What's new at Starpack 2009?

18 November 2008



After 50 years, Starpack is changing. We report on the inaugural Packaging Machinery Award of Excellence


Starpack 2009 will include an award for Packaging Machinery Excellence in recognition of the essential part the machinery sector plays in ensuring product reaches the end-consumer. This is a major sea change for the awards, indicating an understanding that packaging is about more than materials and containers.

Closing the circle

This award will be sponsored by the PPMA, and Chris Buxton, CEO, explained more: "The machinery sector is often undervalued, but the work it does in furthering the objectives of its brand owners and retail customers (and everyone in between) is incalculable. We are delighted that Starpack has taken this message on board by producing an award of excellence for the packaging machinery and equipment sector."

The launch of the Packaging Machinery Award for Excellence comes as Starpack celebrates its 50th anniversary. Gordon Stewart, Head of IOP: The Packaging Society, commented: "This 'squares the circle' in Starpack's representation of all packaging disciplines and is proof that associations are better working together than apart."

Other bodies joining the Starpack Golden Anniversary celebrations are the Metal Packaging Manufacturers Association (MPMA), the British Brands Group, and the Waste & Resources Action Programme (WRAP), which is the overall sponsor of the Starpack Awards and the Starpack Summit.

No pack appears on the retail shelf without the technical expertise of the machinery sector. Just think about some of the most dynamic products of the last decade or so. There would be no liquid carton market without the related machinery systems, and what about flexible pouches or filling and closing systems? That's without mentioning the role of robotics, in addition to systems for coding and marking; tracking and tracing; weighing and filling, and so much more.

Machinery opens innovation floodgates

Confirmation that an innovation is significant comes when several leading manufacturers pick up on a pioneer's bright idea, simultaneously launching machines that incorporate the new technology. A change of this kind took place in 1993 when several leading manufacturers launched software-synchronised servo-driven machines. Today, of course, servo-driven machines have effectively replaced conventional mechanical machines for all medium- and high-speed lines.

The machinery sector continues to move with the times, and the major drivers will also be familiar to material and container markets in terms of flexibility, reliability, and performance consistency. Recent developments focus on production speed, machine integration, improved automation and sustainability issues, which are being addressed through systems that improve such aspects as energy and water consumption and a machine's physical footprint, together with the ability to use recycled and ‘eco-friendly’ materials.

The importance of machinery developments has been demonstrated by the Tesco FormShrink development, which won a Silver Star in the Environmental Category at Starpack 2008. Multivac developed the thermoforming and vacuum technology, stating that it provides a 68 per cent saving in pack weight and extends shelf-life by four days over the norm.

Another development was the Nicotinell L-Pack, a Gold Star winner for Novartis in 2007. This complex, yet ‘user-friendly’ pack could not have been realised without the German machinery manufacturer Harro Höfliger.

Flying the machinery flag

Buxton concluded: "Although machinery suppliers are not consumer-facing, the role they play in the production of well-defined products for retail and brand owner markets cannot be overstated. The sector grapples with the same pressures as the rest of the supply chain, whether related to environmental, NPD, or retailer and brand-owner factors. It is impossible for any single link in the chain to operate alone. We look forward to waving the flag for machinery manufacturers at Starpack 2009."

Machinery awards criteria

Gold Silver and Bronze Stars will be presented to the winners of the Packaging Machinery Award of Excellence that the judges consider to have satisfied a range of criteria, including:

Technical Development – flexibility, reliability, better performance; speed; use of robotics; improved efficiency; lower maintenance; reduced factory footprint; speed and ease of product changeovers.

Sustainability – operational energy and water usage; heat and material savings; carbon footprint; use of materials in construction

Materials Interface – working with materials suppliers to create better, more sustainable packs and increased product protection and enhancement; use of new materials; application of existing materials in different ways.

Innovation in PLC technology – providing better safety, security and production data.

Starpack categories

The closing date for entries to the Starpack Industry Awards 2009 is 4 February 2009. The categories include: Design and Marketing Performance – best food design, best drinks design; best brands design, best luxury pack; best toiletries, cosmetics and healthcare; plus transit packaging and retail-ready solutions. Technical innovation awards for significant improvements in performance: Environment – Pack Optimisation and New Technical Developments; Consumer Products; Component Development; and Technical Development; plus the Packaging Machinery Award of Excellence.

The Starpack Awards are organised in association with Packaging Today.


Gordon Stewart, Head of IOP: The Packaging Society The FormShrink system is realised on the Multivac R550 thermoformer, prior to loading the chicken directly into the formed film, and a vacuum is pulled both within the pack and the bird cavity, prior to gassing and sealing Packing a chicken The L-Pack developed by Novartis for Nicotinell features complex triangular folds, a blister flip motion and combines primary and secondary packaging Complex pharma concept

Packing a chicken Packing a chicken
Complex pharma concept Complex pharma concept
Gordon Stewart, Head of IOP: The Packaging Society Gordon Stewart, Head of IOP: The Packaging Society


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