Material handling

Public trust part of the life sciences supply chain mix

Complexities in the pharmaceutical, medical device, and biologics supply chain surpass any other industry, except nuclear power. Million-dollar pallets, toxic oncology meds, longer shipping channels—even the public trust, are part of the mix.

April 3, 2014

Trends: Page 379

Controls & Machine Components

Rockwell Automation: Programmable logic controller

Extended Micro800 PLC family now offers more features and options to allow machine builders the scalability required for more cost-effective machine control.

April 3, 2014

Controls & Machine Components

Bell-Everman: Sealed linear stages for harsh operating environments

A new line of ballscrew- and linear-motor-driven sealed motion stages has been developed by Bell-Everman, Inc.

April 3, 2014

Secondary Packaging

Hybrid servo system brings positioning accuracy to palletizing

The L7 palletizer has standard AC motors and a machine control code accessed on a familiar PLC interface. But servo drives in place of VFDs bring big benefits.

April 2, 2014

Bag/pouch fill/seal (pre-made bags)

PC-based control brings performance boost, cost reduction

Getting its new vf/f/s system ready in time for Pack Expo Las Vegas was a challenge, but Matrix managed just fine. A bit of strategic retooling included One Cable Technology and EtherCAT.

April 2, 2014

Operational Excellence

Cube matters

Packaging professionals know that geometry matters.

April 2, 2014

Material handling

A Washington perspective on healthcare packaging

Visits to PDA, USP, RAPS, and CPSC reveal what works "Inside the Beltway."

April 1, 2014

Contract Packaging

Colep adds Mexican plant to growing global contracting presence

Contract manufacturer/packager of consumer goods adds an aerosol personal care plant in Mexico, adding to global network.

March 27, 2014

Contract Packaging

Billion-dollar food co-packer to change corporate ownership

A year after being merged with co-packer Ryt-Way Industries, billion-dollar Hearthside Food Solutions sold to Goldman Sachs and Vestar Capital.

March 27, 2014

PMMI News

Pack Expo East shifts dates

PMMI, The Association for Packaging and Processing Technologies, announces Pack Expo East 2015 will take place Feb. 16–18 at the Pennsylvania Convention Center in Philadelphia.

March 26, 2014

Coding, Printing & Labeling

Print-and-apply labelers suit new repackaging operations

For its new repacking operations, Beiersdorf UK selects print-and-apply labelers able to print high-resolution barcodes, text, and graphics for Retail Ready Packaging.

March 25, 2014

Operational Excellence

Xavier University FDA Conference: Insurance perspective

Specialty drugs represent improved patient health and profit for manufacturers, but create an insurance conundrum.

March 25, 2014

Operational Excellence

E-tailers called out for sloppy packaging

In its financial report, FedEx Corp.’s Fred Smith takes e-tailers to task for packaging.

March 24, 2014