Conveying & accumulation

Web plus: A dot-com looks for packaging solutions

Overstock.com offers a variety of name-brand surplus merchandise, such as toys, diamond rings, and TVs, for up to 70% off the retail price. Just like a catalog retailer, this Internet retailer must invest in quality packaging to ship products to consumers.

December 31, 2001

Industries: Page 678

Consumer packaged goods

Industry watch: Achievements

Tetra Pak (Vernon Hills, IL) was honored with the Association of Post Consumer Plastics Recyclers’ Partners for Change Award. —Meyers Label (Minneapolis, MN) is the 2001 recipient of ¶Hormel Foods Corp.’s Hormel #1 Award.

December 31, 2001

Sustainability

Industry watch: Companies

—BluePrint Automation B.V. (Woerden, the Netherlands), with U.S. operations headquartered in Colonial Heights, VA, held an open house at its Woerden facility as a way to introduce its latest innovations in end-of-line packaging automation.

December 31, 2001

Sustainability

Rules & Regs: Canadian regs not likely to affect packaging

Packaging is likely to get a pass on a new requirement for environmental assessment of products regulated under Canadian Food and Drugs Act. According to the New Substances Notification program under the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, as of September 13, 2001, products regulated by F&DA (biologics, food additives, novel foods, personal care products, and cosmetics) must meet environmental assessment standards, as well as health and safety criteria.

December 31, 2001

Coding, Printing & Labeling

Rules & Regs: Country-of-origin labeling1;again

The Senate Agriculture Committee, by a one vote margin, accepted an amendment to the Farm Bill that included mandatory country-of-origin labeling for fresh red meats, farm-raised catfish, produce, and peanuts.

December 31, 2001

Coding, Printing & Labeling

PipeLine: Size does matter

With apologies to Dr. Ruth, I think you’ll agree that, in many areas, size can be an important advantage.

December 31, 2001

Controls & Machine Components

Protective details

The Xbox console includes a variety of sensitive internal components including a hard drive, DVD drive, and a CPU. To protect the console during transportation and handling, Microsoft selected expanded polystyrene foam end caps.

November 30, 2001

Consumer packaged goods

Design goals

Redmond, WA-based Microsoft asked design firm SBI and Company (Salt Lake City, UT) to create an identity at retail for its Xbox game console that effectively and consistently communicates the Xbox brand attributes and positions the company as a leader within the category.

November 30, 2001

Controls & Machine Components

Xbox box has 'game'

The graphics design for the much anticipated mid-November debut of Microsoft's Xbox game console strikes a balance for hard-core gamers and mainstream consumers. After soliciting concepts from several firms, Redmond, WA-based Microsoft awarded the design work to SBI and Company (Salt Lake City, UT).

November 30, 2001

Flexibles

Baking kits display holiday spirit

Betty Crocker has cooked up a timely product for the season: holiday baking kits in four varieties. The kits from Minneapolis, MN-based General Mills are packaged in creative and colorful boxes with precision die cuts. Although introduced last year—and seasonally for Halloween—this winter's kits offer new features.

November 30, 2001

Beverage

"Famous" holiday case

The Edrington Group, Glasgow, Scotland, U.K., is decorating The Famous Grouse Scotch whisky domestic and overseas export cases for the holiday season. Since October ‘01, a new animated Grouse icon has been adorning a new B-flute corrugated case used for 7-cL, 70-cL, and 1-L bottles in 6- and 12-pack distribution cases.

November 30, 2001

Coding, Printing & Labeling

Egg labeling kicks in

As of September 4, 2001, cartons of nonpasteurized eggs must bear a safe handling statement.

November 30, 2001

Controls & Machine Components

Efector, Inc: Efector, Inc: AS-I controller

ifm efector (Exton, PA) has released a SmartLogic™ unit that operates as an AS-i module with 4 inputs and 4 outputs. Module uses a programmable microprocessor with an 8-kb program memory that adds fast, local control functions to AS-i installations.

November 30, 2001