Packaging Europe Issue 12.2

VOLUME 12.2 – 2017

In Association With

interpack Preview Industry 4.0 Resealability Food Security Laminated with Cosmo Films’s Velvet Thermal Lamination Film

Sustainability Trade-Offs

Contents

VOLUME 12.2 – 2017

The cover of this edition has been laminated with a BOPP-based velvet lamination film supplied by Cosmo Films Ltd., the world’s largest manufacturer of thermal lamination films. The flagship product of the premium lamination films range, as the name indicates, lends a rich velvet finish to the printed surface. Engineered on a special matte base, this film is ideal for post laminating procedures and gives a premium finish to premium/ luxury liquor, perfume, watches and jewellery packs/boxes. The film can also be used for laminating coffee table books, high end magazines, brochures, manuals etc. For further info, write to enquiry@cosmofilms.com.

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Editor Tim Sykes

interpack Preview 4 Introduction 6 Facts and figures 8 Expo strategies Making the most out of interpack 12 Save Food Global challenges for the food industry 14 Components Revamped exhibition 16 Industry 4.0 The factory of the future 18 Innovations Rohrer’s unique modular blister machine 19 Pouches The developing market for for stand up pouches 22 Resealability Unsealing the food market 28 Sustainability Unavoidable trade-offs?

32 Inspection Quality counts 36 Design Getting emotional 38 Other Events Metpack

40 42 44 44 45 46 49 50 52 54 54 55 56 58 58 59 60 63

Industry Profiles IML Solutions Intelligent or nothing Signode Industrial Group New multi-faceted packaging technologies flexLink Hygienic conveyor range from FlexLink miles ahead LasX Industries Intelligent laser solutions for packaging Emerson Innovative customer focus IPACK-IMA IPACK-IMA booking up fast Toppan Printing Trusted partner HSA Systems Secure and easy product coding Nissel ASB Machine One-step to premium cosmetic containers Cosmo Films Ultra high barrier films Bedford ElastiTag®: Expanding Possibilities for Consumer Engagement Valco Melton Improve your bottom line with EcoStich™ Hitachi Continuous technological innovation MultiWeigh HD Wiegetechnik GS series: Unique fragile product multihead weigher Wipotec Weighing Technology Innovative weighing and inspection solutions Lianglvfang Industrial Packaged right Orbis Corporation Orbis Corporation strengthens its status in Europe Hugo Beck Leading the way

64 64 65 66 66 67 68 71 72 72 73 74 76 78 78 79 80 83 84 85 86 88 90 91 92 93 94

96 99 100 101 102 104 105

Velcro Europe Innovative closures Freund-Vector Corporation Innovative imprint Habasit Adaptations Technophar Softgel equipment industry leader Qualicaps Engineering excellence that works harmoniously with man and machine ILLIG Maschinenbau ILLIG at interpack 2017 Metsä Tissue A sustainable outlook Max Schlatterer Packaging in perfection allfo group Keep your vacuum scanware More aware Greiner Packaging Taking innovation to interpack Valmatic New machine for single-dose packaging Nitro-Chem / Triniflex Film success Rieke Packaging Customers talk, Rieke listens Wilhelm Rasch Rasch universal-wrapping machine type RU Coveris Integrity, integrated Colines It’s a wrap KHS Strong grip Teledyne TapTone Inspection perfection Weiler Engineering Blow/fill/seal, an advanced liquid processing technology SOMIC The newest high-end machine on display at interpack 2017 Sonoco Alcore It’s all about the label Citus Kalix The latest in tube filling and carton technology Sarten Ambalaj Canned success United Caps Greener closures SP Group Unique printing technologies targi W Krakowie 9th International Packaging Innovations Trade Fair in Warsaw, Poland Coherent-Rofin Laser leader TSC Auto ID Quality and quantity Dow Packaging of the future BEUMER Group Smaller, faster, more practical Micvac Ready, steady, whistle!

Barry-Wehmiller Driving integrated technologies forward Berhalter Embossed lids never looked so brilliant

Advertisers Index A Acmi ADF-PCD

P 27 37

Packaging Première PakTech Preco

29 13 15

R

20 21 23

B Berhalter Bericap Beumer Group

Rexnord FlatTop Robatech Gluing Technology

C

S

Centre for Managment Technology 31

Saxoprint Schur Flexibles Sonoco Alcore SP Group Starlinger Systech Illinois

D Dow

5

E Easyfairs Oriex Elif Elitron IPM Emerson

37 11 30 15

F Flexopack

107

G GEA

21

I IML Solutions

41

K KWH Plast Schur Flexibles

34

L Lianglvfang Packing

25

M MagneMotion (Rockwell Automation) Mida Pack

9 25

N Nissei ASB Machine

108

O OCSiAl

| 2 | Packaging Europe

7

39 23

33 34 ii 93 35 13

T TNA Australia Solutions TSC Auto ID Technology Tubettificio M. Favia

27 25 35

Editor Tim Sykes Deputy Editor Victoria Hattersley News Editor Elisabeth Skoda Journalists Libby White Profile Writers Emma-Jane Batey Alessandra Lacaita Felicity Landon Romana Moares Barbara Rossi Piotr Sadowski Abigail Saltmarsh Marco Siebel Julia Snow Vanja Svacko Philip Yorke Art Director Gareth Harrey Art Editor Paul Abbott

Designers Rob Czerwinski Leon Esterhuizen IT Support Levi Gant Syed Hassan

Tim Sykes

EDITOR

Web Development Neil Robertson Production Manager Tania Balderson Administration Amber Dawson Kayleigh Harvey Senior Account Managers Kevin Gambrill Jesse Roberts Features Managers Clayton Green Matthew Howe Dominic Kurkowski Marc Lewis Colin Osbaldstone

Packaging Europe

Alkmaar House, Alkmaar Way, Norwich, Norfolk, NR6 6BF, UK Telephone: +44 (0)1603 414444 Fax: +44 (0)1603 779850 Email: Editorial: editor@packagingeurope.com Studio: adcopy@packagingeurope.com Advertising: jr@packagingeurope.com kg@packagingeurope.com Website: www.packagingeurope.com Facebook: www.facebook.com/PackagingEurope Twitter: www.twitter.com/PackagingEurope

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spectre is haunting the European packaging industry – the spectre of interpack!

This year interpack looks set to be even bigger than ever before, with thousands of exhibitors preparing to launch their latest innovations and tens of thousands of professionals making their triennial pilgrimage to Düsseldorf at the start of May. Gearing up for the event, we take a first look at the new edition of the world’s greatest packaging fair. In this magazine you will find an overview of the show, followed by an examination of some of the major features, sub-exhibitions and market trends that will characterise interpack 2017. We anticipate the special exhibition on Industry 4.0 with an article by Dr Rainer Pausch of ABBYY on the factory of the future. Meanwhile, we take a look at the components exhibition, newly expanded for 2017 and held in the Messe’s Hall 18, and examine the issues around food security which will be again under the microscope as SAVE FOOD reconvenes at interpack. In addition, Melanie Kendall shares her practical guide to businesses seeking to maximise return on investment on exhibitions, while Elisabeth Skoda explores the trade-offs between sustainability, cost and functionality in packaging design, and how to effect the best outcomes. One of the most salient packaging trends of recent years, starkly reflected in successive interpacks, is the onward march of the pouch format. Martina Fidder of Clondalkin discusses the state of the pouch market while Libby White surveys the advance of resealable functionality across the CPG market.

Our next edition will be the special interpack guide, which will be widely distributed at the show itself, featuring detailed accounts of the highlights of each hall at interpack, interviews with Vera Fritsche of VDMA, Tom Schneider of WPO and Michaël Nieuwesteeg of NVC, and much more. Our whole editorial team will be at interpack, along with a film crew, so please get in touch with us in advance of the fair if you have important developments that Packaging Europe needs to know about.

See you in Düsseldorf!

Tim Sykes ts@packagingeurope.com @PackEuropeTim

© Packaging Europe 2017 No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form for any purpose, other than short sections for the purpose of review, without prior consent of the publisher.

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Industry Prepares for interpack As our industry prepares for its most important fair, interpack announces that its 2017 edition has recorded its highest demand for exhibition space in its history of over 55 years.

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the official closing date of the iconic event for the packaging industry and related processing industries, exhibitors had booked about 20 per cent more space than was available at the exhibition centre with its 262,400 square metres in 19 halls. We therefore expect some 2700 exhibitors in Dusseldorf on 4-10 May 2017, representing around 60 different countries. As in 2014, the special exhibition entitled ‘components’ will be running in parallel, spotlighting products from supplier industries of the packaging sector. This event, too, is now fully booked, despite occupying more than twice as much space as at its première in the last edition of interpack.

hall, approximately 5,000 square metres in size. It is situated between Halls 10 and 16, complementing interpack for its entire duration.

Hundreds of companies from the supplier industries will each have their own stands, offering products in drive, control and censor technology, industrial image processing, material handling technology and other (machine) components. components will be freely accessible to all interpack visitors and exhibitors. Further details are available at www.packaging-components.com.

Special topic: Industry 4.0 – in partnership with VDMA

www.interpack.com contains useful resources to help visitors prepare and plan each day at the trade fair efficiently. These resources include an exhibitors’ database with the option of compiling a personalised hall plan as well as a “matchmaking” function to contact exhibitors and to receive news of companies represented at the trade fair.

The site has a responsive interface which also adjusts itself to a small display on a mobile device.

In addition, a visitors’ app is available for iPhone and Android users. Its functions include the exhibitors’ and event database, updated on a daily basis, graphically optimised hall plans and exhibitors’ details, including contact details and product information, an appointment form and the option of adding customised notes to exhibitors’ entries. The user’s settings and notes are available on all platforms, regardless of the device where they were originally created. The interpack website also has a hotel booking function and numerous tips on Düsseldorf’s cultural highlights, so that visitors can plan their stay. A full list of event preparation services can be found at www.interpack.com/tradefairplanner.

Where size and internationalism are concerned, interpack is a unique platform for businesses offering products and solutions in packaging technology and related processes as well as packaging media and materials for the various segments of this industry: food, beverages, confectionery and baked goods, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, non-food consumer goods and industrial goods. The products and services presented here will be supplemented by several innovative specialist areas. Working together with the German Engineering Federation (VDMA), interpack 2017 will put the focus on Industry 4.0, in particular. The special show will take the form of a Technology Lounge at the VDMA stand, featuring examples of solutions in packaging machinery and process engineering and opening up new opportunities for applications in security, traceability, copying and counterfeit protection as well as in customised packaging.

SAVE FOOD innovationparc As before, SAVE FOOD will play a role at interpack 2017. A special show called innovationparc (Innovation Park) will be held, with packaging ideas and solutions designed to reduce food losses and waste. They will include the winners of the international competitions for the SAVE FOOD Packaging Awards, held by the World Packaging Organisation (WPO). The prizes were awarded prior to interpack, and the winners are now set to compete with one other for the WorldStar Awards at the trade fair. The innovationparc will include a presentation forum which can be used by companies to showcase their ideas and solutions. As before, the innovationparc will be held in a high-quality marquee, situated between Halls 2 and 3.

The first day of the trade fair will also feature the third international SAVE FOOD convention, held in partnership with the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).

Components trade fair now entirely in tandem with interpack Following the première of components, special trade fair by interpack, in 2014, the general idea of this trade fair has been substantially revised for 2017. Visitors will now find it at a central location within the exhibition centre, in Hall 18, a temporary lightweight | 4 | Packaging Europe

Online services for trade fair visitors

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interpack 2017: Facts and Figures

Where?

Contact

Düsseldorf Messe, Halls 1–17 (19 halls) + ‘components for processing and packaging’ in temporary Hall 18 (between Halls 10 and 16).

Messe Düsseldorf GmbH Postfach 10 10 06 40001 Düsseldorf, Germany

When?

4–10 May 2017, daily from 10am to 6pm.

North, South and East entrances open to trade visitors and private individuals.

Admission

Messeplatz 40474 Düsseldorf, Germany Phone: +49 (0)211 / 45 60-01

One-day ticket: €65 Three-day ticket: €130 Students and trainees: €15 Advance sales of one-day tickets online: €52 Advance sales of three-day tickets online: €105 Catalogue: €35

www.messe-duesseldorf.de www.interpack.com www.interpack.de www.save-food.org www.packaging-components.com

How to get there?

• Processes and machinery for the packaging of: food and beverages, pharmaceuticals and cosmetics, consumer goods (non food), industrial goods.

• Packaging materials, packaging means and packaging production.

• Processes and machinery for confectionery and bakery.

• Services for the packaging industry and confectionery and bakery industries.

• Packaging concepts for the future in the innovationparc.

By car: via the A3 or A52, then change onto the A44 and follow the “Messe Düsseldorf” signs. Approaching from the opposite direction, take the A57, then A44 and follow the signposting.

From the airport, it takes about 10 minutes by taxi. Or use public transport (U 78 or U 79) from Düsseldorf Central Station (“Hauptbahnhof”). Admission tickets entitle holders to travel to the Trade Fair Center and back free of charge on public transport within the Rhine-Ruhr Regional Transport Network (VRR) fare zone. | 6 | Packaging Europe

Main exhibit categories

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Making the Most out of interpack Exhibitions are one of the best ways of getting face to face contact with potential buyers and firming up relationships with existing customers.

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hey offer a great opportunity for increasing brand awareness, gaining an insight into new developments in the market place and a look at what your competitors are doing. But they require hard work, are often costly and the unexpected can happen.

To make sure they are as successful as possible requires careful planning and with so much competition you need to maximise your efforts to really stand out – writes Melanie Kendall, Director at KendallSmith Marketing. interpack 2017 is recording the highest demand among exhibitors in its history of over 55 years. Around 2700 exhibitors from 60 different countries are expected. So what can you do to make the most of an exhibition like this and make your presence felt amongst all those 1000’s of visitors?

Firstly choose the right exhibition. It seems fairly obvious but exhibiting at the wrong event could be a serious waste of time and resources. John van Winden, account manager at Clever Labels and Flexibles, has attended many exhibitions and stresses the importance of researching who the visitors are, choosing a well-known exhibition and one that offers something new. For him the most successful exhibitions have been interpack and Fruit Logistica. Good ways to find the right exhibition include checking where your competitors exhibit, getting recommendations from trade associations and looking at which media are sponsoring the event.

Before the exhibition Be clear about the purpose of exhibiting. For example are you looking to increase brand awareness or do you have a new product or innovation to launch? With this clear, you can then design your stand and plan your marketing around these objectives, and set some measurable targets, for example 50 qualified sales leads. | 8 | Packaging Europe

Promoting your attendance at the exhibition or trade show is critical and can have a fundamental impact on your success. With all those other companies exhibiting, you want visiting delegates to know where you’ll be located and give them an incentive for coming to see you. Take advantage of the free marketing support that is often available through the exhibition organisers. For example, Packaging Innovations offer access to a PR service, free telemarketing, VIP invitations and free ticket invites. Follow the step-by-step guides that exhibition organisers provide to help you ensure you have done all you can to promote yourself.

Pre event exposure is important, so make sure you’ve got something on your website and your emails telling people you’ll be attending and include a link to that page in your email footer.

Generate as much interest as you can with relevant news or blog posts.

Do some email marketing to customers and prospects inviting them to visit you at the exhibition. Have your sales team make calls to people who you think may be attending to arrange for a coffee on your stand. Exhibitions present a great opportunity to meet existing and new clients in a more informal setting and importantly within an environment of multiple, like-minded industry professionals and peers – compared to the conventional, across the desk meeting.

Use social media in the build up to the event. Most events and trade shows will make a hashtag specifically for the upcoming show. For example you’ll find interpack using #interpack2017 and because you included the show’s hashtag, your message will show in their feed and be visible to anyone who looks at the page. The show will often re-tweet your message if you’re using their hashtag thus further increasing your visibility.

