Conveying & accumulation

Labeler proves 'berry, berry' good for Fabri-Kal

A new clamshell labeling system increases speed while reducing labor costs and downtime at the Greenville, SC, plant of thermoformer Fabri-Kal.

October 31, 2001

Materials: Page 693

Labels

Plastic bottles move toward aseptics

It won’t be a ‘slam dunk,’ but some experts say that aseptic filling of both high-and low-acid products into plastic bottles will gain wider acceptance across the United States.

October 31, 2001

Conveying & accumulation

New line boasts new sterilizing technology

Adelholzener of Germany is leading the charge when it comes to popularizing one-way plastic beverage bottles in a region that has long resisted this package format.

October 31, 2001

Closures

Small orders + small orders = big orders

Low-volume buyers of packaging materials are striking up deals and saving up to 40% on their purchases through online demand aggregation.

October 31, 2001

Closures

Small orders + small orders = big savings (sidebar)

Packaging distributor saves 20% online

October 31, 2001

Conveying & accumulation

Delivering for dairy

Oberweis Dairy’s investment in new filling, capping, labeling, conveying, bottle-packing, and shrink-wrapping machinery begins to pay off with the introduction of single-serve milks.

October 31, 2001

Closures

Delivering for dairy (sidebar)

Custom bottle helps launch Oberweis Dairy into single-serve milks

October 31, 2001

Secondary Packaging

Upset over inserts

New FDA demands for package inserts would bloat printing requirements and force some products to add outer cartons.

October 31, 2001

Conveying & accumulation

Side-sealed and delivered

A manufacturer of crown molding invests in a horizontal shrink wrapper that delivers better protective packaging and tamper evidence.

October 31, 2001

Containers

Latrobe Brewing Co.: Automated truck unloading

At this Rolling Rock brewery, pallets of bulk glass are pulled automatically from trucks with no forklift intervention.

September 30, 2001

Additives, coatings & inks

Irradiation packaging

Although irradiation is now being recognized as a potent food safety tool and more and more foods have been approved for irradiation, its increased use may be limited by the small number of packaging materials and additives cleared for use in FDA regulations.

September 30, 2001

Blisters/clamshells/thermoforming materials

P&G tests Pringles portion pack

Procter & Gamble is test marketing Smart Stacks, a 0.81-oz portion pack of its Pringles-brand potato crisps, in a thermoformed polypropylene cup whose bottom is shaped like the curvy snack.

September 30, 2001

Closures

Welch's opts for multilayer PP, easy-spread cap

Like other juice marketers, Welch’s has typically relied on heat-set polyethylene terephthalate when converting from glass to plastic. But the firm changed that pattern when it came time to design a plastic alternative to its 10-oz single-serve glass containers. This time, the Concord, MA-based firm opted for a translucent polypropylene bottle rather than clear PET.

September 30, 2001