Containers

Ginger Nuts go for an upgrade

Higher throughput with reduced labor costs is among the paybacks gained by United Biscuits since the firm automated its Ginger Nuts biscuit line in Carlisle, England.See video

December 31, 2004

Leaders (UNIVERSAL TAXONOMY PW): Page 1453

Protective/transport packaging

New controls bring smooth production

A flawed drives and controls package in this converting system had to be replaced before the machine could be returned to production.

December 31, 2004

Containers

Vinegars veer from glass to PET

Rising resin costs don’t deter plans to please customers by making a switch from glass to plasic. ‘We may extend PET usage for some other products in our line.’

December 31, 2004

Blisters/clamshells/thermoforming materials

Consumers help GE see the light

Three-year project uncovers consumer frustrations in buying light bulbs and responds with a package design that takes the guesswork out of product selection.

December 31, 2004

Flexibles

Flexibles outlook is optimistic

FPA expects sales revenue for 2004 flexible packaging shipments to increase 4.7% to about $21.4 billion, with rosier three- to five-year converter expectations.

December 31, 2004

Flexible packaging

FDA rings bell for antidepressant class

For the first time, FDA urges manufacturers to put an entire class of medications into unit-of-use packaging.

December 31, 2004

Controls & Machine Components

Servo Magnetics Inc: Brushless DC motor

The new 000-0326 high-performance brushless DC kit motor from Servo Magnetics is designed for low-voltage applications where an efficient, high-torque motor is required.

November 30, 2004

Controls & Machine Components

Bosch Rexroth Corp.: Electro-pneumatic servo system

The Rexroth AirNC electro-pneumatic servo system is ideal for demanding food and packaging applications. It integrates into the main control via digital, analog, or serial communications.

November 30, 2004

Controls & Machine Components

RFSAW, Inc: High-performance RFID tags

The new Model 501 Global SAW Tag (GST) RFID system from RFSAW claims to solve industry problems such as reading at long range, reading tagged metal items, and reading items with high liquid content.

November 30, 2004

Blisters/clamshells/skin packaging

Packaging automation standards: what's under the hood?

Standardization makes machine controls look the same – and that’s a good thing. But look under the hood and you’ll see important differences.

November 30, 2004

Coding, Printing & Labeling

Ultra-thin RFID tags

Texas Instruments has announced 2 new additions to its line of 13.56 MHz Tag-it[tm] HF-I products: the 32.5 mm CD/DVD Inlay and the 24.2 mm Circular Inlay. Both inlays are compliant with ISO/IEC 15693 vicinity card standard and ISO/IEC 18000-3 item management standard, making them suitable for adoption worldwide.

November 30, 2004

Coding, Printing & Labeling

ProMat 2005 offers RFID Knowledge Center

Some 25ꯠ sq ft of radio-frequency identification will be a technological centerpiece for the exposition.

November 30, 2004

Coding, Printing & Labeling

RFID in dozens of stores now

Labor-saving, RFID-enabled store displays have been providing packagers with unique and timely data for two years.

November 30, 2004