The late Jean-Jacques Graffin, Rebecca Oesterle, Pierre Pienaar and E. Jeffrey Rho dehamel, Ph.D., will be inducted into the Packaging & Processing Hall of Fame today at 3:30 p.m. in a ceremo ny at the Industry Speaks Stage (Booth N-4565) SD
As POBCO (Booth N-6038) approaches its 100th anniver sary, the fourth-generation, family-owned manufacturer and distributor of conveyor components and friction-reducing parts continues adding employees and maintains the work ethic and dedication of its founders. Products include roller chain guides, bearings, guide rails, rollers, sprockets, wear profiles, belt guides and custom-machined parts. SD
Vote now for your favorite finalists in the 2022 Technology Excellence Award competition (see story, p. 54). Winners will be announced Tuesday afternoon (Oct. 25). Vote onsite at the Attendee Solu tions Center in the North Hall Concourse or Lakeside Upper Hall Lobby; via the PACK EXPO International mobile App, sponsored by ProMach (Booth N-5534, N-5540); or online. SD Marchesini USA marks 30 years
Marchesini Group USA (Booth W-17005) celebrates its 30th anniversary. Since 1992, the New Jersey-based staff has provided sales and after-sales services to pharmaceutical, nutraceutical and cosmetics brand owners in the U.S., Canada and Puerto Rico. SD
Heat Sealing-Art or Science? white paper written by Charles Trillich, co-founder of TOSS Machine Components (Booth N-5913), describes heat-sealing technologies and the evolution of precision heat-sealing. SD
The multi-megamillion-selling rock band, Styx, will play this afternoon at PACK gives BACK (West Ballroom, Level 3), a fund raiser for the PMMI Foundation.
Doors open at 4:30 p.m. for the event, sponsored by Rockwell Automation (Booth S-1660), the Contract Packaging Association (Booth N-4518), Hoosier Feeder (Booth N-6136), the Institute of Packaging Professionals (Booth N-4523, W-20052) and OMAC - The Organization for Machine Automation and Control (Booth N-5100). Attendees may enjoy a preshow networking reception with refreshments and ap petizers before the concert begins at 5:30 p.m.
Pre-concert festivities include a video highlight ing recent scholarship winners along with the mem bers of the Packaging Hall of Fame Class of 2022: Jean-Jacques Graffin, Rebecca Oesterle, Pierre Pie naar and E. Jeffrey Rhodehamel, Ph.D.
The schedule also includes time for the band to sign guitars won in the Silent Auction at the An
Dawn Hudson, former chief marketing of ficer at the National Football League and CEO of Pepsi Cola North America, key notes the Packaging & Processing Women’s Leader ship Network (PPWLN) breakfast, 7:30–9:00 a.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 25, in Room S-100. The event is free to show attendees, but you must pre-register.
Sponsors of the event include Emerson (Booth N-4736), ID Technology (Booth N-5544), Mor rison Container Handling Solutions (Booth N-4906), PlexPack (Booth S-3374), Septimatech Group (Booth N-5934) and SMC Corporation of America (Booth S-3982)
“We are proud to be a part of the event and the women’s leadership network as a whole,” says Kelley
nual Meeting of PMMI, The Association for Packaging and Processing Technologies (Booth N-4550). High bidders for the guitars were Bri an McCann, global accounts manager at Polypack (Booth S-2147) and Emmanuel Cerf, vice president at Polypack and PMMI Board chair.
is the official title sponsor of PACK Challenge, the first of its kind end-to-end packaging competition bringing together six high school teams for a machine-building challenge at PACK EXPO International. PepsiCo’s sponsor ship represents its commitment to advancing the packaging and processing workforce.
“The packaging and processing industries are critical to delivering safe products to consumers that meets their needs and that have minimal im pact on the planet,” says Ron Khan, vice president, Packaging, Beverages, PepsiCo. “We are pleased to
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Among its other offerings, Yamato (Booth S-3783) debuts the Gravimetric Flex weigh er with four weigh heads supporting target weights between 5–20kg. At 5kg, this scale can operate at up to 60 weighments/min., ±5g. Also at the Yam ato booth: an automatic diving funnel and semiautomatic scale for fixed-weight packaging. SD
Bottom-loading products via Schneider Packaging Equip ment’s (Booth S-3500) Everest case packer means no machin ery touches the top of your products. The machine—a conven tional alternative to pick-and-place systems—is well suited for rectangular or lay-flat cartons; delicate or sensitive products; gabletop cartons; shrink wrap or transparent film on top; indus trial cans or bottles. SD
The AVENTICS Series AF2 airflow sensor from Emerson (Booth N-4736) monitors air consump tion in pneumatic pipe systems, providing action able machine data, including flow, pressure and temperature. Detecting leaks in real time allows op erators to react quickly, saving downtime. SD
Apollo Group, the parent company of Ryson Internation al (Booth N-5945), has been honored by the King of Holland as it celebrates its 175th birthday. Firm is now known as Royal Apollo Group and may add a crown to its logo. The recognition acknowledges the company’s good reputation and symbolizes the respect, valuation and trust of the sovereign. SD
Hygienic rotary and straight-line machine from ATS Engi neering (Booth S-3274) fills liquid or viscous food products, seals containers and then applies overcaps. Machine, configured in up to eight lanes, offers easy changeover between cup sizes and no-cup/no-fill feature. Options include multi-fill capability, bottom-up fill and gas flushing. SD
Specially designed, four-position nozzle on Cleanflex Easy Gun from Simco-Ion (Booth N-5020) cleans electrostatical ly charged surfaces with compact air stream. Built-in 24V DC power supply eliminates cumbersome high-voltage cables and separate power supply unit. Ergonomic, full-hand trigger reduces finger strain. Ionization begins only when the trigger is active and enough air pressure has been measured by an internal sensor. SD
ProMach’s Pharma business unit (Booth W-17002) demonstrates its integration ca pabilities with a turnkey packaging line for an aseptic kit that contains both a prefilled syringe and a vial. A schedule of demonstration times will be posted daily.
Located in the Healthcare Packaging Pavilion, the line includes all equipment from vial and syringe fill ing through labeling, blister packaging, cartoning and case packing. Integrating solutions from ProMach Pharma brands—NJM (Booth N-5650, W-17002), Pharmaworks, (Booth N-5650, W-17002), Serpa Packaging Solutions (Booth N-5548, W-17002) and WLS (Booth N-5650, W-17002)—and systems from partners and third-party OEMs as needed, ProMach Pharma provides best-of-class technologies and seam less integration with single-source responsibility to customers worldwide.
“There is growing demand for our integration services as many manufacturers and contract packers with pharma, nutra, ophthalmic and animal health products have fewer resources in-house to manage line integration. There is also growing interest from personal care and other non-pharma companies looking for high quality and precision within their packaging lines,” says Tom McDaniel, president of ProMach Pharma. “We’re uniquely positioned to give
customers the deep expertise that comes from each of our brands and their core competencies, collaborat ing as one company under ProMach Pharma as the total solution provider and single point of contact.”
Focused on packaging lines that fill liquids, pow ders and solid doses into vials, syringes, bottles, blister packs and other primary packages, ProMach Pharma can take responsibility for an entire line or a portion of a line. Offerings include standalone machines, in tegrated mini lines that combine a few systems and complete turnkey packaging lines from filling to case packing, including serialization, aggregation, radio frequency identification labeling and/or fully inte grated controls. Full-service integration includes pre-engineering and design to plant startup and site acceptance test, while a network of local service tech nicians provide world-class aftersales support.
As drugs become more personalized and small er batches become more commonplace, “Integration has taken on greater importance,” says Adam Rosen thal, director, Marketing - Pharma for ProMach Pharma. He explains, “End users want to be able to work with a single source to manage the project and eliminate multiple purchase orders, multiple organi zations and multiple deadlines.
ProMach Pharma’s turnkey blister packaging line
Model 25SP Accu-CoderPro® Size 25 (2.5-in.) shaft encoder from Encoder Products (Booth S-4026) offers high flexibili ty with 32 waveform choices, six output types, servo or flange mounting. Unit can be factory-configured or programmed via an optional USB module. IP67 sealing is available and some configurations offer same-day shipping. SD
Stretch hood® system from BEUMER (Booth N-5832) utilizes vertical and horizontal contraction to ensure maximum load stability. Single layer of high-flexibility film minimizes resources, increases efficiency and allows different product sizes to be packaged on the same pallet. Process requires no heat. SD
The compact RC10 collaborative ro bot (cobot) cell from FlexLink (Booth S-2501) installs and configures easily and cuts floor space re quirements by more than 50% compared to cell equpped with an industrial robot. Offerings include four standard configura tions. SD
The Candy Bar Lounge (Booth S-2583), sponsored by Syntegon Packaging Technology (Booth S-3514) and hosted by the National Confectioners Association (Booth S-2583), provides a spot for confection ery industry attendees to network, gain insights and recharge during the show. SD
Spartan cartoner from Econocorp (Booth S-1630) automates case/tray erecting and packing on beer lines. The rugged, mechan ical, automatic horizontal cartoner operates at speeds of up to 40 cartons/minute. Endload cartons can be loaded manually or automatically. Closing options include tuck or sealing with hot melt or hot air. SD
Service packages from Syntegon (Booth S-3514) provide sup port at the level that best suits needs. Fixed-rate plans decrease risk and allow end users to focus attention on core business. SD
Industry veterans at the “Ask the Experts” Station (N-4552, LU7000) stand ready to answer packaging and processing questions. Attendees can stop by for guidance on narrowing their search for suppliers and navigating the show. SD
for aseptic kits begins with Dara’s NFL/2 system filling and closing ready-to-use syringes and vials. NJM’s Courser 230 labels the syringes and WLS’ VR-72 labels the vials. A robotic pick-and-place from PharmaMed (Booth W-14028) feeds one sy ringe and one vial per cycle to Pharmaworks’ TF2 blister machine.
These blister-packed kits are then conveyed on a linear transport from Beckhoff Automation (Booth S-3882), which synchronizes speeds between the blister machine and Serpa P100 horizontal cartoner, which is followed by a Serpa P200 case packer. La bels for syringes and vials are printed off-line on an Autonomy digital label printer from WLS.
The Dara NFL/2 aseptic filling and closing ma chine can handle nests of ready-to-use syringes, vi als and cartridges. Simplifying small-scale produc tion, this fully servo-driven system reduces capital costs, minimizes floorspace requirements and speeds changeover.
NJM’s Courser 230 labeler features a trunnion starwheel for positive handling of small containers at speeds up to 250 containers/min. (cpm). Achieving
quick changeover to handle syringes and vials, the Courser 230 pressure-sensitive labeler maximizes production versatility and saves floor space.
WLS’ VR-72 pressure-sensitive labeler handles vials, syringes and bottles at speeds up to 700 cpm. The fully servo-driven labeler provides high-speed operation, accurate and repeatable label placement, low maintenance and quick changeovers.
Pharmawork’s TF2 blister machine is a medi um- to high-output, large-format system ideal for a wide range of blister applications including standard HUD (hospital unit dose) blister packs, bingo-style cards, medical devices and tray packaging.
Serpa’s P100 horizontal cartoner is a compact, state-of-the-art cartoner that reaches speeds up to 330 cartons/min. Its balcony-design provides maxi mum access to all drive components from one side of the machine and its fall-through construction meets all sanitary and FDA validation requirements.
Serpa’s P200 side-load case packer picks, erects and packs both cases and trays at speeds up to 20 cases/min. Featuring first-of-its-kind versatility, the P200 unit can apply a tape closure on cases and change over to seal trays with hot glue. Its “Easy Case Clear-out” feature allows for problem cases to be released with ease to maximize machine uptime.
WLS’ Autonomy is a high-speed, full-color, standalone, digital label printer with an integrated full-label inspection capability. Printing variable and serialized data along with label artwork, the machine delivers inhouse, on-demand labels, ready for application, to max imize label quality and production flexibility.
For more info, visit www.njmpackaging.com, www. pharmaworks.com, www.serpapackaging.com, www.weiler ls.com, www.pharmamedinc.com, www.beckhoff.com. SD
Editorial Director
Hallie Forcinio
Associate Editors
Kari Moosmann and Barbara Rook
Production Manager
Mary Thorne
Art Director
Debi Friedmann
Photographers
Miles Boone, George Burns and Martina Magnusson
Advertising Sales Management
Dave Newcorn, President, PMMI Media Group
Wendy Sawtell, Vice President, Sales, PMMI Media Group
Sunday – Tuesday: 11:00 am – 3:00 pm Happy hour: 3:00 pm – 5:00 pm Wednesday: 11:00 am – 3:00 pm
Founded in 1972 in Chicago, Styx draws on five decades of barn-burning chart hits, joyous singalongs and hard-driving deep cuts such as Renegade, Come Sail Away, Lady, Blue Collar Man, Too Much Time on My Hands, Mr. Roboto, Fooling Yourself and The Grand Illusion.
Tickets are $95 each and may be purchased by logging into your PACK EXPO registration record. Purchase nine tickets, and the 10th is free.
The PMMI Foundation provides financial support for packaging and pro cessing education throughout the U.S and Canada. Programs include summer manufacturing camps, scholarships, tuition reimbursement and training via the PMMI Skills Fund.
For more info, visit www.PACKEXPOinternational.com, www.PMMI.org/foundation. SD
Stacy, president and CEO of SMC Corporation of America, a recurring sponsor of PPWLN events. As one of the 1.3% of manufacturing companies led by a female CEO, empowering women’s presence in the world of manufacturing and automation comes as a natural initiative.
Twice named to Fortune magazine’s annual “50 Most Powerful Women in Busi ness” list, Hudson’s career has included high-level positions in media, retail, consum er goods, consulting and healthcare at some of the biggest corporations in the world.
She is an authority on brand power, turning adversity into advantage, the im portance of innovation and embracing change and the need for strong, inclusive leadership. Using personal experiences, she provides audience members with tools to be better leaders, more engaged team players and stronger additions to high-functioning teams.
As co-author of You Should Smile More: How to Dismantle Gender Bias in the Workplace, she helps women navigate everyday corporate life, while educating and including men in the conversation.
The Packaging & Processing Women’s Leadership Network serves to recruit, retain and advance women’s careers in packaging and processing through online and in-person events, information-sharing and networking. Join the Packag ing & Processing Women’s Leadership Network group on LinkedIn to connect with peers and learn about upcoming events.
For more info, visit www.PACKEXPOinternational.com, www.PMMI.org/ppwln. SD
support the . . . development of this . . . industry and its emerging workforce.”
PACK EXPO International show producer, PMMI, The Association for Packaging and Processing Technologies (Booth N-4550), introduced this competition to involve students in the machine-building process, provide realworld, hands-on experience, and demonstrate the benefits and opportunities available in a career in manufacturing.
PACK Challenge supplied six Chicago-area high schools with pre-crated kits that contained all the components necessary to build a machine that fills the specified product into the provided container on a mock production line. These teams designed and built their machines in time to be crated and shipped to the show, where they will assemble their machine and conduct multiple pre sentations as part of the competition. Judges will consider multiple aspects of the project, including design, operator training, changeover and sales/marketing.
The overall best-in-show team will be awarded $6,000 with second and third place receiving $3,000 and $1,000, respectively.
“We are very excited about PACK Challenge and the opportunity this expe rience presents to show students what a career in this industry looks like,” says Jim Pittas, president and CEO of PMMI. “We thank PepsiCo for recognizing the importance of our future workforce and partnering with us to educate and inspire the next generation of leaders and innovators.”
In addition to PepsiCo’s title sponsorship, PMMI is pleased to recognize Belden (Booth LU-7058) as the sponsor of the PACK Challenge Friends & Family Reception, held on Sunday, Oct. 23.
PACK EXPO International offers other student activities to generate ex citement about careers in packaging and processing and connect with profes sional mentors in the industry. This includes the Amazing Packaging Race on Wednesday, Oct. 26, and the Future Innovators - Robotics Showcase (Booth W-21028) where teams from area high schools demonstrate their creations.
For more info, visit www.PACKEXPOinternational.com. SD
Ryson Spiral Conveyors need less floor space than conventional conveyors and are faster and more reliable than any elevator or lift.
Unit Load Spirals convey cases, totes and packaged goods smoothly on our slat style belts and come in 9 standard slat widths ranging from 6” to 30”. Available in powder coated carbon steel, stainless steel, wet environment and freezer versions.
Mass Flow Spirals handle full and empty bottles, cans and jars in mass up to 2000 units per minute. Available in 4 different slat widths ranging from 6” to 20”.
Narrow Trak Spirals are super compact and designed to handle your smaller loads. Our 6” and 9” wide nesting slats can end-transfer small cartons and packages or side-transfer small bottles and containers in a single file or in mass at speeds in excess of 200 FPM.
Ryson’s Bucket Elevators combine vertical and horizontal transportation of bulk materials in one integral unit.
Ryson Bucket Elevators are designed for gentle handling and well-suited to transport a broad range of bulk products. Our signature feature is that they are completely enclosed with overlapping pivoting buckets, that prevent spillage and helps mitigate foreign debris.
Their modular design enables us to customize with ease. They can be configured with multiple inlets or outlets that can be controlled individually. The design makes them easy to install and modify. Available in three standard bucket sizes, yielding capacities up to 300, 700 or 1,800 cubic feet per hour. They can also be delivered in powder-coated carbon-steel, stainless-steel or wet environment versions.
www.ryson.com
Watch our detailed Bucket Elevator Video
Nordson Adhesive Dispensing Systems, a division of Nordson (Booth S-2030) has raised $8,000 for the Breast Cancer Re search Foundation (BCRF). Show producer, PMMI, The Association for Packaging and Processing Technologies (Booth N-4550), has added $5,000 for a total donation of $13,000.
“At PMMI, we strive to support our members in all that they do, and we are honored to be a part of
Nordson’s initiative to raise money for BCRF,” says Jim Pittas, president and CEO of PMMI. “PMMI is proud to have member companies like Nordson that work to make a positive impact in their communi ties, and we are happy to be able to contribute.”
An official check presentation will take place at 1:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 25, at the Nordson booth. The $13,000 donation will fund 260 hours of work by researchers who have been deeply involved in every
major breakthrough in breast cancer prevention, di agnosis, treatment, survivorship and metastasis.
“The Nordson Corporation places a great amount of effort into our Nordson Impact giving programs; we see it as an investment that’s improving the lives of others,” explains Cindy Baumgardner, manager of the Nordson Corporation Foundation and Community Affairs. She adds, “The research that BCRF funds is transformative for so many people, families and communities. In addi tion, we are always elated when partners, such as PMMI, join forces with us to make an impact.”
Nordson has given back for more than 60 years through The Nordson Impact, a set of outreach pro grams that help improve the quality of life in Nord son communities through volunteering, donations, scholarships, educational opportunities and fund raising campaigns.
For more info, visit www.nordsonadhesive.com, www.PMMI.org. SD
An oxygen-barrier coating, developed by Henkel (Booth S-2172) and Siegwerk, makes it possible to produce recyclable, monomaterial flexible packaging for food products.
The more sustainable alternative to current multi-material substrates offers the potential to ac celerate the transition to a Circular Economy and has been recognized as compatible with recycling by The Association of Plastics Recyclers’ (Booth N-5902) APR Critical Guidance.
The development dates to 2019 when Henkel and Siegwerk met at K in Düsseldorf, Germany, and agreed to co-develop an oxygen barrier coating for more recyclable food packaging. Working in close partnership, Henkel and Siegwerk shared knowledge and explored ideas for how to create film laminates with barrier properties without compromising shelf life. The result? An industrially validated oxygen bar rier coating that enables monomaterial flexible pack aging for dry food products, setting recyclers free from the headache of mixed materials.
For more info, visit www.henkel.com. SD
David Newcorn, the new president of PMMI Media Group (Booth N-4550), is taking the reins from Joe Angel, nearly 30 years after An gel co-founded the company. Newcorn joined PMMI Media Group in 1995 as staff editor on Packaging World and was quickly promoted to develop a digital strategy for the company. His focus on digital media continues, with plans to offer new and innovative ways to engage audiences with critical infor mation about packaging, processing and automation technologies.
Newcorn created PMMI Media Group’s signature digital platform, LeadWorks, along with a host of unique digital market ing products such as Game Plan, Second Look and the digital platform for Leaders in Packaging that is a mainstay in the in dustry. During the past 25+ years, Newcorn has held various leadership roles at the com pany in editorial, operations, audience, web site and product strategy. In his new role, he will be backed by a highly seasoned senior leadership team that collectively has nearly 80 years of experience at the company.
“When I announced I was stepping down as PMMI Media Group president, there was only one person I entrusted to take the helm, and that was Dave,” says Angel, who remains with PMMI, The Association for Packaging and Process ing Technologies (Booth N-4550), moving into a new role as executive vice president, Industry Outreach. “After hiring Dave in 1995, his value increased over the years as our digital platform unfolded. He became a trusted advisor and an integral part of our senior leadership team. I have every confidence in Dave’s leadership and am excited for what lies ahead for the media group.”
PMMI Media Group has several initiatives in the works to usher in a new era of media and marketing solutions. The company is expanding into a series of events and conferences in several high-interest topical areas and is doubling down on digital media as the most effective way to deliver crucial industry and business insights to key audiences.
“The two most important elements of this leadership transition are continu ity and transformation,” says Jim Pittas, president and CEO, PMMI. “Dave’s proven track record and broad and deep experience in the industry will assure continuity while also leading the media group into an exciting new era. With Dave at the helm, the senior leadership team will continue transforming PMMI Media Group for the next 30 years.”
In his new role as PMMI’s executive vice president, Industry Outreach, An gel will focus on building relationships that support the packaging and process ing industry and add value to PMMI Media Group and the association.
A market-leading B2B media company, PMMI Media Group produces in formation for packaging, processing and automation professionals, bringing to gether solution providers and end-users and facilitating connectivity throughout the supply chain. Its media brands—Packaging World, ProFood World, Automa tion World, Healthcare Packaging, OEM, Contract Manufacturing and Packaging and Mundo PMMI—are proven leaders in covering this diverse and dynamic marketplace, and its digital products incorporate leading-edge media technolo gies to deliver informed, actionable business intelligence to the industry.
For more info, visit www.PMMImediagroup.com, PMMI.org. SD
Domino Amjet (Booth S-3506) reminds everyone to think about coding improvements as they travel on the escalator in the Grand Concourse.