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Look to see who the media partners are and if there are any opportunities to do some pre-show publicity. Many of them will be looking for interview and photo/video opportunities at the events themselves so try and get some of these booked in advance if you’ve got something newsworthy to talk about.

Incentivise. Give people a reason to visit the stand, for example, a competition with an attractive prize, a new product launch or innovation. You can really make yourself stand out with some careful thought here, linking prizes and competitions back to your products and services or a key current industry issue often works.

First impressions count, but you don’t have to have the most expensive stand to stand out. Do the best with what you can afford - simple well done is better than extravagant done badly. Having the right people on the stand armed with the appropriate sales messages is essential, so you may want to consider doing some training beforehand.

Look at ways that you can appeal to all the senses - have something interactive on the stand so that people have a reason to visit and aren’t left standing around if you can’t speak to them immediately.

John van Winden remarks: “Sometimes the simplest things leave the greatest impression, for example, one of the best giveways that I’ve seen at an exhibition was a personalised candy bag.”

During the event: Make sure you’ve got a system in place for gathering contact details and potential leads whether that’s the old fashioned method of writing it down or an electronic lead retrieval system, such as an app or a link to your CRM system. Make sure it’s an easy process for everyone.

Take advantage of social media. As with events social media is real time so make the most out of it. Use the exhibition hashtags in your post and use it to engage with visitors tweeting at the event.

Maximise your investment. Exhibitions are not only about selling. They also offer an opportunity to gather market intelligence, build mailing lists for future marketing, find out what your competitors are doing, meet suppliers and build relationships with the media.

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Martina Fidder, Sales Manager at Clondalkin Flexible Packaging Grootegast based in the Netherlands, attended Packaging Innovations in London for the first time last year and found it extremely beneficial as a way of introducing the company to the UK market. This year she’ll be attending Packaging Innovations in Birmingham and London as well as Empack in The Netherlands. Her top three tips for a successful exhibition are to “Make sure people know what you do at a glance, be prepared for anything, and do plenty of pre-show marketing.”

Post event It’s important not to overlook this stage. Make sure you follow up with all your contacts and add them to your mailing list so they receive regular communication from you. Measure the success of the exhibition. Did you secure the number of leads that you wanted? Track your leads in sales figures in three, six and 12 months time as this will help you make decisions about future exhibitions and help you improve for next time.

Don’t forget that you can create news stories to use for the next month from your experience at the event. What seminars did you attend and find interesting? What comments were made about your products by visitors to the stand and what will you be taking forward in terms of developments as a result of the meetings you had?

It is also well worth conducting a de-brief after the event. Make a note of what worked and what didn’t work for your company as well as keeping notes on what you felt others did particularly well at the exhibition. This is great information to have when it comes to planning the next event.

If you’re considering your approach for next year, then seeking out a speaking slot is a good strategy for raising your profile. Speaking at a ‘seminar ‘ or an ‘open forum’ session is a great opportunity to both share and sell the expertise of your business to industry peers.

It is one of the best marketing opportunities that you can employ at an industry event.

Speak to organisers of your chosen exhibition early on to ideally influence the theme of the talk you might want to lead on so it perfectly meets your objectives.

Company executives taking speaking slots are often seen as ‘thought leaders’ - adding their opinions to debates and helping to drive forward matters of interest to the wider industry. By association, this helps the company’s profile and fosters confidence with existing customers. Additionally, it can help stimulate new customer enquiries and lead to fruitful new commercial relationships.

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Global Challenges for the food industry Food security will be both a major topic for exhibitors across interpack and the focus of the third SAVE FOOD Congress, held in DĂźsseldorf on 4 May 2017, where speakers from business, science and political spheres and civil society will get together to shed some light on the various facets of the food waste problem. As a Special Forum operated by the trade fair, the Innovationparc will again be entirely dedicated to the SAVE FOOD theme this year. Here partners and members of the SAVE FOOD Initiative present their studies as well as sector or company-specific initiatives.

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he global food industry is a growth market. In the last five years, sales of packaged foods worldwide increased by an average of two per cent per year, reaching 750 million tonnes last year (2015). The largest sales region is Asia which also shows the fastest growth. In the saturated markets of Europe and North America, which already have a high per capita consumption of packaged foods, the demand is stable at a high level. A growing population, increasing urbanisation and rising prosperity will keep on making the demand for packaged foods rise in the future as well. Consumer needs and consumer behaviour change. The trend is towards higher-quality products, innovative and suitable, personalised food.

To keep up with the competition the food industry is challenged worldwide to respond to changing consumer trends at short notice and to bring new products into the market quickly. The variety of food products is immense and continues to increase. Product life cycles are becoming shorter and lot sizes decrease. At the same time, production costs must be kept as low as possible, as rising wages and prices for energy and raw materials are driving up costs. As a result, the margins are dwindling. Therefore, the companies focus more and more on efficiency, productivity and flexibility when investing in machinery and equipment.

Efficiency and flexibility Efficient and reliable processes for the production and packaging of food are of utmost importance. The field of action here rises far beyond the optimisation of mere machinery availability. The entire production process must function smoothly in order to achieve the maximum effectiveness of the entire system and to reduce costs by a significant extent. | 12 | Packaging Europe

The two major factors to increase efficiency are: reducing downtimes and minimising material waste.

The technology used for production and packaging must be responsive and adaptable.

When new ingredients are used, it must be possible to change processing processes, such as new processing temperatures or dispensing processes, quickly. An automatic recipe management with a continuous flow of information and a connection to process control provides powerful, highly automated processes, no matter what kind of ingredients are used for the respective market.

Flexibility is a must in the packaging sector as well. Diversity does not stop with the products but will also increase in packaging. Companies must meet the market demand for numerous package sizes – from the single-serve pack to the family pack.

Packaging machines and lines must therefore be extremely flexible in order to produce a high range of formats and allow quick, tool-free format changes. Particularly the trend towards ever smaller batch sizes requires short changeover and minimal start-up times.

Set-up times significantly determine productivity. To reduce these downtimes machinery and equipment must be quickly cleanable during product or format changes. VDMA estimates the share of cleaning times in the food industry to be at 20 to 30 per cent. The actual cleaning times very much depend on the technical condition of the production plant. The optimisation of cleaning processes is therefore of great importance. Automated Cleaning-in-Place systems (CIP) are highly sought after. They provide defined and timeoptimised cleaning processes with the lowest possible use of resources such as water and energy as well as detergents and disinfectants.

Save food

The food safety challenge Producing food in a safe and hygienically acceptable way and meeting the international standards and guidelines means the machinery and equipment used for this purpose must be hygienically designed. Keywords here: hygienic design equipment. This can be cleaned quickly and easily since the actual construction design is without any crevices or edges, in which waste material, microorganisms or soil could accumulate.

Highly efficient and reliable track and trace solutions in turn ensure complete transparency about the origin of food and its way through the supply chain. Whether in processing, filling and packaging, in each of these process stages data must be reliably gathered and stored. For this purpose the necessary labelling uses barcodes, 2D codes (Data Matrix codes) or RFID tags.

In addition to the possibility of traceability Track & Trace solutions can also uncover weaknesses in the logistics chain. Radio technology, for instance, will give real-time information on the exact location and the route the goods take and can report any interruption in the cold chain. As a result, trade routes can be designed more efficiently which will reduce costs.

Demand for machinery The increasing investment reflects the rising global demand for food, the demand for ever more convenience and the growing demands from both consumers and legislators.

According to VDMA the international foreign trade of food processing and packaging machinery increased by a total of 52 per cent in the past 10 years, reaching 38 billion euros in 2015. Hardly any segment of mechanical engineering can look back on a similarly dynamic development.

However, the total investment is expected to be larger, since the machines procured in each single market cannot be recorded statistically on an international basis and, accordingly, the value cannot be quantified.

The largest demand for machinery still arises in Europe: 33 per cent of all sales (12.5 billion euros) went to European countries. Asia has developed into the second strongest sales region. In 2015, the region bought machinery and equipment worth 8.2 billion euros.

This corresponds to 22 per cent of total world exports. North America follows with 13 per cent (five billion euros) and comes in third.

Growth impulses increasingly are given by emerging economies. Even today, half of the equipment demand comes from the emerging countries in Asia, Latin America, the Middle East and Africa. The growing backlog in consumption ensures further development and an expansion of production.

These are just some examples of innovative solutions for an efficient and safe processing and packaging of food – the topic at interpack, the leading trade fair for processes and packaging, which will be held from 04 till 10 May 2017 in Dusseldorf. The fair represents the entire supply chain and provides all industry sectors with tailored solutions. It is the perfect platform to generate new ideas and to discuss technical solutions with machine suppliers.

Packaging Europe | 13 |

“components for processing and packaging” to introduce revamped concept at interpack 2017 Event for packaging industry suppliers to take place at new location, concurrently with world’s leading trade fair.

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ollowing its debut at interpack 2014, “components for processing and packaging” will return to the next leading trade fair for the packaging industry and related process industries from 4 to 10 May 2017 with a revised concept. Visitors will find the event at a new site within the Düsseldorf Exhibition Centre, in the temporary Hall 18. Covering about 5,000 square metres, the hall will be situated at the heart of interpack, between exhibition halls 10 and 16, whose exhibition areas it supplements.

“The idea of a complementary trade fair for the suppliers of interpack exhibitors from the packaging technology segment was well received in 2014. But the old location at the periphery of the Exhibition Centre wasn’t optimal as far as visitor traffic is concerned.

At the new site, components will be right where the action is”, says interpack director Bernd Jablonowski.

What’s more, components will now be accessible to all visitors for the full duration of the interpack trade fair. Again in 2017, companies targeted on the exhibitor side will include suppliers of drive, control and sensor technology; industrial image processing products; handling technology; industrial software and communication; and end-to-end automation systems for packing machinery. In addition, manufacturers of machine parts, components, accessories and peripherals as well as producers of packaging components and auxiliaries will also be addressed. Moreover, plans call for the inclusion of additional, complementary target groups.

| 14 | Packaging Europe

In addition, exhibitors at the upcoming components will have the option of building a customised stand. At the previous event, only turnkey packages in fixed sizes including stand construction, furnishings and power were offered. Exhibitors and visitors alike will be able to transition freely in both directions between interpack and components for processing and packaging without a separate ticket.

Packaging Europe | 15 |

The Factory of the Future – Machine Vision Fit for Industry 4.0 In today’s competitive marketplace, brands need to become more flexible in order to meet changing consumers demand. New generation of consumers, especially the millennials, have high expectations when making their purchasing decisions. They anchor their loyalty (albeit in constant flux) according to the brand’s values, sustainability credentials, design and functionality. These qualities apply to the product and, increasingly, the packaging too, according to Dr Rainer Pausch, product group head, SDKs, ABBYY.

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anufacturers therefore need to build factories that are fit for the future. This means applying technologies that underpin industrial automation across assembly lines.

Machine vision is one such innovation that has the agility to meet rapid changes in the industry and maintain high productivity output. Fully automated robotics systems put parts together, guide them through the factory, and assure that quality standards – both for product and packaging – are met.

Robots that can ‘see’ and make decisions Algorithms relying on visually acquired information use modern machine vision and computer vision systems, where the combination of an industrial camera and a computerprocessing unit simulates the function of human visual control. Machine vision-based robotic systems are able to ‘see’ and make decisions based on the visual input rather than just executing pre-determined actions like, for example, a static welding robot on a production line.

By incorporating sophisticated text recognition Optical Character Recognition (OCR) technologies, machine vision systems can gain ‘reading’ capabilities. Text-based information printed on labels, displayed on control panels or visible on computer screens can be captured, interpreted and processed.

Unlike paper-based documents such as service reports or routing slips where information can be captured on a flat surface scanner, information printed on the product or packaging require inspection camera systems that can capture and process shots on the production line. Just as it is important for manufacturers to inspect the product and packaging qualities, details on labels are equally essential as part of the overall quality assurance. It is therefore vital that textual information is captured and converted into machine-readable format, so that the robots can take immediate action in case the quality standards are not met.

Manufacturers can programme the software on industrial cameras (such as CCD line scan, video cameras or still cameras) to take ‘snapshots’ of the packaging labels or barcodes. The information is captured as an image file. To put this into context for the wider supply chain, OCR technology is then applied to convert the snapshot or barcode into structured information to make it readable and searchable. Only then would the machine be able to process the information and recommend actionable outcomes.

The learning process

Dr Rainer Pausch, product group head, SDKs, ABBYY

| 16 | Packaging Europe

Like humans, the systems can ‘read’ information and subsequently react. Such information includes text and barcodes on packaging as well as images of text on electronic displays.

With recognition technologies integrated into robotics, computer vision and quality control systems, the software can process the extracted data and compare it with entries in the database to initiate the system to take the appropriate action. Converted information can be exported to applications and systems in the form of XML data and plain text. With these new capabilities, the robotics systems can conduct a range of completely new tasks.

By implementing sophisticated technologies for text recognition, such as OCR, hand print extraction (ICR), barcode recognition (OBR) and optical mark recognition (OMR),

Industry 4.0

Smart components on display at Rockwell Automation’s annual Automation Fair

independent software vendors and hardware providers for the manufacturing industry can significantly extend the functionality of machine vision systems – and offer more value to their customers. Functionalities of these include: • OCR: recognition of text on screenshots, photographed text or scanned documents.

The text is converted into electronically readable information that can be reused by automation systems • Advanced image processing technologies: photographed images can be automatically optimised, for example, cropping image areas and improving the quality to reach high-quality recognition results, such as when photos are taken in very dark or very bright light conditions • ICR: recognition of hand-written letters in forms, such as maintenance checklists or questionnaires • OMR: recognition of checkboxes in forms, maintenance checklists and surveys • Barcode recognition: recognition of conventional 1D and 2D barcode formats as used for automated routing of parts through the production line • Data extraction for predefined areas: capture of information in specific areas of the page Armed with these abilities, manufacturers can put their machines to work to answer some of the more challenging questions that occur at the end of the production line.

Enabling large scale production for tomorrow’s factories Large-scale production requires highly scalable assembly processes and detailed quality inspection. There are three key stages where machine vision excel in delivering industrial automation:

information on pharmaceutical packaging, labels on beverage bottles or information about allergy or expiration dates on food packaging.

The food and drink, cosmetics and pharmaceutical industries often use low lighting and specific temperature settings to maintain product hygiene and quality. These environmental conditions may impact the quality of images taken by the inspection cameras, making the text difficult to read. Further to that, rather than installing additional cameras focusing only on text-based packaging aspects, manufacturers could leverage existing inspection cameras to avoid extra investment costs and efforts at an already crowded assembly line.

Both scenarios require technologies that are able to pre-process snapshots before the OCR step. Images that have been pre-processed produce high quality OCR results. This process will reduce false captures caused by low lighting conditions. It will also automatically rotate skewed image captures or straightens rippled lines and corrects perspective distortions. Additionally, it can enhance the image resolution and focus on the relevant section of the image capture.

Business process automation is key Even processes in which human interaction is necessary – such as quality assurance and final inspection – can be significantly accelerated by the help of text recognition and data capture technologies. These technologies automatically extract information from scanned paper documents, for example notes and tick box information on checklists, and make these data available in the central repository or workflow system.

The benefits of teaching a machine to read and react for itself across industries where quality and accuracy are key, will ultimately save time, money and help to meet regulatory standards and achieve customer satisfaction.

Production line journeys During the automated production process, individual parts or partially finished products need to be routed to different locations. By integrating text and barcode recognition technologies, automation systems in the production line can then be programmed to ensure that parts automatically follow pre-defined routes.

