Conveying & accumulation

Two-line strategy copes with growth

Two new lines at U.K. contract packager Axxis Intl. both rely on puck systems to handle personal care products. One line is tailored for long runs, the other for quick-change versatility. See in-plant video

June 30, 2001

Materials: Page 693

Flexibles

Gravure winners solve problems

During the technical meeting of the Packaging & Label Gravure Assn., 11 entries were cited in the group's first packaging competition. The Best of Show and a winner in the flexible packaging category was the Kirkland Four Cheese Ravioli pouch by Nordenia USA (Jackson, MO) for Costco.

May 31, 2001

Closures

Bomba drink, bomb-like bottle

Bomba Energy drinks hit the United States in a grenade-shaped 8.4-oz glass bottle topped with a steel cap and ring closure. When the ring is pulled, the cap lifts open. The exclusive importer, Energy Beverage Company of Long Island City, NY, launched the Bomba Energia Getränkevertriebs GmbH product in this country in May.

May 31, 2001

Closures

Love Bus Brew tours the West

South Beach Beverage Company, Norwalk, CT, is rolling out the new SoBe Love Bus Brew June 1 to the West Coast. The chocolate drink comes in a lizard-embossed 16-oz glass bottle, decorated with a colorful 2-mil polypropylene label and a 50-micron polyvinyl chloride neck sleeve.

May 31, 2001

Flexibles

Packaging power tops beverages

Atlanta-based In Zone Brands has added Powerpuff Girls “toppers” to its kids-targeted Belly Washers. Toppers are the molded high-density polyethylene push/pull closures with integral figures atop the 12-oz polyvinyl chloride bottles that literally give the products "character."

May 31, 2001

Filling/capping, liquid & viscous

Marinade bottle delivers

Liquid marinades in 15 shelf-stable flavors from Excalibur Seasoning Co. Ltd., Pekin, IL, were repackaged earlier this year from an 86-oz bottle with pump dispenser to a 64-oz high-density polyethylene “Tip-N-Pour” container.

May 31, 2001

Flexibles

From gabletop to plastic

Both Nestlé USA and Hershey Foods used the Food Marketing Institute 2001 show as a platform to promote plastic containers that replace gabletop cartons.

May 31, 2001

Controls & Machine Components

Film fits like a glove (sidebar)

Local service, validation yield dividends

May 31, 2001

Flexibles

Film fits like a glove

Custom drive on a thermoform/seal machine enables Allegiance Healthcare’s Rayong, Thailand, plant to switch from paper lidstock to thin-gauge plastic film for packs of disposable surgeon’s gloves. Costs are cut by hundreds of thousands of dollars annually.

May 31, 2001

Coding, Printing & Labeling

Second look at packaging yields savings

Revised pack saves time and money for medical device packager Somnus Medical. New tray design cuts costs 57% and allows company to create a dispenser pack.

May 31, 2001

Secondary Packaging

Catering to convenience (sidebar)

Other winners

May 31, 2001

Sustainability

Catering to convenience

From kid-focused foods in all-plastic barrier bowls to a caulk cartridge that reduces solid waste in Japan, the DuPont Awards cover a range of technologies.

May 31, 2001

Secondary Packaging

Dream Stream comes to the U.S. (sidebar)

Foam barrier tray, too

May 31, 2001