Visit www.packagingautomation.net and you’ll find a new website archiving current and back issues of the popular online magazine, Packaging Automation. PA is published by the same people who bring you packworld.com, Packaging World and Automation World magazines, and the Packaging Automation Forum.
Beginning its third year, Packaging Automation is sponsored by ELAU, which specializes in automation systems that are purpose-built for packaging machinery.
PA consistently scores high in terms of editorial subject matter and relevance with readers because it reports on automation in the context of business strategies, industry trends and the machinery attributes that matter to packagers. Through its sponsorship, ELAU achieves its goal of highlighting dozens of its customers’ capabilities each year.
Beyond case histories
“Technologists have become frustrated with the whole concept of case histories,” explains ELAU’s global marketing manager, John Kowal. “The most exciting, game-changing technologies are not being reported in the general packaging press. Because to protect their strategic advantages, most packagers understandably won’t permit reporters in.
“The case history format persists in packaging magazines because it’s what they’ve always done. Yet the studies tell us that packagers are hungry for news of advanced technologies and best practices. Packaging Automation is that vehicle for 25,000 subscribers who want to stay ahead of the curve,” Kowal said.
Patent-pending web technology
Summit Publishing VP of New Media Dave Newcorn is no stranger to packaging automation. He helped the OMAC Packaging Workgroup get off the ground when he served as an editor at Packaging World. Now, he’s deploying some of the most advanced online publishing technologies around.
The digital magazine technology behind Packaging Automation is one of them. It allows any web browser to fill a computer’s screen with each frame of the magazine, so there’s no scrolling. It is Flash based, so it loads quickly even on a dialup or a slower WiFi connection, letting subscribers easily check out the latest news on packaging automation from the road.
Newcorn also managed the development of PA’s new website, which can be searched by issue or categories that include specific benefits of automation, machinery types, applications, control technologies and industry issues. There is a subscription form and a link for diagnosing any viewing issues.
Highlights from recent issues
Packaging Automation has covered the rise of modularity in packaging machinery design. End user coverage includes P&G, Miller Brewing, Hershey Foods, all major pharma manufacturers, Kraft, Masterfoods, Unilever and more. Recent features have included coverage of the Packaging Automation Forum, PMMI MarketTrends conference and Risk Assessment workshops, the PELS alliance, Interphex shows, Packaging Strategies conference, IPACK IMA and more.
A number of ARC research reports can be downloaded through PA, including studies on embedded robotics in packaging machinery, the market drivers demanding servo modules in new machine designs, why packagers want to eliminate single vendor control specifications, and how modular software is key to maintainable packaging systems.
Visit the Packaging Automation website at www.packagingautomation.net. Visit ELAU at www.elau.com. View the archive of ELAU editorial at www.packworld.com/all/elau.