Quality and accuracy in packaging information By applying OCR to photographed labels, packaging or documentation, text contained in them can be extracted and checked against databases. This way, products with incorrect information can be singled out automatically before they leave the manufacturing site, thereby reducing the margin for error. This process can be applied to anything from Packaging Europe | 17 |

Blister Machine R 760 – A Unique Modular Concept

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ohrer AG specializes in developing process technology for flexible films and associated products. Rohrer’s experts accompany the entire development process from the initial idea through to the finished product to ensure that the machines and tools are tailored precisely to the customers requirements. Rohrer AG makes specific use of its know-how and technologies for development projects with future potential. The R760 blister machine is ideal for developing packaging solutions and

producing small to medium-sized batches. It can be used to manufacture flexible film blisters throughout the development process through to serial production thanks to its customizable configuration. It is ideal for deep-drawing, sealing, perforating, punching and discharging blister packs. The number of modules can be reduced if space is at a premium or increased to raise output at a later date. The machine is also suitable for use in cleanrooms thanks to its GMP-compliant design.

Create your perfect package We accompany our customers from the initial idea to volume production with the goal of enabling customised solutions.

Case in point

Sterile blister with franglible seal

Gewerbepark Bata 10, 4313 Moehlin, SWITZERLAND Tel.: +41 (0)61 855 21 80, E-Mail: messe@rohrerag.com, Web: www.rohrerag.com

Pouches

The developing market for stand up pouches Within certain markets the dynamic forces of legislative pressure, commercial requirements and consumer demand can dictate the type and pace of development. Packaging is one of these markets and stand-up pouches (or SUPs) are product at the forefront of changes resulting from the above pressures. Martina Fidder, sales manager at leading producer of Stand Up Pouches, Clondalkin Flexible Packaging Grootegast, discusses the current happenings with respect to this very flexible, flexible packaging product.

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hile there is definitely a shift to stand up pouches from more traditional packages that is gathering pace, it is not a quick and easy solution for brands or contract packers to instigate Fundamental influencing legislative and commercial factors are mainly centred environmental issues as well as transport and stocking costs. Put simply, the costs associated with shipping and stocking empty tins or jars are vastly more than empty stand up pouches due to the space they take up and the physical weight. Adding to this issue is European legislation targeting the reduction of C02 emissions which has prompted packaging manufacturers to look at solutions this as a priority. As is often the case with this type of issue, the major retailers look to suppliers to be innovative and as such, packaging companies work with their partners in both direction along the supply chain. Reducing the total cost of packaging whilst improving environmental credentials makes total sense while appealing to the retailers and the end consumer, hence the shift away from traditional rigid packaging makes complete sense.

The additional features available through the utilisation of a stand up pouch add further weight to the arguments to shift away from more traditional packaging options. Stand up pouches continue to push the boundaries of what is possible in packaging with new functionality coming on stream at a very rapid pace. In contrast the developments and innovations in tins and jars, particularly with regard to consumer convenience and functionality matured many years ago which gives flexible packaging producers the upper hand.

The pouch is also immune to human clumsiness and can be dropped without breaking unlike alternative packaging solutions!

From a marketing perspective the pouch is a dream come true, offering brands the ability to differentiate through seemingly infinite printability options and the ability to offer many different, convenient re-sealable closures. Furthermore, the application of specially designed laminates means that pouches can offer retort properties making it a real alternative to tins.

However, the cost barriers for a shift to pouches are not insignificant. Stand up ouches require a special filling line capable of picking up, opening, filling and closing each item as well as autoclave capability for retort pouches.

At Clondalkin Flexible Packaging Grootegast, we are working with lots of food products including soups, sauces, rice and beans. These areas allow us to transferable expertise from our market leading lidding for ready meal products, which continues to see explosive growth and increasing diversification. Supporting these sectors means that customers have the chance to take advantage of the many years’ experience we have in producing high performance multi-layered laminated films that can be transfer directly to pouch production.

Retort capability is one of the main aspects that our customer base demands and so our own research and development in pouches has focused on providing the best possible product with these properties.

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Martina Fidder, sales manager at leading producer of Stand Up Pouches, Clondalkin Flexible Packaging Grootegast

Within the food sector we are also seeing pouches being used for fresh foods as well as the processed products and recently developed a solution for snack vegetables brand Minigustos from Bayer. The focus on this development was to improve shelf life and as such we produced a modified atmosphere packaging (MAP) solution that included a combination of specially selected materials and a micro-perforation. The resultant packaging allows for the product to stay fresh for seven days longer than the traditional packaging solution.

We see real opportunity to assist other food producers to help increase shelf life and reduce food waste through applying this technology to a broader selection of products.

Geographically we have seen most penetration of SUPs within markets that we are traditionally very strong including the Netherlands, Greece and the UK with an increase in demand from other countries in the Benelux and German regions as well as strong interest from eastern Europe. We are well positioned to deal with existing demand and are prepared to build in additional capacity as the market develops further.

Across the sector there continues to be a growing variety of pouch configurations in response to the ongoing dynamics of consumer demand. This comes in the form of different dispensing solutions such as spouts and closures specifically for liquid products and the physical properties of the materials used within the pouch itself. Within our current customer base the main drive is coming in the form of a desire to increase the shelf life of fresh products and the safe storage of processed food products. This is linked very closely to the barrier properties available. | 20 | Packaging Europe

Pouches

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Resealable Solutions: Unsealing the Food Market Resealable solutions in the food market are fast growing. From a prominent residence in the cheese aisle they have opened up into other sectors due to their wide-ranging benefits. Packaging Europe’s Libby White reports on one of the big trends we will see reflected at interpack 2017.

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RAP’s ‘Consumer Attitudes to Food Waste and Food Packaging’ report, published back in 2013, highlighted the growing demand and popularity of resealable solutions. Produced in partnership with INCPEN, the Packaging Federation, the Food and Drink Federation, Kent Waste Partnership and the British Retail Consortium, the report showed that reclosable packs were one of the three most useful packaging innovations to consumers.

The report further highlighted that reseal technology can even motivate the purchasing decisions of consumers. When asked to choose between two cheese products, one with reclosability, 20 per cent of consumers who chose the reclosable pack referred to function as the main reason.

A contemporary choice Packaging with resealable applications provide a modern design with increased functionality. In order to drive product sales, manufacturers need to focus on user-convenience, provide an effective way to store products for longer, offer sustainable initiatives, and an ability to provide differentiation on-shelf.

Phil O’Driscoll, head of innovation and NPD, Parkside Packaging, comments, “The food packaging market is changing dramatically to cater for convenience. Features such as ease of opening, reclosability and portability have been found to influence the purchasing decisions of consumers who are looking for convenience.

“Reclosable products address the need for multiple consumption occasions, storage between uses, as well as resolving portion control and food waste issues.” | 22 | Packaging Europe

In a world where many cost-conscious consumers buy food in bulk, the ability to confidently re-close the package to keep food fresh is critical to prevent food waste. A new packaging solution from Bemis Co. using DuPont materials is an award-winning packaging solution that can contribute to reducing some of the 1.3 million tons of food that is lost or wasted around the world annually.

The resealable package (BelGioioso Mild Provolone) solution from Bemis Co. using DuPont™ Selar® PA and DuPont™ Bynel® is made up of two individually sealed compartments. This transformational package provides consumer convenience by allowing the user to easily peel and reseal the package 20 times or more with fingertip pressure. For added convenience, the package is perforated, which allows the consumer to easily separate the two compartments without using a knife or scissors.

Bemis’ SmartTack™ EZ Peel® Reseal™ technology allows the individual cheese compartments to be sealed separately, preserving the freshness of the unused portion until opening and reducing food waste – all while creating differentiation.

Increasing applications “I believe that the use of resealable solutions will continue to grow in the food sector, especially for products such as pre-sliced meat and cheese. Biscuits and prepared fruits are traditional but growing areas. The general growth in the market for salty and protein ‘on the go’ snacks is seen as an opportunity,” comments Angela Campbell, director, Reseal-it

by Macfarlane Labels.

Resealability

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In 2015, Wellpak, a leading supplier of fresh produce from around the world, launched a new product line: the resealable Ezo Punnet for berries. The launch was a milestone in fresh produce packaging, and highlights just one sector in which resealability can add a point of differentiation for retailers in an ever more competitive marketplace, as well as ensuring the berries are fresher for longer.

As another prime example of expanding into new opportunities, Reseal-it® are currently preparing to develop resealable technology to product lines such as pasta and rice bags, confectionery and medical devices. It is also currently working with its US partners, Printpack, to expand the application of Reseal-it® solutions into personal heating products for use when hiking or taking part in outdoor sports activities.

Functionality Angela Campbell, goes on to say that increasing customer expectations create new challenges for the manufacturers and the packaging industry. Customers want solutions that are easy to open, and convenient to use.

“Studies show that difficult packaging is not only extremely annoying to open but can also lead to packaging-related injuries, as customers often reach for items such as knives and scissors to access the contents of the pack,” she explains.

“Packs with resealable technology address all these issues by offering a solution that is easily accessible and designed for repeated use. This enables consumers to enjoy a full product life and better manage their weekly purchases.” | 24 | Packaging Europe

Apart from easy opening and convenience, resealable technology has many other benefits to offer to both manufacturers and the consumer.

Resealable packs promote sharing and encourage consumers to reduce portion sizes.

They can be opened and closed up to 25 times and are a great on-the-go option for healthy-snacking when travelling or away from home.

With resealable technology products remain in their branded packs when they are kept at home in the refrigerator after first opening, avoiding the need and cost of repacking in cling film, freezer bags or rigid containers.

As Reseal-it® packs come with a highly-visible tamper evident feature, they help to ensure food safety and reassure customers that nobody can touch the food items before they buy them. There are a variety of solutions to suit differing foods, pack styles and circumstances. The easy opening feature also eliminates the need for customers to use knives or scissors to get into their goods, which minimises the risk of packaging-related injuries.

Less food waste Jane Bickerstaffe, director at INCPEN, the industry council for research on packaging and the environment, comments, “People take packaging for granted unless it doesn’t do its job properly or they think there’s too much or it. They also expect it to be easy to use. For products that aren’t used up at the first time of opening, people may in addition want to be able to re-seal the packaging. When Birds Eye added a re-seal feature to bags of frozen

Resealability

Packaging Europe | 25 |

peas, it was widely welcomed by consumers. No more loose peas floating round at the bottom of the freezer!”

A re-seal feature can keep food fresher for longer. The incentives behind this advantage are clear, as Jane Bickerstaffe highlights, “This is important because households waste large amounts of food and that’s an environmental disaster. Ten times more resources are invested in growing and processing food than in the packaging used to protect it. It’s well worth spending a little more on the packaging if that results in less food waste.”

INCPEN encourages companies to consider ease of use and re-sealing at the design stage. It’s an area where there is clearly potential for innovation. Jane Bickerstaffe underlines that there are still areas of improvement when it comes to this innovative solution, “Some re-sealable packs just don’t re-seal, especially those sticky labels added to bags of dried goods such as rice, ground coffee and peanuts. The label may stick once but it loses its effectiveness on subsequent uses. Zip locks seldom worked when first introduced but are now much more effective, for example Cathedral cheese is a good example.”

INCPEN and the Food & Drink Federation will be publishing a Sustainability Checklist in March 2017 to help companies choose and optimise their packaging- it will refer to re-closure.

A sticking point A reclose feature within food packaging design can help to maintain the quality of the product by retaining its freshness and moisture. However, the pack is only as good as its adhesive.

Mr O’Driscoll, head of innovation and NPD, at Parkside Packaging, says, “It is crucial that brand owners and their converter partners choose the right adhesive for their packaging application. Packs with a poor adhesive are expensive for the entire supply chain | 26 | Packaging Europe

and with the current media focus on product contamination and hygiene, the adhesive becomes an ever more important consideration in pack design.”

There are certainly challenges with easy open and reclosable solutions. Brand owners and converters need to balance the need to have a robust seal for the purposes of the supply chain process, yet allow easy opening and reclose functionality for consumers.

As lifestyles change, food-to-go and sharing packs are becoming an increasingly important category for retailers. Parkside has worked recently with Seabrook Crisps to meet these needs designing a new reclosable sharing crisp bag using its unique laser technology.

The new lasered pack enables consumers to peel open the front of the packet, making it easy to share the contents with friends, before reclosing it and saving for later. The reclosability feature helps to keep crisps fresher for longer, when compared to an open pack, making it an ideal solution for the snack market.

The new pack format utilises Parkscribe® laser-scribing technology from Parkside, which replaces the need for costly tear strips, zips and closures in packs. Unlike most reclosable openings, the Seabrooks pack contains a solution, which is integral to the laminated pack structure, rather than having a label attached to the pack.

While it may continue to be a key function in packaging, reclosable packaging is not a new concept. As Mr O’Driscoll, points out: “Consumers have been buying products in bottles and jars for years and we accept recloseability as the norm for a wide range of products, from coffee to shampoo and milk to jam.”

He concludes, “Although reseal technology is something that consumers like to have, the signs are that it could become a must-have for the future. As a result packaging manufacturers and brand owners alike will be adopting further take-up of reclose technologies going forward.”

Resealability

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Sustainability

Practical features can be more important for industrial and chemical products.

Pack designs sometimes need to be more

Barrier containers offer sustainability advantages

complex, for example to help the dispensing

in terms of product protection for extended

of a product.

shelf life that can help minimise food waste.

Cost vs Functionality vs Sustainability: Unavoidable Trade-Offs?

The director of Aquapak Polymers Ltd, the design manager of RPC Group and the marketing manager of Futamura talk about how their companies deal with balancing the sometimes clashing priorities of cost, functionality and sustainability in pack design to achieve optimum results. Elisabeth Skoda reports.

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John Williams, director of UK plastics manufacturer Aquapak Polymers Ltd, starts off by explaining how his company dealt with the challenges of balancing cost, functionality and sustainability when giving a well-used polymer a make-over.

Reshaping a well-used polymer When Aquapak developed its super polymer six years ago, instead of formulating a new polymer that ticked all the boxes for society, environment and economy the focus was on enhancing the functionality and performance of an already well used polymer, Polyvinyl Alcohol (PVOH), a versatile material that is most commonly used in individually packaged pouches for dishwasher tablets or washing detergents where it dissolves completely in water without leaving any residue.

Although its solubility is a key attribute in current applications, it has also been one of its biggest drawbacks in terms of widening its usage. Food manufacturers and brands want sustainable alternatives. But, first and foremost, manufacturers demand highly functional packaging that provides the necessary barrier properties and maintains or increases the lifespan of their products.

“We therefore focussed on how to maintain the environmental advantage and solubility that PVOH provides, while improving its strength and functionality. By refining and modifying the production process, and overcoming many of the traditional process barriers associated with production, we have created a resin that can be used to make flexible film in a range of weights and thicknesses that is at least twice as strong as comparable plastic. We also specifically designed the resin to work in standard polyethylene machines,” Dr Williams explains.

Recyclable and functional The result was a recyclable material. Using a closed loop system, the polymer can be recovered via a simple chemical process so it can be re-pelletised and reused. The material is non-toxic and fully biodegradable, being compatible with anaerobic digestion or | 28 | Packaging Europe

composting systems, and doesn’t need to be de-packaged prior to processing. As well as being FDA approved and twice as strong as comparable plastic films, it can also be printed don avoiding the traditional Corona treatment. It provides a barrier to oil, solvents and oxygen, as well as extending the shelf life of fresh and dried produce making it an ideal packaging solution for the food industry.

Aquapak’s mission in developing its range of plastic films is to create a plastic film/ product for a circular economy – that combines functionality, has multiple end of life options, can be produced at scale and is affordable.

“The only trade-off is that the base polymer is currently derived from a fossil source – the reason for this is to keep the production costs of the pellets competitive. One of the biggest disadvantages of bioplastics is they cost too much to produce. Using a petrochemical source for Aquapak’s material means it’s cheaper to produce. Combined with the resin’s compatibility with standard polyethylene machines means we can scale up production as market demand increases. Once demand reaches a critical mass we will look at sustainable biobased source for the material, until then it just isn’t financially viable,” Dr Williams concludes.