Festo (Booth N-6213) provided the aisle banners to help everyone find their way around the show floor.
Thanks to SEW Eurodrive (Booth LU-8105) for sponsoring hand sanitizer stations throughout the show floor.
WestRock (Booth S-2130) again is sponsoring the Showcase of Packaging Innova tions® (Booth W-20052), a show favorite.
Stop by the Confectionery Pavilion and visit the Candy Bar Lounge, hosted by the National Confectioners Asso ciation (Booth S-2583) and sponsored by Syntegon Packaging Technology (Booth S-3514). You’ll be greeted by (l-r) Lee Anne Pirrello, Joni Wisner, Mandie Middleton and others from the Association.
OxyStar barrier material utilizes a multilayer PET with an oxygen scavenging agent. PET has a naturally low oxygen transmission rate (OTR) and this construction slows down the flow of oxygen molecules through the package from the outside. Once the scavenger agent finds an oxygen molecule, it attaches to it and binds the oxygen within the sidewall of the package to keep your product fresh and lasting longer.
ProFood World (Booth N-4550) honored recipients of its Sustainabili ty Excellence in Manufacturing Awards (SEMAs), yesterday afternoon. Winners were recognized in Program and Project Categories. These an nual peer-reviewed awards recognize manufacturing plants for their efforts in driving improved performance through sustainability. This year’s winners in clude Conagra Brands, Bob’s Red Mill Natural Products and Smithfield Foods.
First place in the Program Category honored a Conagra Brands plant in Oakland, CA, that implemented a no-cost project that yielded a $1 million payback. Over the past year, the facility’s cross-functional team made excellent progress in reducing food waste. The team implemented a program to eliminate ingredient loss for jalapeños and tomatoes. Savings were strictly through better use of available equipment resources and process improvements.
The second-place award winner in the Program Category, Bob’s Red Mill Natural Products, focused on wasted food rescue and materials management to prevent downstream climate emissions. Last year, Bob’s Red Mill kept more than 385,000 lb. of edible food from going to waste, upcycling 2,000 tons as animal feed instead of landfill or compost waste, and recycling more than 1,600 tons of materials, such as paperboard, plastic, metal and wood. In addition, food donations provided 161,000 meals to those experiencing hunger in 2021.
Third place in the Program Category goes to a yield improvement project at Conagra Brands. The company’s Troy, OH, team implemented a continuous im provement program when running pizza. Ongoing efforts are expected to save more than $325,000 by improving yield loss by 13.4% and eliminating 267,000 lb. of meat, cheese and breading waste.
The first-place award in the Project Category goes to a Conagra Brands fa cility in Irapuato, Mexico, that saved nearly 9 million gallons of water by iden tifying leaks, improving the sweet corn process and canning process equipment and sanitizing more efficiently. The latter reduced the consumption of cleaning chemicals and resulted in greater production line availability.
A switch to plastic combos at Smithfield Foods is the second-place Project Category winner. Early in 2021, Smithfield Foods’ Milan, MO, plant started sending out hams for further processing, using corrugated combos. A switch to reusable plastic combos is expected to save more than $1 million while reducing greenhouse gas emissions, water usage, energy and landfill. The project is expect ed to save more than $1 million.
Third place in the Project Category goes to a blast cell air optimization proj ect. Degradation of freezer blast cells was resulting in improper air flow and inefficiency of the blast cell function at Conagra Brands’ Marshall, MO, facility. Repairs were made to air segregation, and baffle design was changed to reduce potential damage from forklift loading. The project will reduce electricity con sumption by 5.7% and reduce the plant’s Scope 2 greenhouse gas emissions footprint by almost 1,300 MT. This project paid for itself in less than one year.
For more info, visit www.PACKEXPOinternational.com, www.profoodworld.com. SD
Wherever you are and whatever your industry, there’s a PACK EXPO event to provide solutions you need today and the inspiration for tomorrow.
June 13-15, 2023 Guadalajara, Mex.
Sept. 11-13, 2023 Las Vegas, USA
March 18-20, 2024 Philadelphia, USA
June 11-14, 2024 Mexico City, Mex.
Nov. 3-6, 2024 Chicago, USA
The interactive PACK to the Future Exhib it (Booth W-20001) celebrates the role of packaging and processing throughout histo ry and the impact it is poised to have on the future. The exhibit follows the evolution of modern pack aging and processing over 250 years to the present and shifts to explore key trends shaping the future in daily live sessions on the PACK to the Future Stage (Booth W-20025).
Launched in 2021 at PACK EXPO Las Vegas, the curated, interactive PACK to the Future exhibit tells the story of packaging and people who saw a better way, solved challenges and provided the foun dation for today’s—and tomorrow’s—innovations.
The exhibit includes:
• 30 historial packaging machines and replicas dating back to the 1800s
• Timeline walls displaying 250 years of history
9:30-10:00 AM
By leveraging advanced capabilities, such as virtu al analysis and advanced rapid prototyping, PepsiCo aims to dramatically accelerate the time required to go from concept to final product, within five days.
10:30-11:00 AM
Examine the future of pharmaceutical packaging as it becomes more sustainable and meets the needs for greater convenience, self-administered drugs, reduced hospital stays and serving patients at home. Review how past and present innovations, focused on meeting patient and product needs, offer a path for the future.
Ron Yakubison
Exec Dir, Global Technology Packaging
Merck
11:30-12:00 PM
No material is inherently sustainable. To achieve true Circular Economy sustainability for plastic packaging, all plastic packaging must be captured without the re quirement to sort. Regenerative Robust Gasification can accept all plastic packaging, including metallized, multilayer, chlorine, foils, fitments, filth, etc. New plas tic resins can be made via the syngas-methanol-plas
• An area dedicated to women in packaging and processing
• An interactive display of past, present and future sustainability efforts, including a Corrugated Car of the Future Virtual Reality (VR) Experience. Sponsored by The Paper and Packaging Board, the experience allows attendees to sit in a replica of a futuristic car and use a VR headset to learn about sus tainable packaging and the industry’s Box to Nature program, an initiative to educate consumers about the importance of recycling corrugated materials and boxes
• An interactive audio tour revealing interesting facts and historical details
• Fun quizzes that test attendees’ knowledge of the industry.
Each day on the PACK to the Future Stage, in
tics route, which already exists commercially. By co-lo cating at landfills, using renewable process power and simplifying collection and sorting, GWP is favorable relative to traditional virgin plastics. The Consortium for Waste Circularity is organizing Robust Advanced Recycling projects in which packaging industry stake holders can participate.
Bruce Welt Professor University of Florida - Packaging Engineering
12:30-1:00 PM
Brands are making ambitious sustainable packaging goals that are driving demand for material innovations to reduce the use of virgin plastic, improve environ mental impact and increase recyclability to enable package circularity. Sustainable packaging brings chal lenges that go beyond materials and packaging design such as the infrastructure needed to increase collec tion, equipment to improve sortation and technolo gy to recycle a wider range of plastic waste. Procter & Gamble (P&G) and Eastman share experiences bringing sustainable materials to market. Both are founding members of the new PET Recycling Co alition, a initiative of The Recycling Partnership. This group of stakeholders is developing scalable solutions to improve the circularity of polyethylene terephthal ate (PET) packaging through a more robust recycling system. Learn about the PET Recycling Coalition’s goals and approach, including ways to get involved.
dustry experts provide 30-minute presentations on cutting-edge advancements in sustainability, circu larity, net-zero goals, returnables and manufacturing trends.
The session schedule is outlined below. PACK EXPO International offers many other free educa tional opportunities, including the long-running In novation Stage (N-4560, N-4580, N-4585) plus the new Processing Innovation Stage (Booth LU-7130) (see schedule, p. 28), The Forum at PACK EXPO (Booth N-4543) (see schedule, p. 44) and the new In dustry Speaks (Booth N-4565) (see schedule, p. 24). The Reusable Packaging Learning Center (Booth LU-6737) also will present educational sessions.
Updated schedules may be found on the PACK EXPO International App or the show website.
For more info, visit www.PACKEXPOinternational.com. SD
John M. Layman, Ph.D. Sr Dir, Corporate R&D Procter & Gamble
1:30-2:00 PM
How to drive ESG in a fragile world Michael Okoroafor, Ph.D.
Chief Sustainability Officer McCormick & Company
2:30-3:00 PM
PMMI, producer of the PACK EXPO portfolio of trade shows, has partnered with AMERIPEN, the American Institute for Packaging and the Environ ment, to create the 10-Year Packaging Materials and Sustainability Compass, a collaboration report on the future of materials usage and replacement for CPG companies, OEMs, materials suppliers and recovery professionals. The research seeks to uncover what ma terials are projected to be replaced, what new materi als are on the packaging horizon and how the legisla tive landscape will be shaped during the next decade.
Findings provide comprehensive guidance to packag ing value chain professionals on materials usage over the next three, five and 10 years; expected changes to sustainability legislation, including EPR; and key drivers of those changes.
Mgr, PMMI Business Intelligence PMMI Dan Felton Exec Dir AMERIPEN
3:30-4:00 PM
This session, describes Procter & Gamble’s sustainabil ity goals and how it brings those to life in designing new-to-the-world packaging for its products.
Ken McGuire Research Fellow Procter & Gamble9:30-10:00 AM
To achieve climate goals and deliver to consumers, we need a systems-level view and solutions that can draw on multiple sources of waste carbon. Advances in technology and a global momentum to avert the deepening climate crisis have brought us to the cusp of a new industrial era. Recycled CO₂ will be the feed stock and clean electricity the energy source to pro duce the climate-safe materials and fuels that are to day made from oil. Hear examples of carbon recycling and how to rethink carbon as a liability. Opportunities exist to create a new carbon economy and develop ma terials for consumer goods, from packaging to textiles.
Dr. Sean Simpson Chief Science Officer & Founder LanzaTech10:30-11:00 AM
There are many parameters to take into consideration when choosing the right packaging for the job, in cluding product needs and legislative, investment and consumer considerations. This session touches on ele ments that make this such a topical, challenging and interesting field, including where focus could be spent in the future.
Graeme Smith Global Sustainable Packaging Dir Mars Petcare
11:30-12:00 PM
According to McKinsey, more than 75% of millen nials say they think about sustainability when they make their purchases. The packaging industry has long accepted ubiquitous plastic use; however, chang ing consumer preferences no longer make unsustain able materials a viable option. Learn about how plastic alternatives like molded fiber can be an economically viable solution to help brands and packaging manufacturers reach their sustainability commitments.
Alex Garden Chairman & CEO Zume
12:30-1:00 PM
With 100 billion global parcel deliveries a year and more than 200 billion by 2026, the environmental impact is undeniable. U.S. packaging alone can pave a mile-wide cardboard road from New York City to Los Angeles and back—three times over. Returnity re places single-use shipping and delivery packaging by designing, manufacturing and implementing cost-ef fective reusable packaging and circular logistics sys tems for companies like Walmart, Estée Lauder, New Balance, Rent the Runway and others. Our packaging is now used for more than 2 million shipments and deliveries a month. Focused on identifying high-re turn rate opportunities, Returnity is especially pas sionate about educating businesses and consumers on the value of the package return rate. Rates below 75% are actually worse for the planet. The average Retur nity bag or box can be used for 20 customer shipment cycles (40 total) with a 95.5% return rate.
1:30-2:00 PM
Learn about innovating package portfolios through a post-pandemic demand via holistic packaging design and engineering approach.
2:30-3:00 PM
PET is the perfect material for numerous applications and achieves both legislative and brand commitments. This session on all things PET covers trends, debunks myths and describes a new comparative life cycle as sessment that evaluates environmental impacts for widely used types and sizes of containers.
Laura Stewart Dir, Operations National Association for PET Container Resources (NAPCOR)
3:30-4:00 PM
Learn how Loop works with CPG brands, retailers and quick-serve restaurants to build a network of reusability. Discussion points include: approaches to reusable packaging including design, material type, labeling and dispensers/closures; Loop as a “pre-fill” platform; and Loop’s growth somce mid-2019.
Tony Rossi
EVP Business Development TerraCycle
9:30-10:00 AM
Urgent focus is being directed at climate change, greener transportation, fresh food, personal care, clean water, circular economy, plastic waste and renewable feedstocks. This presentation addresses these challeng es, relays them through the UN Sustainability Devel opment Goals and outlines a portfolio of solutions to support downstream customers as they set their sus tainability and Circular Economy goals.
Leader, Circular Economy, Americas SABIC
10:30-11:00 AM
PET recycling is at a crossroads as the industry drives toward 2025 goals. Brands, consumers, regulatory agencies and NGOs support systemic improvements, while known limitations restrain success. Learn about what is reasonably possible for increased PET recy cling, what changes are needed and what the rPET industry might look like in 2025.
Dir of Strategic Environmental Analysis
SBAcci Consulting Group
11:30-12:00 PM
An examination of the future of pharmaceutical packaging as it becomes more sustainable and meets the needs for greater convenience, self-administered drugs, reduced hospital stays and serving patients at home. We also will look at how past and present inno vations focused on meeting patient and product needs offer a path for the future.
Exec Dir Global Technology Packaging Merck
12:30-1:00 PM
The paper industry, partnering with the Paper and Packaging Board, is introducing a residential recycling shipping box messaging initiative called Box to Na ture. The partnership is working with customers and large brands to educate consumers about the box with easy instructions on recycling right, every time. Learn how to become part of this important initiative.
Paper and Packaging Board SD
The PACK EXPO Association Partner Pro gram connects attendees to leading associ ations from all segments of packaging and processing. This year’s program, the largest in PACK EXPO history, offers an unparalleled breadth and depth of industry knowledge to attendees.
The Association Partner Pavilion, in the North Hall, provides a central location for attendees to ac cess these resources. Participants in the 2022 PACK EXPO International Association Partner Program are listed at the bottom of this page.
New this year is the Association Partner Plus des ignation and Industry Meets schedule of ancillary events and meetings hosted by groups listed in the far right column. Events include a hygienic equip ment design seminar, design for recycling training, a fluid power forum and Fundamentals of Medical Device Packaging course. Check the PACK EXPO International App or show website for the latest schedule and pre-registration requirements.
“We are thrilled with the positive response to the As sociation Partner Program and newly launched Industry Meets Program at PACK EXPO International,” says Laura Thompson, vice president of trade shows at show producer PMMI, The Association for Packaging and Processing Technologies (Booth N-4550). “PACK EXPO International is making a triumphant return to Chicago after four years away, and it is only possible with the strong support of these prestigious associations.”
Another new feature, the Industry Speaks Stage (Booth N-4565), offers educational sessions led by experts from PACK EXPO Partner Associations and focused on hot-button topics and industry
trends across multiple industry verticals. A schedule of sessions may be found on page 24 or on the PACK EXPO International App or show website.
In addition to the Association Partner Program, PMMI has partnered with industry associations from
CCPIT - China Council for the Promotion of International Trade
CFPMA - China Food and Packaging Machinery Industry Association
Confederation of the Danish Industry (LU-7560)
Fundacion Argentina para la Promocion de Inversiones y Comercio Internacional (Booth LU-8755)
INP – Brazilian Plastic Institute/Think Plastic Brazil (Booth W-25011)
Italian Trade Agency (Booth LU-8541)
Korean Packaging Machinery Association
Mouvement Des Enterprises De France International (Booth N-5564)
Switzerland Global Enterprise
UCIMA – Italian Packaging Machinery Manufacturers Association (Booth N-6002)
VDMA – Food Processing and Packaging Machinery Association
across the globe to host pavilions on the show floor. International Pavilion Organizer Partners include the 11 organizations listed under Pavilion Hosts. For more info, visit www.PACKEXPOinternational.com. SD
3-A Sanitary Standards (Booth N-5901)
Active & Intelligent Packaging Industry Association (Booth N-5802)
Cold Pressure Council (Booth N-4525)
Contract Packaging Association (Booth N-4518)
Flexible Packaging Association (Booth N-4533)
Institute of Packaging Professionals (Booth N-4523)
International Bottled Water Association
MHI Automation Industry Groups (Booth N-5701)
National Fluid Power Association
OMAC – The Organization for Machine Automation and Control (Booth N-5100)
The Association of Plastic Recyclers (Booth N-5902)
(Booth N-5000)
AIMCAL - The Association of International Metallizers, Coaters and Laminators (Booth N-4527)
Asociacion Mexicana de Envase y Embalaje
ASD Turkish Packaging Manufacturers Association (Booth N-4900)
Australian Institute of Packaging
ABRE – Brazilian Packaging Association (Booth N-6003)
Chicagoland Food & Beverage Network (N-4511)
Composite Can and Tube Institute (Booth N-4512)
Digital Twin Consortium (Booth N-6102)
Foil & Specialty Effects Association (Booth N-4536)
F4SS – Foundation for Supply Solutions
Flexographic Technical Association (Booth N-4510)
In-Mold Decorating Association (Booth N-4534)
IAE - Instituto Argentino del Envase (Booth N-6101)
International Society of Beverage Technologists (Booth N-5702)
ISTA - International Safe Transit Association (Booth N-4537)
Midwest Food Products Association
National Confectioner’s Association (Candy Bar Lounge, Booth S-2583)
OPC Foundation (Booth N-5001)
PLCopen (Booth N-5002)
Reusable Packaging Association (Booth LU-6737)
SNAC International (Booth N-5801)
The Anuga FoodTec Family
The Australian Packaging and Processing Machinery Association
The Paper and Packaging Board
The Tube Council of North America (Booth W-20052)
UCIMA – Italian Packaging Machinery Manufacturers Association (Booth N-6002)
U.S. Department of Commerce (Booth N-4901)
World Packaging Organisation (Booth N-4902)
The Industry Speaks Stage (Booth N-4565) offers educational sessions led by experts from PACK EXPO Partner Associations and focused on hot-button topics and industry trends across multiple industry verticals.
10:30-11:00 AM
INTRODUCING PACKML-2022, AN UPDATE TO ANSI/ISA-TR88.00.02
A team from the OMAC Packaging Workgroup has won approval from ISA on several updates to ANSI/ ISA-TR88.00.02-2015 that improve the PackML State Model and expand/clarify the associated Pack Tags and data types for greater accessibility and su pervisory control across a variety of vendor platforms.
Doug Meyer Sr Mgr, Motion Yaskawa America
11:30-12:00 PM
Access to the latest report on trends and digital tech nologies that are transforming supply chains. MHI’s Conveyor and Sortation Systems (CSS) Industry Group present report findings, the effect on the pack aging industry as a whole and how specific packaging automation technologies will aid in the future. CSS is a 50-year-old industry group under the MHI umbrel la with a collective deep understanding of the market. Come for the presentation and stay for the Q&A. Be sure to bring your own challenges and application curiosities for this energized group to address. Key takeaways: a review of the digital technologies trans forming supply chain; the latest data around materi al-handling market growth; potential threats and op portunities within the packaging industry.
Mike Drolet Development Mgr
Murrelektronik
Marketing & Communications Mgr
Fives Intralogistics
12:30-1:00 PM
MHI’s SLAM Industry Group is made up of the companies that provide the software, hardware and
integrated solutions that go into the last 100 ft. To gether these companies collaborate to provide thought leadership and education on best practices in this crit ical area of your operation. Key takeaways: What is a SLAM system? (It stands for scan, label, apply, and manifest, but it is so much more.); core components of SLAM (what you see and what you don’t); how to mitigate risk in your fulfillment operation.
Gina Barrieau
Banding Sales Mgr, eCommerce
Felins
Greg Berguig
VP, Sales and Marketing Pac Machinery
Justin Garski Packaging OEM Mgr Rockwell Automation
1:30-2:00 PM
As consumers turned to snacking as a source of fun and comfort during the pandemic, they also became increas ingly focused on holistic health and wellness goals. With the return to more active lifestyles, shoppers continue to value added benefits beyond nutrition in the snacks they choose. During the next year, innovation is set to explode in a snack category that continues to grow by provid ing new, healthful and tasty options, as well as reaches consumers faster than ever before through eCommerce. Learn which snack categories are growing, why they are growing, and how snack makers are capturing opportu nity for one of the fastest-growing categories in CPG.
David Walsh
VP, Membership and Communications SNAC International
2:30-3:00 PM
Beverages have been available since the beginning of mankind. As mankind progressed and new tech nologies became available, the evolution of beverages progressed. The number and types of beverages grew as time passed until today where more than 20,000 foods and beverages are introduced each year. Tech nology advances and consumer preference can change the beverage world rapidly. Trends in total market, beverage groups and emerging markets can be iden tified. Changing markets, industry challenges and world events can create issues for the beverage indus try. COVID-19, The Great Disruption (supply chain
problems), sustainability, green, legalized cannabis, and other issues have impacted the industry.
International Society of Beverage Technologists
10:30-11:00 AM
The Digital Twin Consortium presents its activities for the development of Digital Twin technologies and specific pilot projects in the packaging sector. Learn how the use of Digital Twin technologies, both real time and offline, improve the efficiency and effective ness of the traditional process, in terms of costs, qual ity, time, OEE and improving ESG factors (environ mental, social and governance).
Giuseppe Padula
Regional Branch Organizer
Digital Twin Consortium
11:30-12:00 PM
New product innovation (NPI) creates, produces, sells and delivers a new product to the consumer. The definition of an NPI process is to define, estab lish and provide standardized methodology to ensure cross-functional alignment through a product’s devel opment lifecycle, delivering on-time and on-budget. There are three phases: ideation (concept or creation), design (development) and execution (commercial ization). Each phase has a series of gates to complete before moving to the next phase. Learn the total NPI process and the roles of different departmental func tions. Understand where your function fits in and what is needed to ensure a successful product launch.
Exec Dir
International Society of Beverage Technologists
2:30-3:00 PM
We are standing at a critical precipice on packaging and environment policy proposals and implementation here in the United States, with new laws coming
at us fast and furious on packaging producer responsibility, labeling and recy cled-content mandates. Participate in a lively discussion about what’s happening and how this will impact the entire packaging value chain now and in the future.
3:30-4:15 PM
The last two years have transformed our lives and businesses. How has it changed what is needed in a food manufacturing facility? How are supply chain disruptions, labor challenges, including the Great Resignation, and evolving customer and con sumer expectations changing how we manufacture food and beverage? How have food and beverage industry expectations changed? And how will we adjust our manufacturing processes, strategies, tactics and teams to best meet these evolving expectations? Join our panel of experts to learn how they are adjusting their ap proaches and playbooks to deal with the new realities of business today and what they see as the implications for imagining and creating the Food Manufacturing Facility of the Future.
