Showtime in the USA

1 October 2012



Felicity Murray provides a taste of what visitors can discover at this year’s Pack Expo in Chicago, Illinois, USA on 28-31 October


The 2012 edition of the Pack Expo International exhibition and conference, organised by PMMI and held biennally in Chicago’s McCormick Place, is expected to be the largest in 10 years, with a record 1,800 plus exhibitors across more than 1.1 million net square feet of exhibit space. “The sold-out status of Pack Expo speaks volumes to its value as a showcase for the packaging and processing industries,” says Charles Yuska, president and CEO, PMMI. “With space completely gone three months out, the show has surpassed even our expectations.”

Printing and labelling

Among the exhibitors will be Newman Labelling Systems (booth 3027). The supplier of specialist pharmaceutical labelling systems will be demonstrating its NVS2 fully automatic labelling system for use with glass or plastics syringes and other similar cylindrical containers. It will be labelling plastics bottles and microvials at speeds of up to 120cpm.

All the company’s purpose built systems are compliant with FDA cGMP requirements and can be supplied with validation completed up to PQ.

Linx Printing Technologies (booth S-2083), which is celebrating 25 years as a coding and marking specialist this year, will be showcasing its latest models for laser coding, case coding, thermal transfer printing, and continuous inkjet (CIJ) – including the newly launched Linx 7900.

On show for the first time will be the Linx IJ355 and IJ375 high definition case coders, said to offer a cost-effective, easy-to-use alternative to other large character printers. The company has launched a microsite dedicated to its Pack Expo presence (www.linxatpackexpo.com) so show visitors can get information about Linx solutions and plan their visit in advance. Visitors to the site can also enter a draw to win a Linx CJ400 printer and register for a free Pack Expo pass.

Label equipment supplier Accraply (booth S-800) will showcase a wide range of labelling technologies from pressure sensitive to roll-fed and shrink sleeve. The company also manufactures converting and finishing equipment for the shrink sleeve and flexible packaging markets.

Leading the list of new technology on show are Accraply’s shrink sleeve label applicators and shrink tunnels. This product line comprises two styles of shrink sleeve label applicators catering to both moderate and high speed lines. The company claims its new modular zoned steam tunnel offers “an outstanding level of control, flexibility and performance for the most demanding applications”.

The latest shrink sleeve seamer from Accraply, the Stanford AccraSeam, has fully automated servo-controlled lay-flat adjustment, a tool-less forming section, ultrasonic lay-flat monitoring, lay-flat reporting, and operates at 600m/min.

United Barcode Systems (booth E-7853) will be exhibiting inkjet printers and print and apply equipment, including its latest high resolution inkjet printers, Aplink MR2 and Aplink UV2, for porous and multi-surfaces quickly and efficiently.

Color-Logic develops colour communication systems and software tool sets for a variety of special effect printing applications. The decorative effects utilise the existing workflows of printers and designers, yielding dynamic results without the use of special equipment.

The striking metallic effect produced by the process metallic colour system developed by Color-Logic will be demonstrated on a number of booths: On the HP Indigo (booth 3223) exhibit, the process will be used on digitally printed labels which will be available for viewing and sampling, while Nilpeter (booths 3105 and 3205) will show the process used on flexographic labels. Eckart Americas (booth 5703) will produce sample labels and shrink sleeves using Eckart inks with the Color-Logic process and on the stands of CGS-ORIS (booth 5439) and Roland DGA (booth 6412) short run and prototype labels using the process will be available.

Packaging machinery

Unilux (booth 1457) has put the old and the new into a single stroboscopic inspection light with the introduction of its new LED-Series 2000 family of LED strobes. The new lights combine the operational and environmental benefits of LED lights along with the power of traditional xenon-based strobes.

TNA (booth 3658), will unveil the latest incarnation of its vertical form fill and seal Robag range, the new TNA RobagFXIS 3ci series for PE packaging. This new range features what the company claims to be “the world’s first rotary impulse sealing jaws system for the efficient packaging of fresh or frozen vegetables, salads, ready-to-eat fruit, and pre-wrapped candies, at bagging speeds of up to 150bpm”.

Bradman Lake (booth S-209) will exhibit for the first time a new version of its DRT Robotic Toploader demonstrating the automatic collating and loading of primary wraps into a choice of two secondary packages, either a film multipack or a rigid chipboard retail carton. This display will show a DRT Toploader incorporating both the FT120 multipack flow wrapper and a carton management system with the option to switch to either method of loading. It offers the ultimate flexibility to pack the products in different style packs, depending on the market requirement.

Adept Technology (booth S-1454), a provider of intelligent robots and autonomous mobile solutions, will introduce its ClamPAC robotic packaging automation cell for case packing clamshells. This cell, which gently packs clamshells into cases at high speeds, reduces the total cost of ownership by delivering a standardised, fully-integrated solution that can be dropped into any line. The company also says that the ClamPAC reduces the food processor’s integration complexity and deployment time while providing the flexibility, dexterity and speed of a world-class robotic solution.

The launch of ClamPAC marks the first product to be released by Adept’s new packaging solutions group. The group is focused on delivering standard pre-engineered cells that perform specific application tasks.

