Beverage

Robotics improve brewery efficiencies

Medium-size brewery Pyraser Bier GmbH & Co. KG, Thalmassing, Germany, manufactures and markets several types of beer as well as carbonated beverages, juices, and other nonalcoholic drinks.

October 31, 2005

Beverage: Page 242

Beverage

PET TO LEAD EUROPEAN BEER PACKAGING

The annual growth of European beer packaging will be led by PET/PEN bottles, according to Schönwald Consulting. Through 2008, growth of beer in PET-based bottles is projected to reach 12% per year, to 70 million hectoliters by 2008.

October 31, 2005

Beverage

Counterfeiting drugs: Growing, global problem

The problem of counterfeit drugs is definitely a global issue, says Jim Kouri, a vice president of the National Assn. of Police Chiefs and a security consultant and author.

October 31, 2005

Flexibles

Coping with change

At independent Pepsi bottler Browning Harvey Ltd. in St. Johns, Newfoundland, plant manager Gary Williams recently eliminated the hassle of inventorying returnable plastic shells for PET bottles. (This story will run in an upcoming issue.) Here Gary talks about the challenge of change in the overall packaging landscape.

October 31, 2005

Controls & Machine Components

'Virtual' mechanical devices are mere graphical software elements

Rack-based, multi-processor control system makes carton filler easier and less costly to build, install, and operate.

October 31, 2005

Beverage

Swanky card packs nearly triple wine merchant's gift sales

Sherry-Lehmann, a New York wine merchant, faced this marketing challenge: Develop a new service to increase sales, and make the tone seamlessly complement the chic of its Manhattan store.

October 31, 2005

Coding, Printing & Labeling

Probiotic labeling needs tightening

The growing popularity in Europe of dairy and other beverages labeled probiotic have led to calls for tighter regulation of the claim.

October 31, 2005

Beverage

The power of the 'aesthetic imperative' (sidebar)

The benefits of ethnography

October 31, 2005

Flexibles

Prepress progress through new and old technologies

CPG companies want color accuracy that is dead-on, but they also want to squeeze out more efficiency from the package printing process. Prepress is where it all has to happen.

October 31, 2005

Flexibles

Packaging made from renewable resources gains traction

As petroleum-based materials edge upward in cost, packaging made from renewable resources grows more appealing. Says one water bottler, 'It’s the right thing.'

October 31, 2005

Coding, Printing & Labeling

Label proposals not going down easy

The beverage industry is unhappy with potential changes to alcohol and soft drink labels.

October 31, 2005

Beverage

The wrap-up: Concentrated water

The latest energy drink turns out to be…water. Just add this special water to water and you have 'energized' water that's good for your cell.

September 30, 2005

Feeding/inserting/unscrambling

What is missing in packaging education

Learning how packaging is produced—the machinery side of the equation—is painfully lacking in packaging education.

September 30, 2005