Juggling and prioritising Brian Lodge, design manager at RPC Group points out that his company cannot afford any trade-offs between cost, functionality and sustainability, as they are all important in any back design.

“The problem with compromise is that you are setting out with the intent of not optimising the design in one of these areas, therefore admitting defeat before you start.”

He continues to explain that for any particular pack design these attributes may not carry the same weight and it is this reality that drives choices in development.

“I once heard this likened to juggling three balls where each is a different size, depending on the importance of the attributes. Juggling three tennis balls is a lot easier than juggling a bowling ball, tennis ball and golf ball!”

The role that designers play is ascertaining the relative importance within any project, he says.

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Sustainability

“For instance, for a pack containing dangerous or corrosive chemicals like bleach or brake fluid then the integrity, use and dispensing of the product is more important than cost or sustainability but for basic foodstuffs like milk, bread and sugar cost is a far more important driver.”

What is sustainable?

Sustainability and what works best is not a clear-cut thing, he explains.

“Sustainability can be the most difficult to judge because the criteria and viewpoints are so different depending on who you speak to. Choice of mono materials makes recycling easier but may not be so effective in giving long shelf life, increasing food waste, so which is “greener”? Using compostable plastics may sound a great idea but many recycling industry bodies are against them because they contaminate otherwise readily recycled plastics. And there are many other issues that influence thinking in this area.”

It is a product-driven, individual decision, as he concludes.

“Rather than trading off one against another I prefer to think of it as prioritising the characteristics to suit the product. That way we can show clear thinking and explain the logic behind our design choices rather than just getting the pack to the lowest possible cost or adding all the bells and whistles that consumers want, but probably don’t need.”

Working with biodegradable and compostable films Futamura’s marketing manager Andy Sweetman finishes off by giving the perspective of a biodegradable film manufacturer. He explains that packaging design is a complex process which has variables that are particular to the product to be packed within. “The three p’s of packaging – protect, preserve and promote are ultimately the building blocks for producing the right package for your product, whilst considering other critical factors such as budget and ethics.”

He points out that sustainability is an umbrella that encompasses a number of environmentally responsible packaging solutions, of which many have different effects on packaging functionality and cost effectiveness. | 30 | Packaging Europe

“Futamura specialises in renewable Cellophane™ and biodegradable and compostable NatureFlex™ films. The wood pulp we use to produce our cellulose based NatureFlex™ films is from responsible, legal and traceable sources, and is certified by the FSC® and PEFC™.”

Bio derived and compostable materials have historically been limited in the degree of protection they could offer. However, Futamura’s unique base film and coating technologies have been harnessed to provide unparalleled gas and moisture barrier properties without compromising either the levels of renewable raw materials employed or the final compostability of the packaging material, as Mr Sweetman points out.

“This excellent barrier also effectively addresses recent health concerns highlighted in several scientific studies regarding foods being contaminated by the migration of mineral oil from paper-board packaging.”

Futamura conducted a proactive investigation into the mineral oil hydrocarbon (MOH) and mineral oil aromatic hydrocarbon (MOAH) barrier of NatureFlex and Cellophane films, which led to them officially been proven to provide over five years’ protection from mineral oil migration, well beyond the required shelf-life of the vast majority of packaged foods.

“This means that NatureFlex films perform. They have a technical functionality; they can hold their own against more conventional flexible packaging materials, if not exceed them in some instances, whilst being home and industrial compostable. It means; you do not have compromise functionality for sustainability with NatureFlex™ films. As for cost, for a minimal on-cost the packaging now becomes an intrinsic part of the brand’s core values – something to talk about with consumers instead of something to ignore,” Mr Sweetman concludes.

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inspection

Inspection: Quality Counts Ciaran Murphy, quality control business manager at Ishida Europe, suggests that choosing the right inspection equipment is vital in helping to protect brand reputation in competitive markets.

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he importance of quality control is not a new phenomenon. Companies have always recognised that brand reputation, which can take a long time to build up, can easily be destroyed overnight by one careless oversight. Food producers have therefore always adhered to the highest standards in product safety and quality.

Nevertheless, the challenges and pitfalls of effective quality control are even greater in today’s modern world. On the one hand, the growth of social media has made it far easier to complain – and for consumers to share their grievances with a large audience.

Consumers are also becoming more demanding and seemingly less willing to tolerate even the smallest of lapses in quality.

Recent research by Harris Interactive has revealed that 55 per cent of people would switch brands following a product recall, even if only temporarily, while 15 per cent of them would never purchase the recalled product again. Even more worrying, 21 per cent of people said they would actively avoid any product made by the manufacturer at the centre of a recall, not just the recalled product itself.

Alongside this, markets are becoming increasingly competitive, requiring companies to focus on maximising efficiencies and throughput in their operations. Automation of many of the manufacturing and packing processes is helping them to achieve this but less human intervention on the line means fewer opportunities to pick up on something that has gone wrong.

And of course, alongside the cost implications of the loss of brand reputation – which can be immense - there are the huge practical costs to take into consideration as well, such as large retailer fines and the logistics in arranging a product recall.

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All of this means the selection of the correct inspection equipment is an increasingly important factor in ensuring companies are able to maintain the highest quality standards.

In terms of the need to prevent contaminants in products, the focus was initially on metal detection, with the major risk deemed to be from the many different metal components coming into contact with a product during the production and packing process.

However, the potential for contamination is much wider than this and there are several non-metallic contaminants – glass, plastic, stone and rubber for example – that are also likely to cause a significant quality issue.

Products that are picked and packed fresh from the ground can provide particular challenges. Shells – either in packs of shelled nuts or when nuts have been used as an ingredient – are another example where enhanced quality monitoring may be necessary. A particular specialist challenge is detecting bones in meat fillets.

In these scenarios, it is the ability of X-ray inspection systems to spot a wider variety of foreign bodies, including all the above-mentioned items, that is leading to the technology being adopted for many food packing applications.

X-ray technology is also very flexible in its ability to work undeterred in even the harshest of environments, such as humid and wet atmospheres and extreme hot and cold temperatures. Foreign bodies can be detected through aluminium foil and also in tins, regardless of the temperature or the salt and water content of the product – which is not the case for metal detectors. The machines can handle a variety of pack formats including top sealed and thermoformed trays and flexible bags as well as unpacked and bulk product.

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Equally important, high quality producers are acutely aware that product quality is more than just the prevention of foreign bodies. A deformed product, a missing item, even a damaged pack are all quality issues that can irritate consumers and generate complaints.

And it is in this area that X-ray technology can demonstrate even greater versatility through the ability to spot other quality issues. It can detect broken, undersized or missing items in packs, be that six biscuit bars instead of seven or a row of ice lollies with one wooden stick missing. Deformed product, for example a beef burger that has not been properly manufactured, and deformed packaging, such as a dented tin, are other faults or imperfections that can be identified, as are under-filled compartments in ready meals, product with cracks or fissures, grains stuck together in powdered products and missing metal clips.

Additional quality control applications that the technology can undertake include product grading by length, and checking the presence of bottle caps and fill-levels.

X-ray inspection systems can also carry out effective weight estimation. And one of the advantages in this area against a more traditional weight check using a checkweigher is that they can spot a problem which weighing alone could not detect. If a pack is supposed to contain four pieces of meat of approximately the same weight but one piece is considerably over weight and one considerably under, then the total weight of the pack may still be correct but the end-consumer will not be satisfied with the overall pack contents.

A further significant benefit of X-ray inspection is its ability to offer full traceability. In the event of a complaint, data management systems linked to X-ray inspection and labelling can enable retrieval of the X-ray image of a particular pack, establishing beyond doubt whether or not there was a problem. The fact that every image is captured means false claims can be quickly rejected.

The huge popularity of pre-packed fresh foods, particularly meat, poultry and fish as well as salads, is another area that demands effective monitoring to ensure product quality.

Any leaks in sealed packs can quickly lead to product deterioration but often such imperfections cannot be detected by the naked eye. | 34 | Packaging Europe

To prevent this, there is a wide choice of inspection equipment available. Seal testers are able to test the integrity of sealed, flow-wrapped or lidded trays in different materials and sizes. Typically they apply controlled pressure to each tray going across a conveyor in order to detect and evaluate any subsequent ‘give’.

A major benefit of the process is that the testing process is very gentle, meaning failed pack contents can be re-packed. In addition, as well as detecting significant leakages, the system can pick up any trends that give an early warning of deterioration in the sealing process, either from the tray sealer itself or the thermoformer.

New technologies are also being developed to meet the challenges of other pack formats, such as bags and pouches, which have traditionally been more difficult to monitor. Latest advanced laser technology is now able to identify leaks of CO2 from holes as small as 0.25mm in MAP packs at high speeds, ensuring quality without compromising on throughput.

The testing process using laser-technology is literally touch-free. In this way the process does not impact at all on the product and out-of-spec packs can be removed from the packing process without compromising or damaging the pack. Equally important, unlike traditional gas leak detectors which monitor a number of packs at the same time, meaning that just one rogue pack will lead to all of them being rejected, the new laser technology is able to inspect and reject individual packs.

Other quality control systems available include vision systems, which can verify the accuracy of a tray label, ensuring that it is positioned correctly and relating the overprinted data to a company’s information systems to check that dates, weights, prices and barcodes (including 2D versions) are correct and legible. As with X-ray technology, images and results of these quality checks can also be archived for evidence in the event of any subsequent problem or complaint.

Brand reputation is hard won but all-too-easily lost. Choosing the most appropriate inspection equipment is a wise investment that will help ensure that consumer trust and confidence are never compromised.

inspection

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Design

Getting Emotional about Packaging

Packaging is often described as ‘the silent salesman’, creating subconscious connections with consumers at the crucial time of purchase. Visual performance in increasingly crowded markets has become vital, arguably even more so than physical product attributes like taste, sound quality or comfort – argues Steve Beckworth of branding and packaging design agency Colt.

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rand managers are no strangers to developing engaging experiences and they have been tapping into their audience’s emotions to refine this for some time now. They understand that if a simple foil crisp bag can sum up everything their brand stands for, then they’ve done their job.

Yet there are still many brands out there trying to define which emotions are most likely to accelerate brand growth, without first identifying the emotions their brand is already eliciting from their consumers.

The vital clue relies on finding out what unintentional narrative a brand is already telling, we call this taking a brand’s ‘temperature’. There are no short cuts. You can’t borrow other brand’s emotions and make them your own, neither can you overlay brand emotions without first recalibrating the current one - be it good or bad.

Fruit juice brand Frobishers took their brand ‘temperature’ and found that they were not eliciting any consumer emotions, in effect they were simply selling a product in the crowded fruit juice sector.

It took some serious soul searching to move beyond the confines of their product to reveal their heritage in juice based on an unwavering focus on premium produce. This realisation became the platform from which to affirm their deep knowledge of juice.

From this perspective they were able to pinpoint a gap in the market for an alternative fruit juice that was premium, without being preachy. Research indicated that consumers were tired of being told how good something might be for them, they just wanted a brand they could intrinsically trust. By communicating their superior knowledge and a heritage of premium produce, Frobishers now tap into their consumers’ emotional need for trust, without the fuss.

Jensen’s Gin, on the other hand, was not sufficiently evolved to be gauging its emotional cues. They certainly understood their customers yet after a period of rapid growth, they found their sales levelling out. On reviewing their brand narrative they found they were subtly placing greater emphasis on their product rather than the brand.

Recalibrating their brand communication made them realise they were much more than great gin. They were at the forefront of the craft alcohol movement in London and they had a

| 36 | Packaging Europe

heritage that other brands could only aspire to. This mixed with a loyal, local following pointed at a strong emotional cue; pride.

London became the focus of the brand. Their consumers’ feeling of belonging and attachment is much stronger than their desire to drink a ‘new generation of gin’, and this is reflected by a brand that loves London as much as they do.

Jensens effectively tapped into their consumer’s subconscious pride at being part of London’s very DNA. New brands of course have no past brand temperature to take, so their focus can hone in on what that emotion should be. They may start with a clean ‘emotional’ slate, yet unless the product is completely innovative, their struggle will be one of breaking through the noise and making a differentiated statement that resonates and aligns with their target audiences emotional status. Deciding what this should be requires defining the emotion they want to trigger based on a clear understanding of its values, and this is not always immediately obvious.

Start-up beer company Hiver had to dig deep to uncover the emotional cues they might evoke in their consumer. Their independence separated them from mass-produced honey beers and pointed at a more bohemian personality, while their passion and attention to detail could also be leveraged emotionally.

The idea of ‘Passionate independence’ has spawned a brand built on those principles, from using 100 per cent British ingredients and suppliers to supporting pollinator charities with 10 per cent of profits, Hiver do things their own way and appeal to consumers that follow the same mantra.

Ultimately the real power of packaging design lies in its power to tell a brand’s emotional story. It is these emotions that can drive purchase behaviour, loyalty, and advocacy. A well designed pack, that keeps the emotional story in mind, doesn’t just create better experiences; it creates better experiences that link the consumer to the specific emotion the brand elicits.

Marketers need to remember that their brand will be eliciting some sort of emotion whether they mean to or not, so being in control of that is an important step toward positively connecting with consumers.

Packaging Europe | 37 |

EVENTS

METPACK Breaks Exhibitor Record More Manufacturers than Ever Before at Messe Essen from May 2 to 6.

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ith 263 registered exhibitors at present, the world’s leading fair for metal packaging METPACK is achieving a new record. Numerous manufacturers have confirmed their participation, including ArcelorMittal, Belvac Production Machinery, Biagosch & Brandau, Can Man, CMC-Kuhnke, KBA-MetalPrint, Lanico, Mall + Herlan, Soudronic, Stolle Machinery Company and ThyssenKrupp Rasselstein. After the past METPACK set standards with an investment volume in billions, Messe Essen will greet more than 60 new exhibitors this year: The companies giving their premieres at the fair will include CanLine Systems, Felix Böttcher, Hsuan Ann Machinery, Sacmi Imola, Tosyali Toyo and Tonejet.

The METPACK exhibitors come from over 25 nations. Over 80 per cent will originate from abroad - METPACK will thus highlight its orientation as one of the most international fairs in Germany. The spectrum of the companies will extend from the highly specialised medium-sized enterprise to the market leader with worldwide activities. Sustainable and cost-efficient solutions for the manufacture, refinement and recycling of metal packaging will determine the range on offer at the trade fair in 2017. Thus, METPACK will present innovations along the entire value added chain in the sector. The best of these will be honoured with the METPACK Innovation Award.

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Exhibition Area is Growing Further This year, METPACK is progressing with regard to the marketed exhibition area, too: Until now, Messe Essen has rented out 20 per cent more than for the past event. For the first time, not only Halls 1 and 3 but also Hall 2 will be open on the occasion of METPACK. Admission will continue to take place via the proven entrances in the South and West of Messe Essen. Reasons for joy will be supplied not only by the growth with regard to the exhibitors and the area: This year, METPACK will celebrate its 25th birthday: On this occasion, a lot of small and large surprises will await the exhibitors and the visitors.

International, Innovative and Sustainable: METPACK at Messe Essen METPACK is the world’s leading fair for metal packaging and takes place at Messe Essen every three years. It is the largest and most significant international trade fair for the manufacturers of metal packaging. With its eighth edition, METPACK impressively confirmed its position as the undisputed number one in the worldwide sector: 243 exhibitors from 27 nations and 7100 trade visitors from around 100 countries came to Essen in May 2014.

Visit: www.metpack.de

Packaging Europe | 39 |

Intelligent or nothing.

It’s been almost a year since the first units of iMould were installed at customers’ facilities. It was a bold move – no one had did it before – but it totally payed off after seeing the first results.

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or an IML installation, frequently used by FMCG suppliers, a complete control of the installation that eliminates unexpected downtime is an obvious advantage, but this revolutionary system has proven itself capable of reducing the scrap as much as a 65 per cent. That is a lot of plastic waste that adds an extra environmentallyfriendly benefit.

