Secondary Packaging

Unfinished business

As I began to gear up for 2004, I realized that my office was littered with a whole raft of news and feature story applications that, for a variety of reasons, were not published.

January 31, 2004

Materials: Page 624

Containers

Belgian brewer moves fast to barrier-coated bottles

Deposit legislation in Germany spurred Martens Brewery to invest in an in-house line for making, coating, filling, and packaging of PET beer bottles.See video

January 31, 2004

Flexibles

German brewer bets big on multilayer PET

This high-volume move to multilayer PET bottles for beer sold at retail in Germany could signal a much broader acceptance of PET for beer.See video

January 31, 2004

Closures

Retooling hardware packaging

Our annual look at hardware packaging ranges from the cute (fancy seed pails) to the creatively functional (driveway sealer in an easy-pour bucket).

January 31, 2004

Blisters/clamshells/thermoforming materials

Aventis makes a move to 2D datamatrix symbology

By putting variable data on blisters and cartons via TIJ printing in place of embossing, Aventis reaps multiple benefits and becomes a pioneer in the use of datamatrix symbology in packaging.

January 31, 2004

Blisters/clamshells/thermoforming materials

Aventis reinvents vial packaging

It starts with a labeler handling 900 vials/min and finishes with robotic cartoning and palletizing. In between is a pioneering use of 2D datamatrix coding symbology.

January 31, 2004

Blisters/clamshells/thermoforming materials

Packagers embrace renewable resources

Cornstarch, polylactic acid, and limestone are among the renewable resources used by Cadbury Schweppes for thermoformed candy trays, Biorigin for fresh pasta containers, and Wild Oats for a variety of deli containers.

January 31, 2004

Flexibles

Turkey Hill's cool new label

Following a successful market test of a new insulating label that keeps cold beverages cooler, Turkey Hill Dairy plans a broader use of the novel label come spring.

January 31, 2004

Containers

Robots boost pasta packing

Four robotic palletizing cells accept a wide variety of cases from eight upstream packaging lines. Changeover of pallet patterns is done at a touchscreen.See video

January 31, 2004

Coding, Printing & Labeling

Terrorism concerns infiltrate packaging

New homeland security program sends packagers scurrying for protective and tracking technologies.

January 31, 2004

Containers

Campbell's soups adopt EZO lids

Campbell Soup Co., Camden, NJ, is now converting all its Condensed Soup varieties, plus other products in 10- and 11-oz cans, to full-panel, easy-open lids.

January 31, 2004

Conveying & accumulation

Poore: Weigh scales for salty snacks

Cross-feeder conveyors deliver snacks to Ishida 14-head weigh scales from Heat and Control. Individual load cells measure the weight of product in the scales. Integrated controls are used to select the right combination of buckets to release an accurate amount of product into a bottom-sealed tube of film.

December 31, 2003

Flexibles

Platinum Packaging Inc.: Wrapping and sealing of gift box blanks

A stack of knocked-down gift box bottoms and tops are pushed into a center-folded tube of film that provides clarity, as well as puncture and tear-resistance. The tube is side-sealed with two impulse wires. Next, a cross-sealing station employs hot-knife jaws that create a seal between the leading and trailing pack of boxes before cutting in the seal area between the packs. Packs then are conveyed through a heat tunnel. Euipment is supplied by Shanklin.

December 31, 2003