Alan Reed - Moderator Exec Dir
Chicagoland Food & Beverage Network
10:30-11:00 AM
Using data from our State of the Industry Report, member feedback and our RFQ platform, we will take a dive into the demands of this dynamically growing indus try. Often a confusng and frustrating segment these essential providers of capa bilities and services are addressing the needs of emerging brands as well as legacy brands seeking to launch new food and CPG retail products. We will explore how CoMans and CoPacks are adding value as the consumers and market-driven needs are moving the packaged goods supply chain. Learn how the newest and innova tive products have become the key opportunities for CoMans. Understand how brands are adapting to meet new challenges with strategic CoMan and CoPack partnerships and accelerate time to market.
Carl Melville President
Melville group on behalf of Contract Packaging Ron Puvak Exec Dir
Contract Packaging Association SD
(BOOTH LU-6800) & WESTROCK (BOOTH S-2130) FOR SPONSORING THE PACK EXPO INTERNATIONAL LANYARDS
WestRock (Booth S-2130) presents win ning entries from worldwide packaging competitions as the exclusive sponsor of this year’s Showcase of Packaging Innovations® (Booth W-20052).
“At WestRock, we are focused on delivering bold innovation to solve our customers’ biggest challeng es,” says Margaret Herndon, the company’s chief marketing officer. “The Showcase displays the best the industry has to offer in packaging innovation, and we are excited to be part of a program that en gages customers and generates new thinking and new solutions.”
Show producer, PMMI, The Association for Packaging and Processing Technologies (Booth N-4550), is pleased to partner with WestRock on this initiative.
“The Showcase of Packaging Innovations has come to be a show floor favorite at PACK EXPO,” says Jim Pittas, president and CEO, PMMI. “We are thankful for companies like WestRock who seek to inspire the future of our industry and motivate package designers by showcasing packaging that is functional, innovative and sustainable.”
This year’s Showcase participants include 13 or ganizations from around the world. A sampling of the award winners on display is pictured here.
For more info, visit www.PACKEXPOinternational.com, www.westrock. com, www.abre.org.br, www.aimcal.org, www.dow.com, www.flexpack.org, www.fsea.com, www.imdassociation. com, www.packaging.com.ar, iopp.org, www.profood world.com, https://paperbox.org/, www.reusables.org, www.tube.org, www.worldpackaging.org. SD
The Best in Show package in IoPP’s AmeriStar competi tion, Blue Buffalo Tastefuls Spoonless Singles from General Mills and Product Ventures, provides a perfectly portioned split cup with a built-in chopper. The recyclable polypropyl ene split cup separates easily, reducing the need to store opened containers in the refrigerator.
ABRE - Brazilian Packaging Association (Booth N-6003)
AIMCAL - Association of International Metallizers, Coaters and Laminators (Booth N-4527)
Dow (Booth W-22017) Dow Packaging Innovation Awards
Flexible Packaging Association (Booth N-4533)
Foil & Specialty Effects Association (Booth N-4536)
In-Mold Decorating Association (Booth N-4534)
IAE - Instituto Argentino del Envase (Booth N-6101)
Institute of Packaging Professionals (IoPP) (Booth N-4523)
PMMI Media Group (Booth N-4550)
ProFood World’s 2021 Sustainability Excellence in Manufacturing Awards
Paperboard Packaging Council (Booth W-20052)
Reusable Packaging Association (Booth LU-6737)
Tube Council of North America (Booth W-20052)
World Packaging Organisation (WPO) (Booth N-4902)
Last year,
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The lightline machines from Schubert can be delivered quickly and are especially attractive in terms of price . With the preconfi gured machines, customers can adapt more fl exibly to market trends and signifi cantly speed up their time-to-market.
The LIGH LI FL W CK is a flow-wrapping machine with robot-supported pick & place infeed and packs a wide variety of products in conventional and sustainable fi lms. It offers an affordable and highly fl exible way to automate packaging processes with the most effi cient technology on the market while ensuring the highest availability and packaging quality.
The world’s leading FMCG and private label manufacturers rely on Schubert. www.schubert.group
Anattendee favorite, the Innovation Stage, returns to PACK EXPO In ternational with more than 50 informative sessions. The free, 30-minute presentations occur throughout each day on three stages (Booths N-4560, N-4580 and N-4585) in the concourse of the North Building near Starbucks.
Topics include sustainability and eCommerce, building a resilient supply chain, automating minimal material operations, cyber resilience, robotics, upgrading from heat sealing to ultrasonic sealing, brand protection and smart sensors.
New this year, after a successful launch at PACK EXPO Las Vegas, the Pro cessing Innovation Stage (Booth LU-7130) in the Lakeside Center concourse will feature sessions on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday focused on high-pressure pasteurization, product handling, batching and blending, clean-out-of-place parts washers and sanitary drainage system design.
Innovation Stage presenters are subject matter experts and represent a cross-section of exhibitors, including Syntegon Packaging Technology
(S-3514), Amcor Rigid Packaging (S-3705, S-3814), Placon (W-24033), SMAC Moving Coil Actuators (N-5774), Michigan State University (W-20044), Siemens Digital Industries (N-5148), WestRock (S-2130), Am cor Flexibles North America (S-3705, S-3814), Brenton, a ProMach product brand (N-5546), Emerson (N-4736), Soft Robotics (N-5230) and JBT-Avure (LU-7118).
The full Innovation Stage schedule is listed on the following pages. Check the PACK EXPO International App or the show website for the latest updates.
PACK EXPO International offers many other educational opportunities, including PACK to the Future (Booth W-20025) (see program on p. 18), The Forum at PACK EXPO (Booth N-4543) (see program on p. 44), and the new In dustry Speaks (Booth N-4565) (see program on p. 24). The Reusable Packaging Learning Center (Booth (LU-6737) also is hosting daily educational sessions.
For more info, visit www.PACKEXPOinternational.com. SD
10:00-10:30 AM
Innovation Stage 1|N-4560
While much as been said about augmented reality/ virtual reality in recent years, it is just a piece of the multi-faceted workforce puzzle. Explore six ways to augment today’s workforce, from simulation and pre dictive control to automated changeovers and attract ing the next generation.
Steve Mulder
Americas OEM Mgr Rockwell Automation
10:00-10:30 AM
Innovation Stage 2|N-4580
Plant operators today are tasked with driving great er operational efficiency through digitalization while achieving ambitious corporate sustainability targets. Thankfully, these outcomes are not mutually exclusive. During this session, learn from Schneider Electric’s smart factory journey and the step-by-step approach the company took to convert its 60-year-old brown field site in Lexington, KY, into the world’s first Sus tainability Lighthouse Smart Factory as designated by the World Economic Forum.
Kenneth Labhart
Smart Factory Leader
Schneider Electric
10:00-10:30 AM
Innovation Stage 3|N-4585
Discussion centers on how to significantly impact the sustainability of plastic. Topics include leveraging life cycle analyses and carbon credits; improving pack
aging design and the use of homogeneous materials; enhancing recycling and waste management systems; transitioning to bio-based plastics; and tackling food/ plastic waste by using end-of-life and shelf-life-exten sion technologies.
Jay Tapp
10:00-10:30 AM
Processing Innovation Stage|LU-7130
Clean-out-of-place (COP) parts washers can improve cleaning parts out of place, but newer automated cab inet washer technology provides numerous benefits over traditional COP tanks. In addition, available 3-A symbol authorizations of these systems provide peace of mind knowing top sanitary design standards are being met.
Peter Barrie Product Management Dir
11:00-11:30 AM
Innovation Stage 1|N-4560
The CanCollar Fortuna® Combo system from WestRock is an innovative, end-to-end automation platform for packaging beverage cans at high speeds and efficiencies with recyclable, fiber-based secondary and tertiary packaging. Learn how CanCollar Fortuna can help you scale sustainable packaging while deliv ering high package integrity, line speeds and opera tional efficiencies.
John Perkins VP, Global Packaging Systems
WestRock
11:00-11:30 AM
Innovation Stage 2|N-4580
Transform your business and fend off competitors by leveraging modern technology to optimize your sup ply chain to avoid disruptions caused by pandemics and global unrest. Material planning, scheduling and other digital strategies reduce late inventory receipts, improve time-to-market, streamline fulfillment and automate operational and financial business processes facilitating sustainable growth.
Debbie Baldwin Dir, Product Management (Manufacturing)
Acumatica
11:00-11:30 AM
Innovation Stage 3|N-4585
Learn how to create recycle-friendly washable inks for packaging. This session highlights key areas of devel opment, how choices can impact recyclability and how to lower your carbon footprint. These recycle-friendly inks were designed to be removed and separated from recoverable plastic substrates. This improves recy clability of packaging, enables industry certifications, increases quality and quantity of recycled plastic flake and reduces wastewater contamination to lower the environmental footprint. This session identifies key considerations that can impact sustainability goals.
11:00-11:30 AM
Processing Innovation Stage|LU-7130
This session will cover the history and basics of sani tary drainage system design in food facilities.
Viking Kristjansson
Sales Exec/Product Development Lead FoodSafe Drains
12:00-12:30 PM
Innovation Stage 1|N-4560
Liveo Research will show its vision and roadmap for sustainable pharmaceutical packaging and opera tions for 2023 and beyond. The session will provide a unique glimpse into the technologies and manufac turing methods helping customers achieve sustain ability goals in an evolving sustainability landscape.
Michael Larson
National Technical Services Mgr Liveo Research
12:00-12:30 PM
Innovation Stage 2|N-4580
This session will explore details of the project and gain inspiration on how to take advantage of out come-based, long-term energy service agreements with no upfront capital investment.
Clark Wiedetz
Chief Sales Officer
GreenStruxure
12:00-12:30 PM
Innovation Stage 3|N-4585
Belden showcases a 100% vendor, protocol and ar chitecture agnostic approach to remote connectivity, protocol conversion, device orchestration and Edge computing. The approach and principles outlined al lows industrial automation data to be accessible in a secure and sustainable manner.
Scott Kornblue
Global Solutions Architect Mgr Belden ∆
Emerson advanced analytics, edge computing, and smart pneumatics enable you to prevent line failures and elevate your reliability.
Learn more at Emerson.com/FoodandBeverageIIoT
12:00-12:30 PM
Processing Innovation Stage|LU-7130
The Tablet Coater Optima is a perforated coating pan designed for film coating tablets or pellets, suitable in aqueous and organic coatings, for the pharmaceuti cal industry. Its high technology allows an automatic adjustment control of the flow, avoiding the damp, saving coating and optimizing processing time. Inno vative high-quality equipment, certified by accredit ed entities, is designed and built in Europe following regulatory requirements and GMP´s normative.
David Mateo Managing Dir Romaco1:00-1:30 PM
Innovation Stage 1|N-4560
The Fresh-Lock team focuses on collaboration, the key to answering consumer packaging demands, and the resulting manufacturing benefits. Collaboration case studies of flexible packaging innovations in sus tainability drive efficiency and enhance the consumer experience.
Todd Meussling Sr Mgr Market Development Fresh-Lock by Presto ENABLE RECYCLABLE PACKAGING WITH OPEN SESAME® TEAR TAPES
1:00-1:30 PM
Innovation Stage 2|N-4580
Exceed your plastic-free packaging goals and con sumers’ rising expectations with a breakthrough in novation, Open Sesame® fiber-based tear tapes for eCommerce packaging. The global, patent-pending sustainable product eliminates unnecessary plastic and adds useful, high-quality fiber to the recycling stream.
Tania Montesi Global eCommerce Mgr H.B. Fuller
1:00-1:30 PM
Innovation Stage 3|N-4585
Automation and robotics technology is booming, but there are still almost 1 million open jobs in U.S. manu facturing. Why not leverage automation more? It is not a technology problem. Adoption is stifled by high upfront costs and the uncertainty and risk that come with find ing the right solution. Partnering with a brand-agnostic automation company can circumvent these problems.
Formic identifies the right solution and charges one low hourly rate without any upfront cost. Lifetime mainte nance is included and hourly fees are contingent upon performance. Learn why customer adoption of this model is growing exponentially and how this poineer ing a service unlocks unlimited labor.
1:00-1:30 PM
Processing Innovation Stage|LU-7130
Masterbio is a line of compostable products produced to promote sustainability in a world that is more en vironmentally friendly and keen to protect the Earth. From bakery, pasta, fresh produce and frozen food, we have the right solution to boost your sales.
Massimiliano Binda Board
2:00-2:30 PM
Innovation Stage 1|N-4560
Consumers and legislation are pushing brands to drive change for a more Circular Economy as brands and retailers race to meet their respective sustainabili ty goals by 2025 and beyond. Sustainability packaging experts discuss successful circular solutions and inno vations brought to market with a shared focus: pro gressing circularity together.
Robert Flores
VP of Sustainability
Diane Marret
Sustainability Dir Berry Global
2:00-2:30 PM
Innovation Stage 2|N-4580
Universal grasping of a diverse range of objects is a major challenge in eCommerce order fulfillment and manufacturing. This session presents an automa tion-centric solution for robotic universal grasping based on Artificial Intelligence (AI). The system is made for automation professionals and is deeply em bedded in the automation landscape.
Dr. Eugen Solowjow
Head of Research Group (Robotics, Autonomy, AI)
Siemens Industry Software
LABELING PROCESS
2:00-2:30 PM
Innovation Stage 3|N-4585
Inject some color, flexibility and automation into the package labeling process. A novel solution combines a print-on-demand color industrial label printer along with a six-axis all-in-one industrial robot, creating the ultimate in flexibility and customization.
Aaron Donlon Robotics Product Mgr Epson America
2:00-2:30 PM
Processing Innovation Stage|LU-7130
High-pressure pasteurization (HPP) is cold pasteur ization in pure water; it uses ultra-high-pressure pu rified water to keep packaged food pathogen-free to stay fresh longer. At very high pressures, bacteria such as Listeria, E. coli and Salmonella are inactivated. Foods using HPP include ready-to-eat and ready-tocook meats, ready-meals, fruits and vegetables, juices and smoothies, soups and sauces, wet salads and dips, dairy products, pet food, baby food, seafood and shell fish. HPP helps producers increase food safety and extend shelf life, while providing consumers with nu tritious, natural, flavorful food.
Dr. Austin Lowder
Dir, Food Science
JBT - Avure HPP
3:00-3:30 PM
Innovation Stage 1|N-4560
The things we touch mean more to us. In this session, learn how haptics affect our relationship with pack aging and printed materials. Multisensory packaging is the most likely to attract customers. Discover how the power of touch changes the way we think, feel and behave and, ultimately, influences how we spend our money. Since print can be a physical manifestation of a brand—and our perception of it—gain information to help rethink how the physical quality of packaging drives brands.
3:00-3:30 PM
Innovation Stage 2|N-4580
Digital Transformation and I4.0 is disrupting manu facturing across the globe. Manufacturing companies can generate enormous amounts of data, but use only a small fraction of it. Matrix Technologies is helping manufacturers with every step of their Digital Trans formation Journey via abstracts/case studies, with Q&A to follow.
John Lee Dept. Mgr, Manufacturing Intelligence Industrial Systems Div.
James Mansfield
Sr Mgr, Manufacturing Intelligence Matrix Technologies
3:00-3:30 PM
Innovation Stage 3|N-4585
Sustainability pressure is real. You’re feeling the pinch from all directions: legislative changes, retailer senti ment and consumer demands. With increasing com
plexities, how can brands meet these challenges? This session cuts through the noise and provides packaging solutions that meet environmental demands in the most challenging applications.
Al Madonna VP, Marketing
Cheer Pack North America
John Wilson Dir of Sustainability
Amcor Flexibles North Americ
3:00-3:30 PM
Processing Innovation Stage|LU-7130
Hiperbaric Automation Systems offers personalized solu tions for automating all types of food operations that work with high-pressure processing (HPP) technology. Recog nizing the need for efficiency, Evolution Fresh, a premier cold-pressed juice company, which owns five H420 HPP units, has partnered with Hiperbaric to provide a state-ofthe-art HPP automated operation line.
Michael Durbin Plant Dir
Evolution Fresh Roberto Peregrina USA Dir
Hiperbaric
10:00-10:30 AM
Innovation Stage 1|N-4560
Explore how food, foodservice and personal care manufacturers can increase flexibility and through put while reducing machine and plant footprint with mechatronics-enabled case-packing machinery. A case study with best practices and lessons learned demonstrates how to capitalize on intelligent linear transport technology in case packing.
Rick Forsgren
Packaging Industry Business Development Mgr Beckhoff Automation
Mike Grinager
VP, Technology
Brenton, a ProMach product brand HOW TO AUTOMATE PAPERBASED PACKAGING SOLUTIONS
10:00-10:30 AM
Innovation Stage 2|N-4580
The word sustainability has never been as important as it is now. Globally, consumers increasingly demand that brands “walk the talk,” with packaging at the forefront of that conversation. While shelf impact re mains a priority, how brands do so affects consumers’ perception and loyalty. Learn how scalable and flex-
ible packaging automation technology can support your brand’s plastic replacement journey.
Douglas Hicks
VP, Machinery, Beverage Design
Graphic Packaging International
BUZZWORD HANGOVER
10:00-10:30 AM
Innovation Stage 3|N-4585
Demystifying common manufacturing technologies.
Jason Petri Solutions Consultant Mgr - Private Markets
Brightly Software
10:00-10:30 AM
Processing Innovation Stage|LU-7130
EnteraLoc Flow is a complete enteral feeding system featuring a spouted pouch and ENFit connector that directly fits into a feeding tube to provide an optimal feeding experience that promotes superior nutritional intake and improved patient outcomes.
Keith Smith Pres Vonco
11:00-11:30 AM
Innovation Stage 1|N-4560
Learn about recycling plastics into innovative reus able pallets, plus large container solutions enhancing sustainability.
Jean-Marc Van Maren Chief Product Officer Cabka North America
11:00-11:30 AM
Innovation Stage 2|N-4580
Recycle-ready packaging innovations are hitting the healthcare market. Is the end-of-life the only story?
Explore the impact of recycle-ready innovations using Amcor’s certified life cycle assessment tool, ASSET™ and demonstrate how recycle-ready innovations are the right technologies to drive sustainable packaging.
Brian Ingraham
Sr R&D Dir, Healthcare Amcor
11:00-11:30 AM
Innovation Stage 3|N-4585
mGripAI™ is a one-of-a-kind automation solution combining 3D vision, soft grasping and artificial in telligence, offering a single automation solution for food and consumer packaged goods at high speeds.
Harley Green Dir, Business Development Soft Robotics ∆
OF:
Find front-of-the-line solutions for food and beverage processing and discover ways to increase safety, improve efficiency and achieve total system integration.
Learn how to increase sustainability in your supply chain through reus able packaging assets and services.
Sponsored by:
See supply chain solutions, including warehousing, fulfillments, distribution logistics services and transportation providers.
Uncover specialized equipment and integrated systems for your candy, confectionery and gum production lines.
Sponsored by:
Explore technology that makes customization, promotions, small runs, on-demand production and smart packaging cost effective.
Find new recyclables, bio-based materials, flexible packaging printable films and much more –and see creative packaging and trends at:
A one-stop shop for solutions targeted to pharmaceuticals, biologics, nutraceuticals, medical devices and more.
11:00-11:30 AM
Processing Innovation Stage|LU-7130
The past two years have forced companies to provide solutions to the market in record time. This session will focus on the need for integral testing partnerships between food manufacturers and equipment manu facturers. Such partnerships have led to quick changes and new manufacturing innovations.
Paul Krechel Dir, Sales Deville Technologies
12:00-12:30 PM
Innovation Stage 1|N-4560
Food and beverage and life science manufacturers must maintain strict hygienic standards to ensure compli ance with local/national regulations and product qual ity. To do this, tanks and piping systems go through a clean-in-place (CIP) process between batches. CIP processes are vital to hygienic practices but can be a source of inefficiencies, leading to high utility costs and wasted product. The correct instrumentation can help optimize the CIP process and reduce overall op erating costs. This sesssion addresses seven common CIP efficiency challenges, along with seven solutions using proper measurement instrumentation.
Vince Massey
Mgr, Business Development Emerson
12:00-12:30 PM
Innovation Stage 2|N-4580
Learn about cutting-edge packaging industry innova tions to help improve your logistics capability, reduce labor needs and accelerate your ability to deliver.
Hanko Kiessner
Founder, Executive Chairman Packsize
12:00-12:30 PM
Processing Innovation Stage|LU-7130
The beverage industry is highly complex, but new, in novative solutions can simplify complicated processes without sacrificing quality. This session explores how a new horizontal injector and radial jet mixer can trans form your process and bottom line.
Richard Chapman Business Development Mgr, USA & CanadaLiquid Food Solutions Beverage Tetra Pak
1:00-1:30 PM
Innovation Stage 1|N-4560
The importance of cyber resilience continues to grow as manufacturers face mounting challenges, including unplanned downtime, supply chain shortages and ran somware attacks. This session discusses best practices for building a cyber-resilience program, from physical infrastructure to network management to industrial security, using a holistic strategy to improve overall cyber posture.
Brian Deken
Connected Services Business Development Mgr Rockwell Automation
1:00-1:30 PM
Innovation Stage 2|N-4580
Session discusses international research findings that identify challenges faced by manufacturers looking to transition to more sustainable packaging materials.
Sean Kohl
Dir, Global Product Line
Industrial Physics
1:00-1:30 PM
Innovation Stage 3|N-4585
Labor challenges in today’s manufacturing and pack aging environments require real solutions for reduc ing the need for engineering staff without giving up production flexibility. Contract manufacturers need to support multiple customers with fast changeovers to keep productivity and performance high. Learn about real-world success leveraging durable, high-speed ro bots in an interactive environment, leveraging simple robot programming through gestures and voice com mands. Gain insights into how to increase speed to market and throughput without increasing labor costs.
Patrick Varley
Product Marketing Mgr, Mechatronics
Mitsubishi Electric Automation
1:00-1:30 PM
Processing Innovation Stage|LU-7130
Buyers of new vibratory separator machines learn what to look for when selecting one for a new product or application to help avoid costly mistakes.
Larry Koehn
Technical Application Mgr – Separation Products Gerard Daniel Worldwide
Processing Innovation Stage|LU-7130
Squeezing more capacity out of your existing plant can be a real challenge. From crowded spaces to awk ward rooms, it can take real gymnastics to get your product from receiving to final packaging. This session explores five creative solutions to help flip, twist and spin your goods from point A to point B.
