Flexible packaging

Tortilla packs always get a date

La Siesta Foods tested a new ink-jet coder designed for food processing plants. Better reliability, easy cleaning and operation, and improved portability cut downtime for tortilla bakery.

March 31, 1998

Flexibles: Page 353

Coding, Printing & Labeling

Digital-on-demand printing opens new markets for converter

Two six-color digital offset presses drive Watson Label Products into the packaging market. Machines specialize in short-run production of flexibles used primarily for prototyping and promotional purposes.

March 31, 1998

Conveying & accumulation

New machines and materials fuel prepackaged fresh beef

An unusual foam tray, seven-layer coextruded lidding, a high-speed rotary backflushing/lidding machine, and weigh/price labeling let this Florida meat packer respond to supermarket demand for case-ready ground beef.

March 31, 1998

Flexibles

Supplier news: Domestic acquisitions, agreements

Ashland Chemical Co. (Dublin, OH) has acquired the flexible packaging adhesives business of Century Intl. Adhesives and Coatings Corp. (Columbus, OH).

March 31, 1998

Flexibles

Supplier news: Appointments, promotions

DuPont Polyester (Wilmington, DE): Craig F. Binetti, vp/general mgr., Resins and Intermediates; Francine P. Cheeseman, vp/general mgr., Films.

March 31, 1998

Flexibles

FPA announces top winner

In this year's annual awards competition sponsored by the Flexible Packaging Assn. (see PW, March '98, pp. 34, 42 and 58), the Green Globe award for environmental achievement and the President's award for top package overall both went to GardenTech Singles by Gulfstream Home and Garden of Lexington, KY.

March 31, 1998

Flexibles

Metallized OPP extends shelf life for exports

For Ritz® Bits® and Ritz Bits Sandwiches, Nabisco Biscuit recently upgraded its film structures for products shipped long distances. "We needed to create packaging structures especially designed for distribution to foreign markets," explains Kevin Migliacci, senior packaging engineer for the East Hanover, NJ-based firm.

March 31, 1998

Secondary Packaging

Nigrelli Systems Inc: Shrink wrappers

The Encore SW is a line of servo-driven shrink wrappers from Nigrelli Systems (Kiel, WI). Designed for 24-hour production of trayed or unsupported multipack beverages, food and other products, they operate at speeds to 100 cycles/minute.

February 28, 1998

Conveying & accumulation

Omega Design Corp.: Shrink bundler

The Model FSB shrink bundler from Omega Design (Exton, PA) automatically collates, unitizes and wraps containers and/or cartons into a predetermined configuration.

February 28, 1998

Flexibles

Testing Machines Inc: Film thickness testing

Testing Machines (Islandia, NY) has introduced the TMI Profiling System, a high-performance, PC-based system for off-line measurement of film thickness.

February 28, 1998

Flexibles

Polyester film

Rhodia (Cranbury, NJ) has introduced Terphane® 14.31, a PVOH-coated film for lamination. Applications for the film include lidding for refrigerated and oxygen-sensitive foods such as fresh and processed meats, fresh pasta and cheese.

February 28, 1998

Flexibles

Lidding film

A solvent-free PE-laminated rigid vinyl film for use as lidding material with thermoformed trays has been introduced by Klckner Pentaplast (Gordonsville, VA).

February 28, 1998

Flexibles

Pakex 98 shows future in European packaging

Birmingham, England, is the site for an extensive look at British packaging machinery and materials, March 30 to April 3.

February 28, 1998