The Packaging Education Forum has named Eastman Kodak Co. of Rochester, NY, as Packaging Leader of the Year 2002-2003.
PEF applauded Eastman Kodak for its customer-responsive packaging innovations, the dedication of its packaging professionals for bringing these ideas to market, and Eastman Kodak’s support of college-level packaging education, particularly at the Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester, NY.
PEF will present the Packaging Leader of the Year 2002-2003 award to Eastman Kodak on November 5th in the Vista Ballroom of McCormick Place, Chicago, IL. The award ceremonies will be held in conjunction with Pack Expo International 2002.
The Eastman Kodak packaging team, under the direction of Jim Scott, director, package engineering & graphics design, has introduced several packaging concepts to the marketplace, including:
*Trade channel-specific packages for films—including composite cans (shown) for refrigerated vending machine sales of single-use cameras, pegboard-displayed cartons for convenience store and supermarket check-stand sales, and eight-pack cubes for club store sales
* Test market evaluations of stand-up flexible pouches for film sold in Canadian drug chain outlets
* Bi-modal carton/integral clear plastic clamshell designed for combination digital camera/mp3 player, with one primary facing for use in digital camera departments, the opposite side for music sections
* The DryView tray package for x-ray film, which incorporates a radio-frequency label that communicates with the x-ray printer, signaling what type of film is in the tray.
“As a Fortune 500 company in an extremely competitive business environment, it’s extremely important that Kodak as a company listens and responds to its customers not only through our products, but through the packaging we create for every product,” says Scott.
The company has worked closely with RIT and other packaging universities through the years. For at least 10 years, Kodak packaging officials have served on the Advisory Board to the RIT Packaging Engineering program and have provided Kodak personnel as instructors for RIT’s packaging and distribution courses.
Kodak has also created a packaging co-op program where students from RIT, Michigan State University and elsewhere get hands-on, practical experience working closely with Kodak’s packaging team. As many as 20 packaging students have completed Kodak co-ops in the last five years.
Proceeds of the award ceremonies in Chicago will support college-level packaging education programs in the United States and Canada. For ticket reservations, contact 703-243-5717 or pef@pmmi.org.
See the story that goes with this sidebar: New exhibitors give Pack Expo a fresh look