So far, moulders only had access to a partial vision of their system’s behavior: hot runner or cooling system temperatures, number of cycles, etc. But they were only figures without no connection whatsoever. iMould, apart from collecting all the essential data, runs an algorithm that, by knowing the exact parameters the mold should be operating, can predict the malfunctions and optimize the required maintenance tasks. For the very first time, molders have total control of their systems with a “digital expert” running in their plants 24/7 and serving the relevant warnings in any connected device. iMould is also an open window to the 4.0 Industry. Besides the productive advantages disclosed above, the system can also integrate Augmented Reality (to see the inner parts of the mold) or add smart-glasses that allows hands-free intervention to the operators and the possibility of remote technical assistance.

Visit: www.imlsolutions.com | 40 | Packaging Europe

Packaging Europe | 41 |

Battery powered plastic strapping tool from Orgapack

New multi-faceted

packaging technologies

Signode Industrial Group is a global leader in the development and manufacture of protective packaging solutions.

Philip Yorke talked to Kenneth Hoffman, the company’s Senior Vice-President for Global Marketing and Innovation, about the unique range of technologies and packaging options that will be demonstrated at the forthcoming interpack trade show.

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ignode Industrial Group is a major global player whose brands are trusted worldwide. The $2.4 billion company has 88 manufacturing facilities spread across six continents and its products are sold in both the mature global markets as well as in the fast growing emerging markets. The company’s products include steel and plastic strapping, stretch film as well as stretch wrap and stretch hooding, complementary protective packaging products, and manufacturing software. These products help customers lower the cost of moving their goods to market by containing, unitising, protecting and securing goods during warehousing and shipment.

Signode Industrial Group is regarded as a pioneer in the industrial packaging sector with a long history of customer-focused innovations in materials, processes and automation technology that have revolutionised the packaging industry. With over 7000 employees working in facilities throughout the US, Europe and Asia, the company maintains leading positions in its business through its global scale, broad product portfolio and long-standing international customer relationships. | 42 | Packaging Europe

Exceeding customer expectations In an interview with Ken Hoffman, we learned that Signode Industrial Group has been committed to innovation and providing best-in-class products and services to its customers for more than 100 years.

Their 100-year history dates back to 1913, when the Seal and Fastener Company opened in Chicago following the founder’s invention of a new technology that allowed manufacturers to tighten and seal a strap of steel around shipping containers without using nails.

Three years later, this company was renamed Signode. To this day, this company continues to be one of Signode Industrial Group’s premier brands and an innovator in product development, industry technology and international growth.

Since the introduction of steel strapping in 1913, the company has had a long history of product and technological developments in industrial packaging. Hoffman said, ”Our distinguished brands, most in business for many years, are all leaders in

Top stapler from Josef Kihlberg - part of the stapler product family together with Mezger.

Signode GripPack battery powered tensioner and sealer for steel strapping.

their sectors with a track record of innovation. Many of our companies’ innovations have effected dramatic productivity and profitability improvement for industry.

“These products include our steel and plastic strapping business with the industry’s largest variety of strapping, seals, manual, pneumatic and battery operated hand tools, general purpose strapping machines, fully automated industry-specific application systems and strapping accessories available.

Other products are various stretch systems. We manufacture our own cast and blown stretch films along with an extensive line of semi and fully automatic stretch hood and stretch wrap machinery under a number of well-known brands.

“We also offer a complete line of load securement solutions that are placed around and between goods to protect products during transport. These include container liners, dunnage air bags, void fillers, edge protectors, load bars, bulkheads, slip sheets, separator sheets and product spacers.

“Finally, our integrated suite of industry-specific software applications helps manage sales order processing, manufacturing execution, supply chain management, inventory logistics and more. These software solutions provide manufacturers with the ability to increase production efficiency and throughput and respond immediately and automatically to changing circumstances,” concluded Hoffman.

Single source for industrial packaging needs “Our overriding strategy is to continually improve our products and our services,” Mr Hoffman said. “We have strengthened our market positions through an ongoing acquisition program that has enhanced our technologies and service offerings. The breadth of our product line means that we are able to offer our customers a single source for all of their industrial packaging needs. A good example of this is our

Lachenmeier Stretch Hooding. One of the Lachenmeier Stretch Hooding. One of the innovative pallet wrapping technologies innovative pallet wrapping technologies running live demos at interpack running live demos at interpack

stretch hood and stretch wrapping technologies, both of which will be demonstrated at interpack.”

“Our many brands include, among others, Strapex, Signode, Orgapack, Böhl, Mezger, Kihlberg and Mima Films,” Mr Hoffman added. “The latest technologies from all of these brands will also be demonstrated at interpack this year.”

Reducing overall packaging costs A good example of Signode Industrial Group’s focus on innovation can be seen in the company’s recent launch of its SmartFlex corrugated compression strapping system. The system is designed to lower the packaging costs associated with corrugated packaging by facilitating easier maintenance and operation. The product’s innovative head spacing with five possible positions provides a number of variable strap replacement options and minimises the need for double stroking. The result is improved flexibility and faster throughput of up to 200 plus loads per hour.

Another recent innovation from Signode is the innovative GripPack battery powered tools for steel strapping. The new GripPack tools provide the low weight and portability that operators need but can’t get with pneumatic tools. Weighing less than eight pounds each, they provide the same reliable performance as pneumatic tensioners and sealers without the air generation costs and inconsistencies often n associated with these tools.

For further details of the Signode Industrial Group’s innovative products and services visit: www.signodegroup.com Visit Signode Industrial Group at interpack – Hall 12C48

Böhl spiral wrapper for the furniture industry

A complete packaging line from one supplier, Signode Industrial Group, including a Signode vertical top seal strapping machine, conveyors and the Octopus fully automatic stretch wrapping machine

Table top strapping Table topfrom strapping machine Strapex machine from Strapex

Packaging Europe | 43 |

Hygienic conveyor range

from FlexLink miles ahead As hygienic production is an increasingly important part of the food manufacturing process, FlexLink continually reviews its conveyor range to ensure the latest designs adhere to the most up to date guidelines laid down by EHEDG and 3-A Sanitary Standards. The FlexLink development team recently underwent the process of 3-A qualification, with part of the WLX conveyor range being qualified to 3-A standard 75-01, making FlexLink the only conveyor manufacturer to currently hold such certification. The WLX conveyor platform was also awarded the Red Dot Product Design Award – Honourable mention 2016, and recently the iF Design Award 2017.

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or increased brand protection and the assurance that their end products are meeting the hygienic requirements demanded by consumers, food manufacturers are increasingly looking for better, more hygienic solutions,” comments Danny Parsons, global product manager for FMCG at FlexLink.

“To ensure that we are offering our customers the best solution for hygienic production, we have been working closely with various third parties heavily involved in the certification and validation of hygienic equipment.”

Danny also stated that safety and hygiene within production are not mutually exclusive to one another and it is important to balance both of these elements when designing a conveyor fit for use in the food industry. Too often it is easier to com-

promise operator safety in order to make a system easier to clean with open sides and hanging belts, but the FlexLink approach complies with both machinery safety and hygienic standards.

The WLX range has a quick and easy cleaning procedure, made easier by the use of integrated lift arms. This eliminates the need for heavy lifting of the chain and allows the operator free access for cleaning, subsequently improving operator safety before, during and after production and ensuring a more thorough and consistent cleaning process.

Visit FlexLink at interpack 2017: Hall 6 – Stand D31

Intelligent Laser Solutions for Packaging LasX Industries, Inc. designs and manufactures high-performance industrial laser systems for on-demand converting applications in the flexible packaging, folding carton, medical, textile and electronics industries. LasX has installed more than 500 standard and custom converting solutions for laser cutting, marking, perforating and other processes. LasX and its sister company FlexPak Services LLC also provide confidential package development services and license innovative packaging products.

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asX’s patented LaserSharp® technology can be integrated into new and existing converting workflows to create custom laser solutions and retrofits tailored to meet individual customer requirements. LasX will confidentially work with companies to develop a laser process and maximise production output, and will match the ideal laser type to the material using its proprietary controller to synchronise the laser, vision registration, robotics and material handling into one seamless, industrial grade machine.

“LasX delivers a process, not just a machine,” says David Pung, vice-president, Business Development LasX Industries, Inc. “We are an engineering driven company that will work with customers to deliver a laser process guaranteed to meet their needs. Our installed solutions are known for their flexibility, reliability and expandability. They are truly a low maintenance, industrial solution,” he explains.

William Dinauer, managing director of LasX Europe GmbH, explains that at interpack the company’s focus will be on two markets: the flexible packag-

| 44 | Packaging Europe

ing and folding cartons sectors. While the company is the established leader in these sectors in North America, flexible packaging solutions will be new to the EMEA markets.

“One of our objectives at interpack is to create awareness and more visibility of our MAP and peel-reseal packaging products and license these patented products in Europe,” adds Juan Carlos Tinoco, general manager of FlexPak, which also represents LasX in selling LaserSharp® equipment to the flexible packaging market.

“Our key objective for the next year is to achieve growth of the EMEA market,” confirms William Dinauer. “We can see that the market for flexible packaging is growing, and so is the demand for easy-open convenience and breathable packaging. Our technology can satisfy that demand.”

Visit: www.lasx.com

Innovative customer focus

With its headquarters in St. Louis, Missouri (USA), Emerson is a global technology and engineering company providing innovative solutions for customers in industrial, commercial and residential markets. The Emerson Automation Solutions business helps process, hybrid and discrete manufacturers maximise production, protect personnel and the environment while optimising their energy and operating costs.

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ounded in 1890 in the USA, Emerson serves the packaging market through a portfolio of leading technologies, including trusted brands such as Branson Ultrasonics, Appleton, MicroMotion, SolaHD, Rosemount and ASCO Numatics.

Its Branson Ultrasonics brand has served the packaging market for over 50 years. A worldwide leader in plastics welding, ultrasonic metal joining and processing equipment, Branson technology and expertise creates value in customers’ manufacturing processes and provides a high return on investment. With over 70 Branson sales and support offices worldwide, Emerson is committed to leading the industry in products, solutions, service and support.

Products on show Emerson will feature its latest innovations in packaging at interpack in Düsseldorf, Germany in hall 5 at stand H03.

Emerson has a broad instrumentation and fluid automation portfolio that serves the packaging market. At interpack 2017, Emerson will highlight assembly technologies in addition to electrical apparatuses and lighting. Assembly technologies on show will include ultrasonic welding application expertise and technology to keep customers at the forefront of packaging innovation, to reduce seal failures, avoid contamination and minimise waste, such as the Branson 2000X Ultrasonic Welder and Branson DCX Power Supply.

On the stand, there will be a new live-welding demonstration for a beverage top application, using Branson Ultrasonics technology.

Customer-centred Emerson brings technology and engineering together to create solutions for the benefit of customers. The Emerson team prides itself on its ability to solve problems and be a dependable, trusted advisor to solve challenges, no matter how great or how small.

Combined with a global network of experts, ultrasonic welding technology can provide innovative, cost-effective solutions to help solve some of the packaging market’s greatest challenges, including reducing leakage, preventing contamination, minimising packaging waste, increasing efficiency, cutting costs, improving sustainability and delivering innovative packaging designs.

At interpack, the objective is to connect with customers and the packaging market to better understand and solve their challenges.

Eyes on the packaging market Derek Thomas, marketing director at Emerson, describes the most significant trends, challenges and opportunities driving demand as follows: “We’re seeing continued investment in automation to improve productivity. As manufacturers seek to differentiate their packaging, machine builders also look to improve productivity and differentiate their machines. Greater competition and scarcer resources are putting increasing pressure on the market to improve the performance of their operations.”

Emerson is well equipped to deal with these challenges, as he points out: “We are responding to the need for operational excellence by enabling builders and manufacturers to minimise downtime, improve efficiency, reduce energy usage and save material.”

He concludes by emphasising the company’s push to offer the best solutions to its customers: “We are refocusing on the food and beverage, packaging and pharmaceutical markets. With our instrumentation, assembly and fluid automation portfolio, Emerson is making the commitment and investment to serve the packaging space more completely. We are evolving and aligning our capabilities to more fully serve our customers.”

Visit: www.emerson.com/packaging Packaging Europe | 45 |

IPACK-IMA

booking up fast Exhibitor companies are showing a keen interest in the 24th edition of IPACK-IMA, the exhibition of food and nonfood processing and packaging technology to be held in the Fiera Milano exhibition centre from 29 May to 1 June 2018. Around 60 per cent of the available exhibition space has already been booked 14 months before the show is due to open.

| 46 | Packaging Europe

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he new exhibition format of IPACK-IMA 2018 has proved extremely popular, combining vertical offerings with an exhibition space layout organised by client sectors across eight business communities (Food, Fresh & Convenience; Confectionery; Beverage; Pasta, Milling & Bakery; Industrial & Durable Goods; Health & Personal Care; Chemicals Industrial & Home; Fashion & Luxury). The project was created by Ipack Ima, the new management company set up as a joint venture between Ucima (Italian Packaging Machinery Manufacturers’ Association) and Fiera Milano, and has attracted hundreds of applications from leading Italian and international companies.

In particular, a growing number of applications are being made by key exhibitors operating in the segments of liquid filling (Beverage and detergents), labelling, materials and packaging, as well as companies in the show’s traditional sectors such as pasta, bakery, milling, confectionery, fresh products and industrial and durable goods.

The Innovation Alliance Another key aspect of IPACK-IMA 2018 is The Innovation Alliance, the project that brings together eight outstanding Italian and international trade shows: IPACK-IMA, MEAT-TECH (exhibition of processing and packaging technologies for the meat

industry, now in its second edition), PLAST (devoted to technologies for the plastics and rubber industry), PRINT4ALL (exhibition of printing, converting and industrial printing, in its first edition) and INTRALOGISTICA ITALIA (devoted to the most innovative solutions and integrated systems for industrial handling, warehouse management, materials storage and picking).

The event will cover the entire technological supply chain, from plastic and rubber processing through to product processing and packaging, industrial and commercial printing, custom graphic design of packaging and labels, and finally goods handling and storage.

These results confirm IPACK-IMA as the only Italian processing & packaging exhibition capable of competing with major international events and attracting the interest of the national and international industry and distribution sectors.

Promotional efforts get up to speed IPACK-IMA 2018 is attracting the interest of buyers from all over the world. The large-scale promotional campaign is making use of the extensive and efficient network of agents from Fiera Milano in 40 countries and of partnerships with technology user associations in the main industrial markets.

Packaging Europe | 47 |

IPACK-IMA will also be promoted at numerous shows. The first event will be Propak Vietnam in March. IPACK-IMA 2018 will then stop off in Algiers for Djazagro and in Germany in May for interpack, where the show will be presented to the international business community. The following month it will be the turn of Propak Asia in Bangkok, the sector’s leading exhibition in Asia, then RosUpack in Moscow.

In September, promotional activities will focus on the US market with the customary appointment with Pack Expo, as well as Myanmar, Nigeria and Indonesia.

International promotion of IPACK-IMA will also be backed by the extensive online and offline communication campaign that began in late 2016, including press campaigns planned for 120 Italian and foreign trade magazines and websites.

Contacts have also been made with around 300 trade associations worldwide.

The more than 500,000 contacts present in the IPACK-IMA database will be reached through social media and through monthly newsletters providing the latest news and information about the show as well as interesting articles on the market.

Along with the IPACK-IMA 2018 LinkedIn profile and the business community groups where users can exchange views and create business opportunities, this month has seen the launch of the Twitter profile @ipackima2018 with the hashtag #ipackima2018, the Google+ profile and the Facebook page IPACK-IMA 2018.

