New pack saves money for Oral-B

'99, p. 42 or packworld.com/go/oral-b). It's also a money saver. Bentrim revealed that the new polyvinyl chloride clamshell pack is actually 25% less costly to produce than typical film-backed blisters of PVC that Oral-B uses for its other toothbrush packaging. He expects to see an additional 10 to 15% more savings as the company improves efficiencies on its new packaging line. Bentrim spoke at a seminar on Innovative Packaging, sponsored by Michigan State University's School of Packaging in Scottsdale, AZ, in late January. Overall, Bentrim noted, the new clamshell will evolve into as many as 12 different packs, including secondary packaging, depending on the market and location. Many will end up in free-standing displays, part of the 600ꯠ that Oral-B ships each year. When asked about the scanning reliability of the bar code that's flexo-printed before forming, Bentrim noted that the bar-code verifiers on its equipment were designed to be "five times more sensitive than Wal-Mart's" scanners. That's to avoid the $10ꯠ fine the retailer imposes on manufacturers each time a package bar code fails to scan. For more information about the seminar, phone MSU's Dr. Robert LaMoreaux at 517/355-3603.