Converting equipment

Twister takes a whole new shape

For its Twister brand juice beverage, Tropicana North America has launched a 1.75-L (59.3-oz) heat-set bottle made of polyethylene terephthalate that the Bradenton, FL, firm describes as "the first heat-set, hot-filled (180°+) rectangular PET bottle" for a juice beverage in the U.S.

February 28, 1998

Materials: Page 783

Flexibles

A category by any other name.

How does a company call attention to a market segment that doesn't want much attention?

February 28, 1998

Filling/capping, liquid & viscous

Supplier news: Relocations, expansions

CCL Container (Don Mills, Ontario, Canada) is consolidating all of its business entities, now operating as divisions of the company and using the same corporate name and logo.

February 28, 1998

Containers

Drum containment unit

Rand Materials Handling Equipment (Pawtucket, RI) has introduced a 4-Drum Containment Unit with a removable drum pallet that allows the drums to be loaded at floor level and lifted on or off the sump base by a forklift truck.

January 31, 1998

Conveying & accumulation

UV clamshell sealing

PartnerPak (Huntington Beach, CA) has introduced the Simpl-Seal® UV sealing system for double blister and clamshell packages. The system applies a proprietary adhesive, Simpl-Sealant, to one half of the package via a dispensing system.

January 31, 1998

Containers

Extended height containers

Ropak's (Georgetown, KY) Extended Height, reusable, HDPE collapsible containers with a 45" x 48" footprint are an alternative to pallets.

January 31, 1998

Protective/transport packaging

Protective packaging

The Eco-Air (Palo Alto, CA) Fold Pack(TM) is a protective package constructed of 98% corrugated that eliminates the need for an exterior carton. The Fold Pack has shaped, scored sections-already attached to the platform during the die cut-that can be folded into a triangular or rectangular shape.

January 31, 1998

Blisters/clamshells/thermoforming materials

Noncontact temperature sensors

Exergen (Watertown, MA) IRt/c(TM) noncontact temperature sensors are said to measure the actual temperature of every packaged product on the line. Rugged sensors can increase machine speeds by 20% while reducing set-up time by up to 90%, according to the supplier.

January 31, 1998

Blisters/clamshells/skin packaging

Porous molding material

Metapor is a micro-porous aluminum for thermoformers from International Mold Steel (Florence, KY). The material is air-permeable and is said to eliminate venting problems in thermoforming, blister packaging and film processing.

January 31, 1998

Protective/transport packaging

Reusable PVC clamshells short-circuit waste for Lucent

Telecommunications component supplier slashes materials and labor costs by shifting to vinyl clamshell packs for printed circuit boards. Now Lucent asks some customers to return them for reuse.

January 31, 1998

Sustainability

Saving more than just peanuts

Bookstore chain Borders Group moves to a customized loose-fill system for distribution of its products to stores nationwide. Yearly savings are in excess of one million dollars.

January 31, 1998

Conveying & accumulation

Foam dunnage computes for GT's software

Minnesota is no stranger to snow. But at GT Interactive's Plymouth plant, located in suburban Minneapolis, a far different kind of blizzard was hampering operations.

January 31, 1998

Containers

Reusable pallet strap

AGM (Tucson, AZ) has introduced a reusable pallet strap as a waste-reduction alternative to throwaway banding and shrink wrap. The strapping system consists of AGM's over-center KevLok buckle, high-strength bulked nylon webbing and pallet hooks at each end.

January 31, 1998