION NEWS Sean Riley Senior Director, Media & Industry Communications

Back to School Means Scholarships from PMMI With a commitment to developing future leaders in the industry, since 1998, the PMMI Foundation has awarded academic scholarships each year to students pursuing a career in packaging and processing.

This year, four students each received $4,000 from the PMMI Scholarship in Memorial of Claude S. Breeden, Glenn Davis, and Art Schaefer.

Students must have a GPA of 3.0 at a two-year PMMI education partner school, industry involvement, and plans for a career in packaging and processing machinery manufacturing to qualify.

“PMMI sets some pretty high standards for this scholarship, so we have truly found the brightest and most dedicated candidates in the industry,” says Kate Fiorianti, senior manager, workforce development, PMMI. “PMMI is proud to invest in the next generation’s workforce through these scholarships.”

The winners of the 2020 PMMI Scholarship in Memorial of Claude S. Breeden, Glenn Davis, and Art Schaefer are: • Will Martin, Kirkwood Community College, Advanced Welding Technologies • Marcus Reed, Central Community College, Mechatronics • Caitlin Segger, Lorain County Community College, MEMS, Mechatronics Technology, Bachelor of Applied Science • Sarah Windisch, University of Wisconsin-Stout, Packaging Fifteen students also received $5,000 scholarships from the PMMI Member Family Scholarship. This scholarship was created to support immediate family members of member company employees who are pursuing packaging and processing as a career choice.

“Member Family Scholarships underscore PMMI’s commitment to our members and the future of the packaging and processing industry, paving the way for the next generation,” says Jim Pittas, president and CEO, PMMI. The winners of the 2020 Member Family Scholarship are: • Milena Arsic, Midwestern University

F20_AssociationNews.indd 51

Member Company: PMI KYOTO • Prabhjot Bains, University of Guelph Member Company: Peel Plastic Products Ltd • Emma Davidson, Brigham Young University Member Company: Kala Packaging, LLC • Samuel Goldberg, Northeastern University Member Company: Econocorp, Inc. • Eugene Hugus, Central Westmoreland Career Technical Center Member Company: FOX IV Technologies, Inc. • Michael Kelly, West Chester University Member Company: Image Fillers, Inc. • Jasmine Levy, University of Colorado Boulder Member Company: Point Five Packaging, LLC • Monica Malloy, Cretin-Derham Hall Member Company: SICK, Inc. • Anna Manak, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Member Company: ProMach, Inc. • Kaylee Meyer, University of Minnesota Twin Cities Member Company: Aagard • Joshua Navin, Milwaukee School of Engineering Member Company: Spee-Dee Packaging Machinery, Inc. • Brandon Niemuth, University of Wisconsin Member Company: HolwegWeber • Jarod Parsons, University of Wisconsin-Madison Member Company: OPTIMA Machinery Corporation • Michelle Saganich, University of Notre Dame Member Company: Baumer • Noah Terminella, University of Arkansas Member Company: Pacmac, Inc. To qualify for this scholarship, students were required to have a GPA of 3.0 or higher, career plans in packaging and processing machinery manufacturing, and are an employee or immediate family member of a member company that is in good standing with PMMI.

For more information about the PMMI Foundation, go to: pmmi.org/foundation

9/21/20 3:49 PM

FALL 2020

52

PMMI MEMBERS

Fifteen Young Professionals in Packaging and Processing Rising Through the Ranks By: Sabrina Poland, Marketing & Communications Coordinator, PMMI PMMI, The Association for Packaging and Processing Technologies is pleased to announce its third annual On the Rise Award winners. Developed by PMMI’s Emerging Leaders Committee, the awards recognize 15 young professionals who have demonstrated extraordinary leadership potential in the packaging and processing industry. This year, the committee received nearly 100 nominations.

The winners of the 2020 On the Rise Awards are: • Chris Anguil, Banding Sales Manager - Pharmaceuticals, Felins • Cristina Ashtahov, Human Resources Generalist, BellatRx Inc. • Katie Exum, Customer Success Manager, Specright • Yvette Goitia, Proposals and Project Manager, Intralox • Erik Grinnell, Vice President of Automation, Quest Industrial • Randy Hoffman, Project Manager, Zarpac, a ProMach Brand • Erica Laino, Business Development Manager, Cama USA • Cody Leedham, Engineering Manager, Change Parts, Inc. • Elie Mechaalany, Key Account Manager, Deville Technologies • Amanda Nimry, Global Branding and Graphic Design Specialist, Liquibox • Vannessa Palomo, Project Engineer, Zalkin • Amit Patel, Product Marketing Manager F&B, ASCO / Emerson • Chris Staruch, Production Manager, Batching Systems, Inc. • Mike Wolf, Manager of R&D, Triangle Package Machinery Co. • Sarah Ziegler, Customer Relationship Specialist, QC Conveyors “One of the Emerging Leaders Committee’s top priorities when selecting winners is their commitment to growing in the packaging and processing industry. We received our largest number of nominations to date, from an incredible group of young professionals who are going above and beyond—especially in these unprecedented times. PMMI and the Emerging Leaders Committee are excited to honor this next generation of industry leaders,” says Liz Normandy, senior manager, marketing and communications, PMMI. On the Rise Award winners meet the following nomination criteria: entry-level professional employed by a PMMI member company for at least one year; demonstrates lead-

F20_AssociationNews.indd 52

ership qualities and the potential to advance their career in the industry.

Award winners were honored virtually during PMMI’s Annual Meeting (Oct. 5-7) and will receive free airfare, event registration and hotel stay at the 2021 PMMI Annual Meeting. The winter issue of OEM Magazine will feature extensive profiles of the winners.

Learn more about PMMI’s On the Rise Awards at: oemgo.to/ontherise

Free Download: Conducting Virtual FATs The COVID-19 pandemic has limited travel and faceto-face interactions, creating challenges for conducting factory acceptance tests (FAT). Many companies are turning to technology to effectively complete the FAT process virtually, which will likely become standard practice in the post-pandemic way of working. The new Virtual Factory Acceptance Tests (vFATs) document from the OpX Leadership Network provides best practices and leadership guidelines for executing vFATs, to address the changing operational landscape brought on by COVID-19. This work product tackles how to most effectively use communication and connection technologies to allow consumer packaged goods (CPG) companies to interact remotely with OEMs. Download for free at: oemgo.to/opxln

Custom Research That Delivers Results

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9/21/20 10:22 AM

FALL 2020

54

PMMI MEMBERS

Packaging Industry Remembers John Kowal

By Dave Newcorn, Senior Vice President, Digital and Data, PMMI John Kowal, director of business development at B&R Industrial Automation, passed away on July 8, 2020 after a long battle with cancer. Kowal was one of the most influential figures in packaging automation over the past two decades. In the 90s, Kowal authored a book on PC vs. PLC control. Joining the servo division in the late 1990s of what is now Bosch Rexroth, Kowal evangelized the potential for servo control for the packaging machinery industry at a time when there was resistance to the new technology. As part of this effort, Kowal was instrumental in propelling the then-sleepy OMAC organization into the packaging community in the late ‘90s, giving it a sense of purpose and vitality that put it on the map. (At the time, OMAC stood for Open Modular Architecture Controls but was later renamed to Organization for Machine Automation and Control.)