A melting pot of ideas and innovation IPACK-IMA 2018 will promote industrial insights and culture with the contribution of its numerous partner associations, including AIDEPI (Associazione delle Industrie del Dolce e della Pasta italiane), ASSOGRAFICI (Association of Graphic and Paper Converting Industries), ITALIAN PACKAGING INSTITUTE, IPPO PRESS (International Packaging Press Organisation) and CPA (The Contract Packaging Association).

Topics covered will include security and anti-counterfeiting, food and nonfood quality and traceability, sustainability, industry 4.0 and the circular economy applied to the world of processing and packaging. There will be a focus on luxury packaging, a fast-growing sector that requires increasingly innovative solutions. | 48 | Packaging Europe

One major new feature will be the event Innovative Material Solutions 2018, promoted by IPACK-IMA and Plast in collaboration with Material ConneXion Italia, which will be entirely devoted to innovative materials solutions including raw materials, semi-finished products and components for high value-added products and packaging and innovative containers. It will create a melting pot of ideas and creative inspirations for strategic corporate functions from R&D to Marketing.

To meet the needs of companies and give the best possible coverage to the various product sectors, the event will be divided into two sections located in the Plast and IPACK-IMA halls at the centre of the Rho-Pero exhibition centre: PLAST-MAT and IPACK-MAT. The first will be devoted to innovation in plastics with a strong focus on environmental sustainability and advanced technical performance. The second will focus on advanced packaging solutions with a specific emphasis on anti-counterfeiting, smart packaging and high value-added and/or low environmental impact packaging.

Ipack Ima Srl, S.S. del Sempione km 28, 20017 Rho (Milano) – Italy Phone: +39 02 3191091, Fax: +39 02 33619826, Email: ipackima@ipackima.it Visit: www.ipack-ima.com

Toppan Printing is a Japanese company with many subsidiaries around the world. In course of its long history, and as a result of its cutting-edge technology to many industrial sectors, Toppan offers a comprehensive range of products tailored to customers’ needs. Toppan’s renowned specialty films are used in various industries including food, pharmaceutical and medical packaging as well as electronics devises.

Trusted Partner W

ith its high barrier GL FILM Toppan has word-wide a strong position.

By attending interpack together with Chromos, the main distributer of GL FILM in Europe since 2001, Toppan seeks to further promote and expand its extensive customer base. “We are proud to have long-term partners in Europe and aim to further expand the business to new customers and new sectors – in particular the medical industry,” says Minoru Kitazawa, Sales Manager Europe. “Also we soon are going to introduce new products that will allow serving new fields and allow expansion.”

‘GL FILM’ refers to a group of transparent barrier film products developed and produced by Toppan without the use of any chlorine-based resins. As a result of Toppan’s proprietary vapor deposition and wet coating technology, GL FILM was launched in 1989. Since then the product group has been highly praised as consumer-safe and environmentally-friendly packaging material.

There are many products on the market that at first glance may seem similar. But GL FILM offers a number of superior properties and advantages. It is used for pouches, lidding, flow-packs and sachets. It is designed to substitute aluminum-based by transparent structures and replace heavy glass-jars and tin-cans by light-weight packages.

GL FILM contributes to sustainability by substantially reducing CO2 emissions.

Toppan supplies GL FILM to converters who in turn supply some of the world’s largest food, medical and pharmaceutical companies. Examples of the final products include: stand-up pouches and lidding for retort and non-retort foods, primary and secondary pouches for liquid and solid products (medical and pharmaceutical). Its high quality and consistency is highly appreciated by customers as well as the resulting production capacity and safety provided by the three GL FILM production sites.

“Of course the packaging market is very competitive, but our products are unique and highly appreciated by a solid customer base. European business is continuously growing and offers a huge potential that will allow to further increase the volume,” says Mr. Kitazawa. “The flexibility and durability of GL FILM make it the perfect solution for many applications. End users have been working with our products for many years and experienced its excellent performance which is a very strong competitive advantage for n our products.”

Visit: www.toppan-europe.com

Toppan’s 3rd production plant of GL FILM in Georgia, U.S.A. started production from April 2016.

Packaging Europe | 49 |

At interpack on stand 13D89, HSA Systems will showcase HSAJET® Print & Verification solutions for the pharmaceutical industry.

The ever-increasing demands for traceability of food and pharmaceutical products mean that manufacturers need an efficient and reliable printing solution that qualifies for camera verification. At interpack 2017, HSA Systems presents specialised solutions for the food and pharmaceutical industries as well as various printing solutions for general packaging.

Secure and

easy product coding F

or more than 20 years, the Danish manufacturer of high resolution industrial inkjet printers has supplied printing solutions for a large variety of coding and marking applications, as well as commercial printing and security printing applications. HSA Systems is an OEM partner of HP inc. Today, HSA Systems offers versatile and reliable printing solutions for basically all industries – from simple coding and marking printers to complex serialisation solutions and everything in between. Utilising HP TIJ 2.5 technology, the HSAJET® printers provide continuously high quality printing with virtually no maintenance, and they are easy to integrate into existing production lines. The solutions are sold worldwide through a large global network of distributors and integrators.

All-in-one print and verification solution HSA Systems’ wide experience within the packaging industry has enabled it to develop complex turnkey solutions for specific industries such as food and pharmaceuticals, where high demands for traceability require customers to invest in

| 50 | Packaging Europe

complex print and verification solutions. But according to HSA Systems, it does not have to be difficult to ensure a safe and reliable print and verification process that complies with the international regulations.

Specifically for the pharmaceutical industry, HSA Systems has developed a complete print and verification solution that provides printer, vision camera and controller as well as design, print and verification software in one package. Unlike other systems on the market, the HSAJET® Print & Verification system controls all units from only one interface and provides all the necessary features to comply with important international regulations and standards.

“When we develop a machine our main focus is always on security and ease of use.

It has to be as easy as possible for the end-user and for the machine builder to implement and use the HSAJET® solution,” says HSA Systems partner Jesper Hyldager. “We are providing a print and verification solution, where it is easy for the operator to choose print templates, adjust the design, save and fine-tune the print. All actions are logged and protected by a customisable user level access control, which minimises the risk of mistakes and unauthorised use.”

High speed printing of variable data with an HSAJET® Premium printer and the new bulk ink delivery system from HSA Systems.

Black solvent inks from HSA Systems provide a

The HSAJET® Micron is a simple and perfect

sharp and durable print on flow pack material.

solution for date coding.

The HSAJET® Print & Verification solution is available as an integration kit as well as turnkey systems for both un-folded and folded cartons, blister packs and labels.

Sharp and durable print Using the HSA Systems’ in-house developed software and printers, the customer can easily create and print data, including 1D and 2D codes, best before dates and lot numbers, graphics or variable data. HSA Systems offers ink for print on practically any type of material, including corrugated cardboard, coated cartons, plastics, blister foils, metal lids, foils and wraps, or directly onto industrial parts, such as cables, wood and gypsum.

Within HSA Systems’ large range of water and solvent based ink you will find a large selection of different colours as well as black, UV invisible, fluorescent ink and now also white ink.

“The ever-increasing demands for traceability, especially for food and pharmaceutical products, mean that customers need an efficient and reliable system that qualifies for camera verification. They need a water- and light-fast print, which does not smear and which dries quickly on the surface. Previously, this has only been possible on non-porous materials by using CIJ printers,” says Jesper Hyldager.

Today HSA Systems offers a variety of solvent inks and UV curable inks especially made for these difficult non-porous materials. This has allowed it to gain new markets, especially because the HP technology offers a clean and low maintenance solution compared to other technologies that were traditionally used for printing on this type of material.

films and foils. Previously, more expensive Continuous Inkjet (CIJ) technology had to be employed.

The bulk system combined with the HSAJET® Premium printer series provides the customer with a simple, clean and well organised installation. The Premium printer is based on the HP TIJ 2.5 technology and has a robust industrial design.

One of the advantages of the Premium print heads from HSA Systems is that they only need one single cable for every four pens, which minimises the number of cables as both power and data flows in the same cable.

When printing needs to be simple and easy Many manufacturers need a simple solution to print dates and lot numbers on their packaging. One example of a customer who has a reliable and very simple printing solution from HSA Systems is Oekoladen. Oekoladen, a manufacturer of organic, high quality chocolate, needed a simple and small printing solution to print a lot number and the expiry date on the chocolate wrapping. The printer had to be small enough to be installed on the flow pack machine where the wrapping is being printed just before the chocolates are packed. The solution from HSA Systems was the HSAJET® Micron, which is a small ‘out of the box’ printer that is perfect for repeat print jobs like date and lot numbers. The Micron provides up 12.7mm of print height, and does not take up much more space than the print cartridge itself.

The biggest challenge was in fact to find an ink that dried quickly on the glossy flow pack material. The HSAJET® K4021si Thor Black Solvent Ink was the perfect solution, providing a sharp and dark print that would not smear or scratch off.

Effective printing on non-porous materials

Visit HSA Systems at interpack

A newly developed ink and ink delivery system from HSA Systems provides customers with a new way to ensure the durability and precision of product coding while keeping costs low.

When printing a large amount of data and potentially at high speeds, a stable supply of ink is essential. The HSAJET® bulk system for the new 400ml bulk cassettes and bulk cartridges from HP for solvent based inks provides stable, low maintenance and low cost ink supply, as it is not necessary to change the cartridge as often as when using standard ink cartridges. This results in higher uptime, which is important for companies printing a large amount of data.

With this new solvent ink bulk system, customers can now obtain a permanent result using HP Thermal Inkjet (TIJ) printing on non-porous materials like plastics,

At interpack, HSA Systems will showcase its pharmaceutical Print & Verification systems, the new solvent bulk system as well as a selection of printers for box coding.

There will also be a presentation of new products, some still under development, but visitors will have to visit HSA Systems’ stand to find out what that is.

“We really look forward to welcoming visitors to our stand at interpack. interpack 2014 was a huge success for us with more than 500 visitors. We are placed right next to Hewlett Packard’s stand in hall 13. Besides trying for yourself how easy using our printing solutions is, you can also taste the chocolate from Oekoladen – which is yet another good reason to drop by our stand,” says marketing coordinator Christine Louise Dalskov.

Visit: www.hsasystems.com

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One-Step to Premium Cosmetic Containers

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ue to the huge variety of container customisation, extreme quality demands and relatively low product volumes, the only manufacturing method that can seriously be considered is one-step injection stretch blow moulding.

Furthermore, within this category, the machines of choice for cosmetic container moulding tend to be at the smaller end of the range, often outputting just a few hundred to 1000 containers per hour, but with large shot sizes, the ability to handle a wide range of moulding resins, and above all, capable of producing to the very highest visual quality.

For cosmetic container production, one of the greatest assets of the one-step moulding method is that the full moulding process from raw material to finished container is performed within the same machine and preforms are transferred to the blowing station by the same mould part that formed its neck in the injection station, so there is zero chance of scuffing or visual damage.

Nissei ASB of Japan has been supplying exactly this type of machine to the cosmetic market for nearly 40 years and during that time has generated an enviable record of end-user brands that reads like a who’s who of the global cosmetic industry. Now, at this year’s interpack exhibition, ASB will demonstrate their best seller in the small machine class, the ASB-12M, as a solution that is perfectly suited to the market needs. It will be seen moulding a 100ml container at a weight of 31 grams – a typical specification for the cosmetic market – and at a vastly reduced cycle time that will no doubt delight potential buyers.

Key to the ASB-12M’s suitability is the optional IU-10L injection unit that increases the shot capacity by 50 per cent over the standard model, making the machine an ideal platform for these small, high-weight products. For those cases where higher production rates are required, ASB’s mid-range ASB-70DPH model is an equally viable solution, | 52 | Packaging Europe

For those in the general PET container moulding industry, the prospect of moulding small containers at low outputs and extremely high weights may seem alien but the production of premium quality cosmetic containers, whose finished wall thickness may be greater than the average water bottle preform, is a lucrative segment of the market where low volumes are more than compensated for by the potential for very high margins.

having the ability to mold around 2-3 times the cavitation of the ASB-12M for a similar sized container.

And, while these machines are ideal for the cosmetic container market, they are by no means limited to it, being equally at home moulding light-weight commodity containers at much faster cycles in PET and a variety of other materials. In the case of the ASB70DPH this includes extreme wide necked jars at capacities up to 10 liters.

Moulding techniques In addition to its ideal machines, ASB’s approach has been to develop the mould design and improve the moulding process with various specialised technologies. One of the major challenges for thick walled moulding in cosmetic containers is avoiding the natural tendency of PET to crystallise and become hazy as it cools, but ASB’s developments have made it possible maintain excellent clarity even while using standard resin grades, while also reducing cycle times.

Thick bases are a common design feature seen in premium glass cosmetic jars, so having the ability to replicate that look in PET resin broadens market opportunities. To simplify raw material selection, ASB developed and patented the thick base moulding process that allows clear moulding at up to 10mm in the finished container. Clarity is maintained through the use of an injection mould that changes shape during the injection process with preform thickness starting low, then increasing as injection continues to provide the necessary cooling to avoid crystallisation.

Machines in the ASB Series have always been renowned for their flexibility when it comes to moulding specialised or non-PET resins, so where container designs or thicknesses become too extreme for standard PET, specialised copolymers or materials such as PCTA, COC, COP and Tritan copolyester pose no special problems with no requirement for machine modification.

Four station flexibility The ASB Series four station moulding process offers special advantages because, depending on the container or moulding resin, the second station gives opportunities for a variety of modifications to be performed on the preform before it enters the blow mould.

Precise temperature adjustments are the simplest and the most common approach for such thick preforms is to apply extra cooling at the second station, thereby allowing shorter injection times.

However, in another process patented by ASB the conditioning station can also be used to physically re-shape the preform in various ways prior to its arrival in the blow mould. It is a process somewhat reminiscent of a traditional glass blower craftsman gently nudging the molten blob of glass prior to blowing it. This process can be applied to either develop strange and beautiful PET containers or can expand the possibilities for non-PET resins to be stretch blow moulded more efficiently.

Injected body parts The shoulder is an area of the container where end-users often have very specific demands.

In the examples (above right), the shoulder profile at the top of the body is injection moulded and fully cooled between the lip cavity and the top of the injection cavity.

When it arrives in the blow cavity, the still-hot body of the preform is blown out and upwards beneath the shoulder profile, creating a very precise location point for caps or secondary components. This injected portion of the neck could also be used to form a secondary injection moulded thread on the shoulder for an over-cap.

This concept is unique to the one-step process: the design would simply be impossible using two-step moulding since re-heating the preform would soften and damage the flange portion.

Final decoration Using the ASB machine to ensure the container is moulded to the highest possible quality provides the foundation for additional downstream decoration such as frosting or gold block printing (above center), and in some cases shoulder and heel embellishments, resulting in container finishes which are completely indistinguishable from glass or ceramic. Finally, after moulding, decorating, filling, capping and final packaging, the end product may retail at anything up to â‚Ź100. Without a doubt, containers in this market sector are the polar opposite to the ‘average’ PET beverage bottle that sells for a fraction of the price, and this is reflected in the potential margins in the two ends of the market.

For more details, visit www.nisseiasb.co.jp email to sales@nisseiasb.co.jp or see live moulding at interpack 2017 Hall 11 Stand D40.

Packaging Europe | 53 |

Ultra High Barrier Films Cosmo Films, a leading manufacturer of speciality BOPP films, has just introduced several additions to its range of barrier films and now has a significant portfolio of transparent as well as metallised varieties.

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hese solvent free coated films, used for a wide range of FMCG packaging applications, not only help in extending the shelf life of the contents inside, but also help with pack structure rationalisation.

Metallised Barrier Films • High Moisture Barrier Films (HMB): These are metallised barrier films that are corona treated on both sides and can be used for duplex as well as for sandwich lamination in snack foods, shampoo sachets, dry milk powder and powdered drinks sachets/packs, where loss of moisture is a concern.

• High Speed Barrier Films with High Hot Tack (HSB): These metallised moisture and oxygen barrier films have a High Hot Tack and Low SIT which enables FFS machines to run at a higher speed, thus helping improve productivity.