Jim Stahlman Sr Packaging Mgr POWER Engineer, Inc.
(CONT’D)
Processing Innovation Stage|LU-7130
MVR concentration and ohmic heating technologies are revolutionizing food processing by significant ly reducing energy consumption and CO₂ emissions with remarkable advantages on product quality too.
Mario Gozzi Regional Sales Mgr CFT Group ∆
with
widest range of
melt adhesive
the best specialist team who will find the solution to boost
business.
4:15-5:00 PM
Processing Innovation Stage|LU-7130
Speakers from Sugarlands Distilling and United Airlines Catering Kitchen Op erations will present technology innovations from their recent greenfield facility projects and discuss how increased automation improves product quality and yield. Joyce Fassl - Moderator Editor at Large, ProFood World
10:00-10:30 AM
Innovation Stage 1|N-4560
Explore what software as a service means for manufacturing or machine-building businesses of any size. Sesssion addresses the “IT won’t let us” challenge and breaks down six real-world ways to can incorporate the Cloud for productivity improve ment, cost containment and workforce support.
Jim Taylor
CPG Industry Consultant Rockwell Automation
10:00-10:30 AM
Innovation Stage 2|N-4580
Being and staying cyber secure in an increasingly digital, connected industrial world requires an aggressive, proactive approach. The risks to your operations and brand reputation are palpable. This session provides best practices to establish a strong cybersecurity foundation and address your organization’s most burning questions: What should you do to proactively defend your operation and ensure ongoing vigilance? What standards and best practices apply to your business? Who is responsible for ensuring cybersecurity at your organization?
Cybersecurity Business Consultant Schneider Electric
10:00-10:30 AM
Innovation Stage 3|N-4585
Fungus feeders are extremely common pests in warehouses and can become problem atic when moisture levels rise, allowing molds and fungus to grow. These conditions offer pests such as psocids and a few types of beetles the food they need to survive in storage environments. Managing moisture, humidity and air movement is critical to keeping these pests out. Fungus feeders can be found in pallets, on and inside pack aging, in supplies and many other places. Learn what fungus feeders are, the risks they pose, proactive measures you can take to avoid them and how an Integrated Pest Management plan can help proactively manage them in your facility.
Ph.D., B.C.E, Mgr, Technical Services
Orkin
11:00-11:30 AM
Innovation Stage 1|N-4560
Innovative sensor technologies facilitate non-destructive container closure ∆
No matter if it is stand-alone machines, complete systems or services: Syntegon’s innovative process and packaging technology is backed by over 80 years of trusted solutions focused on a sustainable future. For our customers, this means tailor-made and reliable production processes for perfect results. From a spare part to complete production systems – with us you get everything from one source. That’s what we’re doing, how about you? Please visit us in the South Hall.
integrity and package leak tests to below the scale that allows microbial ingress to your packages. In this workshop, learn how helium leak testing aids in sim ple, fast, repeatable, quantitative and non-destructive leak test cycles, providing potential escape from the archaic dye-penetration tests.
General Industrial & Package Integrity Sales & Business Development Mgr - NA INFICON
11:00-11:30 AM
Innovation Stage 2|N-4580
A void exists in the dairy alternatives, nutritional drinks and ready-to-drink coffee markets for pack aging made from recycled material and recyclable in most markets. ClearCor technology offers sig nificant sustainability benefits compared to aseptic carton packaging, which experiences high damage rates and poses a challenge for convenience stores, where traditional refrigerated shelf space is designed for round, rigid, plastic bottles. The ClearCor bot tle contains post-consumer recycled (PCR) res
in and provides a recyclable packaging solution, as well as easy access to eCommerce and convenience store distribution channels. It also delivers a positive drinking experience. A recyclable PET bottle, utiliz ing the ClearCor technology, offers the same taste and feel as other packaging, delivers a positive drink ing experience and extends shelf life.
VP, R&D, Sustainability & PM Excellence Amcor Rigid Packaging
11:00-11:30 AM
Innovation Stage 3|N-4585
This session explores more sustainable alternatives to barrier materials that achieve the same barrier protection. In an economy with limited resources, longer shelf life is a desirable objective for food processors. How do we further promote a Circular Economy where reusing materials reduces reliance on new materials?
Ron Haub VP, Sales Placon
12:00-12:30 PM
Innovation Stage 1|N-4560
This session, including a short case study, examines existing fresh food to-go packaging, including how flexible packaging and material changes can support sustainability goals and the Circular Economy.
Nathan Klettinger
Dir, Global Marketing ProAmpac
12:00-12:30 PM
Innovation Stage 2|N-4580
Discuss Industry 4.0 as it relates to smart sensing technology. Modern manufacturing is saturated with data, even from the most basic sensors. Examine how this data “overload” can be leveraged to make man ufacturing smarter and drive digital transformation.
Learn about trends in using this data and clear, ac tionable steps to join this new industrial revolution.
Divya Prakash
Dir, Business Consulting SICK SD
Whether paprika from Spain, pepper from India and Vietnam or cinnamon from Madagascar, Old Mansion Foods based in Petersburg, VA, has been manufacturing and de veloping dry spices, seasonings, breading, dry mixes, coffee and teas since 1877.
Old Mansion imports and processes spices in bulk with extensive packaging options, including private labeling of custom blends for institutional, foodservice, restaurants and chain companies. With its location in central Virginia only a few hours away from Norfolk’s port, Old Mansion offers multiple ca pabilities and warehousing opportunities for its cus tomers’ spice, seasoning, breading and dry mix needs.
The company’s 137,000-sq.-ft. headquarters in cludes a pristine test kitchen for research and de velopment as well as a quality assurance laboratory to ensure product safety and satisfaction. Old Man sion adheres to regulations associated with the Food Safety Modernization Act and global food safety standards and enforces strict sanitation practices with GMPs. An essential part of the company’s Food Safety Plant includes the Eriez® Xtreme® metal detector from Eriez (Booth N-5214), which is de signed to detect small metal contaminants.
The Eriez Xtreme metal detectors installed at Old Mansion Foods incorporate Enhanced Plat form (EP) technology, a breakthrough method used for the toughest food applications. The most difficult products for metal detectors to analyze are those that create a significant signal in the balanced field, which is known as product or bulk effect.
These applications include packaged dairy, meat, poultry and dense bags of powdery product. The Enhanced Platform built into the Xtreme unit has redefined industry inspection thresholds by elimi nating false trips in these types of applications while improving sensitivity up to 300%.
“Having a metal detector in your plant is no lon ger a luxury, it is critical in operations to eliminate food-safety hazards and essential for food safety,” explains Dale Patton, owner of Old Mansion Foods. “We are using six Eriez metal detectors as a part of operations for each of our processing lines.”
According to Patton, the Xtreme metal detector is able to locate metal within ingredients such as pa prika and black pepper, which can be challenging to inspect because of their agricultural consistency and mineral content.
“When you put through bulk product, settling pockets and conglomerated particles make it more difficult to find contaminants,” he says. “Eriez helped us to identify settings to make setup more effective for those products, meaning fewer false positives and less downtime when the product is being conveyed through the system.”
John Klinge, Eriez market manager for Light Industry, explains, “Some products generate signals that cannot be properly recognized by typical met al detectors, causing them to indicate there is metal where there is none. The Xtreme metal detector ig nores these signals and is able to detect the smallest of metals in challenging products such as the ones produced at Old Mansion.”
According to Eriez, the Xtreme metal detector offers greater sensitivity with its multiple frequency range, vibration immunity and unique ability to sta tistically regulate product effect. Many configurable inputs and outputs enable easy installation and allow customers to add multiple options.
Old Mansion was searching for a metal detector that would enable faster setup, less downtime and be user friendly, according to Laura Palombo, manager of Quality Assurance at the spice company. This led to an initial meeting with Eriez technicians and sales repre sentative Drew Harris of Dominion-Carolina Sales.
Old Mansion participated in an online demon stration and product test, watching their own ingre dients running through an Xtreme metal detector at Eriez’s Central Test Lab in Erie, PA. They then purchased their first Xtreme metal detector and put it into production. Now, six Xtreme metal detectors inspect more than a million pounds of select spices each month, according to Palombo.
The Old Mansion staff did not require much for mal training to operate the metal detector, and in stallation and setup were quick and easy. “Eriez used our product types and samples and came back with a properly configured metal detector that was us er-friendly,” Palombo says.
She explains that she wanted the whole team to feel comfortable operating the metal detector. “While I am a very hands-on person, I did not want to be the only person to monitor the unit. I expected our other staff to operate the metal detector and be able to report any issues,” she says.
The Xtreme metal detector features a user-friend ly interface that is ETL/CSA/CE approved. It in corporates a dedicated reject log and event log, which is essential when Old Mansion runs various ingredients at interval periods through the detector, according to management.
Palombo is pleased with the unit’s array of setup options. “Setting individual passwords enables our production personnel to easily select each ingredi ent type we are running without changing bound aries or notifications,” she says. “EP gives us the ability to have one setting for like packaging of like ingredients.”
The Old Mansion quality control staff keeps de tailed reports for each production run and retention samples for laboratory evaluation. The quality con trol team also approves all products prior to ship ment. That means the Xtreme metal detector is a critical step in the food-safety plan to ensure product release, according to Palombo.
“We’re not running just one product each time, so the diversity of the product mix that the Xtreme [unit] could handle was definitely an asset,” Palombo says. “You can use the EP feature based on a larger or small er granulation, depending upon the product type we are running. The unique memory lets us store the proper settings for each product type for future runs.”
A white paper describes how the Xtreme metal detector utilizes the Enhanced Platform technolo gy to improve sensitivity. It can be downloaded at http://erieznews.com/nr397.
For more info, visit www.eriez.com. SD
Pregis (Booth S-3834) opened a 1,960-sq.-m (21,000-sq.-ft.) customer demonstration and training facility in Eindhoven, The Nether lands, in April 2022 to provide a holistic approach to protective packaging challenges and reduce costly waste incurred by damaged products. The Pregis in
novation headquarters, called the Pregis IQ, is de signed to develop optimized packaging.
“Our objective is to provide value-added services to assist brand owners in selecting protective packag ing materials and systems that will reduce total cost, achieve sustainability goals and improve packing ef
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ficiency to help address labor challenges,” says Paul van Dijk, marketing & IQ director, Pregis Europe. He adds, “Pregis has always prided itself in being a material-neutral supplier...Our broad material and equipment expertise puts us in an ideal position to recommend a solution that is truly in the brand own er’s best interest.”
At the Pregis IQ, visitors can see how protecting products from damage, minimizing material usage, improving operational efficiency, creating a positive er gonomic environment for workers and joyful unboxing experience for customers can be achieved concurrently.
“The shift toward eCommerce growth means ex panding order mix, greater complexity and more pack aging diversity,” explains van Dijk. He notes, “Labor and seasonality also impact fulfillment operations’ abil ity to meet orders, complicating packaging and leading to increased damages. Further, network shipping con straints, coupled with increasing costs, are expected to continue. This means to achieve customer loyalty more customization and unique solutions will be required to adequately compete. By engaging the Pregis IQ ser vices, we can take all of these factors into account and recommend the most environmentally preferred option that integrates into a customer’s operations while deliv ering measurable benefits.”
Pregis also operates a U.S.-based IQ, which was launched in 2019.
For more info, visit www.pregis.com. SD
Asa leader in innovative compressed air solu tions since 1965, Sullair a Hitachi Group Company (Booth S-3752), displays its DSP Series of oil-free air compressors, which provide Class 0 oil-free air with optimized energy efficiency. Ideal for food, beverage or pharmaceutical applications, the first- and second-stage stainless steel rotors and patent ed PTFE-free rotor coating help maintain maximum efficiency, reliability and durability.
Rounding out the exhibit are offerings from Hita chi sister companies, Hitachi Industrial Equipment Systems America and Telesis. Both provide expertise and turnkey packages in advanced marking and cod ing technologies.
For more info, visit www.sullair.com. SD
The revised “One Voice Factory Acceptance Tests – Protocols for Capital Equipment in the CPG Industry” work product improves the factory acceptance test (FAT) process.
Developed by the OpX Leadership Network (Booth N-4550), the Factory Acceptance Tests work product is designed to resolve FAT criteria, expec tations and miscommunications that often result in unbudgeted travel and material costs, increased timelines and overall confusion for consumer pack aged goods (CPG) companies and original equip ment manufacturers (OEMs).
This update includes new leadership guidance, additional review of responsibilities for OEMs and end users, and the integration of the Virtual FAT work product as an appendix rather than a stand alone product.
“When conducting an effective FAT, clear com munication between all parties is critical,” says Bryan Griffen, senior director, industry services at PMMI, The Association for Packaging and Processing Technologies (Booth N-4550), convener of the OpX Leadership Network. “This latest update helps
ColorWorks® printers from Epson America (Booth N-5265, N-5363) deliver full-color labels at an affordable price, helping to re duce label costs with lower label inventories, reduced waste and increased operational efficiencies.
streamline that communication and facilitate a more productive FAT, regardless of whether it is virtual or in-person.”
The OpX Leadership Network was founded in 2011 by PMMI to ensure CPG companies and OEMs are connected and well-prepared to solve
common operational challenges, make smarter deci sions and achieve operational excellence.
The revised FAT work product and other opera tional resources are available for free by downloading at opxleadershipnetwork.org/projects/download.
For more info, visit www.opxleadershipnetwork.org. SD
Epson is a global technology leader dedicated to co-creating sustainability and enriching communi ties by leveraging its efficient, compact and precision technologies and digital technologies to connect people, things and information.
The company is focused on solving societal issues through innovations in home and office printing, commercial and industrial printing, manufacturing, visual and lifestyle.
For more info, visit www.epson.com. SD
METTLER TOLEDO offers a wide range of solutions for all types of bulk and packaged products for environments ranging from dry to heavy washdown. Our systems are supported by the most comprehensive engineering solutions, product testing, customer service and training in the industry.
Visit us in Booth S1714 to see live demonstrations on new inspection systems!
Although robotic systems are sometimes lim ited by constraints in automation and drive technology, this issue can be easily mini mized. Application-specific automation from a sin gle source enables machine builders to develop new, commercially beneficial solutions for customers. To demonstrate, consider the case of a gantry robot that uses contactless energy and data transfer instead of fixed wiring runs and cable carriers.
Gantry robots are a tried-and-tested solution for intralogistics material flows within a machine or ap plication. They are commonly used to detect products automatically, grip them securely and quickly and take them to their destination. This type of robot is useful in many industries and can be used for a wide range of product sizes and weights and distances to be covered. Oftentimes, the lengths of power and communication cables and cable carriers limit the flexibility and adaptability of an existing machine to a new production scenario. Adding contactless ener gy and data transfer opens up new production sce narios and has largely consigned cables to the past.
The illustrated solution demonstrates contactless energy and data transfer combined with intelligent software and reliable mechatronics to create a fully integrated solution. What immediately catches the eye about this gantry is the drive concept used to move the gantry robots on the rail: contactless en ergy transfer. As a result, multiple robots can move freely on the same horizontal stretch, greatly increas ing the flexibility of this gantry robot application. This regularly leads to overlapping sections between robots—ultimately offering a great deal of freedom in terms of machine design and operations.
Logistics processes of this kind would not be as easy to implement with cable carriers, because of the addi tional area that carriers use along the entire distance of the system. In addition, cable carriers generate noise, are subject to wear, increase inertia and have an overall negative impact on both dynamics and energy efficien cy due to the friction they generate.
Another benefit of contactless energy and com munication transfer is that there are no longer any restrictions regarding installation space, cable breakage or limited cycle rates—issues all associ ated with cable carriers and moving cables. The clever innovation is made possible by a contact less inductive energy transfer system, including a decentralized power supply module. Depending on the design, this module delivers a transmission power between 5 and 11 Hp.
What is exciting about this logistics solution is that, throughout the entire load cycle, the robot consumes less than 0.7 Hp via the pick-up—even though the horizontal axis alone requires more than 5 Hp of acceleration power during acceleration. The short-term energy requirements are met by the ener gy storage unit, a double-layer capacitor package that takes care of the primary energy supply to the robot with a DC link voltage of 100 V.
The typical travel profiles of a gantry robot, which involve alternating acceleration and braking phases, led to the idea of retaining the regenerative energy generated during braking within the process instead of dissipating it via resistors. The energy storage unit absorbs this braking energy and additionally func tions as a booster when the gantry’s drives accelerate at 20 ft./second squared. The design is so effective that the contactless energy transfer and storage solu tion only has to compensate for the system’s me chanical efficiency losses, which amount to around 0.7 Hp. Unlike the familiar DC link connection of multi-axis applications, which is located in the cen tral control cabinet, each unit is enabled to store en ergy independently. This makes it easy and conve nient to scale this type of system.
The robot gantry’s contactless energy transfer sys tem, which eliminates the need for restrictive cables, also extends to the communication processes. In this context, an EtherCAT® data light barrier transfers the interpolated position setpoints from the central motion controller to the four servo inverters in the moving housing box at 1-ms intervals. A motion controller calculates the complex robot motion con trol—and can do so for up to four robots at once.
Motion control involves performing calculations to prevent collisions and coordinating the robots to achieve a productive overall system. If a machine in a production network requires double the material flow output, the gantry system gives users the option to move a robot from another section on a flexible basis.
Handling units that draw their power with cables, in contrast, are tied to their section. As a result, the associated resources become movable and systems as a whole are more flexible and productive. Entirely new machine concepts can be created based on this approach. The demands placed on communication are correspondingly high as well.
The automation provider used the real-time Eth ernet protocol EtherCAT in the gantry—once again dispensing with cables by implementing an optical connection to the mobile units. The drive data can be delivered to the robots via data light barriers. Having separate motion controllers in each robot is a thing of the past: One does the job for running the whole robotic system.
With each cycle taking 1 ms, the optical system has practically no latency periods when transmitting the interpolated position setpoints to the inverters or feeding back the relevant actual values.
Communication for the functional safety technol ogy works the same way. For this application, a cen tral safety controller for all robots and the machine as a whole was selected. This safety controller com municates directly with the MOVI‐C® automation controller via EtherCAT using the EtherCATFSoE (Fail Safe over EtherCAT) protocol. This setup en ables both controllers to share data with ease, simpli fies programming considerably and offers excellent conditions for diagnostics and debugging, thanks to its high information density.
The seamless integration of the FSoE safety mas ter and the EtherCAT data light barrier are integrat ed into a comprehensive automation solution includ ing motors, electronics and visualization. Clearly, working with a skilled automation provider can streamline the development process and the newest drive technology innovations and trends can be con sidered. In this context, standardized interfaces play just as important a role as prepared software modules or application-specific function modules.
For more info, visit www.seweurodrive.com. SD
Editor’s Note: The original version of this article appeared in February 2021 in Automation World
Smart pneumatic sensors are proving to be high ly effective sustainability tools that can help re liably save energy, reduce costs and meet ambi tious targets.
The AVENTICS™ Series AF2 airflow sensor from Emerson (Booth N-4736) has successfully im proved the energy efficiency of packaging equipment
in a variety of applications, including food and bev erage, personal care and even labeling. A high-flow model of this advanced sensor propels compressed air monitoring beyond individual machines to ben efit larger air lines and systems. This expanded ca pability allows operators to easily optimize energy consumption across an entire packaging facility and
improve overall plant sustainability.
The new Series AF2 high-flow model is available as a standalone device to monitor air consumption in pneumatic pipe systems. Much more than a flow me ter, the high-flow Series AF2 sensor allows access to actionable insights into machine data—such as flow, pressure and temperature—in larger air lines and systems. This configuration detects leaks in real time, allowing operators to take fast, corrective action.
The Series AF2 sensor determines not only flow but also the current pressure of the feed line, enabling advanced diagnosis of the system’s oper ating parameters. There are two piped options of the high-flow Series AF2 sensor: 1.5- and 2-in. diameter. The flow rang es of the Series AF2 high-flow version can be configured to the AVENTICS AS family of air preparation units. Data also can be communicated directly via an Ethernet interface, allowing compressed airflow consump tion to be passed directly to the relevant system without requir ing control of the machine.
The high-flow Series AF2 sensor has an integrated anal ysis option and open interfaces and can be directly interpreted by many controllers, making it a highly flexible device. Oper ators can utilize the sensor to monitor air consumption in their pipe system according to DIN ISO 50001, providing actionable insights that en able them to optimize energy consumption and prevent ma chine downtime. The product has several communication options, including IO-link, an alog, OPC UA and MQTT.
For more info, visit www.emerson.com. SD
System manages elevation changes, merges, product settling.
Multi-Conveyor (Booth S-3401) recent ly built a complex, yet small-footprint, custom conveyor system that uses a servo transpositor retract and two stacked servo merges to transport bags of chicken from three baggers to two case packers, with x-ray scanning in the process.
quired for the x-ray scan.
Multi-Conveyor also provided four vibrating mod ules to settle product in the bags. Square rollers, con trolled by variable frequency drives (VFDs), are mount ed under the plastic belting to vibrate bags as they travel on the conveyor. The bag and case system is PLC-con trolled and includes 36 VFDs and eight servos.
The controls and conveyors for bag handling are part of Multi-Conveyor’s overall system that includes empty case handling, full case indexing and merging from two case-packing lanes to one discharge flow.
A video of the system in action is available at https://youtu.be/g-QE4oA2j7Y.
For more info, visit www.multi-conveyor.com. SD
The stainless-steel, washdown-compatible system overcomes multiple challenges:
• The array of product sizes, weights and rates
• The need for vibratory bag settling sections in some of the conveyors to help distribute product within the bags
• Balancing and merging three lanes to two lanes
• Limited floor space
• A 3-ft. elevation differential from the baggers to x-ray inspection, which is complicated by the additional elevation changes needed for the servo transpositor and servo over/under merges and related alternate conveyor paths. Some runs require only two baggers, which deliver product to the two lanes going directly to the x-ray units. If a bagger goes down, product transfers to the third bagger and is delivered to the transpositor, which shifts bags to the alternate conveyor path for the now-empty lane of the non-functioning bagger. When the bagger returns to service, the flow to the transpositor ceases.
Some product rates require three baggers to meet the needed throughput. In that case, the third bag ger delivers product to the transpositor, which evenly distributes bags between the two upper level alter nate bagger lane conveyors. This puts conveyors at four different levels. The flow from the third bagger goes to its respective over/under servo merge on each lane. The servo belts on the lower level position prod uct to allow the bags from the upper level to drop into an opening created by the servo belts.