In 2002, Kowal was tapped to join Elau, a then privatelyheld German servo control manufacturer that wanted to take on entrenched competitors in the highly competitive U.S. motion control market. John spearheaded what was considered to be the one of most audacious marketing programs in the field of packaging automation at that time.

Elau grew its presence in the U.S. rapidly from a standing start until it was eventually acquired by Schneider Electric in 2005. Its marketing was a big part of that. Kowal moved on to B&R in 2010, handling marketing for B&R’s global automation business, where he remained until his passing this July.

Throughout this period Kowal became an increasingly active and influential member of PMMI, serving on

In honor of John’s lifelong passion for fishing, donations in his name may be made to Michigan’s Trout Unlimited: michigantu.org

F20_AssociationNews.indd 54

its board of directors. During John’s 20+ year career in packaging automation, he relished the promotion of the latest motion control technology to help OEMs make their machines better for the end customer. His services to PMMI are as follows: • 2010 – 2013 Global Marketing Committee • 2010 – 2014 Strategic Planning Committee • 2012 – 2015 Board of Directors • 2015 – 2018 Membership Committee • 2019 – 2020 Business Intelligence Committee “It is with deep sadness that I learned of the passing of a great colleague and a true friend. John Kowal passed away after a long battle with cancer,” said Bryan Griffen, director, Industry Services, PMMI and a longtime friend and collaborator of John. “I would like to take a moment to honor his memory. John was a tremendous contributor to the automation and packaging industries, and in particular to OMAC. He was one of the most gracious persons I have known; always willing and enthusiastic to help in any way he could. He was a friend, mentor and role model to many people throughout the industry. Thank you, John, for guidance and friendship. You will be missed!”

Added Pat Reynolds, emeritus editor, Packaging World, “With his unique way of demystifying controls and automation technology, John taught me a lot about advanced packaging machinery. He’ll be missed.”

John’s entire obituary can be found at: oemgo.to/johnkowal

PMMI Board Appointments for 2021

The PMMI Board of Directors announced the 2021 PMMI Executive Committee with terms beginning on Jan. 1, 2021 and ending on Dec. 31, 2021.

PMMI Chairman: Emmanuel Cerf, vice president, Polypack, Inc. PMMI Vice Chairperson: Patty Andersen, vice president of human resources & after market services, Delkor Systems, Inc. PMMI Immediate Past Chairman: Mark Anderson, president and CEO, ProMach, Inc. Sharron Gilbert, president and CEO of Septimatech Group Inc. was re-appointed to serve a second four-year term on the PMMI Board of Directors, while four new individuals will join for initial four-year terms. The new members serving from Jan. 1, 2021 through Dec. 31, 2024 are Margie Custin, general manager, Mettler Toledo Product Inspection, Tim Hudson, vice president and general manager, Hartness International, Steve Mulder, regional segment leader, Rockwell Automation, and Mike Odom, general manager, Kliklok Corporation—A Syntegon Technology Company.

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9/21/20 10:51 AM

Journalists you should know

Stephanie Neil is Editor in Chief of OEM, shown here with Ellen Ochoa, former astronaut and Director of the Johnson Space Center.

Keeping you informed about what matters for packaging and processing OEMs–

Q&A with Stephanie Neil Stephanie Neil has been reporting on business and technology for over 20 years and became Editor in Chief of OEM in 2018.

She joined PMMI Media *URXS¡V $XWRPDWLRQ :RUOG in 2015, where she also contributes as Senior Editor.

When did you know you wanted to be a writer?

All my life! Of course, I wanted to be a novelist, not a B2B journalist. I kind of fell into manufacturing, starting as an IT reporter for a WHFKQRORJ\ SXEOLFDWLRQ EXW LW¡V EHHQ D UHDOO\ JUHDW FDUHHU IRU PH DQG ,¡P KRSLQJ WR KHOS LQà XHQFH WKH QH[W JHQHUDWLRQ RI 67(0 VWXGHQWV WR HQWHU WKH ÀHOG RI PDQXIDFWXULQJ Among the features you covered recently, does one stand out?

The use of blockchain technology as the foundation for a new machine-as-a-service model. This could be a game-changer.

to reach him. We spent the entire interview talking about family and life. I consider him a great friend to this day. %RRN RU SRGFDVW \RX¡UH UHFRPPHQGLQJ , MXVW Ă€QLVKHG D JUHDW ERRN FDOOHG Stop Doing That Sh*t by Gary John Bishop. I also listen WR PDQXIDFWXULQJ SRGFDVWV VSHFLĂ€FDOO\ “Manufacturing Happy Hour.â€? And, of course, 300,¡V ´8Q3$&.HG Âľ How do you spend your off hours?

A good friend of mine is a food blogger and competes in cooking competitions across the country, which I often attend and meet some of the most talented chefs in the world—so I consider myself a bit of a “food sport groupie.�

What was your most memorable interview? , ZDV LQ +RXVWRQ RQ 6HSWHPEHU interviewing John Berra, then president of Emerson Process Management, when news came in that the twin towers had been hit. His son was living in New York and he was trying

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Stephanie Neil. Worth following.

OEMmagazine.org • @neilst • LinkedIn.com/in/stephaniesneil

OEM_PageTemplate.indd 1

9/21/20 10:25 AM

PMMI MEMBERS

Newly Revised ANSI Standard B11.19 Addresses Risk Reduction Measurements The 2019 revision of “ANSI B11.19 - Performance Requirements for Risk Reduction Measures: Safeguarding and other Means of Reducing Risk,” lays out important updates that can help you and your team.

The update covers performance requirements for the design, construction, installation, operation and maintenance of the risk reduction measures applied to machines.

Specific examples include inherently safe by design, engineering controls for guards, engineering controls for control functions, engineering controls for devices and administrative controls.

ANSI B11.19 has established responsibilities for the supplier (e.g., manufacturer, rebuilder, installer, integrator, and modifier), the user, and individuals in the working environment. The overall goal for the standard is to achieve acceptable risk in the work environment and work processes. By organizing tasks for each role, there is a clear distinction on effort delegation, making the process smoother and easier to follow.

One of the benefits of this new version is that it has been harmonized with many of the requirements in ISO standards. ISO takes an approach that each protective device should have its own standard. For example, ISO 13840 for emergency stops, ISO 13851 for two hand control devices, ISO 14119 for interlocking devices, etc. ANSI B11.19 takes the opposite approach, bringing the requirements for most risk reduction measures into the single standard, allowing the user to compare options. The writing committee did the homework to try to make the requirements in B11.19 widely applicable (note: “harmonized” does not mean “identical,” but the differences are considered inconsequential).

If your company is interested in risk mitigation and can benefit from a detailed walk-

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through of risk reduction measurements, be sure to view the full ANSI B11.19 standard. This newly revised standard leaves no stone unturned when detailing effective application guidelines for safety.

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PACK EXPO CONNECTS PREVIEW CONNECTS

PACK EXPO Connects: Live, Virtual, Reimagined Get an exclusive preview of PACK EXPO Connects to see how your company can take advantage of this virtual trade show.

Sean Riley, Senior Director, Media and Industry, PMMI

N

ow, more than ever, packaging and processing professionals need solutions for the rapidly changing business environment. To ensure our industry remains connected during a time when the socially-distanced world has leaned heavily on the items it packages, PMMI Media Group brought together all of its digital marketing expertise and decades of extensive industry knowledge, launching a new live, web-based event like no other, PACK EXPO Connects 2020, Nov. 9-13.