• High Seal Strength Barrier Films (HSS): These metallised moisture and oxygen barrier films have been specially designed for packaging applications requiring high seal strengths.

• Ultra High Barrier Films (UHB): These metallised moisture and oxygen barrier films can be used to substitute aluminum foil since they offer a MVTR and OTR <0.1 cc.

• Aroma & Oxygen Barrier Films (AOB): These transparent films have both excellent moisture and gas barrier properties and are used for packaging of cream biscuits, chocolates, crisps and snacks with some fatty content.

• Ultra High Barrier Films (UHB): These transparent films have excellent moisture, aroma and gas barrier properties with OTR<1 cc and are used to convert 3-layer laminates to 2-layers for packaging of aromatic and fat content rich products like dry fruits, nuts, spices etc. These films also offer mineral oil resistance.

Commenting on the development, Mr S. Satish, Global Head – Sales & Marketing, Cosmo Films said, “We are now confident of meeting most shelf life requirements of the food packaging industry with our extensive range of barrier films. All our barrier films also have good printability and hence can be used for monolayer applications also. With our extended range of speciality films and our customized innovation focus, we are confident of meeting the new emerging packaging challenges viz shelf life extension and reduced plastic consumption.”

Transparent Barrier Films • Aroma Barrier Films (AB): These are transparent barrier films typically used for coffee/tea, spices, chewing gum and perfume boxes overwrapping.

ElastiTag®

Expanding Possibilities for Consumer Engagement Bedford Industries is a world leader in manufacturing twist ties, packaging reclosures, and point-of-sale promotional tags.

New developments with their ElastiTag® product offering will be highlighted at interpack.

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edford Industries is a privately owned family business that was founded in 1966 in Worthington, Minnesota, USA. The company manufactures and distributes twist ties, identification products, bendable components, packaging reclosures, and point-of-sale promotional tags.

One of the company’s successful innovative products is its patented ElastiTag® range which was originally designed for tagging fresh produce such as bunches of green onions, asparagus and broccoli.

Deb Houseman, Bedford’s Marketing Manager explains how this product line grew into many other markets, “ElastiTag® has the distinctive benefit of a stretchy, colourful elastomer loop that grips a product and stays in place. Combining that with high impact graphics on a durable tag and it is the ultimate marketing tool for almost any type of product. Marketers and brand managers around the world are finding how the ElastiTag® captures attention and drives consumer engagement at the point of sale.”

“Most marketing promotions using the ElastiTag® involve hand-application of the tags to retail products. At interpack, we will show how these tags can also be applied InEurope association with Baumeister and the Northfield Corporation, automatic |by 54machine. | Packaging

application of the ElastiTag® to spirits bottles will be demonstrated in our exhibit.

Various application speeds are achievable with the Northfield Applicator, depending on the type of product the ElastiTag® is applied to. Markets such as spirits, beverages, food, personal care, household goods, and even pet supplies have realized the benefits of automation application.”

At the end of 2016, Bedford announced another company milestone with its strategic partnership with Thin Film Electronics SA of Norway, a global leader in NFC (near field communication) smart-packaging solutions.

With the integration of Thinfilm’s SpeedTap™ technology into the ElastiTag® product, the barrier-to-entry for NFC-based mobile marketing solutions is now significantly lowered. The unique combination takes the industry’s ultimate hang-tag to the next level, offering brands of all sizes an affordable and intelligent packaging option, supported by a cloud-based software platform that delivers powerful one-toone marketing capabilities.

Visit: www.elastitag.com and www.bedford.com

Improve Your Bottom Line with EcoStitch™ Valco Melton’s EcoStitch™ hot melt system offers a sustainable concept for hot melt dispensing by reducing adhesive usage, improving production line efficiency, and eliminating consumable parts and downtime. This eco-conscious valve can reduce adhesive usage up to 75 per cent for instant return on investment with payback in as little as four months.

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ood and beverage packagers want to improve their uptime and efficiency and improve productivity and production – all without compromising quality. Valco Melton’s Ecostitch™ hot melt solution can reduce total costs by eliminating spare parts, reducing maintenance and part changes, and reducing adhesive usage while maintaining product quality. By combining low pressure and large orifice nozzles, Ecostitch™ all-electric technology never allows nozzles to plug.

Electric systems require fewer seals and spare parts to run, which minimises the chance of valve failure, as well as downtime associated with repairs. This technology allows you to precisely control the adhesive volume and weight that is dispensed in order to produce accurate adhesive dot patterns that can reduce adhesive usage by up to 75 per cent.

Not only does the Valco Melton packaging solution improve your OEE and reduce TCO, it also helps you to produce a better product with bonds that seal the carton effectively. The EcoStitch™ system provides packagers with revolutionary

bonding technology. It provides excellent bond quality with the use of the company’s Ecostitch™ dots to deliver over 95 per cent efficiency in bonding. Not only does the EcoStitch™ solution provide a superior bond, but the individual dots allow for more carton flexibility without damaging or breaking a single closure.

Electric valves can reach up to 15,000 cycles per minute, activating in as little as two milliseconds, and producing dots as small as 1mm in diameter.

Most recently, Valco Melton’s EcoStitch™ hot melt system was recognised for its key role in the cartoning section of the 2014 PMMI Packaging Line of the Year, Big Heart Pet Brands.

Check it out in person! A live demo of the Ecostitch™ technology will be on display at interpack 2017, Stand #14E12, Hall14.

Learn how to immediately improve your bottom line with EcoStitch™ All-Electric Adhesive Dispensing Technology by speaking with a sales expert today at HTTPS://DELIVR.COM/2TVHM.

About Valco Melton Valco Melton is a world-leading manufacturer of adhesive dispensing equipment and quality assurance systems with 60+ years of experience. From case and carton sealing, to sift-proof closures and pallet stabilisation, Valco Melton offers a range of adhesive dispensing equipment, quality inspection systems and compatible spare parts. Now with manufacturing facilities across Asia, Europe and North America, you are sure to get the support and supply you need at the time you need it.

Visit: www.valcomelton.com Packaging Europe | 55 |

Continuous technological Innovation The Hitachi Group in Europe is a leading global technology and engineering conglomerate, and its range of continuous ink-jet printers and laser coders are the most advanced in the world. Philip Yorke reports on a company that continues to set new industry standards and takes a closer look at the latest products it will be showcasing at the forthcoming interpack trade fair.

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ounded in Japan in 1910, Hitachi has grown to become a well recognised and well respected global industrial brand, with over 300,000 employees that strive to provide solutions for the benefit of all society. Hitachi is present in a wide range of market segments from materials, construction machinery and industrial components to medical equipment and IT solutions. As with all Hitachi products, quality and reliability are its main USPs, as well as its low TCO (Total Cost of Ownership). Environmental considerations are also of core importance, and Hitachi continuously strives to provide more efficient, environmentally sound solutions. | 56 | Packaging Europe

Smarter approach In its field, Hitachi is the only company in the world that can claim to be a leader in both operational technologies (OT) and information technology (IT); its Lumada platform is aiming to bring both disciplines together in the interests of a safer, smarter and healthier society. With this unique, open platform, Hitachi is working on solutions in the area of Smart Cities, Smart Industry and Smart Energy. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Today the key trends in the packaging industry are being driven by the more general trend in IoT technologies. Manufacturers of consumer goods need to be ever more

flexible in their production with an increasing demand for small lot, customer specific packaging. This leads to the requirement for quick product turnaround and more flexible coding solutions,” commented Joseph Gregory, managing director of Hitachi Europe GmbH.

New laser coding solutions This year at the interpack trade fair in Dusseldorf, Hitachi Europe will be presenting its latest range of continuous ink jet printers and laser coders, and will also demonstrate how its printers can be networked in a factory environment to safely and easily manage the overall coding requirements of its customers.

The company will also highlight its latest twin-jet CIJ, new range of CO2 laser coders and its latest software solutions for the management of multi-technology coding installations.

In addition, Hitachi will be positioning itself as a market leader in the field of coding and marking, reflecting over 40 years of experience in this specialised packaging sector.

On display will be evidence of its technological strengths and the breadth of its product portfolio, as well as examples of its solutions offering.

Success through evolution Hitachi Europe continues to build upon the success of its game changing PXR and RX printer series’. The current state-of-the-art UX series maintains many of the features which brought success to the previous models, but adds many more besides.

The UX series comes with a no-mess, easy to use cartridge system with an RFID system to avoid mistakes when refilling fluids. The built-in RFID reader, together with pre-programmed IC cards can also be used to manage user levels on the factory floor, to limit user operation and prevent human errors.

As always, Hitachi provides printers with the lowest possible consumption of make-up fluid, with an industry leading 2.5ml/h. The UX has IP65 protection making it suitable for the harshest of environments.

As with its predecessor, the UX series of printers are extremely reliable and most wearing parts can be replaced without the use of tools.

The broad printer line-up includes High Speed, Pigmented and micro-nozzle and will be added to at interpack with the introduction of our flagship Twin nozzle machine.

This printer uses one circulation system to power 2 nozzles enabling an 8-line print at the speed of 4 lines.

All printers come with Hitachi’s trademark 10.4” colour LCD touch panel with intuitive menu structure.

Hitachi has extended its portfolio with a series of CO2 Laser coders, 10W and 30W with a wide range of models and accessories. The LM series is a versatile and high preforming laser for industrial coding requirements. The innovative all-in-one structure and cascade cooling system provides for a robust and space saving printer.

Service first.

Aside from the product range and features, Hitachi prides itself on having a second to none customer service. Hitachi and its many professional and expert partners are present in every corner of the globe in over 120 countries. “We pride ourselves on providing the same level of service and support, no matter where our products are installed. All of our partners receive continuous product and service training so that they are always up to date about the latest product developments and features.”

Hitachi aims to provide its customers with “peace of mind” by providing innovative, reliable products backed by a strong service and support network.

For further details about Hitachi’s latest innovative products and services visit: www.hitachi-industrial.eu

Packaging Europe | 57 |

GS Series: Unique fragile product Multihead Weigher MultiWeigh HD Wiegetechnik is a world-class manufacturer of multihead weighers / combination scales, based in Wetzlar, Germany, with more than 1000 references worldwide. MultiWeigh’s unique patented technology sets the company apart from the competition and its range of multihead weighers can be used in almost any industry, including cereals, confectionery, meat, vegetables, cheese, fresh noodles, IQF products, pet food, tobacco, screws and plastic components to name just few.

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he company offers bespoke multihead weighers tailored to work efficiently and accurately with its customers’ products. Its range of multihead weighers covers 10-head to 48-head memory hopper weighers with speeds ranging from 50 wpm to 720 wpm – something which is unique in the industry!

Following extensive research and development, MultiWeigh is pleased to announce a new range of multihead weighers, the GS Series – or ‘Gentle Slope’ to give it its full name. This series has been designed to meet the need for gentle handling of fragile or easily bruised products.

With the GS Series, users can now weigh a wide range of delicate products including: fragile biscuits, wafers, crackers, dry noodles, soft fruit and tomatoes.

The specially designed shallow angled hoppers and chutes, including specially designed hopper gates, gently transfer the product through the weigher. Additional stoppers and active control of the timing hopper further reduce the product fall, resulting in minimal damage to delicate products. The GS Series multihead weigher from Multiweigh can weigh fragile products accurately at up to 120 cycles per minute, reducing product giveaway and increasing output. With MultiWeigh as your partner it has never been so easy to weigh fragile products!

To see MultiWeigh’s high quality and unique range of multihead weighers, visit the company at interpack, Booth 15/D22.

Contact: MultiWeigh HD Wiegetechnik, Altenberger Straße 43, 35576 Wetzlar Germany, Tel.: +496441/4479990, Email: info@multiweigh.com, Website: www.multiweigh.com

Innovative Weighing and Inspection Solutions At interpack 2017, Wipotec Weighing Technology, the market leader in ultrafast, high precision weigh cells, and OCS, a solution provider for weighing and inspection solutions, will demonstrate their impressive line-up of high performance systems and machines at a joint trade fair booth.

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art of the exhibited units in Hall 15, Booth 41 will be a series of high-speed checkweighers for applications in the food market. In addition, there will be X-ray scanner units combining sensors and high-performance image processors for the successful detection of foreign bodies.

The companies will exhibit a comprehensive machine portfolio, focusing on the main applications of serialisation & weighing, tamper-evidence and consistent aggregation of all relevant forms of packaging including folding boxes and bottles. Last but not least, a full portfolio of high-end weigh cells will be presented, equipped with Wipotec’s unique AVC (Active Vibration Compensation) technology.

AVC’s unique selling point is its ability to offer highly precise and ultrafast data, despite possible disturbances caused by machinery vibrations in certain environments.

See the full portfolio of weigh cells and weighing and inspection solutions to be presented by Wipotec Weighing Technology and OCS Checkweighers at their joint trade fair booth in Hall 15, Booth 41.

Wipotec Weighing Technology: www.wipotec.com OCS Checkweighers: www.ocs-cw.com | 58 | Packaging Europe

Packaged Right

The Lianglvfang Industrial Limited manufacturing plant is fully owned by Mida Packaging Product Co., Ltd, which specialises in producing bespoke packaging from tin sheet, PVC, PET and laminated cardboard. Its key objective is to provide clients with unsurpassed service and dedication, high quality standards, fast response and on-time delivery.

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ida Packaging Product Co., Ltd was founded by Mr Jack Chen from Yulin, China, and Mr Michael Binder from Munich, Germany, each with 15 years of experience in the packaging industry. Its core business is the production of tin, paper, PVC and PET packaging according to customer specifications. This includes tin sheet packaging and purpose products available in food grade, with over 600 sizes/shapes of tooling in stock; PET transparent food grade cans, with tear off/screw lid/adhesive sealing and reseal cap; and handcrafted laminated cardboard packaging. Mida holds most of the certificates required in any country for food grade packaging.

“Quality and communication are our strengths,” says Michael Binder. He explains that the company started in 2007 as a trader but only a year later launched a manufacturing facility for tin sheet food boxes. Its key competitive advantage is its excellent level of multi-lingual communication skills, which many Chinese companies lack. “The language barrier has been a frequent problem for a lot of Chinese manufacturers; many managers who run Chinese plants have only a limited knowledge of languages and export markets. The ability to provide an excellent level of service, high quality, speed and maximum customer satisfaction is what distinguishes us from competitors,” says Mr Binder.

The company focuses on making top-quality packaging for the small-batch high-end consumer market, such as gift chocolate and sweets, food tins, special

gift paper packaging and bespoke PVC/PET packaging. “The trend is now for combined material packaging, such as tin and paper or PVC, particularly in the food sector,” explains Mr Binder.

Future focus The company now employs around 130 staff and the numbers are going to increase soon.

“Despite several difficult years in China we have been doing very well. We have grown steadily and have now reached our capacity limits – this year we will be moving to a new plant. The increased capacity should meet demand not only from existing but also from new clients,” Mr Binder reveals.

The objective for the near future is, in his words, clear: “We want to further grow and establish offices overseas, staffed with local salesmen and covering a range of customer needs, not only for production but also for shipping, customs clearance and the like. The aim is to provide a first-class service backed up by high-quality packaging products, made cost-effectively in China and supported by smooth, speedy delivery. The customer will thus get a double benefit – a top-quality product for a very attractive price.”

Visit: www.tincansupply.en.china.cn Packaging Europe | 59 |

Orbis Corporation Strengthens its Status in Europe As a subsidiary of Menasha Corporation which has more than 50 locations across the globe, Orbis has a rich history in packaging. For more than 165 years, family-owned Menasha Corporation has been dedicated to a customer-focused approach to providing a diversified offering of high quality material handling and packaging products and services for a wide variety of industries.

| 60 | Packaging Europe

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oday, Orbis Corp. uses proven expertise, industry-leading knowledge and superior products (containers, pallets and dunnage) to create and implement reusable packaging systems. As companies continue to optimize their supply chains, the future promises a growing need for cost-efficient reusable packaging products, worldwide. Libby White spoke with David Heer, senior commercial director, to find out about the company’s success and plans to exhibit at interpack 2017.