Ultimately, the system design met the challenge of merging three lanes at 8-in. elevation to two lanes before delivering product at the 45-in. elevation re
Another attendee favorite, The Forum at PACK EXPO (Booth N-4543), presents a daily schedule of sessions about the latest industry trends. Each 45-minute session includes small group dicussions and a ques tion-and-answer period.
Topics include cybersecurity, digital transformation, sustainability, deploy ment of robots/cobots, collaborating with copackers, automation, improving packaging line performance and post-COVID packaging design trends.
Speakers include a range of experts from various organizations, includ ing: PMMI, The Association for Packaging and Processing Technologies (Booth N-4550); OMAC - The Organization for Machine Automation and Control (Booth N-5100); the World Packaging Organisation (Booth N-4902,
10:30-11:15 AM
Driving environmental sustainability throughout the packaging development and supply chain process can come into conflict with customer experience, cost to market and established brand standards. In this ses sion, we’ll share our experience in addressing multiple aspects of brand and pack challenges as well as exam ples of innovation from concept through production that drove sustainability forward while enhancing brand desirability and consumer desirability.
Courtney Lorenz
Sr Dir, Global Environmental Sustainability
Hope Massey Director, Consulting Americas SGK
11:30-12:15 PM
According to Forbes, overall unplanned downtime costs industrial manufacturers as much as $50 billion a year. Discover an engineering solution that is fully integrated into your EAM platform, which is key to reducing downtime and its costs.
Michael Warren
Founder & Chief Operating Officer
AsInt
1:30-2:15 PM
Review recent claims trends impacting the manufac turing/industrial industry and address ways your busi ness can improve their cyber hygiene. A cyber risk as sessment will be generated for a lucky volunteer in the audience to demonstrate the value of this report and resources it can provide for your organization and IT.
George Forrester Partner
AHT Insurance, a Baldwin Risk Partner
W-20052); and the Contract Packaging Association (Booth N-4518)
The Forum schedule is listed below. Updates may be found on the PACK EXPO Internationl App or the show website.
Attendees also may participate in several other free educational offerings, in cluding: the Innovation Stage (Booth N-4560, N-4580, N-4585) plus the new Processing Innovation Stage (Booth LU-7130) (see schedule, p. 28); the PACK to the Future Stage (Booth W-20025) (see schedule, p. 18); and the new Industry Speaks (Booth N-4565) (see schedule, p. 24). The Reusable Packaging Learning Center (Booth LU-6737) also will present educational sessions.
For more info, visit www.PACKEXPOinternational.com. SD
Michael Carr
Head of Risk Engineering North America & Canada Coalition
2:30-3:15 PM
The 2022 PMMI Report Robots and Cobots: An Au tomated Future explores the growth in the robotics in dustry that has occurred since the 2019 Robotics Re port. The report delves into the industries expanding their use of robots, where in operations robot-based solutions are being deployed, and how industry trends and advancing technology are shaping the use of ro bots at manufacturers. Included in the analysis is an examination of the capabilities, features and services that manufacturers expect from robotic solutions. The robot revolution has arrived in manufacturing and PMMI is here to support members navigating the growing market of robot-based solutions.
3:30-4:15 PM
Latest packaging trends. Sustainability trends. Con venience and other trends. Overview of WorldStar Winners 2022.
10:30-11:15 AM
Using data from our State of the Industry Report and our RFQ platform, we will take a dive into the chang ing demands of emerging brands as well as legacy brands seeking to launch new food and CPG retail products. Explore how CoMan and CoPacks add value as con
sumer and market-driven needs are moving the packaged goods supply chain. Learn how the newest, innovative products have become the key opportunites for CoMans. Data identifies these new products and explains how are they being packaged and the challenges these fledging brands are facing getting product to market. See how emerging brands are adapting to meet new challenges with strategic CoMan and CoPack partnerships.
Ron Puvak Exec Dir Contract Packaging Association11:30-12:15 PM
The packaging sector is growing at an astonishing rate, making it all the more important that materials used are suitably sustainable. Packaging materials are very visible to the consumer. There are growing pressures from con sumers, retailers, packaging suppliers, regulators and en vironmental groups to develop environmentally friendly packaging. In addition, end-of-life processes need to improve packaging sustainability by reducing its soci etal and environmental impacts. The hugely significant and growing trend toward sustainability is an important influence on the packaging industry. Consumers are de manding more sustainable systems, which are formalized and publicized in the media. The result is that sustain ability has become a necessity for attracting consumers and protecting market share. It is now an expectation, not simply an identifier. Packaging, and more so plastic packaging, is receiving intense focus and scrutiny, result ing in significant advances in sustainability. However, this has been a challenging process. Hear about what can solve the global packaging issue and make our planet more sustainable.
Prof Pierre Pienaar President World Packaging Organisation (WPO)1:30-2:15 PM
Gain the latest foresight into the future of automation in packaging, processing and distribution. This recent
ly published insight covers the challenges facing CPG companies and the innovative automated solutions being explored by the industry.
2:30-3:15 PM
Do you know what to do once you’ve discovered you’ve been hit by ransomware? What if your industrial con trol system has been taken over by hackers and your machinery is shut down? In this session, we’ll talk about what happens once a cybersecurity breach has occurred and cover a variety of incident response sce narios to empower you to be prepared.
Andy Lomasky Dir of IT PMMI
3:30-4:15 PM
Why do some emergent brands successfully partner with external manufacturing and packaging firms while others struggle or completely fail? Why have some relationships flourished post-COVID, while others have floundered? Delve into six traits of high ly successful emergent brand/contract manufacturing relationships. With a nod to Stephen Covey, session examines the specifics and the fundamentals of suc cessful relationships, as well as a few flameouts. Hear about best practices and learn how to increase the val ue of these vital, evolving supply chain relationships.
Melville Group on behalf of Contract Packaging Association
10:30-11:15 AM
Today’s packaging lines are increasingly more com plex and expensive, so ensuring performance is more critical than ever. This hands-on session will give par ticipants insight into getting the most out of their existing packaging lines by applying straightforward
line-balancing techniques, combined with the infor mation already available from the machines. Learn how to keep your bottleneck machine running, recog nize starved and blocked conditions and how to man age your machine speeds to ensure optimum perfor mance. Learn how the PackML standard makes this performance information readily available to use.
11:30-12:15 PM
Cybersecurity is increasingly important in day-to-day manufacturing. IT and OT have the same end goal— to keep plants safe. However, their differing priorities sometimes clash. Learn the differences and how to help make a safer, more secure plant floor.
Daniel Maeyaert VP, Manufacturing Operations Fallas Automation SD
Intralox (Booth S-1747) expands its U.S. opera tions with a move to a built-to-suit 310,000-sq.ft. (28,800-sq.-m) facility at Tradepoint Atlantic, a 3,300-acre (13.4-sq.-km) global logistics center in Sparrows Point, MD.
The new facility, Intralox’s third expansion in the Baltimore area since 2019, increases its East Coast footprint by 70%, boosts production space and in ventory capacity and includes a state-of-the-art wellness center for employees. The location provides connectivity to regional and global markets with its proximity to the Port of Baltimore and major inter state highways, plus onsite rail access.
The physical expansion in Baltimore is driven by strong growth in Intralox’s Logistics & Material Han dling (LMH) Business Unit. The added footprint ad
dresses the need for an expanded industrial machinery operation with focus on parcel automation equipment for parcel, postal, eCommerce and distribution customers.
“Another exciting expansion in Baltimore is not only attributed to the global growth in eCommerce and par cel handling but should also be attributed to the hard work and innovation of our people,” says Derek Lester, Intralox LMH business unit manager. “We look for ward to growing our team in the Baltimore area.”
Founded in 1971, Intralox is headquartered in Harahan, LA, with locations in North America, the Netherlands, China, the U.K., Brazil, Australia, Japan and India. The company employs more than 3,000 team members around the world and serves 60,000 customers in 100+ countries.
For more info, visit www.intralox.com. SD
ith a record-setting 2021 behind it, groninger (Booth W-18001) prepares to address a high order backlog and expanding demand from the pharmaceutical, consumer healthcare and cosmetics indus tries for its filling and closing machines.
A new storage and logistics center, including a fully automated small parts and high-bay warehouse, is operational at the company’s headquarters in Crailsheim, Germany. The automated high-bay warehouse for pallets, built with three aisles and a capacity of 3,100 storage spaces, can be expanded by two more aisles to a maximum capacity of 5,200 storage bays.
The automated small parts warehouse was designed for almost 13,000 con tainers. If needed, an additional 5,000 parking spaces can be added.
The new facilities represent an investment of more than €20 million, the larg est single investment in the more than 40-year history of the company. The expan sion at the Crailsheim site continues in fiscal 2022 with preparatory work for a new assembly hall.
For more info, visit www. groninger-group.com. SD
A new storage and logistics center with a fully automated small parts and high-bay warehouse helps groninger meet rising demand for its filling and closing systems.
Renewable, monomaterial films advance efforts to establish a Circular Economy, reduce carbon footprint and maximize recyclability while de livering functional features. The films, under development by ITP, parent company of ITP USA (Booth W-21027), offer gloss, transparency and shrink properties for use in shrink bags. Reduced gauge conserves resources.
The company’s product portfolio also includes Cyclos-certified monomateri al, recyclable film and certified-compostable film.
ITP, a Benefit Company, specializes in customized products, is working to ward a Zero Waste environment and strongly supports students. Its Academy ITP gives a select group of young people hands-on experience in the company laboratory.
All ITP films and its 100,000-sq.-m plant have achieved International Sustainability and Carbon Certification known as ISCC Plus, which ensures bio-circularity throughout the supply chain.
ITP is taking steps to effectively measure the carbon footprint of its products and processes to pursue a constant reduction, and to contribute, within its sphere of action, to the achievement of the sustainable development goals outlined in the U.N.’s 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and taken from the 2019 European Green Deal
For more info, visit www.itpusa.us. SD
Dedicating certain areas of the show floor to pavilions devoted to specific technologies, verticals or business concerns helps attendees quickly lo cate, compare and contrast what their organization needs.
This year’s show features several pavilions. The Processing Zone, joined for the first time at PACK EXPO International by the Processing Innovation Stage (Booth LU-7130) (see schedule, p. 28), returns to present the latest break throughs in processing. It’s on the upper level of Lakeside Center.
New this year, The Healthcare Packaging Pavilion in the West Hall is devoted to innovations for pharmaceuticals, biopharmaceuticals, nutraceuticals and medi cal devices. With 70,000 sq. ft. of exhibits, it’s a life sciences show within the show.
Another newcomer is The Logistics Pavilion in the North Building. With the boom in eCommerce, it is the place to find targeted solutions related to the supply chain, including warehousing, fulfillment, distribution logistics services and transportation providers.
Returning favorites include the Containers and Materials Pavilion, a prime destination for attendees looking for innovative containers and materials to meet sustainability goals, refresh a brand or launch new products. This pavil ion in the West Building also houses award-nominated packaging solutions in The Showcase of Packaging Innovations® (Booth W-20052), sponsored by WestRock (Booth S-2130)
The Confectionery Pavilion at the back of the South Hall highlights candy trends and technologies. Visit the Candy Bar Lounge (Booth S-2583) for some casual networking and idea sharing. It’s hosted by the National Confectioners As sociation and sponsored by Syntegon Packaging Technology (Booth S-3514)
The PACKage Printing Pavilion features digital printing and converting, labeling, coding and marking technologies. It’s located in the South Building.
The Reusable Packaging Pavilion, sponsored by the Reusable Packaging Association (Booth LU-6737), showcases reusable packaging solutions to help reduce waste, cut costs and gain supply chain efficiency. The pavilion houses nearly 50 exhibitors, as well as the Reusable Packaging Learning Center and its roster of educational sessions.
The Education and Workforce Development Pavilion (Booth N-4550) in the North Building is PACK EXPO International’s one-stop-shop for resources to strengthen and grow the workforce.
The nearby Association Partner Pavilion (see story, p. 22) houses leading as sociations dedicated to advancing packaging and processing and offering signif icant resources, insights and expertise in a central location.
For more info, visit www.PACKEXPOinternational.com. SD
In addition to applying digital twins for research and development, virtual commissioning and training purposes, A.G. Stacker uses the tech nology to demonstrate value as proof-of-concept to potential customers on a digital journey.
A.G. Stacker, a leader in the custom manufac turing industry, engineers line solutions and manu factures custom industrial machinery for corrugated material stacking and handling operations. The com pany partnered with Siemens Digital Industries (Booth N-5148) to enhance its design and manufac turing processes and to elevate the training experi ence for its end-user equipment operators.
As personnel developed these digital twins, they quickly realized they could also use the modeling and simulation capabilities to improve on the sales and purchasing experience for themselves and their end-user customers.
A.G. Stacker’s partnership with Siemens show cases five primary benefits of using digital twins.
Mechanical design validation provides the ability to see how a machine will work prior to its phys ical creation. Running a simulation, stakeholders can determine how well a machine will accomplish its intended purposes before getting too deep into design and fabrication. Designers and developers can discover issues, adjust mechanical and electrical components and tune automation logic in the initial stages of development to prevent equipment bottle necks and other problems down the road.
Virtual commissioning ties in models and factory automation tools, bridging the mechanical and au tomation worlds. Virtual commissioning allows the OEM to validate automation logic and component
behavior of the machine prior to the completion of machine assembly. Virtual commissioning provides A.G. Stacker with faster time-to-market, while re ducing error costs and risks.
A.G. Stacker is innovating its entire scope of ma chines with Siemens digital twin technology, beck oning in a digital future with automation compo nents adapted to new technologies.
A.G. Stacker set out to change the machine de sign and training landscape. It recognized the impact it could make on the entire machine-buying journey from concept to implementation by easing the training process for machine builders and enhancing operation al capabilities and know-how for end users.
End users now visualize and learn how to operate their custom machines in the simulation environment just a few months into the machine-building phase. Operators interact with software-in-the-loop, using the actual human/machine interface (HMI) hardware of a real machine, providing a realistic environment for learning to control the machine effectively. The digital twin training station runs simulated PLC code with a real HMI interface so operators can learn how to posi tion motion axes and run product without fear of jam ming a real machine. Should a jam occur in the simu lation, the user can quickly “clear” material, and begin training again with a clean slate, helping familiarize and provide operator confidence.
As a machine builder’s sales tool, prototyping al lows potential buyers to “try before they buy.” This early machine visualization allows potential end us ers to make better-informed decisions about exact machine specifications for their applications. Once a favorable model is identified, the machine builder
can quickly pivot from the proof-of-concept model to ordering components, assembling machinery and writing code.
At a project’s outset, electrical and mechanical engineers use design software—such as Siemens NX Mechatronic Concept Designer (NX MCD)—to prototype quickly.
Digital twin technology provides end users with a proof of concept for new materials and products before they commit, thereby ensuring their require ments can be met by the machine. This eases new setup and reduces material waste and downtime, in creasing speed to market. When tuned throughout the design, deployment and operation phases of the project life cycle, this model continuously provides insights to improve efficiency.
For more info, visit www.usa.siemens.com/packaging. SD
Editor’s Note: This article was written by Joe Wunder, president, A.G. Stacker.
There is more to the sweet delicacies from Anatolia than just Turkish honey: Tören, the confectionery manufacturer, is also based in the southern part of the country. The com pany’s products are so well-received by customers that the packaging process had to become faster and more efficient.
To keep pace with the growing demand, Tören decided to purchase a packaging system from Schubert, parent company of Schubert North America (Booth W-19008, LU-8730), a specialist in top-loading machine (TLM) technology. The ro bot-assisted solution combines two case packers in a single line and offers the flexibility required for nu merous product formats. With the newly developed automated packaging system, Tören saves up to 25% in material.
degree of flexibility for future cartons, Tören con tacted Adnan Akman, the sales account manager at Schubert and explained the exacting requirements: Tören wanted to pack up to 1,600 products/min. “The reason that flexibility was so important is that Tören supplies so many different markets,” Akman explains. At least five different formats are required to satisfy all packaging requirements and custom er needs. “Of course, the format changeover had to take place as quickly as possible so that the opera tion would not be at a standstill for too long,” adds Akman. And finally, it was necessary to fit the pack aging machine into a relatively small space in the production area.
The Turkish confectionery producer is a prime example of global growth: Since its founding in 2003, the Anatolian company has prospered steadi ly—and is catching up with long-established in dustry giants year after year. But growth also calls for change: The more sales of the chocolate treats increased, the more it became necessary for the packaging process to achieve the desired throughputs.
Today, the company’s products are exported worldwide. And the required quantities of chocolate bars, wafers, co conut bars and chocolate creams could no longer be managed manually. In their search for an automated and highly flex ible system, the management team, led by company founder and Managing Di rector Mehmet Tören, found what they were looking for in Germany—more precisely at Schubert in Crailsheim.
To be able to pack the chocolate wafers and bars in flowpacks quickly, efficiently and with a high
The Schubert engineers recommended taking on the challenge from two sides: on one hand, with a complete redesign of the cartons and on the oth er, with an integrated system that includes two case packers. “To automate packaging, we discarded the previous solution of pre-glued boxes, and we devel oped new cartons,” Akman explains. “Because the case packer is very accurate and requires only small tolerances on the cartons, we can use tighter blanks and reduce the amount of packaging material,” he adds. The two-in-one line design was primarily in tended to save space and offer flexibility: Both case packers act independently. During his visits to the company’s headquarters, Akman explained to the management the high level of flexibility and efficien cy the TLM line would contribute to the packaging of chocolate products. “I succeeded in convincing Mehmet [and his brothers], Erol and Zeki . . . of our unmatched modular machine concept,” says Akman. The new packaging machine has been in operation in Gaziantep, Anatolia, since November 2019.
Schubert’s space-saving solution packs the prod ucts in only four machine frames and includes erect ing, filling and sealing. Modern robot technology and two Transmodul lines raise efficiency to a high level. The two case packers in the TLM system are fed independent ly of each other by two existing flow-wrapping machines.
First, the chocolate products are sorted into two grouping chains in the new line. In parallel, an F2 robot erects the boxes and places them alternately onto one of the two separate Trans modul sections. The transport robots, developed by Schubert, seamlessly link the individual process steps in the packaging line and ensure efficiency. Each Transmodul section includes one grouping
chain and one F2 filling robot. The transport robots bring the erected boxes to their filling station. There, the line decides whether the respective partial line is to be used further. If the associated flow-wrapping machine is at a standstill, the cartons are not filled and the Transmodul waits until products are sup plied again. “This ensures that there are always boxes ready to be filled on both lines,” Akman explains.
At the end of the process, an F2 closing robot closes the boxes alternately from both Transmodul sections. The filled and closed boxes are then dis charged. “If the filling robots ever lose a product, a vacuum monitor sounds the alarm,” Akman adds. In this case, the incompletely filled carton is sorted out to ensure flawless packaging quality. Due to process integration with the help of the Transmodul and the intelligent machine control, the entire system adjusts fully automatically to the output of the flow-wrap ping machines. This ensures Tören an efficient and consistent production process.
Prior to automation, the numerous manual steps involved in packaging the Tören treats caused delays. The pre-glued boxes for manual erection were also expensive. So, Schubert’s packaging development team designed new cartons with tighter cuts for automated packaging. In practice, this means high resource efficiency. “We’re talking about material savings of 15% to 25% on up to six million cartons a year,” highlights Akman. Tören therefore not only benefits from a quick packaging process with high performance, it also reduces environmental impact with the robot-assisted system. The equipment also accommodates other formats and product sizes. A format changeover takes only 10 to 15 min., and a single employee can operate the entire system.
A dynamic duo Turkish chocolate producer packs with clever two-in-one system.
The management in Gaziantep is pleased with the efficiency of the solution. “Two machines in one—when I look at the system in action, I know that we made the right decision,” says Mehmet Tören. In fact, the company founder vis its production practically every day and is delighted with the modern TLM ma chine, which fits perfectly into the manufacturing environment with its compact dimensions. His satisfaction with the line is confirmed by the plan to continue the collaboration. “We have already ordered three more machines from Schubert for packaging our products,” reports Tören.
Compact machine
with
to 25%
Tören promises his customers the “Taste of Happiness.” The company has only existed since 2003, but since then the promise has been kept every day. Eleven years after its founding, production had to be increased to satisfy the growing demand. Tören now exports products such as chocolate bars, wafers, coconut bars and chocolate cream to 50 countries. For more information, visit www.schubert.group. SD
As the market leader in spiral conveyors in the packaging industry we think of solutions for elevating and accumulating packed items. It’s what we do. At AmbaFlex it’s not just about building the right equipment, it’s about developing a special solution for you. Here’s to spiral conveying.
Elevators & Accumulators for primary and secondary packaging handling.
Syntegon offers certified CO ₂ calculation for machine portfolio.
Syntegon, parent company of Syntegon Pack aging Technology (Booth S-3514), offers companies in the pharmaceutical and food in dustries full transparency on the carbon (CO₂) foot print of its machines with a software-based approach certified by TÜV Rheinland, a German Association for technical inspection.
The calculation, which was developed by Syn tegon, covers parameters such as electricity, com pressed air, media and packaging materials. Both packaging and processing equipment can be exam ined with this flexible methodology. It relates the defined parameters to the individual CO₂ emissions, identifying consumption in a holistic and applica tion-specific manner.
“Our analysis covers the machines’ lifecycle from manufacture and transport to use. The latter accounts for around two-thirds of the entire equipment life cycle,” explains Steffen Carbon, responsible for eco-friendly product design at Syntegon. “With the collected data, we effectively support customers in improving their machines and processes in terms of sustainable production and cost reduction.”
Syntegon developed the methodology in 2021, also with its own sustainability goals in mind. By 2025, the company wants to reduce the con sumption of particularly energy-intensive equip
ment by 25% and reduce overall consumption to be low industry standards for 80% of its own machine portfolio. Consumption plays a central role across the entire lifecycle of a machine: More than two-thirds of the CO₂ footprint is generated in the operational phase. The newly developed calculation is part of the so-called Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), an evalua tion of machine data across the entire life cycle.
In 2021, Syntegon initiated an LCA project to record the CO₂ emissions of its machines and re duce them in the long term. “We are extending our offer by another important module. It enables our customers to achieve their sustainability goals,” explains Marc Braeuninger, respon sible for quality management and product compliance at Syntegon. “By knowing the exact consumption and emissions of our ma chines, we can optimize them continuously and make a further contribution to greater sustainability.”