PMMI Media Group began researching the best technologies and platforms in May, to ensure a one of a kind virtual packaging event. PACK EXPO Connects combines the power of PMMI Media Group and the PACK EXPO brand to drive participation by the entire industry and bring together decision-makers from both sides of the table—suppliers and end users from more than 40 vertical industries. PACK EXPO Connects provides suppliers with a virtual showroom for live demos, live chat with product experts, an easily searchable product database conveniently organized by 12 major categories, and more.

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• Live Product Demonstrations will connect exhibi-

•

•

•

tors with attendees. These time-efficient, 15-minute, live demonstrations will allow attendees to check out what’s new, ask questions, and engage with exhibitors in real-time.

All virtual showrooms on PACK EXPO Connects contain Automatic Lead Capture, eliminating the need for information exchanges that take the focus away from problem-solving.

Live 1:1 Chat will allow attendees to chat directly with exhibitors during dedicated event hours. If an attendee can’t catch an exhibitor during the event hours, virtual business cards will help foster those connections even after the event’s conclusion.

Comprehensive Educational Content will feature thought-provoking sessions from leading suppliers and industry experts on today’s packaging trends. Attendees take the information gleaned from these sessions to enhance their knowledge before heading back into the virtual showrooms for specific solutions. All

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content noted will be available both as scheduled and on-demand after the event.

More about Automatic Lead Capture technology A lead generates when an attendee:

• • • • •

Clicks on a demo to watch Starts a live chat with virtual showroom personnel Adds an exhibitor to show planner Favorites a showroom, demo, or company product Requests a private meeting

In the months leading up to the announcement of PACK EXPO Connects, PMMI Media Group conducted hours—adding up to days—worth of end user interviews with some of the leading consumer packaged goods (CPG) companies in the world. These extensive in-depth interviews had one goal: To ensure PACK EXPO Connects represents exactly what the packaging and processing industry wants out of a web-based event.

Immediately, the number one request across the board was a desire not only to see live technology but also to have the ability to interact with exhibitors during the video demos of actual machines.

PACK EXPO Connects delivers the technology for exhibitors to conduct these interactive connections—complete with live chat features—resembling virtual Factory Acceptance Tests (FATs). These live video demos, coupled with the ability to interact with technical personnel and product experts, best mimic and fulfill the expectations and experience of an in-person event. This also reinforces the need for a collective group of exhibitors demonstrating technology in action like PACK EXPO Connects will offer. PMMI Media Group will provide educational videos for creating engaging demos and offer video specialists to walk exhibitors through the process if necessary.

Beyond experiencing technology in action, attendees want to spend their valuable time exploring new products, rather than existing products presented as new. PMMI Media Group solicited its in-house team of editors to vet what is and isn’t new, serving as neutral industry experts.

Together, they will help make sure that attendees are able to track down the latest and greatest offerings and the exhibitors that are presenting them.

Finally, attendees wanted engaging virtual exhibits. The research revealed that attendees are not impressed with fancy 3D renderings of booths on a computer screen. They want to quickly understand what products are available, see live demos, and connect with experts in real-time. As

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a group, participants revealed that they would prefer fully fleshed out web-based showrooms, complete with live feedback and interactions vs. simple listings offering a static encounter. In other words, they believe that developed, thought out virtual presentations are more worthy of their time, and indicate exhibitors striving to provide a full experience. PACK EXPO Connects has developed the package to ensure exhibitors deliver.

Preview Week is Nov. 2-6. This soft opening will allow registered exhibitors an early showcase for attendees to browse live demo descriptions, build their planner, and save items to Outlook calendars. Organization and preplanning are the keys to success as there will be so much to see and experience at PACK EXPO Connects.

PACK EXPO Connects exhibitor checklist

1. Offer the maximum number of live demos. Attendees of PACK EXPO events seek technology in action more than anything else.

2. Ensure product experts are available during show hours to accommodate potential demand.

3. Provide access to technical people for virtual meetings and one-on-one chats.

4. Submit all featured products as early as possible to ensure attendees scheduling their week know what each showroom offers.

5. Marketing drives web-based events with a premium virtual booth package showing up higher in search results.

6. Get an edge on competitors by promoting to the PMMI database via PMMI Media Group promotion packages.

Featured products will run in a special targeted listing in the Virtual Guide published alongside the October issue of Packaging World.

Top five reasons for exhibiting at PACK EXPO Connects

1. Experience a state-of-the-art branded Virtual Showroom.

PMMI Media Group partnered with the leading virtual show vendor to fully integrate the features that customers want for PACK EXPO Connects.

2. Feed your sales pipeline. A massive, multi-channel marketing investment is driving the industry to PACK EXPO Connects, delivering CPGs and industry professionals longing for solutions and engagement.

3. Live demos. Every survey of end users and CPGs begins and ends with a desire to see actual technology in action.

PACK EXPO Connects provides the guidance for exhibitors to broadcast live product or equipment videos and the abil-

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ity for live interactions with virtual showroom attendees.

4. Live one-on-one chats. Attendee research confirms that next to seeing technology in action, buyers most want access to technical personnel. Scheduling product experts during exhibit hours provides a targeted venue to engage with high-value prospects.

5. Easy product search. With a simplified interface for uploading products and on-demand videos to Virtual Showrooms, buyers can easily search for solutions with the click of a mouse at PACK EXPO Connects.

The “musts” that make a compelling virtual showroom

To ensure the success of a web-based event, PACK EXPO Connects exhibitors need to put time and thought into the content uploaded to their online showroom as it is the first impression drawing attendees to their exhibitor profile. Here are six “musts” for every engaging showroom:

Searchable company descriptions

When creating company descriptions and “about us” sections, exhibitors must include keywords that are searchable for at-

tendees. Attendees will be able to utilize search functions to find content that interests them, so including such keywords will help exhibitors stand out among the crowd. By investing the time to create thoughtful content, exhibitors will drive traffic to their profiles by increasing visibility within the directory search.

Include contact information

Attendees will navigate to exhibitor profiles and then reach out using the contact information that is located in the exhibitor showrooms. Exhibitors must provide contact information for as many virtual business cards as possible and include phone numbers, emails, and any other contact information. By doing this, attendees will be able to easily get in touch with exhibitors since they are not permitted to connect in person.

Chat, chat, and more chat

To connect one-on-one with attendees through chat, exhibitors who have a virtual business card must be logged in to their planner accounts. Create planners ahead of the actual show and have at least one contact online and readily available during show hours. This will increase the likelihood of creating connections that will last beyond the event.

Polished images and videos

Exhibitor profiles include upload options for images and videos. Professional level content is not necessary, but exhibitors must consider proper lighting, clean backdrops for images, and quality sound and content for videos.

Social media

Social media is a great resource for connecting individuals, especially during a virtual event. Exhibitors must link out to their social media pages from their showroom and post announcements and helpful information on social media during the event using the official event hashtags.

Live demos

Live demos are a must as exhibitors can interact first-hand with attendees that are interested in their products or services and acquire valuable leads.

Exhibitors will have the opportunity to showcase their latest products, interact with a live Q&A session, and even offer exclusive show specials to keep attendees engaged.

