Flexible packaging

Stand-up pouch stands out on the shelf

Canadian marketer of coffee, nuts and spices jumps ahead of the competition by installing a versatile pouching system for nuts and coffees. Private-label packaging beckons.

September 30, 1997

Secondary Packaging: Page 272

Conveying & accumulation

Filler enables DriWater to eject rejects

Auger filler more accurately fills 1-qt paperboard cartons containing DriWater, a time-release liquid gel for areas where water is scarce. Greater fill accuracy reduces product and packaging material waste, and labor costs.

September 30, 1997

Flexible packaging

Nature's Pleasures launches fresh-cut apple slic es

This processor may not be the first to package apple slices in an extended shelf-life MAP format. But management believes its technology gives it an edge over those who pioneered the concept.

September 30, 1997

Secondary Packaging

Supplier news: Relocations, expansions

ABB Flexible Automation Inc. (New Berlin, WI) formed a new division, Packaging Automation, which will focus on picking, packing and palletizing robotic system solutions for the food, beverage, personal care and pharmaceutical industries.

September 30, 1997

Conveying & accumulation

Line portal robot

The Linapal line portal (gantry) robot from Krones (Franklin, WI) handles loads of up to one ton at speeds to 360 cycles/hr. Applications include palletizing and depalletizing, crate/carton packing and unpacking, removal of inverted trays or layer pads, and order picking.

August 31, 1997

Conveying & accumulation

Sleeve wrap/bundler

Damark (Lewisville, TX) will introduce its HS Series sleeve wrap/bundler at Pack Expo West. Reaching speeds to 30 packages/min, the wrapper is controlled by a SLC 500 PLC and is equipped with heavy-duty electrical, mechanical and pneumatic components for continuous high- speed operation.

August 31, 1997

Conveying & accumulation

Case packer

Packaging Automation's (Eagan, MN) Model PAC-H compact case packer is not much wider than the conveyor framework, allowing it to fit into lines where available floorspace is minimal.

August 31, 1997

Secondary Packaging

Company brochure

Sekisui TA (Garden Grove, CA) has released a brochure titled "The Total Packaging System Solution." The brochure covers the company's water-based genuine acrylic adhesive packaging tapes, a variety of top-and-bottom case sealers, and tape-sealing dispensers.

August 31, 1997

Conveying & accumulation

Insourcing springs savings for AquaPenn

In an on-site container production partnership first, bottle maker Schmalbach-Lubeca leases a portion of AquaPenn's facility to reheat and blow PET preforms into bottles that AquaPenn fills at the same site.

August 31, 1997

Conveying & accumulation

Alberta upgrades case handling and labeling

Maintaining maximum flexibility was a must as this Jim Beam subsidiary in Canada automated its palletizing operation. Cases now get bar codes, too.

August 31, 1997

Sustainability

'Hidden' payoffs through waste savings

Major southwest Coke franchise discovers that shifting to returnable trays for cans not only reduces landfill waste, it also improves productivity and cuts costs.

August 31, 1997

Conveying & accumulation

Widmer's bottle inspectors craft success

Widmer Brothers verifies fill level, missing crowns, as well as full cases of its newly introduced 12-oz bottles of beer. Newer bottling line produces draft 'biers' much like kegs.

August 31, 1997

Conveying & accumulation

Print-and-apply units compute for Bay Networks

Computer peripheral maker/distributor Bay Networks doubles throughput at its Sunnyvale, CA, distribution center with an automated print-and-apply labeling system and networked computer software systems.

August 31, 1997