The demand for this kind of evaluation is particularly high among pharmaceutical companies, Braeuninger explains. Syntegon also participates in a working group of the German engineering association VDMA to help describe the methodology for CO₂ calcu lation in mechanical engineering.
Syntegon tested a model of its consumption analysis in autumn 2021 on the Elematic 3001 case packer and the GKF 720 capsule-filling machine.
The company presented the results of the test phase at the Expo Lounges 2022 in Karlsruhe, Germany. The certification by TÜV Rheinland followed in July 2022.
Data aggregation and preparation conform with common international standards such as ISO 14067 and enable the use of the calculation model beyond the test equipment. “Our approach allows us to ex amine all machines in our portfolio, as well as vari ous production scenarios, on demand, and thus gain further insights into CO₂ values beyond the pilot phase,” Carbon emphasizes.
For data collection and analysis, Syntegon relies on tested software from the Institute for Environ mental Informatics (ifu) in Hamburg, Germany, and a comprehensive database from the Zurich-based nonprofit, ecoinvent. Along with other initiatives, the development helped Syntegon improve from Bronze to Silver in the EcoVadis sustainability rat ing in 2022. Syntegon now ranks among the 25% most sustainable companies with more than 1,000 employees assessed by EcoVadis.
Despite the successful pilot phase and certifica tion, the LCA is still at an early stage. In the coming months and years, Syntegon intends to expand its service portfolio continuously and will work toward identifying consumption and CO₂ values that will provide end users with useful information on how to reduce emissions and support them in their CO₂ reporting.
Internal use of the generated data will be intensi fied, for example, in the new or further development of machines for the pharmaceutical and food indus tries. For Syntegon, the direct cooperation with end users is crucial: “We need to apply the calculation models in concrete projects to optimize them for customer-specific use—to the benefit of both sides,” Carbon concludes.
For more info, visit www.syntegon.com.
Arevolutionary stand-up pouch (SUP) pro duction system cuts setup and changeover time, while simplifying operation and pro viding process stability for consistent, verifiable product quality.
On display for the first time, the redesigned Mod el 760-SUP system from CMD (Booth LU-8118) combines process reliability, ease of use and quick changeovers in a robust machine. It also reduces waste. Daily demonstrations showcase its operation.
“As the pouch industry continues to grow, SKUs proliferate, new sustainable materials come online and customers expect a flexible converter to meet their needs,” says Scott Fuller, CMD’s product line manager for Pouch and Intermittent-Motion Equipment. “We worked with our customers to finetune our high-performance system to adapt to new expectations.”
From the smaller, space-saving footprint, which also saves up to 20 ft. of material on thread-up, the 760-SUP machine hits all the efficiency buttons, in cluding the following, based on 2021/2022 field re search and customer reports:
• 25% less material setup waste
• 2% or less run waste on average
• 50% reduced setup time
• 90% uptime efficiency
• New SKU or new product changeovers in 30 min. to 2 hr.
Unique technology provides the industry’s most stable and repeatable process for the highest reli ability in web handling, sealing and pouch quality. Fuller recalls, “When we talked to customers about reliability, it was clear the expectation was consistent equipment performance and quality pouches pro duced efficiently. Our new design is laser-focused on delivering this kind of reliability.”
With a design based on operator input, the 760SUP machine is simple to learn and train on. Clear, intuitive color touchscreen operator interface, fast and easy mechanical adjustments and straightfor ward accessibility ensure more uptime and high
product quality. Part of the overall operational ex perience is maintenance, and the new design offers quick, logical, predictive maintenance to reduce scheduled and unplanned downtime.
The 760-SUP machine emphasizes accessibility and simplicity with the right amount of technical sophistication to help predict when maintenance will be needed to avoid breakdowns and stoppages.
SKU proliferation and the resulting short runs put a special emphasis on changeover time. Straight forward accessibility, quick-change features, and simple, precise adjustments drastically cut downtime.
“The new design offers an efficient, compact foot print and smooth, quiet operation,” says Fuller. “Best of all, the efficiencies and enhanced technology allow the CMD 760-SUP to offer the best ROI in the industry.”
For more info, visit www.cmd-corp.com. SD
The Raptor is a highly accurate, fully integrated checkweighing system, specifically designed for high care food production environments.
The Raptor is employed to verify the weight of each product and reject non-conforming packs. The system has been designed, engineered, and constructed to the highest care/food grade engineering standards. It is capable of processing packaged products up to 8 kg.
Winners in each category will be announced Tuesday.
Exhibitors nominated many candidates for the 2022 Technology Excellence Awards (TEAs). This group was narrowed down to three finalists in each category, and attendees at PACK EXPO International will select the winners.
Voting continues through noon on Tuesday, Oct. 25. Winners will be announced after noon on Tuesday. There are three ways to vote: onsite at the Attendee Solutions Center in the North Hall Concourse and Lakeside Upper Hall Lobby; on the PACK EXPO International mobile App, sponsored by ProMach (Booth N-5534, N-5540); and online.
Finalists, described below, were chosen by the TEA Panel:
• Aaron Hand, editor-in-chief, ProFood World (Booth N-4550)
• Jane Chase, executive director, Institute of Packaging Professionals (Booth N-4523, W-20052)
• Keren Sookne, director of Editorial Content, Healthcare Packaging (Booth N-4550)
• Matt Reynolds, editor, Packaging World (Booth N-4550)
• Ron Puvak, executive director, Contract Packaging Association (Booth N-4518)
The Maxpack MFT 7 Ultimate Range machine is both rugged and versatile. Engineered on Maxpack’s signature 360-degree open-frame design and built using a multi-format technology to work in dry, hu mid and frozen environments, the machine can form rollstock into a wide array of bag formats includ ing pillow, side gusset, flat-bottom, INNO-LOCK® and EZ-Stand®.
rience for cold-fill and aseptic beverages, including still water and functional drinks. When opened for drinking or pouring, the closure is placed adjacent to the neck at a wide angle, ensuring consumer con venience and easy reclosing. Because the closure re mains with the bottle, caps are less likely to become litter or plastic waste.
The tethered closure stays attached after the tamper-evident band has been broken. The design enhances the recyclability of the closure while of fering a convenient and comfortable drinking expe
In 2021, Anheuser-Busch InBev set the goal of developing a highly sustainable beer crate for one brand. Since this brand has a strong focus on pro tecting the natural world, especially the oceans, high-density polyethylene (HDPE) regrind with recycled plastic from the maritime industry, which includes fishing lines, nets and ropes, was recom mended. The Corona 20-pocket beer crate consists of at least 91% recycled plastic with a minimum of 20% maritime waste. AB InBev’s most sustainable packaging to date, the beer crate is the first on the market to use maritime industry waste plastic.
Amcor Clear Anti-Grease Jerky Pouch from Amcor Flexibles North America (Booth S-3705, S-3814)
With clear, anti-grease film, beef jerky and oth er meat snacks can power up shelf appeal and gain a competitive advantage. The breakthrough formula prevents grease droplets and smears from appearing on the package surface and eliminates “scratched” windows caused by fatty buildups in the jerky. As a result, brands can significantly enlarge clear product windows, unleashing design possibilities. Because the grease is managed, jerky snacks look leaner, healthier and more delicious.
through a specially engineered combination of select food-grade polymers and process innovation, the film is free from any taste or odor transfer and offers exceptional strength, tackiness and see-through clar ity. The film reliably overwraps a variety of food con tainers without any film entanglement and assures zero spillage.
A recyclable PE-based foodservice film provides an alternative to polyvinyl chloride while emulating its characteristics and functionality. Manufactured
IMA Ilapak Vegatronic 6400 vertical bag ging machine from IMA (Booth S-2514)
The continuous-motion vertical bagger delivers sanitary design, accessibility, fast changeover and overall equipment effectiveness with full open-frame design; IP66- through IP69K-rated electrical com ponents; AISI 304 stainless steel film reel carriage, rollers and bearings; sloped cabinet tops and splicing table; inclined forming tube support; and European Hygienic Engineering & Design Group-compliant electric panel. Efficiency has been enhanced via a more user-friendly human/machine interface, vacuum-as sisted splicing table, swivel-arm-mounted forming tube and pneumatically activated film reel shaft.
CueSee Mix dual-chamber device from Eurotrol (Booth W-13027)
The patented unit for storing liquids/powdered/ lyophilized components eliminates the need to man ually combine or dilute product components for in vitro diagnostic, pharmaceutical and cosmetic prod ucts. The dual-chamber device separates fractions, preventing premature reactions between components and enhancing ease of use and safety. A simple twist ing motion allows the previously separated compo nents to combine. After mixing via a “static stirrer,” the product is ready to use via the integrated dropper bottle or aspiration into a syringe.
tures include compatibility with high-quality graph ics for excellent product recognition. The material also offers a high degree of flexibility, optimum han dling and high throughput on packaging equipment.
Amcor’s High-Barrier PCR Pouchstock contains up to 30% post-consumer recycled (PCR) content, which is restricted to the exterior layer of the lami nate. There is no PCR in the product-contact sealant film layer, and the material has FDA clearance. Fea
A microwave-based approach to capsule check weighing ensures correct dosing. Typically located after the capsule filling machine and/or before pack
aging, conventional capsule checkweighers are large, require multiple, parallel mechanical weighing cells to achieve desired throughput, are sensitive to vibra tions and require the capsule to be stationary for the measurement. The microwave-based unit overcomes these drawbacks with a high-speed 50,000 capsule/ hr. channel. The vibration-tolerant, compact, stack able form factor can be integrated on filling or pack aging machines.
The high-speed ClipCombo machine quickly changes over between two paper-based multipack styles. The machine range includes:
• KeelClip™ and EnviroClip™ paper-based clips for can multipacks
• GripClip™ and EnviroClip™ paper-based clips for can multipacks
• Cap-It™ and EnviroClip™ paper-based clips for polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottle multi packs
The PPWLN breakfast at PACK EXPO will feature Dawn Hudson, former President and CEO of Pepsi Cola North America and former Chief Marketing Officer of the National Football League. Drawing on her diverse experiences, Hudson will share winning business strategies, and tips for elevating your professional game.
WHEN: Tuesday, October 25; 7:30-9:00 am WHERE: Room S-100
The recycle-ready medical device pouch con sists of a PE-based laminate paired with uncoated Tyvek®. The laminate material combines two propri etary technologies: oriented PE film and EZ peel® sealant film. The all-PE structure is recycle-ready in the PE film stream. The pouch’s physical properties are comparable to the common polyester/PE lami nates currently used in healthcare applications.
The recyclable Wave lock-up atmospheric dis penser represents a more sustainable pump for per sonal-care products. Made from 100% polyolefin, with no metal parts, the RecyClass-A-rated dispens er is recyclable when paired with a PET bottle and where appropriate facilities exist. It will be available with up to 70% PCR content that will be inde pendently evaluated by the FDA. The design consists of only eight components instead of 12 to 14. Robust construction earned it ISTA 6 certification. Com patible with highly viscous formulations, it can be adapted to different actuator styles and closure sizes.
For more info, visit www. PACKEXPOinternational.com. SD
Delivering Results. With
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Shredded cheese now has a recyclable flexible packaging option. AmPrima™ PE Plus film from Amcor Flexibles North America (Booth S-3705, S-3814) combines performance equivalent to traditionally used difficult-to-recycle, mixed-ma terial laminations with a recycle-ready structure compatible with the flexible polyethylene (PE) re cycling stream.
• Specific barriers to preserve the product
• Easy-to-open fitments that can withstand high-temperature sealing and avoid leakers
• The ability to run on high-speed production lines
• Optimized shelf appeal.
Until now, only mixed-material films have been able to achieve these objectives. However, multi-ma terial structures are hard to recycle and prevent brand
owners from reaching sustainability goals.
Amcor’s AmPrima PE Plus heat-resistant, re cycle-ready laminate for stand-up pouches for shredded cheese combines performance with recy clability. Pre-qualified for the How2Recycle® la bel for applications that meet the clean-and-dry requirement, the more sustainable film and zipper combination withstands sealing temperatures of up to 300 F without film distortion. Excellent heat resistance of the outer web improves hermeticity to prevent leakage.
Packs have passed shelf-life tests achieving water vapor transmission rates (WVTR) of 0.5g/sq. m/day and oxygen transmission rates (OTR) of 0.03 cubic centimeter (cc)/sq. m/day (0.5 cc/100 sq. in./day). [Test conditions: WVTR 100 F, 90% RH at 1 atmo sphere (atm); OTR: 73 F, 0% RH at 1 atm]
Testing also has shown the material matches the 45 cycle/min. run speeds achieved with a non-re cyclable oriented polyester (OPET) laminate to achieve rates of up to 135 pouches/min. in triplex mode (three pouches/cycle). The drop-in solution can run at high speeds on any packaging machine, existing or new.
Tear and stiffness are comparable to OPET alter natives. Those properties. along with the availabili ty of IntegraScore® or laser score opening features, provide an easy-open experience for consumers.
Compatibility with registered matte printing yields finishes that reproduce high-quality graphics that match or exceed existing shelf impact.
According to an Amcor ASSET™ life-cycle as sessment measuring the production and manufacture of an AmPrima PE Plus film compared to current market offerings (48-gauge OPET/PE/ethylene vi nyl alcohol-PE-metallocene linear-low-density PE), AmPrima PE Plus film, when recycled, delivers:
• 75% reduction in non-renewable energy use
• 58% reduction in carbon footprint
• 54% reduction in water consumption.
The result of many years of research, Amcor’s AmPrima portfolio provides packaging designed to be recycled, if clean and dry, through existing store drop-offs or curbside where available. The portfolio is designed to meet end user requirements against multiple performance criteria, such as stiffness and strength, clarity, line speeds, fitment requirements, graphics and print finishes.
For more info, visit www.amcor.com. SD
The patent-pending FlexiBulk high-pres sure-pasteurization (HPP) system from JBT-Avure (Booth LU-7118) offers the flexibility of treating individually packaged products and food and beverage bulk products simultaneously.
As a result, it can handle products in multiple packaging formats including cans and reusable bags, bottles and cartons. The FlexiBulk system also is said to be the fastest and most efficient bulk HPP ma chine in the world with fill speeds up to 55 gal./min.
“The FlexiBulk is a game-changer for the food pro cessing industry, hands down,” states Dr. Ryan Pereira, president of JBT-Avure. “Not only does the FlexiBulk process both in-package and bulk food and beverage products simultaneously, but it’s also the fastest and the most efficient bulk HPP machine in the world.”
due to improved packing density, 90% for liquid bulk fills, resulting in better throughput. We are making HPP more sustainable with the FlexiBulk’s capacity for multiple eco-friendly container options, such as cans and glass, not normally available to HPP. This reduces plastic waste in the environment, and the HPP reusable bags can be recycled. The FlexiBulk
delivers the maximum in HPP flexibility—the abil ity to run bulk and in-package products in the same cycle. This has never been done before. Ultimately, the FlexiBulk’s capacity, sustainability and flexibili ty benefit food and beverage companies, processors, HPP tollers and consumers.”
For more info, visit www.avure-hpp-foods.com. SD
The FlexiBulk system fills and unfills outside the HPP press, which means it can fill bags, in baskets, while other bags are being pressed and unfilled. These steps can be done simultaneously, resulting in higher throughput.
With a traditional HPP machine, these steps are done in series, so the bladder cannot be filled or un filled while the product is being pressurized.
“During the pandemic, we’ve seen increased in terest in HPP from both consumers and food com panies,” reports Lisa Wessels, marketing director at JBT-Avure. “Now, consumers have an increased em phasis on health and are demanding, more than ever, clean-label, natural, healthy, fresh foods and beverag es,” she adds. “For food and beverage manufacturers, simply put, HPP extends the shelf lives of natural products. An extended shelf life not only helps with the fast-growing direct-to-consumer market and stressed supply chain capacity, but also allows food and beverage companies to grow market share due to longer shelf-life.”
Pereira concludes, “Our new patent-pending FlexiBulk achieves three strong wins: capacity, sus tainability and flexibility. Our increased capacity is
Lenze Americas (Booth N-5239) is sponsor ing lounges for exhibitors and members of PMMI, The Association for Packaging and Processing Technologies (Booth N-4550), the pro ducer of PACK EXPO International.
“With so much growth and change in the indus try and the multitude of new features in Chicago,
this year ensures a very busy show floor; these loung es will be a sought-after commodity offering exhib itors and PMMI members a place to rest their feet and recharge,” says Jim Pittas, president and CEO, PMMI. “We are grateful to Lenze for supporting this resource again this year.”
The lounges provide meeting space, seating, re
freshments and a chance to take a break away from the busy show floor. “Lenze recognizes how import ant it is for members and exhibitors to have a space to recharge between networking with attendees in their booths, and we are proud that we are able to sponsor these lounges again this year,” says Susan Duval, senior marketing communications manager, Lenze Americas.
Lenze is sponsoring four Exhibitor Lounges (Room E-251, N-229, S-405a and W-470a) and two PMMI Member Lounges (Room N-227b and S-402ab). Lounges are open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. today and to morrow and from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Wednesday.
For more info, visit www.PACKEXPOinternational.com. SD
Let Turck tackle whatever packaging automation challenges you are facing. Our wide range of reliable automation solutions – including sensors, industrial cordsets, distributed I/O products, and RFID stand up to the toughest packaging and processing environments. From improving highspeed cap and can detection to cost-effective machine control with a combined HMI/PLC, or more rugged washdown-rated cables, Turck has a solution. Can’t find what you are looking for? Choose from our wide range of custom options.
Domino North America (Booth S-3506) ranks as one of the Best Places to Work in Illinois. The 2022 recognition is Domino’s seventh straight annual acknowledgement in the Me dium employer category (100-399 U.S. employees).
This statewide survey and awards program, estab lished by The Daily Herald Business Ledger, identifies, recognizes and honors the best places of employ ment in Illinois.
“It has been a challenging two years to say the least, and the te nacity and focus from our employ ees has been re markable to wit ness,” says Chris Boll, director of Human Resources, Domino North America. He adds, “While pivoting from remote working to managing individual chal lenges at home, somehow our team remained com mitted to our customers. They showed up, they did so with integrity and a new level of authenticity. We have received many awards here at Domino North America, but this one, directed by our employees, is our most cherished. We are truly honored that our employees allow us to be a part of their lives and deem Domino North America worthy of their time and energy.”
For more info, visit www.domino-na.com. SD
Workforce development effort aims to close STEM skills gap.
Apartnership between PMMI, The Associa tion for Packaging and Processing Tech nologies (Booth N-4550), and Festo Di dactic North America, a subsidiary of Festo (Booth N-6213), seeks to support PMMI members and educators nationwide with advanced technical edu cation, hands-on training and certifications to close the STEM skills gap. Together, the two organiza
tions bring highly customizable training options to packaging and processing companies.
“Packaging and processing is a uniquely innovative industry, with endless career opportunities—but we are seeing the skills gap continue to grow. This collabora tion presents a significant opportunity to provide crit ical resources to PMMI members and educators who need support to meet the technical workforce needs of
the industry,” says Stephan Girard, senior director of Workforce Development, PMMI.
Manufacturing employers need skilled workers who can operate, maintain and troubleshoot equip ment. To achieve this, employees must have the right mechatronics skills. The PMMI Mechatronics Certification program helps educational institutions create industrial maintenance programs that align with the technical needs of manufacturers and pre pares students for careers in advanced manufactur ing. Through a series of online tests based on indus try-developed skill standards, PMMI’s Mechatronics Certification program helps employers assess the core skills of prospective and current workers.
Festo Didactic, an education company with deep roots in manufacturing automation, offers lab equip ment and educational content aligned with PMMI’s Mechatronics Certifications. This provides a turnkey solution for high schools, colleges and universities looking to provide mechatronics training that meets the needs of the industry. Festo’s factory automation learning systems simulate the most technically ad vanced processing plants, focusing first on individual stations with the option to scale to more complex In dustry 4.0 cyber-physical systems.
The customized curriculum and hands-on training offer a wide range of topics and skills related to mecha tronics and factory automation such as robotics, CAD/ CAM/CNC and PLC.
• Improve workforce readiness
• Upskill employees quickly
• Reduce turnover
• Close skills gap with continued learning and professional-development courses
• Highest-quality industry standards.
“As a long-standing member of PMMI, with sim ilar goals and approaches to workforce development, stepping into the role of Preferred Technical Learn ing Collaborator is a natural fit,” says John Holmes, vice president of Sales for Festo North America. “This partnership was forged in response to the in dustry’s ongoing hiring and upskilling challenges, and we’re eager to see how our combined expertise and resources positively impact the schools and com panies PMMI serves.”
“Expanding our technical education and training services with PMMI is an exciting milestone,” says Tony Oran, vice president of Festo Didactic North America. “We’re committed to setting people up for success in their careers as individuals while looking for smart ways to come together so industry can thrive as a whole.”
For more info, visit www.PMMI.org, www.festo.com. SD
all started with a WD-40 can, fitted with a straw on an offset spout, that created problems fitting into boxes for case packing. Through test ing, Hamrick Packaging Systems (Booth S-2006) discovered that if spouts were not positioned in the same direction, cans would topple over and cause throughput problems.
Timing screw drive units and integrated Mor rison timing screw systems elevate efficiency and provide a greater level of confidence in the control of containers prior to the downstream application for end users. This is why many OEMs look to Morrison to provide equipment to orient, divide, combine, group and handle products feeding into
their machines, especially when handling difficult containers.
Morrison partners with OEMs in every area of the packaging industry to increase throughput, con trol and consistency.
For more info, visit www.hamrickmfg.com, www.morrison-chs.com. SD
If cans could be oriented for straws to face in the same direction, case loading could occur at higher speeds. This need fostered a partnership be tween Hamrick Packaging Systems and Morrison Container Handling Solutions (Morrison CHS) (Booth N-4906)
“Anytime our customers are looking to run higher speeds with our case packers, we look to Morrison to provide container handling and stability ahead of our equipment,” reports Jordan Hamrick, president of Hamrick Packaging Systems. “This helps us pro vide continuous throughput and a better solution for our customers,” he notes.
Hamrick began working with Morrison in 2019 on orientation applications prior to case packing. Lower-speed applications tend to rely on turning belts and starwheels. But these options don’t work as well for higher-speed case-packing applications and can cause problems.
