Secondary Packaging

Automatic case openers and sealers

SWF Companies (Reedley, CA) offers the OS Series fully automatic HSC/RSC case openers and sealers that are easily integrated with a wide variety of case loading systems to form fully automatic case packers.

March 31, 2003

Leaders (UNIVERSAL TAXONOMY PW): Page 1556

Controls & Machine Components

KUKA Robotics Corporation: PC-based motion controller

Kuka Robotics Corp. (Sterling Heights, MI) offers the Kuka Motion Controller, a standalone version of its PC-based robot controller that can control the logic of packaging lines, and the coordinated motion of any machine with up to 8 servomotors.

March 31, 2003

Controls & Machine Components

Phoenix Contact Inc: Temperature controller

Phoenix Contact (Harrisburg, PA) now offers a new PID temperature controller. The IB IL Tempcon module is suitable for packaging machinery temperature control when thermal cutoff is required in forming applications. The module is designed as either a stand-alone unit or integrated into a device-level network (CanOpen, DeviceNet, Interbus, or Profibus) or Ethernet.

March 31, 2003

Closures

Single-handed convenience

One-handed dispensing of coffee creamer is coming to dairy cases across the country as Morningstar Foods, a subsidiary of Dallas-based Dean Foods Co., begins shipping its International Delight brand in PET containers with a custom dispensing closure.

March 31, 2003

Closures

Skippy squeezes into new packs

Unilever Bestfoods’ well-known Skippy brand could redefine the peanut butter category with two stunning new flexible packages.

March 31, 2003

Controls & Machine Components

Unlocking plant-floor packaging data at Unilever

Accurate, timely information on which to make business decisions is already on the packaging floor, according to Unilever’s Andrew McDonald (left), global automation and control manager.

March 31, 2003

Closures

Shaped aluminum bottle energizes Snapple's Elements

Aluminum containers continue to boost the energy drink category. Elements Beverage division of the Snapple Beverage Group, White Plains, NY, is using marketing alchemy to switch bottles of its Elements energy drinks from glass to aluminum.

March 31, 2003

Sustainability

Coca-Cola wins recycling award

Coca-Cola Co., Atlanta, received an award for outstanding corporate responsibility for its leadership in using recycled PET resin. The award, from the Plastic Redesign Project, Madison, WI, was presented at a luncheon Feb. 26, at the Take It Back! 2003 conference in Alexandria, VA, sponsored by Raymond Communications (Columbia, MD).

March 31, 2003

Secondary Packaging

Q&A: Club store trends

Mike Bilder, president of contract packager Peacock Engineering in Itasca, IL, talks about the interplay among major food manufacturers, club stores, and contract packagers.

March 31, 2003

Closures

Award-winning design

Nantze Springs won the International Bottled Water Assn.’s Aqua Award for the Best Package Design in the medium company category for its 8.5-oz water bottle design.

March 31, 2003

Feeding/inserting/unscrambling

Web Plus: Sites

New or enhanced Web sites

March 31, 2003

Secondary Packaging

Companies

Sonic Air Systems (Brea, CA) moved its headquarters to 1050 Beacon St., Brea, CA, 92821, phone: 800/827-6642, fax: 714/255-8366.

March 31, 2003

Coding, Printing & Labeling

New antibiotics labeling

The Food and Drug Administration issued a final rule requiring labels of antibiotics and their synthetic counterparts intended for human use to bear statements about using these products in a way that reduces the development of drug-resistant strains.

March 31, 2003