Converting equipment

Retailers find security in source tagging

National drug retailer Walgreen Co. is one major chain that is experiencing significant cost savings through the use of security labels added to packages. Manufacturers are feeling increased pressure to supply product pre-labeled.

February 28, 1997

Beverage: Page 396

Flexible packaging

Medical/surgical packs make a strong FPA showing

Among medical industry packages to win FPA awards this year was a thermoformed pouch that won the Green Globe Award for environmental achievement.

February 28, 1997

Flexible packaging

Of communion cups and stand-up pouches

These three FPA award winners represent different industries to be sure, but they all have one thing in common: Their use of flexible films to meet packaging challenges.

February 28, 1997

Secondary Packaging

No uniformity in changeover demands

Almost any way you measure packaging line changeover, the answers from Packaging World readers vary widely. The major agreement is that more changes are being demanded-and less time is available for doing them. However, the strategies for hastening change

February 28, 1997

Closures

Final score for '96: Productivity gains 41, productivity losses 6

Of 516 responses to the 1997 Packaging Productivity Trends Indicator Survey, more than four in ten (41%) report productivity improvements in 1996, compared to just 6% who say their companies experienced losses in productivity.

February 28, 1997

Coding, Printing & Labeling

Ciba slashes costs with flexible pack

Ciba Crop Protection, Greensboro, NC, reduced its packaging costs by more than half after switching to a custom 25-lb premade bag for its granular ant bait product used by farmers.

February 28, 1997

Beverage

Supplier news: International agreements

Kollmorgen Instruments Corp.'s (Waltham, MA) Macbeth Div. merged with the Gretag Color Control Systems Div. of Gretag AG (Regensdorf, Switzerland).

February 28, 1997

Additives, coatings & inks

AquaPenn's 8-oz PET breaks the size barrier

AquaPenn Spring Water Co. has what it believes is the smallest polyethylene terephthalate bottle for a nonalcoholic beverage in the country. Holding just 8 oz of spring water, the Quick Quench bottle was launched in mid-January, targeted primarily at foodservice institutions.

February 28, 1997

Beverage

O'Doul's calls phone card label a success

A Christmas holiday promotion involving a special telephone card "label" affixed to the inside of 12-packs of O'Doul's non-alcoholic beer has been called a success by Anheuser-Busch.

February 28, 1997

Flexibles

Graphics suit Santa's Best coffee bag

In a two-month period ending in mid-January, Seattle's Best Coffee produced about 100ꯠ units of Santa's Best Blend(TM) 8-oz whole bean coffee.

February 28, 1997

Additives, coatings & inks

Dual-pump pack minimizes waste

Introduced in Mexico last September, Colgate's dual-pumping toothpaste dispenser is unique for several reasons, says Bob Mack, associate director of technology at Colgate Palmolive's Global Packaging Group.

February 28, 1997

Controls & Machine Components

Fieldbus interface

The Profibus process fieldbus interface card from Hardy Instruments (San Diego, CA) is designed for the company's HI 2160RC loss-in-weight rate controller.

January 31, 1997

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

PP/polyester film

Q-PET(TM) is a patent-pending coextruded multilayer film with a core layer of PP and surface layers of polyester. This offers users a significant cost reduction over traditional PP, says the company.

January 31, 1997