Technical innovation on display

New oxygen-absorbing technology and a unique insulating liner for produce are two FPA winners admired for their technical innovation.

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The Flexible Packaging Assn.’s 2001 Packaging Achievement Awards included four categories this year: Technical Innovation, Packaging Excellence, Environmental Achievement, and Printing Achievement. But only two award winners earned the Highest Achievement Award, and both were Gold Award winners from the Technical Innovation category. (For additional coverage of the FPA awards, see pages 61 and 75.)

One of these was Nestlé Buitoni-brand fresh pasta (1), marketed by Nestlé USA of Glendale, CA. Covered by Packaging World in a previous issue (see packworld.com/go/c007), this package’s lidding material represents the first-known commercial use of the OS1000 polymer-based oxygen-scavenging system from Sealed Air Corp.’s Cryovac Div. (Duncan, SC). Activated by ultraviolet lights near the form/fill/

seal system on which the pasta is packed, the Cryovac technology extends the refrigerated pasta’s shelf life by 50%, says Nestlé.

The other Highest Achievement winner is Cargo Tech’s (San Diego, CA) AirLiner®, an inflatable insulating liner (2) that converts a corrugated shipper into a cooler. It also won a Gold Award in FPA’s Environmental Achievement category.

AirLiner technology derived from government-sponsored research to improve insulation for refrigerators. Cargo Tech founder Tom Malone saw its potential for perishable shipping and worked with David McKinney to develop it into a multiple-patented alternative to foam coolers. Last year, Save On Seafood, St. Petersburg, FL, used more than 50ꯠ of these bags to protect the seafood it ships to restaurants and supermarkets.

Although its makers are somewhat guarded about AirLiner’s composition, McKinney did say the outer ply is a coextruded film with a core of nylon. The inside film is a “pure polyolefin that’s been metallized.” McKinney joined Cargo Tech from ITW Holographic and Specialty Films, a company formerly known as Scharr Industries, a pioneer in metallizing packaging materials.

Many of Cargo Tech’s patents pertain to the way the materials are fabricated into an inflatable bag with a one-way valve inflation nozzle. The bags are shipped flat so the receiving and storage space savings vs fabricated foam coolers is considerable, easily the biggest benefit to Save On Seafood, according to owner Gib Migliano. When the company began to use the AirLiner bag, he says, nearly 4ꯠ sq’ of crucial dockside space became available.

While the space savings was vital to Save On, other benefits were equally appealing. The company did a side-by-side test of AirLiner vs the expanded polystyrene foam cooler it previously used, both with 2-lb gel packs and dry ice pellets for refrigerant. Not only did the inflated package’s contents begin cooler (37°F vs 41°F), the package outperformed the cooler in shipments to most destinations. Even more important, Migliano says, customers perceived the fish fillets sent with AirLiner to be colder than those packed with the EPS cooler.

Although Cargo Tech is offered in 12 stock sizes, Save On converted all its customers to a single pack size, 24”x15”x10¾”, compared to three former sizes with foam. That added to the space savings on both corrugated boxes as well as the bags. This box can hold from 20 to 40 lb of fish, and it has a light wax treatment on its inside surface. In the plant, compressed air is used to inflate the bags, requiring only about 10 sec/bag.

“Plus, using AirLiner, the package’s gross weight is significantly reduced. Since these bags are virtually weightless, it saved us a bunch of money,” says Migliano. To further save on weight, Migliano says his plant now primarily uses dry ice as the refrigerant in place of the heavier gel packs.

In the past, Save On had experienced some breakage problems with foam that led to having to ship replacement orders. Because a container from Save On might hold $300 worth of salmon, tuna, or swordfish fillets, the replacement cost and the loss of good will was considerable. “Our customers have told us: ‘If you’re shipping overnight with AirLiner, your instances of damaged, spoiled goods will be minor,’” says Migliano. In fact, he tells PW that he hasn’t had one damage claim with the production AirLiner bag.

The AirLiner system is a bit more costly to buy, 5% to 10%, McKinney says. But this cost premium is more than offset by the reduction in damage costs. After a production debugging period, Cargo Tech began shipping AirLiner bags last June.

Finally, the AirLiner bag deflates into flat film for disposal. The seafood company owner says his customers have told him about “dramatic” declines in their trash. “There’s no crushing messy, used foam boxes, and then trying to figure a way to dispose of them,” Migliano says. “Any step we can take to reduce our impact on the landfills is a bonus.

“Look, the chefs I sell to are very conscious of the environment. So minimizing trash or having a recyclable bag has been very attractive to them.”

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Conveying Innovations Report
Editors report on distinguishing characteristics that define each new product and collected video demonstrating the equipment or materials as displayed at the show. This topical report, winnowed from nearly 300 PACK EXPO collective booth visits, represents a categorized, organized account of individual items that were selected based on whether they were deemed to be both new, and truly innovative, based on decades of combined editorial experience in experiencing and evaluating PACK EXPO products.
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