Jordan explains, “We generally go to timing screw-controlled systems when we need to achieve higher speeds than what a turning belt or starwheel can provide. When we need to have higher control of the container feeding the case packer or provid ing continuous throughput, it’s better to be timing screw-controlled.”
“We always want to put the best components and partner with the best manufacturers in the business when it comes to our equipment, which is the reason we work with Morrison CHS for the best contain er handling of our products,” says Hamrick. “They stand by their stuff and are just an easy company to work with. With them, we can provide equipment that leads to superior results for our customers.”
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For consumer packaged goods (CPG) companies and packaging suppliers alike, one of the Holy Grails of sustainable packaging is the quest to re engineer historically non-recyclable materials for recyclability.
Toothpaste tubes are traditionally constructed of layers of plastic plus a thin layer of aluminum foil to protect the product from oxygen and humidity. The multilayer structure, particularly the aluminum layer, made recycling a challenge. As a result, an estimated 400 million toothpaste tubes are discarded every year in the U.S. and at least 1.5 billion globally. Using another measure to convey the scale of the problem, materials science company Dow (Booth W-20052, W-22017) shares that unrecyclable toothpaste tubes account for an estimated 100,000 tons of waste each year—“roughly the weight of 10 Eiffel Towers.”
Fortunately, great strides have been made to develop tube constructions that are curbside-recyclable. Brands that have introduced recyclable tube packaging for toothpaste products include GSK, Unilever and Colgate-Palmolive. In late 2021, Chinese multinational NICE Group joined this group, switching its portfolio of toothpaste brands to a fully recyclable tube designed by Dow and Amcor, parent company of Amcor Flexibles North America (Booth S-3705, S-3814).
NICE is a 50-year-old company that specializes in household care, fabric care, oral hygiene and personal care products. Its brands, which include DIAO, Supra, NICE, Jianshuangbai, Yayale, 100 Years Hair Care and Natural Magic, are sold in more than 70 countries and regions, in cluding the U.S., the U.K. and Japan. According to Lei Zhang, chief engineer for NICE, the company has one of the largest bases of personal care products across the globe, operating 10 produc tion sites worldwide.
Differentiating the brand from its competitors is its com pany philosophy, “Enhancing Your Life.” Zhang shares, “With the ambition to be an environmentally friendly, safe and healthy company, NICE Group uses advanced technology to design and develop green products. Adhering to our mission of making life better and our world cleaner, we make great efforts to advance sus tainable development. We were one of the first companies to adopt the concept of environmental life cycle management in the product de sign and development stage, systematically considering the impact of raw material selection, production, sales, use, recycling and disposal on the environment. We strive to minimize the consumption of resources during the entire life cycle of products to reduce the generation and discharge of pollutants, in order to protect our environment to the largest extent.”
The importance of packaging in the life cycle of a product has prompted NICE to make a number of improvements in the sus tainability of its packaging. Zhang reports, “In recent years, NICE Group has advanced the lightweight design of packaging and has reduced the use of virgin plastics by more than 5,000 tons and the use of virgin paper by more than 3,000 tons each year. In addition, we have
introduced more recyclable packaging.” That includes introduction of a new toothpaste tube for its Cnice gum and tooth care line, its Jianshuangbai highend line of professional whitening toothpaste and its Yayale line, a Chinese brand of children’s oral-care products.
According to Zhang, NICE was one of the first companies to propose the concept of recyclable toothpaste tubes, an idea that came to fruition by working with its long-time packaging partners, Dow and Amcor. Notes Haley Lowry, global sustainability director at Dow Packaging & Specialty Plastics, “NICE is committed to using more recycling-friendly packaging to promote its Circular Economy and was determined to . . . find a way to reduce oral-care waste en tering landfills. . . .To meet our sustainability goals and to address the ongoing increase of toothpaste tubes in landfills, we worked with Amcor, a global leader in producing responsible packaging, to develop a full plastic laminate.”
Xin She, president of Amcor China, notes that Amcor China’s partner ship with Dow and NICE dates back 20 years, with the tube-packaging proj ect ramping up five years ago. “In 2018, Amcor signed the [Ellen MacArthur Foundation] New Plastics Economy Global Commitment, and we were the first global packaging company pledging to develop all packaging to be recyclable or reusable by 2025,” he says. “Since then, we’ve been working with Dow and NICE on this project.”
The challenges associated with the project were multifaceted. Not only did Dow and Amcor need to design a mono-material substrate that would provide the same oxygen and humidity barriers as the plastic/aluminum laminate tube, but that material also needed to be able to run on both Amcor’s convert ing equipment and on NICE’s existing filling equipment.
“To increase the re cyclability of the tooth paste tube, we had to remove the aluminum layer . . . however, we also needed to ensure the high-barrier performance required by the appli cation,” explains Low ry. “Polyethylene (PE) plus ethylene vinyl alco hol (EVOH) coextruded film is a typical all-plastic structure that can fulfill the needs of recyclability as well as high barriers.”
Pulling from its product portfolio, Dow engineered an all-plastic structure that meets the stringent barrier ∆
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“PE plus EVOH coextruded film is a typical all-plastic structure that can fulfill the needs of recyclability as well as high barriers.”
—Haley Lowry, Dow Packaging & Specialty Plastics
requirements of toothpaste. The laminate comprises Dow’s high-barrier ELITE AT (Advanced Tech nology) PE resin, which is said to offer high pro cessability as well as high shrink, ultra-high stiffness, sealability and organoleptics. Dow’s BYNEL adhe sive resin provides the coextrusion tie layer between the PE and EVOH, ensuring the integrity of the laminate to secure the barriers.
“The surface film materials offer high gloss, low haze and minimal gel defect, ensuring an appealing aesthetic appearance,” Lowry adds. “And, as an addi tional benefit, removing aluminum enables a trans parent appearance.”
Once the resins were selected, Amcor designed and converted the tube, continuously adjusting its manu facturing and converting systems to ensure operational efficiency and safety, shares She. It also worked with NICE to perform stability, equipment and transporta tion testing to guarantee consistency in quality.
She recalls, “We needed to make sure the new resins could run smoothly and economically on Amcor and NICE’s equipment, which required deep expertise and experience from operation and technical teams. Devel oping a recyclable toothpaste tube was complex work; a lot of factors had to be taken into consideration. The barrier property was the key point of tube laminates, so we needed to ensure excellent barrier with a low EVOH ratio. We three parties worked together close ly and designed the structure and formulation with high-performance granules. We tested many times, and finally the issue was fixed.”
The resulting package, now used for all of NICE’s toothpaste brands, provides the functionality of the non-recyclable plastic/aluminum tubes, plus other advantages, and has been well received by consumers. “Once on shelves, the toothpaste products with the new recyclable packaging were widely welcomed by consumers . . . the . . . transparent plastic tube is the most popular because its packaging allows consumers to see the high-quality toothpaste and feel more re lieved when purchasing and using it,” Zhang says. “At the same time, the recyclable tube is more eco-friendly
than the aluminum-based tube. In the process of pur chasing and using NICE toothpaste, consumers are delivering on their eco-friendly promises and contrib uting to greater environmental protection, giving them a sense of achievement and honor.”
With the introduction of the new tube, Zhang says the company will be able to prevent approxi mately 3,000 MT of toothpaste tubes from entering landfills each year—not an insignificant number, es pecially when combined with the reductions prom ised by other CPG firms as they roll out their own recyclable tubes. Among them, GSK has pledged to make over 1 billion tubes recyclable by 2025.
Commenting on the number of oral hygiene brands and packaging suppliers introducing recy clable toothpaste tubes, Dow’s Lowry says the more, the merrier. “Sustainability is a mega trend driving the development of the packaging industry. We are glad to see more and more brand owners share the same vision with Dow to close the loop and commit to develop and adopt more recyclable packaging.”
Zhang also hopes NICE’s adoption of the new packaging will inspire other brands to follow. He says, “NICE Group is one of the first companies to introduce a recyclable toothpaste tube. We are the pioneer to encourage the entire industry to be eco-friendly, where more and more brands have started using this recyclable solution.”
For more info, visit www.dow.com, www.amcor.com. SD
Editor’s Note: The original version of this article was published in September 2022 by Packaging World
“. . . transparent plastic tube is the most popular because its packaging allows consumers to see the highquality toothpaste and feel more relieved when purchasing and using it.”
—Lei Zhang, NICE
Sullair, a Hitachi Group Company (Booth S-3752) intends to be carbon neutral by 2023. To reach that goal, it plans to make invest ments to facilitate carbon dioxide (CO₂) reduction, transition to 100% renewable electricity through a voluntary green power program and implement a voluntary carbon offset program.
tions aim to achieve carbon neutrality by the end of fiscal 2022 (March 31, 2023).
“Sustainability is both at the core of our strategy and a driver of our business,” explains John Randall, president and CEO of Sullair. “Customers and busi nesses are increasingly making a conscious effort to buy products and services that help promote sustainability, assist the environment and reduce the impact of cli mate change. By establishing this long-term climate roadmap and taking immediate action, we aim to fully play our part in the fight against climate change.”
The company’s long-term climate action strategy focuses in three areas:
monthly electric usage to come from power generat ed by renewable energy sources, such as wind power.
3. Implement a voluntary carbon offset program to offset CO₂ emissions while developing and imple menting future additional measures for fossil fuel use reduction over the next four years.
Parent company Hitachi Group has set a target to become carbon neutral globally in all factories and offices by fiscal 2030 and achieve carbon neutrali ty throughout its entire value chain by fiscal 2050. Sullair’s Michigan City, IN, campus achieved car bon-neutral status in fiscal 2021 (ending March 31, 2022) ahead of plan, and the rest of its global opera
1. Undertake capital expenditure projects during the next 12 months to facilitate CO₂ reduction in cluding upgrading lighting, heating, ventilating and air conditioning at its Michigan City campus to re duce annual CO₂ by nearly 1,000 tons/yr. It also will install 80 pace node devices to monitor energy usage on each piece of equipment throughout its Michigan City campus, upgrade global facilities and transition its Australian service fleet to hybrid vehicles and, lat er, fully electric vehicles.
2. Transition to 100% renewable electricity by joining a voluntary green power program to run a portion of its Michigan City campus, which pur chases Renewable Energy Credits on the company’s behalf and allows Sullair to designate a portion of its
As part of its long-term climate action strategy, Sullair has launched a voluntary carbon offset pro gram in conjunction with World Kinect Energy Ser vices, the sustainability division of World Fuel Ser vices. Sullair has committed to voluntarily offset at least 28,000 MT of CO₂ equivalents through 2025. This represents 69,501,756 miles driven by an aver age gasoline-powered passenger car or the amount of carbon sequestered in 189 acres of forests per year.
Purchasing carbon offsets allows companies to compensate for their residual carbon footprint by supporting projects worldwide that reduce carbon emissions.
Carbon credits purchased by Sullair will help with the Guanaré Forest Plantations on Degraded Grasslands Under Extensive Grazing project and the reforestation of 21,298 hectares in eastern Uruguay, creating new job opportunities and reducing CO₂ by 127,000 tons per year.
For more info, visit www.sullair.com. SD
Labeler automates changeovers Servo system reduces operator ‘touch time’ 80%.
Afully automatic changeover system from Nita Labeling Systems (Booth S-3666)
boosts labeling efficiency 80% or more. “It’s the first all-servo fully automatic changeover system on a labeler built in North America,” reports Ken Hubscher, vice president Sales and Marketing at Nita Labeling Systems.
He explains the impetus behind the development. The average labeling machine requires the operator to spend time doing changeover. He says, “Most la belers have little to no repeatability so the time fac tor in changing over from one container to another is significant. Maybe 30 min. Maybe more. Perhaps your labeler has scales, or some dials built in which saves a little bit of time as long as your operators wrote down an accurate recent setting (and that the handwriting is legible!).”
Once all the adjustments are made, particularly the crucial alignment of the labeling head axis, the task of fine-tuning these mechanical adjustments, now comes into play. Unfortunately, if any setting is just a few millimeters off, wrinkled or misplaced la bels are likely. Hubscher says, “This leads to frustra tion and downtime on your production line. You also know that your operators (who often are new and in experienced) rarely understand how to remedy these issues. You are frustrated and your line is suffering.”
According to a study published by PMMI, The Association for Packaging and Processing Tech nologies (Booth N-4550), at the end of the day, up to 13.3% of production downtime across North America is directly related to a labeling, decorating or coding system and that 21.1% of downtime is caused by operator error. (1)
That is unacceptable, so Nita devised a solution: a 100%-servo, fully-automatic changeover system. Full automation generates many benefits.
It can reduce operator touch-time on the machine by 80% or more, so operators can spend more time tending other parts of the line. “This directly influ ences uptime and overall efficiency,” says Hubscher.
Skilled labor is hard to find
Turnover among trained workers is high
The less operators touch the machine, the less chance of negatively impacting the labeling process and line output
The less operator touch-time on the labeler, the more time to tend other parts of the line
Precise, repeatable adjustments are needed to ensure accurate label placement and product quality
Ultra-precise servo axis adjustments automatically bring the three critical head adjustment points to within 1/256 in. of their position the last time the product ran
Eliminating manual fine-tuning saves time and reduces the level of expertise operators must have
Precise label placement ensures product quality and eliminates expensive and time-consuming rework
High product quality is perceived by consumers as higher value
Operator frustration is reduced
Output increases
The need to fine-tune the machine is taken out of operator hands. Each servo-run axis is capable of rep licating its position to within 1/256 in. of its previous setting. “That is essentially a perfect re-placement of that labeling component . . . as in ‘zero deviancy,’” says Hubscher. “No mechanical system can come close to that! This will save your operators frustration and a ton of time. (Of course, every standard Nita labeler is equipped with an advanced in-screen, step-by-step 3D
Fine-tuning the alignment of the labeling head axis is crucial and requires preci sion and repeatability. Servo automation provides both and can return the head to previous settings within +/-1/256 in.
map of the machine, plus color-coded and numbered scaled guides and dials on every adjustment point to simplify changeovers and cut typical product change over times at least 50%.)”
The ultra-precision delivered by the high-tech servo actuators mitigate nearly all label placement issues such as height, skew and wrinkles. As a result of this perfect replication, precision and quality increase, and re-work essentially disappears. “This saves incredible amounts of time and money on staff required to fix mislabeled products or on the cost of having to discard product that cannot be reworked,” explains Hubscher. At the end of the day, the unrivaled speed of
changeover, ease of operation and application preci sion due to taking adjustment out of the operator’s hands, make the line more efficient and increase pro ductivity. “As an added bonus,” says Hubscher, “the extremely consistently labeled products will result in a higher value brand perception by the end consumer (not to mention some happy faces from the market
ing and branding departments)! Imagine all this at the push of a button.”
For more info, visit www.nitalabeling.com. SD
1 PMMI Business Intelligence, “Packaging and Predictive Maintenance,” White Paper, January 2021.
Building machinery to produce flexible packaging is our gig. In fact, we’ve been doing it for over 150 years. That’s a lot of experience with both paper and plastic.
•Live demos on GARANT’s ROTADIA paper cone bag machine
•Daily videos direct from W&H at K 2022 – automation breakthroughs, PCR films, and more.
Achieving production line automation and driving gains in overall equipment effective ness (OEE) is the North Star for manufac turing and packaging operations. These incremental gains in efficiency, driven by automation, directly translate to a positive impact on the bottom line.
When it comes to identifying ways to improve OEE, manufacturers often overlook their marking and labeling devices and end up relying on manu al process and individual control of each device. As technology has evolved, manufacturers are finding that centralized control of marking devices and re lated scanning and tracking equipment can lead to notable OEE gains.
Today’s technology can integrate all printers and labelers on a production line, even if different equipment manufacturers and brands are involved. End-to-end integration is critical, gaining efficiency across the entire production line. If even one printer or labeler is out of the loop, you’ll constantly be re verting to inefficient manual processes.
With full integration, data can automatically flow from PLCs, enterprise resource planning sys tems and other backend business systems ensuring accurate coding across all products and packaging. By also integrating auxiliary equipment (scanners, scales, vision systems), organizations can achieve au tomated product-to-pallet verification of production line flow.
It’s critical that the platform be based on a flexi ble architecture so it’s easy to integrate all necessary equipment. Having a central point of control that is intuitive to use enables operators to change coding on the entire line from a single location, eliminat
ing one of the leading causes of scrap and rework in a production facility: human error. It’s important to note that minimizing human error goes beyond effi ciency gains: In some cases, unintentional messaging mistakes can have serious implications. In a product recall, for instance, companies could be subject to se vere fines and even criminal charges if products or cartons are mislabeled.
Automating data flow with central control re moves these risks, allowing production staff to focus on meeting their goals. An easy-to-use platform also reduces the need for extensive training for different shifts and operators and makes it faster and easier to onboard new staff.
As a production operation grows and additional lines are added, the platform should provide the flex ibility to scale operations without losing efficiency. One technology, the MPERIA controller from Mat thews Marking Systems (Booth S-2142), is an open platform that easily scales to control dozens of print ers and other devices across multiple lines with near ly unlimited message creation capabilities. When business systems need to be integrated, MPERIA automates data flow from those systems without needing to invest in any form of middleware.
For example, a centralized controller at Calavo Growers boosted OEE on its production lines by substantially reducing the time required to manage production changes and updates. Meanwhile, Ventu ra Pacific dramatically boosted OEE by centralizing control, integrating new and existing printers and applying labeling equipment and linking to backend databases.
The MPERIA controller is available in a range of sizes and configurations and can be fully ruggedized to withstand the harshest environments.
For more info, visit www.matthewsmarking.com. SD
It’s important to note that minimizing human error goes beyond efficiency gains.
The Processing Zone in the Lakeside Center building houses 180 exhibits, essentially presenting a processing show within the show. On display are innovations in homogenizing, mixing, forming, sizing and other front-of-the-line technologies such as coating/enrobing, cooling and heat treating. This area also is home to the Processing Innovation
Stage (Booth LU-7130) (see schedule, p. 28). A sampling of the products on display in The Processing Zone may be viewed on the following pages. For more information, visit www.PACKEXPOinternational.com. SD
Editor’s Note: Product information and photos were provided by ProFood World
Patented side-shaped wire design of Lums den Sidewinder balance weave belting revitalizes 100-year-old technology to extend belt life up to eight times versus comparable belts. I-beam design also triples structural support for products and pro vides a greater open area for breading, coating, cool ing or drying applications.
Fenner Precision Polymers Booth LU-7020 www.fennerppd.com
Utilizing web-based architecture, the Contact 4.0 digital reporting feature captures valuable produc tion data across an entire suite of networked inspec tion machines. It can remotely monitor equipment, track events and document all potential product risks, turning massive data streams into tightly mon itored operational insight. With Contact 4.0, food processors can tether multiple front-end inspection machines to back-end reporting software in real time—live, streamlined and centralized. Contact 4.0 can be installed on all digital Stealth, Interceptor and Interceptor DF metal detectors, as well as the Raptor checkweigher series.
Fortress Technology Booth S-1752 www.fortresstechnology.com
Extremely adaptable, TQS-MD quality-control machines incorporate the company’s new Trace able Quality System Modular Design, which uses a “building block” concept for compatibility with a broad array of products. Depending on a product’s size, shape, weight and desired throughput speed, modules can be combined and tailored to specific needs. Regardless of the number of functionalities a model entails—including weighing, marking and verifying, labeling, metal detection and serializa tion/aggregation integration, among others—the unit employs one user interface, making product changes, article setup and layout modifications less error-prone and more user-friendly.
Wipotec-OCS
Booth S-4172 www.wipotec-ocs.com
An exchangeable profiled sleeve on the hygienic SSV-XP drum motor makes it possible to use differ ent styles of modular belts on the same drum motor. The profiled sleeve is easily removed and replaced simply by exchanging it to match the desired belt profile without having to change the entire drum motor. Constructed of 316 stainless steel, the SSVXP drum motor is USDA-approved. It comes in a range of diameter sizes, belt speeds and horsepower, and is available with industry-specific options and features to suit various food processing and packag ing belt conveyor applications.
VDG (Van der Graaf) Booth S-3566 www.vandergraaf.com
The M VersaPro 2D dicer excels in the process ing of meat, poultry and alternative proteins. It of fers 33% increased feeding capacity vs. the standard M6 model due to wider belts, optimized cutting and increased horsepower. The IP69K-certified electri cal enclosure features a double-sealed door for ex tra protection during washdowns. The mechanical zone is isolated from the product zone to promote sanitation. The dicer has stainless-steel construction throughout, including the solid, round bar frame; motors; and hinged panels. The new fluted crosscut option provides gentler cutting action. The dicer is available with an intuitive optional touchscreen hu man/machine interface.
Urschel Laboratories Booth LU-7112 www.urschel.com
Engineered for durability, reliability and efficiency, DuraCirc positive displacement pumps offer a high-ef ficiency design, wide performance envelope and low net positive suction head requirement. With flow rates up to 150 cubic m/hr. (660 gpm), the pump handles op erating pressures up to 40 bar (580 psi). Optional port configurations make installation easy with no need to change process piping. The innovative design features a truly front-loading single seal; long-lasting bearings; a single, long-life gearbox lubricant; external shimming; and fully interchangeable components. Pumps also come standard with a condition monitor for wireless connectivity to view operational performance metrics.
Alfa Laval
Booth LU-7647 www.alfalaval.us
Thomas L. Green, Reading Pretzel, Exact Mixing and Reading Thermal brands offer production lines that produce a range of snack products, innovative continuous mixing solutions and oven profiling and consulting services. Exact continuous mixing sys tems reduce labor requirements, cut costs, improve consistency and simplify mixing processes. Flexible snack systems produce a range of products including pretzels, bread snacks, crackers, baked crisps, cookies, biscuits and pet treats.
Reading Bakery Systems Booth LU-7906 www.readingbakery.com
New style aerosol for NSF H1-registered food machinery lubricants feature a dual-spray nozzle with a permanently attached straw. The cans of fer a dual-position spray; when the straw is in the “up” position, it offers precise, pinpoint application. Ergonomically designed, the cans have a recessed comfort trigger to help prevent accidental discharge. GHS-compliant labeling on the back panel ensures compliance with OSHA requirements, while a scan nable QR code on the side panel provides quick ac cess to product information and safety data sheets.