Easily share this article with your peers: oemgo.to/pecpreview

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STAND OUT WITH

EXHIBITOR’S CORNER

CONNECTS

Tips to Maximize Chat at PACK EXPO Connects During PACK EXPO Connects, exhibitors will have the opportunity to chat with prospective leads. Here are some tips that your team can implement to make sure you are capturing attendees’ attention.

Sarah Loeffler, Director of Media Innovation, PMMI Media Group

A

s exhibiting opportunities increasingly transition online, marketers are discovering that having the right strategy for chat can be integral to pipeline and lead management. PACK EXPO Connects presents two great opportunities for exhibitors: private one-on-one interactions and live Q&A group discussions during brief (under 15-minute) product demonstrations.

To get the most out of your team’s efforts, consider the following tips:

1-to-1 private conversations

Be available. It may sound obvious, but you can’t interact with visitors if you don’t have someone standing by.

Having a schedule of who is “manning” your chat is just as important as ensuring staff presence at a live event.

Fortunately, at PACK EXPO Connects, this doesn’t mean sitting by your computer all day. The show has specific hours designated for chat, and exhibitors can even set alerts to notify their team of chat requests so that team members can be doing other things during chat hours.

Plan “conversation starters.” At PACK EXPO Connects, all private chats are initiated by attendees. As such, it’s important for exhibitors to be strategic about the information they feature. You’ll want to strike the right balance between supporting sufficient self-guided research by end users and teasing enough with your content that the visitor feels compelled to engage (and every chat tracks as a lead).

Some ideas to help foster engagement:

Offer up your technical staff. PMMI Media Group research consistently shows one of the top “wants” of end users is access to engineers and other representatives with technical expertise. Use this desire to your advantage by featuring a varied bench of experts to man your chat.

Prime the pump with messaging that encourages visitors to “Ask us about X.” Just as with face-to-face interac-

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tion, it can be intimidating for some end users to initiate conversations. By making reference somewhere on your page to the typical questions you hear (“Ask us about our rapid install options” or “Ask us about our experience with printing in harsh environments,”) you’ll provide a subtle cue to visitors that they’re safe bringing up their similar questions or concerns.

Don’t underestimate the power of a giveaway. Encourage visitors to jot you a quick note via chat if they would like to receive some sort of takeaway, such as material samples, a special discount code from the event, or perhaps your latest report on a hot topic.

Humanize your team. Attendees crave real-life connection. One easy way to humanize your team and help foster trust in a virtual environment is to include their photos and

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encourage links from their virtual business cards to their LinkedIn profiles.

Have a strategy to prioritize inquiries. The platform at PACK EXPO Connects is organized around text chat. However, attendees can request private meetings with exhibitors at any time. Either party can then continue the conversation outside of the event, whether it be a follow-up call by phone or a video meeting on their own preferred platform (Zoom, GoToMeeting, Skype, MS, etc.).

As an exhibitor, you’ll therefore want to come prepared with open-ended questions to best understand the prospect’s use case and business challenges. Once you understand the prospect’s situation, just like with a live event, you can then assess fit and tailor your pitch accordingly for appropriate level of follow-up.

Coming in with a sense of ideal customer can help you pre-determine what criteria your sales team will use to determine “qualification” for additional meetings, either during or after the event. Marketers also should strategize best ways to convert from one-to-one text chat on the platform to many-to-many video meetings with other members of the buying team on your own channel. Examples could be to tease additional content, offer additional staff members to meet the prospect, encourage sharing of visuals for deeper conversation, etc.

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Have a plan for triage. Busy moments are always challenging during events, and this is no different in a virtual setting. Exhibitors should note that nothing indicates “busy” when it comes to chat. Either the exhibitor’s chat button is green to signal the company is present, or no button displays (exhibitor is logged off the system).

Fortunately, navigating between conversations on the PACK EXPO Connects platform is easy: Exhibitors can be engaged with multiple people in separate threads at the same time. And the exhibitor can easily jump between two or more conversations.

Still, some exhibitors may find it helpful to have a plan for how they will triage conversations and politely respond when their team gets delayed by high-traffic moments.

Group chat

Another opportunity for chat at PACK EXPO Connects occurs with live video demonstrations. Here, exhibitors are given 15 minutes to demonstrate a product and answer questions from observers via public chat. To make the most of this limited time, exhibitors should consider these additional efforts.

Prepare seed questions for Q&A. Don’t waste precious minutes waiting for questions to start coming in or get tripped up with an immediate question that may not be particularly applicable to the group or your product. Instead, come prepared with a couple of strong questions and encourage a colleague to share them. Simply identify your colleague and have them prompt the discussion, which can be as simple as having the colleague type “Scott, why don’t you tell everyone how our infeed works with a wide range of package sizes.” Prospects like seeing team interaction, and it helps the conversation quickly kick off on the right track.

Have a plan for prioritizing viewers’ questions. Once the questions start rolling in, it can feel like a wave! To make the most of the moment, while the presenter is responding to initial inquiries, have a colleague choose and relay the next set of questions.

Tease to continue the discussion. Before wrapping up the chat session, encourage viewers to send their questions directly to you for additional follow up by requesting a private meeting via the link in your showroom or engaging in chat during designated hours. And invite attendees to check out more information, such as product videos or case studies or continue conversations with your technical team. Let them know there is even more information to be had beyond that 15 minute “taste” they just experienced.

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Connects, visit: oemgo.to/PEC Easily share this article with your peers: oemgo.to/PECexhibit

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MANAGEMENT

VOICE OF THE CUSTOMER

Hershey’s Unwraps its Supplier Access Strategy Amid COVID-19 Hershey’s Josh Becker sat down with PMMI’s Sean Riley to share a customer’s perspective on how to handle visits from suppliers, training, and service issues.

J

osh Becker has more than 23 years of experience in the CPG industry across various roles from supply chain operations, maintenance management, engineering, and packaging systems design. His career has provided him a breadth of experience across the food and beverage sector while working for Frito-Lay, Kraft Foods, Bimbo Bakeries USA, and currently, The Hershey Company for the past six and a half years as senior manager packaging systems solutions. He is currently an executive council member of PMMI’s OpX Leadership Network and holds an engineering degree from Penn State University.

Hershey allowing technicians into its facilities? Are there specific conditions that would warrant that?

Josh Becker: Obviously, with our manufacturing plants continuing operation, we are deemed a critical business and need to continue to supply consumers with our products and brands. We are allowing service technicians into our plants if it’s deemed critical to the continuity of

To listen to the full interview, visit: oemgo.to/hersheypodcast

Sean Riley: How has a big company like Hershey been impacted by the pandemic and how have your plants evolved?

Josh Becker: Our first priority at the beginning was to protect the health, safety, and wellbeing of each and every one of our employees across our entire organization. We enabled a proactive approach on employee safety really early on, which limited any negative impact to our manufacturing plants. We’ve maintained operations throughout this entire pandemic. We limited and restricted travel of any external vendor, supplier, or salesperson calling into our office. If it wasn’t deemed a business-critical meeting, we did it virtually. We enabled some work from home policies for some of our management staff and even did management rotations within our facilities just to avoid any potential quarantine events needed by the entire management staff. And we tried to social distance as much as we could and implemented personal protective equipment (PPE) early on and increased the number of hand sanitizing stations.

