Filling/capping, liquid & viscous

A clever strategy for plastic beer bottles

Michigan Brewing sees great potential for beer in plastic when the target market is tightly focused. Custom-labeled bottles for a casino, for instance, have found a receptive audience.

August 31, 2000

Closures: Page 110

Coding, Printing & Labeling

'No-label' look reflects purity of product

Global Balance Co. switches from a glass jar to an HDPE tube for consumer benefits, vastly improving product sales.

August 31, 2000

Coding, Printing & Labeling

Battle brewing over child-resistant caps

The Consumer Product Safety Commission is considering mandating child-resistant closures for cosmetics, cleaning solvents and auto products, among others.

August 31, 2000

Blisters/clamshells/skin packaging

Blister pack is clearly 'key' to adapter visibility

New thermoformed clear vinyl package improves shelf presence, while it lowers costs for Keyspan adapters.

August 31, 2000

Conveying & accumulation

E-commerce builds momentum by the bay

Before a larger-than-anticipated audience in San Francisco, representatives from packagers Ethan Allen and Reflect.com address packaging for e-commerce direct-to-consumers.

August 31, 2000

Closures

Miller unveils plastic cap

As television ads touting its plastic beer bottle begin to appear with some frequency, Miller has completed its development of an injection-molded plastic closure that replaces ROPP aluminum. Easier-to-recycle package is spotted in Chicago.

July 31, 2000

Closures

Sutter: To twist or not to twist

After seven years of using twist-off closures to seal its 1 ½-L bottles of wine, Sutter Home Winery recently reverted back to sealing its larger bottles with a traditional cork closure.

July 31, 2000

Labels

Heinz' EZ Squirt has more than cool curves

Come October, innovative packaging will help the H.J. Heinz Co. launch Heinz EZ Squirt, the first ketchup designed especially for kids. The Pittsburgh-based ketchup king designed the package with cool curves and pliable sidewalls that are easily squeezed.

July 31, 2000

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

Flex America Inc: Flex America Inc: Vf/f/s labeler

EPI Labelers (New Freedom, PA) has introduced a Flex-Pac Labeler™ that integrates to Ishida APEX vf/f/s bagmakers. Applies single-ply or multi-ply, coupon stock or reclosable labels as the bags are being filled.

July 31, 2000

Secondary Packaging

Camel 'keg' at 7-Eleven

In February, R.J. Reynolds began selling at 7-Eleven stores nationwide 40- and 60-count Camel and Camel Lights in the 'Camel Keg': a steel tin with a snap-fit lid and bright graphics.

July 31, 2000

Closures

Aluminum bottle wows Cannex

At Cannex 2000 in Brisbane, Australia, in May, The Canmaker magazine announced the results of its Cans of the Year 2000 competition. The overall winner was the “bottle can,” a reclosable two-piece aluminum bottle developed by Daiwa Can (Tokyo, Japan).

July 31, 2000

Conveying & accumulation

Radius brushes away excess costs

Shrink sleeve bundling system enables Radius to unitize plastic cases of its unusual toothbrushes in film sleeves rather than the more costly folding cartons it had used.

July 31, 2000

Cartoning

Suiza dairy 'milks' squishy bottle

Country Fresh, a Suiza Foods dairy, debuts single-serve Milk-It! in injection blow-molded bottles designed for children. The bottles will also be used for other milks, and possibly for juice and water.

June 30, 2000