Conveying & accumulation

Costco snack pack operations

Costco’s in-house production for tubed snacks relies on three f/f/s units and four pick-and-place robots to produce a 24-count variety pack.

January 7, 2009

Machinery: Page 623

Conveying & accumulation

Installs and start-ups

Advice from packaging machinery experts on what makes for a great install and a smooth startup.

January 7, 2009

Controls & Machine Components

Info management

Proficy® HMI/SCADA iFIX 5.0 from GE Fanuc Intelligent Platforms enhances the HMI/SCADA offering and transitions iFIX to a next-generation visualization, control, and real-time information management solution.

January 7, 2009

Controls & Machine Components

Stepper drive/motor unit

Applied Motion Products offers the STM Drive+Motor solution, a stepper drive and motor unit fused into a single device that offers savings on space, wiring, and cost.

January 7, 2009

Conveying & accumulation

Small-footprint bottle accumulation/conveying

Innovative loop conveyor with integrated single-filer requires minimum floor space and eliminates back pressure.

January 7, 2009

Controls & Machine Components

Power distribution

AutomationDirect’s line of Edison power distribution blocks and terminal blocks provide distinctly different styles of short-circuit current rated (SCCR) power to support different application needs.

January 7, 2009

Coding, Printing & Labeling

Risk management

Business risks related to food packaging are wide-ranging and everywhere: bisphenol-A (BPA), melamine in pet food or milk, food allergen labeling, country of origin labeling—the list seems endless.

January 7, 2009

Secondary Packaging

PCP 'can' do RFID

Pacific Coast Producers fills metal cans that hold lots of liquids.

January 7, 2009

Labels

FDA official analyzes current and future food safety efforts

The problem with thinking about how to protect the nation’s food supply is that when you get into it a little bit, it’s pretty frightening.

January 7, 2009

Blisters/clamshells/skin packaging

P&G employs sustainability in Prilosec package redesign

Easier-opening package meets consumer needs, says John Eadicicco, section head—Health Global Package and Device Development at Procter & Gamble.

January 7, 2009

Conveying & accumulation

X-ray systems enhance hot dog QA

During 2008, a leading hot dog manufacturer installed PowerChek Plus x-ray inspection systems from Mettler-Toledo Safeline (www.mt.com/safelineus) on six separate packaging lines.

January 6, 2009

Secondary Packaging

Maximum case packer flexibility

The R700 Adabot Case Packer from Fallas Automation picks up bags on the fly at high speeds and loads them accurately into cases in any custom-pack pattern desired.

January 5, 2009

Conveying & accumulation

A conveyor that's strong on reconfigurability

This 5200 Series Quick Conveyor from Dorner Mfg. is strong on modularity/flexibility, good at having products carry from one platform to the next on a one-belt conveyor, and suitable for quick setup and reconfiguration.

January 5, 2009