Sean Riley: As things start to slowly ramp back up, what are the expectations for things like service? Is

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operations and projects. But each request is reviewed on a case by case basis.

What we’re not doing is allowing the use of any mass transit by our technicians visiting our sites. Since at this point, this still is going to require a 14-day quarantine. However, thankfully in some instances, we have several service partners that have technicians who are local enough to make the drive to some of our manufacturing plants so that we can keep projects and operations moving forward. It’s difficult when some of our suppliers are global, but in one recent instance, we actually had requested a visit by a service technician and the only U.S.-based technician was in the Western part of the country. And we actually allowed him a several day drive into one of our facilities. So, we do have technicians in our facilities doing installations, repairs, maintenance, and training to be in business.

Sean Riley: How about once technicians get to your facility? Should they build in more time for temperature checks? Should they bring their own things like masks and their own PPE? Josh Becker: Well, before any technician does travel into our facility, we do ask that they complete a health declaration form prior to travel, essentially, just to ensure that they’re coming in safe and healthy and not going to have a negative impact on arrival. We do require onsite temperature checks at all of our facilities and that’s required prior to admittance to the building. And then we also do provide face masks. We are providing face masks to everybody, so that each and everyone in the facility does have the same face mask. Social distancing is one thing that we’re still requiring to maintain as best as possible, but in the event of some close contact where there’s certain instances you can’t social distance, we are actually providing face shields. And that’s just really to ensure safety of each person working in close proximity. We use that for training, if it needs to be a two-person job maintenance with a service tech, we’ll ensure that a face shield could be provided and everything. You can’t properly social distance all the time. There are certain things that require two or three people to complete the job.

Browse PMMI’s extensive COVID-19 Resource page, by visiting: oemgo.to/ covidresources Sean Riley: Have you guys had to do any FATs or installations, and if so, have you tried to do any remotely?

Josh Becker: We haven’t had any remote FATs or virtual FATs yet. We’ve got some FATs planned. Obviously, we’re starting on the development of those plan Bs of “What if we can’t travel?” So, we’re looking through what that could look like. Thankfully, some of our suppliers are being faced with virtual FATs now. I think they’ll get some of the learning curves and get some of the bugs out of the way. And then, if it’s something we have to implement later, I think the OEM will be better versed at it and could potentially make it go a little bit smoother. We are actually working on a project in one of our facilities where we don’t have all the technicians we normally would. So, we’re actually attempting somewhat of a remote/virtual commissioning of the line. The supplier has some local technicians in the U.S. who are traveling to the site with a mechanical and electrical technician, but they’re not who are normally sent in this instance. We’re actually trying to use different virtual chalkboards and different video technologies to commission a line virtually. I’m not sure how that’s going to go, but we’re attempting it because we know that we need production.

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PERSPECTIVES

Look to the Industrial Edge to Improve Machine Performance Traditional PLCs and PACs have evolved into edge computing, making it easier to automate and remotely visualize equipment while enabling valuable new capabilities such as machine as-a-service.

Kyle Hable, Product Manager of IIoT and Edge Technology at Emerson

T

he “business as usual� goal of delivering industrial machine and equipment automation with only basic functionality is no longer enough for today’s more sophisticated end users. Not only are these users looking for the latest mobile-ready technology, but they are interested in operating equipment capable of remote support and software upgrades over time.

A parallel can be found in the way consumers have obtained and operated cars over the years to meet their transportation needs. Originally, users bought cars, then self-performed or subcontracted the maintenance and repairs during the ownership years, and in due course sold the vehicles.

Eventually a leasing model became available where a monthly charge gave the user access to a car technically owned by another entity. By shifting some ownership responsibilities to the leasing agency, the end user could gain flexibility, reduce risk, and more easily change cars every few years. Today, users can avoid buying or leasing vehicles entirely by relying on rideshare or vehicle sharing operations where they effectively pay for every mile of transportation, with no other commitment.

Progression of personal transportation methods has relied on technical advancements such as mobile devices that make it easy to summon a rideshare vehicle. For OEMs and end users, a similar evolution is under way. In this case, the technology advancement is edge computing combined with new hardware and software that will make it easier for end users to engage with machine builders for ongoing support needs. Edge computing may also enable the possibility of

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operating an entire machine as a service (MaaS), which could change the OEM business model.

Focus on results

Owning and operating manufacturing equipment comes with many responsibilities after the initial capital expenditure. Consumables must be ordered, wearable parts need replacing, and broken items demand repair. Many manufacturers would rather focus their efforts on the end results of production, rather than the methods.

Consider industries like electric power, mobile phones, computer data centers, and online shopping. End users could build their own generation, transmission, computer servers, and transportation systems. But the reality is that instead of owning and operating such infrastructure, most end users would prefer to pay for the actual consumption of power, communications, computing, and shipping.

In many cases, manufacturing methods can be transformed into a similar type of infrastructure, empowering users to concentrate on production results. Programmable logic controllers (PLCs) and programmable automation controllers (PACs) have long been used to automate equipment and processes. Edge controllers are an evolution of these devices, and edge computing represents the enabling technology for machine OEMs to enhance their offerings with new support and operating models for their manufacturing customers.

Making the change

Edge computing is also associated with other initiatives such as the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) and digital transformation. Key components of digital transformation include more edge computing intelligence, smarter IIoT devices, better networking, and even cloud-hosted applications.

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Digital transformation includes several elements building upon each other: • Data - Collect data from traditional automation and new smart devices, and organizing and storing this data for analysis.

• Connectivity - Enable sharing of this data across both on premise and cloud-based systems.

• Analytics - Create edge-level insights from connected data to support machine and plant-level optimization.

• Business Outcomes - Use insights from analytics to improve OEM equipment design, align better with end user needs, and improve production efficiency through new MaaS operating models.

Edge controllers are a relatively new development in the industrial automation space. These new controllers will allow OEMs to directly perform deterministic control, much as they always have with other preceding technologies like PLCs and PACs. The difference is that edge controllers incorporate general-purpose IT computing and communication abilities, adding the capability to perform analytics right on the machine, and to transmit information to the cloud or other enterprise systems.

MaaS in action

Many MaaS initiatives using edge control begin when users allow OEMs to remotely monitor equipment performance and make recommendations to operations. A next step is to add remote service, where an OEM partners with an equipment operator to proactively supply consumables, perform preventative maintenance, and provide other diagnostics as needed.

Advancing beyond remote monitoring and service, the OEM can offer an entire machine or production capability to the end user, billed based on actual output. The OEM assumes more of the risk for keeping this machine in service, and correspondingly uses more edge computing functionality as a way of actively fulfilling this role.

MaaS helps end users avoid large capital expenditures by shifting them to a periodic production-based charge they can incorporate into operational budgets, and it gives them more flexibility to scale up and down with their OEM suppliers as needs change. End users of MaaS can focus more on their core product strengths, and they can offload maintenance to OEMs who specialize in the details of supporting their equipment. OEMs benefit by creating a continuing stream of income, and in many instances the net result is positive for both OEMs and their customers because OEMs are often better positioned to maintain their fleets of machines—as opposed to an end user that might be supporting a single unique machine.

Consider a manufacturer that consumes nitrogen as an important, but relatively minor utility for their process.