Booth LU-8814 www.lubriplate.com
A new electromechanical actuator meets the requirements of food and beverage/packaging (F&B/P) applications. It’s part of the integrated GTX product line, known for compactness, power density, flexibility and third-party drive compatibil ity. The new F&B/P-grade GTX actuator features a smooth, cleanable body design in white epoxy and a stainless-steel rod. It has an IP69K ingress protection rating and is recognized by 3-A Sanitary Standards.
Exlar Booth N-5977 www.cw-actuation.com
The Electro-Glide electromagnetic vibratory con veyor is the first conveyor designed by the company to operate specifically as a flow-control device. The conveyor is suited to feeding scales and packaging machinery where the ability to instantly start and stop product flow is required. This allows the sys tem to be used as an alternative to a metering unit in a mix-and-blend system when the elimination of pinch points is desired. The conveyor features an allstainless-steel drive.
Commercial Manufacturing Booth LU-7603 www.commercialmfg.com
Xtreme Rare Earth+ plate magnets are now avail able in all of the company’s deep-reach, round-pipe, and hump-style magnetic separators. Separators with these new, stronger magnets demonstrate a sig nificant increase in both surface gauss value and pull test strength, compared with competitive units and the company’s separators with the previous genera tion of rare earth plates. Gauss and pull testing, the standard methods for testing a magnet’s strength, in dicate a magnetic separator’s ability to deliver a pure, contaminant-free product.
Eriez Booth N-5214 www.eriez.com
A web-based remote monitoring system tracks, analyzes and reports on freezer performance from anywhere in the world, providing critical data, such as trends, alarm history, maintenance, report jour nals, troubleshooting and training. A live feed fea ture from security cameras strategically placed in the freezer enclosure provides real-time visual updates. The system gives users quick and easy access to in formation to make timely business and operational decisions. All the data is private, secure and accessi ble only to users and FPS Support.
FPS Food Process Solutions Booth LU-7349 www.fpscorp.ca
The pneumatic two-way cuber reduces cheese blocks to optimize downstream dicer/shredders. The larger belt width and cheese chamber are optimal for processing non-standard cheese sizes. Not only does the guillotine feature (executed via the local human/ machine interface) optimize working with off-cuts and soft cheese, it eliminates the cumbersome task of manually spacing out batches of off-cuts during production, thereby allowing an operator to fill the belt and let the machine cycle without further inter vention. The cuber is robust, hygienic and easy to use.
Deville Technologies Booth LU-7332 www.devilletechnologies.com
The Global hygienic airlock (GHA) is a USDA dairy-accepted dismountable airlock that is suited to applications where dry raw or finished products are being handled in the process and where inspec tion or system cleanout is required. A key feature of the product is a rail system that simplifies removal and provides access to the internal valve, cavity, rotor pockets and all other product-contact areas for quick and easy cleaning. A valve interference detection sys tem protects the airlock from damage and prevents product contamination due to interference between the valve rotor and housing.
Schenck Process Booth LU-7247 www.schenckprocess.com
Quantm electric diaphragm pumps leverage a transverse flux motor that is suited for a range of hy gienic applications. A standard air motor is replaced with an electric drive that can produce high torque at low speeds. This allows Quantm pumps to operate without gearboxes, reducing footprints, weights and price points, while increasing efficiencies and gener ating an ROI on energy use reduction. The pumps can be used in the production of candies, fondants, bakery products, sauces and dressings, as well as in meat and poultry plants.
Graco Booth LU-8303 www.graco.com
The patent-pending FCM colloid mill is designed for hands-off clean-in-place (CIP) applications; nothing needs to be removed for CIP, saving main tenance time and effort. The FCM mill’s timesaving, external variable gap adjustment lever provides onthe-fly internal gap adjustment to produce more or less shear, without moving the front or top ports, or even pausing operation. The mill’s variable internal gap allows users to dial in the particle size they need for shelf-stable emulsions and provides consistent particle sizes with a tight distribution.
Booth LU-7303 www.fristam.com/usa
Biometric signature identification technology is now available to frozen vegetable and fruit processors on the Tomra 5C premium sorting machine. By locating the unit between the IQF (individually quick frozen) tun nel and the packing station, final checks for food safety and product quality can be made with accuracy. As the frozen product reaches the end of the line, the sorter recognizes and removes any remaining foreign material, extraneous vegetable matter and hard-to-detect product defects. These detection capabilities greatly reduce the risks of consumer complaints or product recalls.
Tomra Booth LU-7135 www.tomra.com
DSI Series pasteurizer uses direct steam injection to reduce pasteurization time. The faster the product is heated and cooled, the less impact the heat has on the product. In the case of plant-based drinks, the impact can include discoloration, caramelization and the introduction of off-tastes.
Booth LU-7535 www.hrs-heatexchangers.com SD
Eagle® O-Rings allow a fast, easy fit, boosting ease of installation. Product is available as standard or twisted O-rings and in a range of sizes with a high coefficient of friction. Our High Tension (HT) and High-Elastic High Tension (HEHT) solutions will keep your operations on track. Learn more at www.fennerdrives.com/eagle-o-ring/
The C35 AdvancedLine checkweigher weighs from 25g to 7kg and boasts the newest load cell— FlashCell™. The load cell allows C-Series check weighers to achieve industry-leading throughputs and reduce product giveaway. The smaller system footprints fit within limited factory floor space.
Mettler-Toledo Product Inspection Booth S-1714 www.mt.com/pi
Rollers employed on the ERT®250 and ERT®150 conveyors move pallets and trays smoothly without friction. The conveyors are ideal for no- and low-back pressure accumulation; light, medium or heavy load assembly automation; and cleanroom applications. The conveyors’ open design eliminates concerns of small parts dropping into rollers and jamming or causing damage.
Dorner Booth N-5725 www.dornerconveyors.com
The S-Carriage InstaThread pre-stretch film carriage can save up to 15% on film per load. Film travels in an S pattern around two pre-stretch roll ers, reducing slippage and neckdown with 180-de gree-plus film contact. Consistent pre-stretch allows faster wrapping while achieving higher film yield.
Orion Packaging, a ProMach product brand Booth N-5646 www.OrionPackaging.com
Design upgrades on the new line of IPAK tray formers allow operators more efficient access for fast er, easier and safer changeovers. Redesigned guard doors and hinges enhance operator safety. Relocat ed filter regulator and coalescing makes pneumatic connections more direct and efficient, reducing the chance for air leakage. Fewer required adjustments for changeovers also improve labor efficiency and reduce training needs. Together, these upgrades in crease efficiency and minimize downtime.
Wexxar Bel, a ProMach product brand Booth N-5446 www.wexxar.com
VR-72 inline trunnion labeler applies film or pa per pressure-sensitive labels to round glass, metal or plastic containers ranging in diameter from 0.5 to 5 in. Capable of reaching speeds up to 700 containers/ min., a vertical trunnion roller assembly referenc es the container sidewall for consistent and precise label application. The fully synchronized electronic drive train also simplifies operation and expedites changeovers. The VR-72 machine can be configured with single or redundant label heads, removable roll ers for quick container size and pitch changes, label coding and inspection including serialized codes, ra dio frequency identification tag integration, 21 CFR Part 11 and CE compliance and a patented Reconcil er device that removes, counts and rewinds rejected labels prior to application.
WLS, a ProMach Pharma brand Booth N-5650, W-17002 www.weilerls.com
With four weigh heads, the Gravimetric Flex weigher supports target weights ranging from 5kg to 20kg. The GFW-1104CC scale weighs dry, free-flowing grains, granulates and powders into bags, boxes, gaylords and totes at up to 60 weigh ments/min.
Yamato Booth S-3783 www.yamatoamericas.com ∆
Ethernet Tray Cat.7 cable ensures secure, highspeed data transfer of 10 GBit/s up to 328 ft. for sta tionary applications. The cable supports EtherNet/ IP, Profinet with four pairs, EtherCAT, Power over Ethernet (IEEE 802.3af) and Power over Ethernet Plus (802.3at). Etherline cordsets use CAT.5e cables designed to operate in harsh environments.
LAPP USA Booth LU-8758 www.lappusa.com
The SafeGuard AR secure virtual service environ ment allows OEMs to remotely identify line issues and suggest fixes in real time, reducing downtime and the need for onsite visits. Users can zoom in on specific areas, pause live video, annotate, draw and share notes on screen, while accessing a knowledge library to quickly diagnose and resolve the issue. Customers can be guided to implement a fix; if an onsite visit is needed, the remote preview allows the engineer to be prepared for quick resolution.
Domino Amjet Booth S-3506 www.domino-na.com
Marrying a state-of-the-art label applicator with an automatic tray unloader produces up to 30 labeled glass tubes/min., ranging from 12–30mm in diame ter. A robotic arm picks tubes from a tray and plac es them onto the labeling system’s infeed. A wrap around label, printed with a bar code and lot/expiry information, is applied to each tube and inspected. Products are checked for label alignment; rejects are
Blending and conveying systems ensure accu rate, efficient product distribution and component
streams while protecting against product damage. Proportional distribution ensures main product supply continues to flow as it allocates amounts to weigher/bagmaker stations. Multiple conveyor con figurations move dry, fresh and frozen products, meeting product and customer specifications.
Heat and Control Booth N-4704, N-4706 www.heatandcontrol.com
New human/machine interface (HMI)/PLCs of fer front-side protection class IP69K for high-pres sure cleaning found in the food and beverage pro cessing and pharmaceutical industries. The devices, featuring a stainless-steel front, comply with hygien ic design requirements, are waterproof at high pres sure up to 80 C and resist acids and chemicals. The device functions as both an HMI and logic control ler, reducing complexity.
Turck Booth N-4923 www.turck.us
The VRC-60 vertical rotary cartoner combines loading, printing, leaflet inserting, coding, inspect ing and other functions into one 3 x 3-ft., 12-sta tion machine. Integrated suction cups hold cartons in place throughout the entire arc path, preventing scuffing and scratching of delicate carton surfaces. The cartoner can run up to 60 packages/min., with loading options from single to double to bulk.
Nuspark Booth S-3634 www.nuspark.com
The PIREG ® heatseal temperature controllers are designed specifically for controlling the heat sealing operations performed in a wide range of applications including: vertical and horizontal form, fill, and seal; pouch filling and sealing; film wrapping, and pouch making. The PIREG ® impulse temperature controllers are cUL Listed and universally adaptable to almost any application, and do not require the use of thermocouples or RTD’s. PIREG ® temperature controllers are designed for “in cabinet” and “panel mount” uses and also available with EtherNet/IP® communication capabilities. TOSS Technology— delivering perfect impulse heat seals every time. www.tossheatseal.com
Waldo Packaging Machinery is a manufacturer of fully automated vertical form-fill-seal packaging machines for packaging liquids, slurries and high viscosity products. Servicing businesses of all sizes in a range of markets that include food/beverage, cosmetics, and cleaning fluids, their complete line of machines are compact, user friendly and cost efficient. www.waldo.com.mx
What sets PackworldUSA apart from all the rest is its use of the high response, state of-art, TOSS Technology All PackworldUSA machines come equipped with the advanced PIREG ® temperature controller. Only TOSS uses Variable Resistance Controlled (VRC) heat sealing technology to monitor and adjust temperature precisely over the full length and width of the heat sealing element, accurate up to 500°C. www.packworldusa.com
TOSS Alloy-20 ® and Norex® Heatseal Bands are available in over 350 styles, shapes and sizes. Custom designed for any application, new or existing, TOSS Alloy-20 ® Heatseal Band are longer lasting and provide for effective sealing at optimum speeds. When used in conjunction with the PIREG ® Temperature Controllers, the TOSS Alloy-20 ® heatseal bands provide instant thermostatic feedback eliminating the need for thermocouples. This instant feedback assures precise, repeatable results on each and every seal. www.tossheatseal.com
In the optimum sealing set up, the heatseal band must be electrically and thermally insulated from the jaw bar. TOSS offers a wide selection of PTFE cover cloths and tapes that are available in standard and custom sizes. Other insulating materials available from TOSS include Silicone Rubber, Durit ® and Siglaha ® www.tossheatseal.com
Using either manual or automatic feeding, the Cariba C221 intermit tent-motion horizontal cartoner accommodates most primary pharmaceuti cal, nutraceutical and cosmetics packaging formats, including blister packs, round/shaped glass and plastic bottles, jars, soft tubes and flow packs. With picking-arm-enabled positive carton forming, the unit can produce up to 120 cartons/min. Other available features include tuck-in and hot-melt closures, multiple printing options, barcode reading, extended carton magazines and leaflet/booklet dispensers.
MG America Booth W-15003 www.mgamerica.com
The compact Neptune EcoBagger handleS bags up to 13.7 in. wide at speeds up to 20 cycles/min. (1,200/hr.). Automatic servo bag width change is optional.
Plan IT Packaging Systems Booth S-2422 www.planitpackaging.com
Active Integrated Motion (AIM) technology enables automation in food-handling washdown environments. AIM sorting, switching and merging equipment ensures gentle handling and increases throughput by eliminating product damage, corrective labor, maintenance and production downtime.
Intralox Booth S-1747 www.intralox.com ∆
The most reliable and complete online directory of packaging and processing technology suppliers in North America –designed from the buyer’s perspective.
Features include:
• Plain-language filters so it’s easy to find what you need.
• Type-ahead keyword search.
• Visual navigation by machine or desired package type.
• Packaging-specific filters that are tailored to each product category.
Complete a 15-minute survey about PMMI ProSource at the PMMI Booth (N-4550) for a complimentary $25 gift card. Survey slots are first come, first served!
Raptor Infinity. The applicator that gives you infinite perfection.
The compact Raptor Infinity hot-melt adhesive applicator ensures stability and precision in con tinuous dot or bead applications in a medium-high frequency range and is compatible with a range of viscosities (maximum 6,000 millipascal-seconds).
Electromagnetic elements help reduce wear on mov ing parts. Cool-touch magnetic covers can be assem bled and removed with a single click. The direct elec trical connection simplifies installation.
Meler USA Booth N-5376 www.raptorapplicators.com
The cost-effective, high-performance Aventics™ Series SPRA electric rod-style linear actuator offers the enhanced load capacity, accuracy and reliability consumer packaged goods companies need to maxi mize productivity. The Series SPRA is versatile and flexible, with a choice of three screw technologies that allow implementation within a wide range of applications and can meet exacting packaging ap plication requirements. Compliance with the ISO15552 standard, online selection tools and a wide range of mounting accessories ensure the appropriate implementation.
Emerson Booth N-4736 www.emerson.com/en-us/industries/automation/ food-beverage
The commercial focus expands for the mGripAI™ artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled picking technology for consumer goods, eCommerce and logistics appli cations. This combination of 3D vision, AI and soft grasping gives industrial robots the dexterity and hand/ eye coordination of human workers, enabling their use in unstructured applications such as order fulfillment, sortation, decanting and kitting. The mGripAI grip per with its proven ability to reliably pick, place and sort delicate and variable products at extremely high speeds (greater than 90 parts/min.) helps warehouses and distribution centers decouple operations from the challenges of labor availability.
Soft Robotics Booth N-5230 www.softroboticsinc.com
Engineered for high-speed production and perfect for food industry applications, this continuous-mo tion vertical form/fill/seal (FFS) machine can handle multiple package formats and produce a wide range of package sizes providing flexibility for both retail and club-store packaging. Unlike baggers with inter mittent-motion seal bars, the vertical sealing bars of the VF1200 machine move continuously so the film does not need to stop to be sealed, resulting in faster production rates. Bagger easily integrates with this company’s weigh fillers and labelers or partners with their case erectors, tray formers and case packers.
Paxiom Booth S-2153 www.paxiom.com
Organize changeover parts in one, easy-to-clean cart to reduce downtime and minimize lost parts. Cart is washdown-compatible so parts can be cleaned on the cart, which also saves time during changeovers. Washdown-ready design makes convenient on-cart change parts cleaning a snap. High-quality casters and wheel brakes ensure easy maneuverability, even on rough surfaces.
Septimatech Booth N-5934 www.septimatech.com
Thermochromic vaccine vial monitor labels, which change color when exposed to out-of-tolerance tem peratures, can be applied to containers via a VVM label applicator integrated into a WLS rotary or inline labeler. Color changes indicate whether con tainers have been kept at the temperature required for product efficacy. The applicator is well-suited for manufacturers/contract packers handling tempera ture-sensitive products.
WLS, a ProMach product brand Booth N-5650, W-17002 www.WeilerLS.com
Newly released for the American market, the M6 free-fall metal detector offers outstanding detection for dry food products like candies, snacks, pet food, cereals, grains and nuts. Ideal for gravity-fed vertical form/fill/seal packaging lines, the head is available in 4-, 6-and 8-in. tube diameters. Advanced signal processing and head design provide high resistance to noise and vibration. This budget-friendly system with standard simultaneous multi-frequency tech nology can detect down to 0.8mm stainless steel and 0.6mm ferrous contaminants.
Anritsu - Product Detection & Inspection Booth N-4730 www.anritsu.com/infivis
Save valuable plant real estate with minimal foot print with bucket elevators. The innovative designs and robust sanitary construction allow fragile prod ucts to be handled with minimal degradation. De signs include the latest safety options such as safety interlocking switches and two-hand jog stations. Available in 10 configurations, including single and multiple discharge designs, bucket elevators can fit just about any application or layout. Indexing drives also are available for kit or food assemblies. Each bucket elevator is custom-designed and built to spec. Frazier & Son Booth N-4913 www.frazierandson.com
The Fresh ‘N Clear® salad container is designed with a tamper-evident (TE) feature and made with a minimum of 25% EcoStar® post-consumer recy cled (PCR) polyethylene terephthalate. Ten styles are available including a medium and a large foot print clamshell with a dome or flat lid to provide merchandising flexibility. Different depths and insert trays keep ingredients separate from the main clam shell portion until ready to mix in for consumption. The TE closure ensures the product inside stays safe until the consumer opens it, and the crystal-clear PCR material produces increased shelf visibility and helps meet sustainability goals.
Placon Booth W-24033 www.placon.com
FC-400 sanitary design shrink bander precisely applies tamper-evident shrink bands to tapered and straight-wall canisters and tubs. The machines are ideally suited for banding tubs used for spreads, ice cream, oatmeal, yogurt, toppings and dried fruit in washdown food and dairy environments. The system applies bands 1 to 2.3 in. (25 to 60mm) high and 2.5 to 6.75 in. (63 to 172mm) in diameter and is compatible with commercial shrink sleeve films such as polyvinyl chloride and polyethylene terephthalate (including freezer-grade films).
PDC International Booth N-4921 www.pdc-corp.com
Semiautomatic volumetric piston filler dispenses liquids, creams, pastes and other viscous products. Range of all-pneumatic models accommodate fills from less than an 1 oz. to more than 1 gal./cycle. Stainless-steel construction withstands washdown conditions. Accessories include cutoffs, conveyors and container-handling packages.
All-Fill Booth S-1706 www.all-fill.com
Vertical denester accepts, separates and drops round oatmeal bowls onto a conveyor. The denester can accept bowl stacks up to 44 in. After each con tainer is denested, it drops and is placed between lugs. This aids with keeping the containers consis tently spaced after exiting the timing screw denest ing unit and onto the downstream application.
Morrison Container Handling Solutions Booth N-4906 www.morrison-chs.com
The HPE NS case erector delivers perfectly formed cases 24/7 under the toughest conditions. An easyload bundle hopper can be loaded continuously to maintain non-stop operation. An extended hopper option makes loading even easier. Optional Automatic Quick Change expedites changeover and cuts down time. Multiple frame sizes are available as well as twopiece, half-slotted case lidder and tab-lock versions.
MARQ Packaging Systems Booth N-5721 www.marq.net
EXACTA flow-meter-based filler with batching meters is available with auto-calibration. Manual ad justments throughout the filling batch are no longer required. This 18-head filler is available with a 316 L stainless-steel product path and can fill containers at rates up to 300/min. American-built, it is available in 12 weeks or less. The Allen-Bradley control package from Rockwell Automation is UL-508 recognized.
Ronchi America Booth N-6228 www.ronchiamerica.com
Rockwell Automation Booth S-1660 www.rockwellautomation.com SD
Made from recyclable Kraft paper, GeoTer ra expandable paper provides light cushioning and interleaving protection. The paper expands during dispensing, forming a lattice structure that protects fragile products such as glassware, cosmetics, candles and jarred food products. The pattern nests together to lock products in place, providing six-sided protec tion without tape or fastening. Compact, stackable rolls minimize warehouse space.
Pregis Booth S-3834 www.pregis.com
The FireJet 4C full-color inkjet printing system, powered by Memjet, delivers high-speed digital color printing at near offset quality. The FireJet 4C printer handles A3+ and A4 cut sheets and reproduces 1,600 x 1,600 dot/in. resolution at speeds to 150 ft./min. The newly designed printhead has been engineered to provide longer life. An integrated wiper system au tomates servicing of the printhead.
Kirk-Rudy Booth S-3278 www.kirkrudy.com
Automating loading of four- and six-pack carriers into master cases saves time and labor. The CES25 machine erects and inserts beverage carriers into the master carton. The compact machine handles 25 car riers/min. and quickly changes over between fourand six-packs.
A.B. Sealer Booth N-5154 www.absealer.com
The Emerging Brands Alliance presented
Need equipment quickly? Consider renting from Frain Industries’ (Booth S-1639) wide selection of new or like-new equipment. Stop by to discuss your needs.
Rockwell Automation (Booth S-1660) specializes in connected enterprise solutions. See what they can do for your business.
Meet CanCollar Fortuna® from WestRock (Booth S-2130), an end-to-end automation platform for packaging beverage cans at high speeds with recyclable, fiber-based packaging.
The team at Schubert Pharma (Booth W-19008) will guide you through pharmaceutical packaging automation.
Don’t miss
Educational sessions offered at the Industry Speaks Stage (Booth N-4565), led by PACK EXPO Partner Association experts, focus on hot-button topics and industry trends.
SEW-EURODRIVE (Booth LU-8105) is your source for machine automation solutions.
Show attendees check out the Delta HS sanitary robot at Paxiom Group (Booth S-2153), which can accommodate a variety of case/tray sizes and pack patterns.
Fully automatic changeovers are in your future with servo labeling systems from Nita Labeling Systems (Booth S-3666)
European-crafted equipment with more than 55 years of global leadership in capsule filling technology, we proudly offer solutions for combination products, low-dose applications, containment applications, and 100% NET weight control systems.
