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Let's get synched on standards

“Standards are like tooth brushes. Everybody has one, but nobody wants to use the other guy’s.”

Pat_Reynolds
Pat_Reynolds

Gregg Stedronsky, vice president of engineering at General Mills, let fly with this little zinger in his presentation at the 2007 Packaging Automation Forum. He also had a word of advice for both buyers and builders of packaging machinery: It’s in everyone’s best interest to adopt the OMAC Packaging Work Group’s PackML concepts, which were “guidelines” at the time of Stedronsky’s presentation but recently became ISA standards, namely ISA TR088.05.

Considering how much can be gained in the way of cost reduction, efficiency, and machine functionality when standards are relied upon widely, you’d think that by now the PackML standards would be universally embraced. Sadly, it’s not the case.

Procter & Gamble, Frito-Lay, and SABMiller are among the CPG companies that have put these standards to good use. In their estimation, use of PackML reduces startup time, gets lines to expected performance sooner, keeps lines at optimal performance throughout their lifetimes, improves line management and decision-making, and results in better and faster machine diagnostics. At Pack Expo Las Vegas this past fall, Procter & Gamble even went so far as to donate to industry at large its own internal PackML application guideline. Their thinking was that since the PackML document can be intimidating in its length and scope, they could speed widespread adoption of the standard by donating a robust execution of PackML that they have validated in numerous types of machines and in multiple business units around the world.

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