ClamPAC is a standardised modular system that Adept Packaging Solutions adapts to each customer’s production line.

“This is an exciting development for food processors. It is the first robotic solution in the world to be pre-engineered and standardised to case pack clamshells,” says John Boutsikaris, senior VP sales and marketing at Adept. Made of a soft silicone that conforms to the shape of the clamshell, SoftPIC grippers provide a direct vacuum path to the product, helping the system achieve gentle handling and reliable operation at very high speeds. For lines that package multiple clamshell sizes and/or designs, the SoftPIC grippers can be changed in “less than two minutes”.

For coffee portion packs, Optima Consumer (booth 4712) has a line system, including sorting, feeding and filling machinery, which produces up to 240 coffee capsules/min. There is a 100% weighing system in operation that regulates individual dosing with an accuracy of +/-0.3 grams. High level production quality is supported by the integrated gas installation, which ensures the defined rest oxygen content in the closed pack.

In addition, the Doyen brand, acquired by Optima in the spring of 2012, will be presented for the first time under the Optima name.

Spee-Dee Packaging Machinery (booth 4045) will showcase its sanitary servodrive auger filler designed for sensitive dry ingredients.

Timm Johnson, VP sales and marketing, says: “Our overriding objective was to prevent product corruption from outside sources by stopping contaminants coming into contact with the material being filled. In addition, we focused on eliminating all cracks and crevices that are typically hard to clean in traditional auger fillers. As a result, all of the mechanical connections are outside the product contact area of the sanitary servodrive.

“All surfaces of the auger filler under or adjacent to the driving mechanism are readily accessible and the agitator blade and auger drive shaft may be efficiently removed for inspection and cleaning.”

Johnson concludes: “All product contact surfaces are stainless steel and all permanent joints in metal product contact surfaces are continuously welded, polished and free of imperfections. No threads or fasteners are permitted in any portion of the system that is in contact with the product being filled. We have also incorporated splash guards and other design features to further prevent product from being contaminated.”

Bosch Packaging Technology (booth S-2212) is building upon its packaging portfolio with several innovative solutions, including the Pack 301 ID inverted long dwell flow wrapper, the newest addition to the company’s ‘Pack’ series of horizontal form fill seal machines, that facilitates gentle product transport. The Bosch product stacker collator, which integrates with horizontal flow wrappers, will also be on show.

The Brand Zone

Material ConneXion will provide hands-on demonstrations of innovative materials from its global materials library, which contains over 6,500 advanced and sustainable materials. Several experts from the company will be on hand to educate attendees about the properties of the different materials, many of which will come from outside of the packaging space, and their cross-over potential.

Brand managers and other packaging professionals can stop by the company’s booth in The Brand Zone (Lower North hall) within The Showcase of Packaging Innovations, sponsored by The Dow Chemical Company, to see packaging material samples, such as biodegradable, water soluble styrofoam, shock absorbing gels, and ‘blushing bottles’ which turn red when exposed to sunlight or UV radiation.

The Material ConneXion demonstrations are free of charge, and do not require separate registration.

The Association of Independent Corrugated Convertors (AICC) will have a pavilion to showcase paper packaging and give its members the opportunity to focus attention on the capabilities of corrugated, folding carton and rigid box packaging while also exhibiting individually. The AICC Pavilion (Booth 5825) is located near The Brand Zone.

According to recent research from Mintel (booth N-6214 in The Brand Zone), only 44% of US shoppers trust what brands say on their labels about food and beverage products, and 72% of Americans make a conscious effort to recycle (up from 54% in 2004). Marketers, brand managers and designers will be privy to these and other data from Mintel. It promises to provide attendees – including marketers, package designers and brand managers – with access to its research experts and reports addressing the food, beverage, retail and cosmetic/personal care sectors.

Factoids from these studies will be displayed as conversation and inspiration-starters on monitors throughout the exhibition. In addition, Mintel will present findings from some of its most recent research studies in a special theatre on its booth. Visitors to the booth can also find inspiration from a gallery of innovative package designs from around the world, sourced from Mintel’s Global New Product Database, which is updated with over 20,000 new product launches every month from 49 of the world’s major economies.

“Understanding what today’s consumers need and want is critical to the success of any brand,” comments PMMI’s Charles Yuska. “We are pleased to partner with Mintel to bring attendees the insights they need to develop new products and packaging, fuel innovation, and establish stronger connections with consumers.”


The Newman NVS2 labeller Newman NVS2 The new Linx 7900 CIJ printer Linx 7900 CIJ Bradman Lake DRT Robotic Toploader Bradman Lake DRT Adept ClamPAC system Adept ClamPAC Optima coffee portion pack line Optima Bosch Pack 301 ID inverted long flow wrapper Bosch Pack 301 Spee-Dee sanitary filler Spee-Dee This Original Source package from the UK contains 50% less plastics than standard shower gel bottles – Mintel GNPD Mintel GNPD

Spee-Dee Spee-Dee
Adept ClamPAC Adept ClamPAC
Optima Optima
Newman NVS2 Newman NVS2
Bosch Pack 301 Bosch Pack 301
Mintel GNPD Mintel GNPD
Linx 7900 CIJ Linx 7900 CIJ
Bradman Lake DRT Bradman Lake DRT


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