Flexibles

Only leaders need apply

In the year 2000, say Packaging World sources, the key ingredient in a director of packaging will be dynamic leadership skills. The candidate had better be a people person, too, and be able to wear a number of interdisciplinary hats.

November 30, 1996

Spirits/liquors: Page 108

Bag/pouch fill/seal (pre-made bags)

Duralam presses for short and sweet runs

Flexible packaging converter Duralam is among the first to use a quick changeover flexo press for short-run jobs. One of its most challenging is a reverse-printed OPP structure used for bags of Sun*Maid candy.

November 30, 1996

Containers

Supplier news: Relocations, expansions

U.S. Coexcell (Maumee, OH) opened a plastic drum warehouse in Auburndale, FL, to serve that state's citrus processors.

November 30, 1996

Beverage

Supplier news: Domestic acquisitions, agreements

Mead Corp. (Dayton, OH) will acquire a Rumford, ME, coated paper mill from Boise Cascade for approximately $650 million.

November 30, 1996

Feeding/inserting/unscrambling

Bag inserter

Bemis Packaging Machinery (Minneapolis, MN) has introduced the Series 1580 Large Drum Poly Bag Inserter. It's designed to select a gusseted PE bag from a roll, insert it into a fiber or steel drum, and cuff it over the top of the drum.

October 31, 1996

Blisters/clamshells/skin packaging

In Europe, packaging take-backs are hot

Environmental regulation of packaging has become a hot item outside the U.S. this year. More than 20 countries worldwide now have some form of "producer responsibility" law on the books or in the works.

October 31, 1996

Conveying & accumulation

Packagers still seeking help on electronic components

Understanding electronics is critical to maintenance engineers, but it's also important to packaging engineers and more important than ever to machine operators, say our readers in PW's exclusive survey. Logic and software programming are also studied.

October 31, 1996

Sustainability

R&D managers urged to see the global picture

Packaging research and development managers will need to expand their view beyond the four walls of the corporate fortress. That means paying closer attention to the economics of R&D decisions, and understanding the company's international role.

October 31, 1996

Sustainable Packaging

Shrinking U.S. glass container industry will likely raise prices next year

Paper. Metal. Plastic. Glass. In roughly that order, those are the materials from which packages have been made in the United States for the last half of the 20th century.

October 31, 1996

Sustainable Packaging

3M honors paper packaging innovations

"Last year, for the first time, consumers spent more money on food at foodservice outlets than at retail grocery stores, a trend that presents significant future opportunities for the packaging community." These comments from Robert Esse of Esse Technologies, (Monticello, MN) were made at 3M's (St.

October 31, 1996

Bag/pouch fill/seal (pre-made bags)

Pack Expo Plus: Seminars, conferences and allied shows

High-tech packaging solutions, new resin technologies, healthcare packaging, and better sealing technologies are just a few of the areas covered in conferences and seminars during Pack Expo week.

September 30, 1996

Conveying & accumulation

Components assume new importance in packaging

Conveyors, coding and marking machines, and motors and drives are the components best-known to packagers who have production and engineering responsibilities.

September 30, 1996

Conveying & accumulation

Big changes in tools for mechanics of the future

The most popular handtool for future packaging mechanics may well be a laptop computer, our experts say. Electronic controls have already arrived in many machines, and are expected to dominate by the turn of the century.

September 30, 1996