Instead of trucking and handling the nitrogen, they could instead select a production skid with equipment to extract the nitrogen from the air to more efficiently meet their

F20_Perspective.indd 71

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By combining deterministic control with advanced IT computing and communication, Emerson’s Edge Controllers provide a platform for enabling MaaS and remote support.

needs. However, the manufacturer is not an expert at owning and operating such equipment, and they don’t want to add workload to their already busy staff.

To that end, this manufacturer would be very interested in retaining an experienced supplier to install, operate, and actively monitor such equipment to maximize availability and shift some responsibility to a specialized provider.

The supplier could even accommodate alternate methods for transporting nitrogen to the customer site in the case of unplanned downtime. The manufacturer benefits from uninterrupted production, while the equipment supplier gains more service and support business over and above a one-time equipment sale.

Digital transformation through edge computing makes such a scenario possible.

New potential

Many industries and services have already been streamlined into a “pay for consumption” model. This makes sense from an efficiency standpoint because end users can’t be experts in all the specialty areas needed to run a business. They need to make smart choices about where to offload activities to various suppliers, so they can remain efficient at their core competencies.

Digital transformation, and edge computing in particular, is a path for OEMs to help their users by developing smarter equipment to support remote service, and eventually deliver a MaaS. Edge automation technologies are key to changing the way we think of manufacturing, shifting it to an infrastructure model. As a result, end users can gain flexibility and cost savings, while OEMs can realize new revenue streams and closer relationships with their end customers.

Easily share this article with your peers: oemgo.to/industrialedge

9/21/20 3:55 PM

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Jorge Izquierdo, vice president, Market Development, PMMI jizquierdo@pmmi.org | 571.612.3199

9/21/20 11:10 AM

HR | MANAGEMENT

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WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT

How to Build the Future Workforce as the Skills Gap Widens With the help of the PMMI U Skills Fund, Aagard added 20 skilled employees to its workforce and established its presence among Minnesota schools.

Natalie Craig, Managing Editor, OEM Magazine

A

bout a year ago, Aagard, a maker of secondary packaging machines, was experiencing record backlogs due to strong customer demand, which the OEM said was a unique—and good—problem to have. However, Aagard was limited to the jobs they could accept because they didn’t have enough skilled employees to work through the backlogs quickly. To keep up with demand and cultivate new talent locally, the OEM turned to the PMMI U Skills Fund to broaden its reach and cultivate a presence among technical schools and colleges in Minnesota.

The industry’s widening skills gap and labor shortage is preventing Aagard and many other North American machine builders from finding the right team members across its fabrication, automation, and engineering departments.

Not only does this present a challenge for OEMs that need to replace their aging workforce, but it also keeps them from scaling and growing.

“We strongly believe that the key to our success is finding employees that are skilled, talented, and inventive and, most importantly, in alignment with our culture,” says David Lamb, Aagard’s corporate trainer. “Our core values of winning together, honorably, passionately, and positively are integral to our purpose of helping our customers win.

We are creating a highly functioning team, so our expectations are high. Continuing to expand our efforts to find the right team members, building strategic partnerships, and getting future leaders excited about Aagard are all part of our strategy.”

Located in rural West Central Minnesota, some of the challenges Aagard experiences when recruiting talent also gives them a competitive advantage, according to Lamb.

“Sometimes we struggle to compete with Minneapolis

F20_WorkforceDevelopment.indd 73

and St. Paul due to compensation differences and because many people are interested in the big city lifestyle. Just as often though, we find our location in the heart of lake country to be very attractive to certain candidates. The key is finding the candidates that possess the skills, fit in with our culture, and appreciate our location.”

Amid the growing skills gap, Aagard does have something working to its advantage, though. Building partnerships with schools throughout the West Central Minnesota region has been integral in expanding the OEM’s brand awareness and creating a funnel of new talent.

“This allows us to tell the Aagard story, develop relationships with faculty, and partner with them on tours, internships, funding, scholarships, and recruiting,” Lamb says.

“We have expanded our reach of career fairs and on-campus presentations, allowing us to determine the geographic regions and educational institutions that are the best

9/21/20 4:03 PM

One Voice: Virtual Factory Acceptance Tests

PLANNING SET-UP CURRENT SOLUTIONS

One Voice: Virtual Factory Acceptance Tests

CRITERIA

LAST UPDATE: JUNE 2020

SUMMER 2020

Performing Virtual Factory Acceptance Tests Addendum

SUMMER 2020

Protocols for Capital Equipment in the CPG industry

SUMMER 2020

SUMMER 2020

One Voice Factory Acceptance Tests

1.

CAMERA

One Voice: Virtual Factory Acceptance Tests

EXECUTION TOOLS

Following are the common tools suggested for an OEM to have on-hand when performing a vFAT.

CRITERIA

EXECUTION TOOLS

The specific tools necessary to execute the vFAT need to be agreed upon. These tools may include physical

test devices, ancillary equipment, software and tracking systems. Proper utilization of these tools needs to be 7. MICROMETER DESCRIPTION agreed upon and tested by all parties prior to executing the FAT.

LEADERSHIP GUIDANCE

CURRENT SOLUTIONS

LAST UPDATE: JUNE 2020

1. Logitech PTZ Pro Camera Video Conference System meets the above guidance criteria #1.

2.

INFRARED CAMERA

3.

TACHOMETER

4.

MOISTURE METER

5.

TEMPERATURE / WIND METER

6.

CALIPERS

that enables userthat to zoom and panzoom feature that can access more details of the 1. Need to have a solid webcam with remote control a. The AVER 520 the camera has ain/out high-quality 8. DECIBLE METER machine.

It allows get two perspectives zoomed in and out. sideways (controlled by the OEM). Camera system should work withyou PC to and Mac computers/ laptops.

2. A suitable gimble (criteria #6) can be found at 2. Provide a tripod so the webcam can be mounted at the correct height for a variety of systems. May https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07R9XZSGL/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1. also benefit from a gimble to improve camera movement.

3. VideoPoint meets the above criteria #8. See 9. screen VACUUM GAUGEfor the OEM so the 3. Large TV/monitor presenter can see what the other participants can see https://www.presentationpoint.com/software/videopoint/ for details. (if using a second laptop as a participant) or mirror what is being shown on the camera output to choose the best output device to show.

4. The Open Broadcaster System in criteria 9 is found at https://obsproject.com/.

4. Wireless headsets (x2) for the OEMs – one for the presenter, and one to plug into a second laptop VideoPoint similar)from software app that enables the user to monitor and show multiple web cam, if present, to stop any sound interference5. and feedback (or occurring the audio output; noise video, IP camera and streaming video feeds in PowerPoint. Open Broadcaster System (OBS) manages 10. VIBRATION cancellation headsetsMETER are best. multiple cameras/images for simultaneous display.

5. PowerPoint (or similar) tool to show the slides containing the agenda and series of checklist items to work through during the vFAT. 6. VideoPoint (or similar) software app that enables the user to monitor and show multiple web cam,11. video, IP camera and streaming video feeds in PowerPoint. Open Broadcaster System (OBS) MULTIMETER manages multiple cameras/images for simultaneous display.

CURRENT SOLUTIONS 7. Optional equipment may include: a.

Wireless keyboard and mouse

b.

Wireless clicker if using PowerPoint

c.

Docking station to enable multiple USB devices to be connected, as many laptops are limited in the number of ports they provide

d.

Photography lighting/background kit to block out unnecessary or sensitive backgrounds that 11 ©2020 PMMI are not relevant to the vFAT, such as projects for other clients. ©2020 PMMI

14

©2020 PMMI

15

brought to you by:

Best Practices for Conducting Virtual FATs PMMI | 12930 Worldgate Drive, Suite 200 | Herndon, VA 20170

In a changing world, many companies are turning to technology to effectively complete the Factory Acceptance Test (FAT) process virtually.

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9/21/20 11:11 AM

HR | MANAGEMENT

match to focus our recruitment efforts. We included more members of the Aagard team to be part of this endeavor, providing the potential candidate interactions with several members of the team to get a broad outlook of who we are as an organization.”

And these fruitful partnerships were all made possible with the PMMI Future Workforce grants through the PMMI U Skills Fund. The PMMI U Skills Fund allows PMMI member companies to apply for grants to develop their current workforce or build their future workforce. PMMI matches every $10,000 the member company invests into its workforce project. This has allowed Aagard to give local schools $10,000 grants to help with the purchase of equipment or build a program that is unique to the type of manufacturing Aagard does, which also kickstarts a partnership with the school.

“We have proactively reached out to medium-sized universities with solid engineering or mechatronics programs, proposing to collaborate together on the Future Workforce Grant, as well as career fairs, tours, internships, and more,” Lamb says. “We have also collaborated with local high schools, developing interest in manufacturing careers and building awareness of Aagard as a potential employer in the future.”

Together, Aagard and Alexandria Technical and Commu-

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75

nity College (ATCC)—a recipient of one of Aagard’s grants— built a program where ATCC works with local high schools to assemble their robotics teams. And to further extend the program’s reach, ATCC has joined forces with other local PMMI member companies, too.

Since receiving assistance from the PMMI U Skills Fund, Aagard has attended 20 college career fairs and has provided multiple presentations to students during the 20192020 academic year. Their attendance and efforts have allowed the OEM to hire more than 18 full-time engineers, five engineering interns, and five automation technicians and machinists.

“Many of these new hires have shared with us that Aagard stood out at the career fair and presentations,” Lamb says. “Our representatives were passionate and excited about Aagard and the value the student could provide to the organization. We received feedback that we were prompt in reaching out to them after the career fair, keeping the process moving along.”

For more information on how your company can take advantage of the PMMI U Skills Fund grants and assistance, visit: oemgo.to/skillsfund Easily share this article with your peers: oemgo.to/aagardskillsfund

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76

FALL 2020

NEW PRODUCTS

High Torque Brushless Motors SMAC, www.smac-mca.com SMAC launched the HT35 and HT55 series of brushless motors, which have a flux density of more than 10,000 gauss. This is achieved by using Halbach magnet designs—like those used in particle accelerators. SMAC’s patent pending “Printed Coil” technology uses circuit board manufacturing methods to make coils with low cost tool up, nearly zero variance in resistance, and torques that are higher than that of conventional designs, according to the company.

IO-Link Capacitive Proximity Sensors

U

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Carlo Gavazzi launched the CA18/30 capacitive proximity sensors with integrated IO-Link communications, which are housed in durable AISI316L stainless steel housings or PTFE Teflon housings for high chemical resistance. Besides the full range of technical features provided by its capacitive sensor families, the IO-Link communication mode enables additional advanced functionalities such as: Quality of run, quality of teach, and diagnostic parameters. With IOLink, each sensor becomes fully programmable and customizable, allowing more than half a million setting combinations.

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F20_NewProducts.indd 76

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NEW PRODUCTS

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77

Code Reader for Miniature Codes SICK, www.sick.com Sick launched the Lector61x compact camera-based code reader designed to detect 1D, 2D, and stacked codes for identification, inspection, or content monitoring in production processes. The small and compact image-based code reader measures just 30mm x 40mm x 50mm and supplements Sick’s Lector series of code readers for detecting 1D, 2D, and stacked codes. With the powerful DPM decoder, the new Lector61x reliably reads DPM codes with low contrast or distortion. It also has integrated special optics with magnifying effect, making it even suitable for reading the smallest microcodes with up to 0.02 mm cell size with 1D codes and 0.04 mm cell size with 2D codes. In addition, the all-in-one lighting concept with adjustable lighting color helps it master different surface colors and textures.

Aluminum Cylinder Boosts Machine Speeds Emerson, www.emerson.com The new AVENTICS TM5 TaskMaster aluminum cylinder features Emerson’s pneumatic cushioning technology that allows an ideal cushion adjustment to slow down the piston to a stop by the time it reaches the endcap. Ideal cushioning reduces the time it takes the cylinder to complete a stroke, allowing an improvement in efficiency that significantly boosts machine speed and lowers endcap hammer. With its rugged aluminum body construction and a steel piston rod, the TM5 TaskMaster ideal cushioning also reduces cycle time and enables the TM5 cylinders to carry higher loads without sacrificing cylinder performance.

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PMMI is a leading global resource for packaging and processing. Our core purpose is to unite the industry across the manufacturing supply chain.

PMMI Business Drivers equip the makers of packaging and processing technologies to succeed in a competitive global marketplace. pmmi.org

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Shows unites the world of packaging and processing to advance industries. packexpo.com

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For more information go to pmmi.org

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9/21/20 11:11 AM

FALL 2020

AD INDEX COMPANY/WEBSITE AirTAC USA Corporation www.airtac.com ATI Industrial Automation www.ati-ia.com Aurora Bearing Company www.aurorabearing.com Automation24 www.automation24.com Beckhoff Automation www.beckhoff.us/xts-hygienic Bishop Wisecarver www.bwc.com Clippard www.clippard.com CSS International www.CSSIntl.com Dorner Manufacturing www.dornerconveyors.com/oem EAM-Mosca Corporation www.eammosca.com Encoder Products Company www.encoder.com Eriez Magnetics www.Eriez.com Festo www.festo.com Hardy Process Solutions https://bit.ly/HI6200OEMs Heat and Control heatandcontrol.com/alwaysinnovating igus® Inc. www.igus.com/virtual-tradeshow

PHONE

PAGE#

281.394.7177

6-7

919.772.0115

5

630.859.2030

19

800.250.6772

9

952.890.0000

27

925.439.8272

15

877.245.6247

53

800.278.8107

57

800.397.8664

21

570.459.3428

76

800.366.5412

33

814.835.6000

12

800.96.FESTO

45

800.821.5831

66

800.821.5831

Cover-2

800.521.2747

COMPANY/WEBSITE

PHONE

JIE USA, Inc. www.jie-drives.com 630.580.9986 Kaeser Compressors, Inc. www.us.kaeser.com/oem 866.516.6888 Kondracki Group www.kondrackigroup.com 262.804.7239 Leister Technologies www.leister.com 855.534.7837 Lubriplate Lubricants Company www.lubriplate.com 800.733.4755 Matthews Marking Systems™ matthewsmarking.com/mperia 888.662.7183 Meech International www.meech.com/packaging 330.564.2000 Morrison Container Solutions www.morrison-chs.com 708.756.6660 OEM Magazine: Stephanie Neil Interview OEMmagazine.org 312.222.1212 PACK EXPO Connects www.packexpoconnects.com 571.612.3200 Parker Hannifin https://discover.parker.com/ACR7000 800.358.9070 Paxton Products www.PaxtonProducts.com 800.441.7475 Pepperl + Fuchs, Inc. www.pepperl-fuchs.com/F77 330.425.3555 Petro-Canada Lubricants www.Lubricants.Petro-Canada.com 866.335.3369 PMMI Media Group Custom Research www.pmmimediagroup.com/custom-research 312.222.1010

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PAGE# 64 39 49 23 58 4 10 75 56 Cover-3 Cover-4 69 17 37

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COMPANY/WEBSITE OpX Leadership Network www.OpXLeadershipNetwork.org PMMI “Is Your Answer” www.pmmi.org POBCO, INC.® www.pobcoplastics.com SEW Eurodrive, Inc. seweurodrive.com SICK, Inc. www.sick.com Slideways, Inc. www.slideways.com SMC Corporation of America www.smcusa.com Synrad, A Novanta Company www.Synrad.com Tempco Electric Heater Corporation www.tempco.com Tolomatic tolomatic.com VDG (Van der Graaf) www.vandergraaf.com/OEM VDG (Van der Graaf) www.vandergraaf.com/OEM VEGA Americas, Inc. www.vega.com Wipotec North America www.wipotec-wt.com Yaskawa America Inc. www.yaskawa.com Zero-Max, Inc. www.zero-max.com

PHONE

79 PAGE# 74

888.ASK.PMMI

78

800.222.6376

79

864.439.7537

3

800.325.7425

11

800.298.7543

29

800.762.7621

50

425.349.3500

77

888.268.6396

63

800.328.2174

8

888.326.1476

Cover-1

888.326.1476

55

800.FOR.LEVEL

46

770.971.5414

79

1.800.YASKAWA

1

800.533.1731

61

OEM Magazine (ISSN# 2377-293X) is a trademark application of PMMI, The Association for Packaging and Processing Technologies. OEM Magazine is published four times annually by PMMI with its publishing office, PMMI Media Group, located at 401 N. Michigan Ave., Suite 300, Chicago, IL 60611; 312.222.1010; Fax: 312.222.1310. Periodicals postage paid at Chicago, IL, and additional mailing offices. Copyright applied for 2015 by PMMI. All rights reserved.

Materials in this publication must not be reproduced in any form without written permission of the publisher. Applications for a free subscription may be made online at www.oemmagazine.org/subscribe. Paid subscription rates per year are $80 in the U.S., $125 Canada and Mexico by surface mail; $200 Europe, $400 Far East and Australia by air mail. Single copy price in U.S. is $20. To subscribe or manage your subscription to OEM Magazine, visit www. oemmagazine.org/subscribe. Free digital edition available to qualified individuals outside the United States. POSTMASTER; Send address changes to OEM Magazine, 401 N. Michigan Ave., Suite 300, Chicago, IL 60611-3789. PRINTED IN USA by Quad Graphics. The opinions expressed in articles are those of the authors and not necessarily those of PMMI. Comments, questions and letters to the editor are welcome and can be sent to: support@oemmagazine.org.

Mailing List: We make a portion of our mailing list available to reputable firms. If you would prefer that we don’t include your name, please write us at the Chicago, IL address.

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FALL 2020

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FINAL THOUGHTS

JIM PITTAS PRESIDENT & CEO, PMMI

Strong. Resilient. Essential.

It has become cliché to call 2020 unprecedented, but here we are. As an industry, circumstances beyond our control forced us to pivot quickly and respond to a pandemic that paralyzed much of the globe for significant periods of time. As the world changed, so did our focus, but our membership responded and persevered.

Looking back, however, it’s important to remember all the many ways that 2020 started off strong for PMMI. After our largest Joint Committee Meeting welcomed 158 members, we followed that up with the biggest PACK EXPO East ever. Coming off such a comprehensive event with over 7,000 attendees, 376 exhibiting companies and nearly 84,000 net square feet of exhibit space—and with EXPO PACK Mexico and PACK EXPO International also looking to have a record breaking year—PMMI was poised for one of our most successful years ever. Little did we realize at the time that our regional event serving the Northeast corridor would serve as possibly the biggest in-person packaging trade show in the U.S. for 2020.

The pandemic hit, and our role at PMMI as an industry resource became even more vital. Connecting the industry and providing business solutions moved from in-person events to Zoom calls and virtual meetings that ensured we could provide the tools our communities needed to remain fed, healthy and safe.

Here at PMMI, we launched a COVID-19 webpage full of Town Hall webinars, weekly and monthly Business Intelligence, OpX Leadership Network work products and targeted PMMI Media Group stories. The resource page has been used by nearly 5,000 unique visitors and provided access to 18 COVID-19 specific podcasts, in which members took time away from their own business to share ways in which they were re-imagining operations to address crucial issues. This selflessness did not go unappreciated—with more than 8,000 listens, the industry was clearly looking for these types of resources. Beyond enhancing and adapting lines and technology to keep customers producing necessities, PMMI members found ways to repurpose operations to help alleviate PPE and hand-sanitizer shortages.

F20_FinalThoughts.indd 80

The ingenuity didn’t stop there, though, as virtual FATs and remote access and connectivity exploded, representing perhaps the brightest silver lining in a cloudy, changing world.

With the critical reactive measures in place, our priority is delivering members the tools they need to thrive and move forward. Now more than ever, it is critical to stay connected to your customers, peers and industries; and PMMI can help with targeted solutions and opportunities for you to do that. As you’ve read in this issue (PACK EXPO Connects Preview on page 59) PMMI Media Group developed a first of its kind interactive web-based event that will bring customers to your virtual showrooms. While we were disappointed to cancel the in-person shows, in preparing PACK EXPO Connects, we made sure that it would deliver the crucial resource that our trade shows have become.

Earlier this month, our first-ever virtual Annual Meeting provided an engaging learning experience that would have been entirely foreign to us at the beginning of the year. We continue to adapt as does the industry.

As we approach the end of 2020, I know that what is on most of our minds is: what will 2021 bring? That’s still a little unclear but PMMI is moving forward with our planning which in addition to all our member services, will include our Joint Committee Meeting and Executive Leadership Conference, EXPO PACK Mexico, and PACK EXPO Las Vegas. We believe these events will happen and are looking forward to seeing our members and customers in person.

This pandemic has challenged all of us—and changed so much of how we work. I am proud of how we have evolved and grown stronger. And as our industry continues to progress, PMMI will be here every step of the way, supporting our members and leading us toward continued success in 2021 and beyond.

All of us should feel proud of our work during a year I’ll admit cannot end soon enough. And, I speak for everyone at PMMI when I say that we have never been prouder of our membership and to be a part of this industry.

Jim Pittas is the President & CEO of PMMI. He may be reached at jpittas@pmmi.org or at www.linkedin.com/in/ jim-pittas-162ab79.

9/21/20 4:34 PM

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❱ Connecting you with customers ❱ Providing business solutions ❱ Delivering resources for challenging times PMMI Media Group: Reach customers and prospects through PACK EXPO Connects 2020, print and digital content, lead-generating ad products and technology like Converge.

PMMI Business Drivers: Get an inside look at your customers’ needs, industry best practices, insight from peers and market trends.

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