“Orbis supports world-class companies to handle their products faster, safer, and more cost effectively around the globe,” Mr Heer is proud to say. “With our reusable containers and pallets, we support industries from automotive, consumer goods, and the food and beverage sectors. We focus on engaging with our customers in order to deliver the best solutions, and our main goal is to reduce waste- whether that be in the supply chain, in terms of materials used, and labour.”

With Orbis’ proven customer solution approach, its experts analyse customer’s operations and design for them a dedicated solution with a strong focus on sustainability and long term cost savings. With a strong focus on the European market, Orbis provides value by delivering innovative solutions, and is dedicated to reducing CO2 emissions, efficient transportation, and health and safety.

European focus “Year on year, the European market is evolving towards using reusable solutions. There is a strong focus on sourcing solutions with environmental benefits, reduced total cost of ownership, and optimisation of the supply chain,” shares Mr Heer.

With local sales and customer solution experts and manufacturingcapabilities in Europe, Orbis is focused on supporting its European partners into improving their supply chains and benefiting from reusable packaging. Mr Heer says, “Leveraging on our success and experience, with a leading position in the automotive market in north America, we are well positioned to deliver value to our customers.”

Exhibiting at interpack Orbis will be showing its latest solutions at interpack 2017. Mr Heer comments, “We have a dedicated focus on the European supply chain, and will be showing our expertise and local support to attendees of the show.”

Visitors to the stand will be able to see Orbis’ latest container on show, which will be launched for the first time at interpack. It serves as an alternative to metal containers, providing advantages such as weight reduction, no contamination issues, as well as being easily cleaned.

Packaging Europe | 61 |

“Orbis also attends interpack to see the latest trends and challenges in the market, and to see the next level of packaging on offer,” adds Mr Heer. “It enables us to meet with existing and potential new customers and is a great platform for networking.”

Comprehensive service Orbis focuses on delivering value through a combination of innovation, engineered solutions, and improving its customers’ supply chain. Enhanced profitability, a positive environmental impact and streamlined operations are the main benefits for customers.

Mr Heer comments, “Our goal is to support our customers through reducing costs, and helping them reduce CO2 emissions. We have a great team of experts who are inspired by working together with our partners and customers- driven to innovate and dedicated to deliver solutions that will lead our customers to success. We offer one of the most comprehensive portfolios on the market.”

Leaders in sustainability Orbis as a company has a significant focus on developing new products for leading applications. Mr Heer explains, “We have an advanced approach to product design, understanding the needs and trends of the market, resulting in a comprehensive portfolio of reusable products we can offer to our customers.”

The corporation has a very strong presence in its key markets, and is experiencing continuous growth, especially within the automotive industry. Mr Heer credits this to the fact that OEMs are expanding on a global scale, meaning they need optimised packaging to support their operations such as intercontinental shipments, a service Orbis is in a prime position to supply. Focusing on a key trend, Mr Heer adds that with the development of Smart cars, the packaging has also needed to develop in order to adapt and suit the needs of new technology, which needs more protection during transit. In terms of the food and beverage sectors, Orbis has addressed the growing need for hygienically designed packaging which is suitable for use in clean room environments. The company is also looking at the possibility of offering more collapsible solutions, and at streamlining its offerings by becoming more efficient on return trips, and adding more bins per trucks during transit. | 62 | Packaging Europe

Mr Heer concludes, “We aim to support our customers by reducing their impact on the environment through analysing the output of their current supply chains and showing them the benefits of using our solutions, especially concerning greenhouse gas emissions, solid waste, energy usage, and the impact of reusable packaging. We can help them meet their strong environmental targets in Europe, and are proud of our status as a steward of sustainability. As part of a multinational corporation we have a legacy in sustainability and reducing the impact on the environment.”

Visit: www.orbiscorporation.com

Leading the Way Hugo Beck is the world’s leading manufacturer of horizontal flowpack, film packaging and post-print processing systems in the 3000 to 18,000 cycle-per-hour performance range. Besides series machines, Hugo Beck also offers a wide range of custom-made solutions. Hugo Beck machines are used successfully across the globe in various industries, including pharmaceuticals and medical technology, cosmetics, food, print and paper, textiles, glass, wood and many others. By participating in interpack the company hopes to win new customers and boost its name in key markets.

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stablished in 1955 and based in Dettingen/Erms (near Stuttgart), Hugo Beck now has the world’s most comprehensive manufacturing program in the film packaging industry for flowpack, bagged and shrink-wrapped packaging. The company’s solutions are characterised by innovative servo drive technology, modular components and skillful connection of down-stream and up-stream systems.

The company offers stand-alone devices for smaller budgets but also high-end machines with a high degree of automation and first-class connection to downstream and upstream systems. Although supplying to a wide range of sectors, Hugo Beck’s main focus is on pharmaceuticals, food, cosmetics, print and paper, household and construction.

In the last few years, the focus has been on the greatest possible automation, flexibility and availability. Mr Timo Kollmann, the company’s sales director, confirms that automation has been the biggest topic recently and an aspect which the company will further develop to remain ahead of competitors. Hugo Beck’s key markets remain Germany and Europe but the company has customers worldwide. “The two key strengths that distinguish us from competitors are a high level of flexibility and bespoke solutions to meet individual customers’ needs,” says Mr Kollmann.

Hugo Beck will focus on two solutions at interpack: a type of flow packing machine for the pharmaceutical industry and a model integrating shrink packaging with robotic features. “Our presence at interpack will be a good opportunity to both increase our market share in the existing markets and win new customers, particularly from Europe.

We feel that there are still a lot of customers in Europe who do not know us,” says the sales director. He further explains that rather than focusing on mere lead generation, the company would like to use interpack as a platform for showing customers how Hugo

Beck could provide comprehensive value-added solutions, not just individual machines.

“The biggest challenge in our segment is the increasing demand for cheaper machines.

On the other hand this also presents an opportunity – our customers understand that investing in a high-end top quality product backed with technical expertise and innovation is always a good investment,” says Mr Kollmann. “With this in mind, interpack is the ideal opportunity to raise awareness of what we have to offer and to introduce prospective customers to the lasting advantage created by Hugo Beck products.”

Visit: www.hugobeck.de or see us at interpack: Hall 16, Stand D36

Packaging Europe | 63 |

Innovative closures For more than 75 years, Velcro Companies has partnered with brands to deliver innovative closure solutions for all kinds of applications. Its solutions are found in a wide range of products for home and office organisation, gardening and DIY projects as well as the more hidden applications which can be found in car seats, medical devices and much more.

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elcro Companies knows that a simple enhancement to consumers’ busy lives is better packaging – hence the development of its PRESS-LOK® reclosure system.

This patented hook to hook technology allows consumers to quickly and easily reseal their packages so they can be securely stowed on a shelf, in a bag, on the floor and so on, all while maintaining freshness and preventing spills. The company has seen widespread adoption of this technology in a variety of sectors including lawn and garden, food products, pet food and treats, and wellness and beauty.

And the company doesn’t look to be slowing down any time soon. More than 20 years ago, it developed a soft, baby-friendly hook and loop fastener that revolutionised nappies. Now, that same technology can be found in the new VELCRO® Brand REPLAY®

Tab, an innovative and elegant reclose solution for wet wipe packaging. Unlike the adhesive closure, which tends to lose its ability to seal after some time, the proprietary mechanical hook and loop closure is not affected by dirt or moisture, guaranteeing a firm closure which helps to keep the wipes moist until the pack is finished.

At interpack 2017, Velcro Companies will have several of its innovative solutions on display. Its booth’s Inspiration Corner will highlight its newest products, including the VELCRO® Brand REPLAY® Tab for wet wipes. Stop by booth C51, Hall 10 at interpack 2017 to experience innovative solutions first-hand.

Visit: www.velcro.com/packaging

Innovative

Imprint

Freund-Vector Corporation is a global service provider and manufacturer of granulating, coating and drying equipment.

With over 5500 installations worldwide, the company is looking to further boost its presence in global markets by introducing a new, innovative tablet imprinting system.

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ounded in 1972, Freund-Vector is a worldwide manufacturer of solid dosage equipment, providing customers with complete service and support in process development. The company’s core products include Tablet Coaters (Pan Coaters), Fluid Beds, High Shear Granulators/Mixers, Roller Compactors and the necessary support equipment. Its multiple capabilities and applications for solid dosage form processing systems enables Freund-Vector to serve a wide range of industries.

Most of the equipment is custom-made for specific installation requirements. “Our customers benefit from a full-service backup. They receive a complete system from a single supplier, which is a considerable advantage,” says Marketing Manager Steve Kray.

At INTERPACK, Freund-Vector is going to present the TABREX Rev, an innovative new tablet imprinting system. Tabrex Rev is the first on-dose imprinting machine to utilize thermal inkjet cartridge technology. Its unique features provide dosage form versatility (coated and uncoated tablets, including oral dissolve; hard wall capsules, softgels), flexibility (a wide range of product shapes and sizes without changing parts; and fast times for best equipment utilization) and guideless transport (precise | 64 |changeover Packaging Europe

positioning and gentle product handling). The machine is equipped with thermal inkjet cartridge technology, incorporates onboard visual inspection and offers “future protection” as it is upgradable for future industry demands. “We are ready for new trends as well as new regulatory requirements. The machine can provide unique identifiers for on-dose serialisation and covert identification, and supports customer compliance with 21 CFR Part 11,” explains Edward Novit, Business Development Manager.

He stresses that by exhibiting at interpack, Freund-Vector wants to promote the innovation and benefits available to pharma companies by incorporating this new inspection and printing technology. “What we hope to achieve as a company is to become better known in sectors beyond granulation and coating. Our technologies have a wide range of applications and we want to expose ourselves to more customers with diverse needs; to show them how our machines, as well as our full-service capability, can benefit their business and meet not only their current demands, but their future demands as well,” adds Edward.

Visit: www.freund-vector.com

Adaptations

With over 70 years of experience in the belting industry, Habasit is familiar with the wide variety of clients’ individual needs: it is not a business where one size fits all. Finding the perfect fit for every conceivable application is what keeps Habasit engineers researching, developing and pushing products to the cutting edge of every industry.

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he packaging industry is no exception. Even if the merchandise often stays the same, the packaging is always being reinvented to instill the product with fresh glamour and appeal. Even the classic Coca-Cola, a taste we all recognise, is a bottle that has seen a long series of evolutions.

With each development, there are new application requirements, and new designs to reduce waste or to reimagine the transportation of the latest shapes and sizes. The capability to meet each challenge with specific results has long set Habasit apart: Habasit is the industry benchmark for fabricating custom-made surfaces, selecting appropriate belt covers and offering the most efficient and effective accessories.

As specific as your needs HabaSYNC® timing belts have been one of the most versatile and successful products yet introduced by the company. With its extensive range of covers, fabrications and accessories, it is often the ideal choice to enhance the performance of a packaging machine, or to build a new one.

Covers for timing belts are available in a variety of sizes and materials to provide the widest range of solutions for any kind of need. Depending on the requirements of the client, the cover can be adapted for shock absorption, gentle handling, ease of release, high abrasion or heat resistance as well as antistatic features. Process techniques such as grinding, teeth removal, milling grooves, and drilling holes or milling slots in the belt and cover, can all create new possibilities for every application.

Thermoplastic profiles can also be added to improve transport and product placement. Furthermore, the false tooth mounting technology allows the option of mechanically attaching any kind of profile or device to the belt.

Other accessories include integrated guide belts, weld-on tracking guides and the patented Hinge Joint, a mechanical timing belt fastener which makes for fast and easy replacement or repair of any timing belt.

These are just a few of the choices available for individual modifications in the packaging industry but Habasit is always eager for fresh collaboration. As the comn pany says: “Tell us the need, and we will package the solution!”

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Engineering excellence that works harmoniously with man and machine With capsule and equipment production sites located in Japan, the United States, Europe, Canada and Brazil, the Japanese Qualicaps is a leading global supplier of two-piece hard capsules and related pharmaceutical processing equipment for solid oral dosage. Backed by a long tradition of scientific research, the company provides capsules in gelatine (Quali-G™) and hypromellose (Quali-V) options, as well as capsules for solids, liquids, and inhalation applications. It also offers a proprietary product line of capsule filling and sealing equipment, as well as check-weighing and inspection machinery. Qualicaps® is the world’s only manufacturer of both softgel and two-piece filling equipment.

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he company has recently reached a significant milestone – it has become part of the Mitsubishi Chemical Holdings Corporation family and now continues to develop opportunities to better serve its global customers.

“We have been a Number One in Japan for some time but now want to improve our presence elsewhere. Attending interpack will strongly support this, as we will have the opportunity to introduce our machine range to major players from the pharmaceutical industry, particularly the innovative tablet imprinting systems by UV laser,” says Mr Tsukamoto, the company’s deputy general manager of overseas sales.

Since Qualicaps® produces both capsules and capsule filling equipment, they are able, as the only manufacturer worldwide, to offer unmatched compatibility between

that capsule products and the equipment that fills and seals them. Mr Tsukamoto confirms that the company’s unique selling point is the superb quality and direct sales to major customers. Attending interpack, the company wants to introduce its unique machines to the European market and win news customers in line with its strategy to promote expansion.

“Our machines are more expensive than those made by, for example, our Chinese competitors but boast unsurpassed quality, supported by a high quality production process. ‘Made in Japan’ speaks for itself. You get what you pay for,” says Mr Tsukamoto.

Visit Qualicaps at interpack 2017: Hall 8a – Stand B03

Softgel Equipment Industry Leader Technophar is a global supplier of soft gelatine capsule machines and auxiliary equipment, specialising in turn-key facility solutions and end-to-end servicing. With manufacturing sites in Canada and Romania, the company, now part of the Mitsubishi Chemical Holdings Corporation, has more than three decades of expertise in its field and is regarded a leader in the softgel encapsulation equipment sector.

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echnophar’s core competencies are its specialist equipment knowledge & expertise, its innovative technology, its premium quality, its hands-on technical support and service, and its customisation capability,” says the company’s Interim President, Mr Florentin Blejdea. He stresses that the company’s goal is not simply to sell its machines but to sell a solution and a partnership. “We want our clients to feel they are in the best possible hands when working with us on their softgel production facilities. We provide peace of mind.”

Technophar’s encapsulation machines are ‘plug-and-play’ rotary die machines capable of producing finished gelatine capsules containing fill material with precise accuracy, using a programmable logic controller with a touch-screen to control all process parameters.

This year at interpack, Technophar will be showcasing one of its newest innovations – a fully integrated softgel encapsulation machine, SGM612i. By integrating the electrical panel and chiller inside of the machine, Technophar is able to provide faster and easier installation of its machine, it is able to preserve valuable facility floor space with fewer external cables to be run, and can also improve the portability of the machine. The company also wishes to demonstrate that by choosing Technophar as their equipment solution, customers are acquiring an exclusive membership with direct access to all of its industry insights and innovations. | 66 | Packaging Europe

In summary of Technophar’s strategy for the near future, the company will continue to focus on providing true value to each and every one of its clients, big or small. This is fully in line with Technophar’s mission: innovating to solve customers’ future challenges today.

Visit the Technophar booth at this year’s interpack in Düsseldorf, Germany: Hall 8A / B03.

Visit: www.technophar.com

ILLIG at interpack 2017: Variable and attractive IML in thermoforming – packaging development by ILLIG

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eilbronn, February 2017 – ILLIG; the systems provider for thermoforming solutions, will be showcasing state-of-the-art packaging systems at this year’s interpack, Düsseldorf, May 04 to 10. The machine manufacturer will present its new sector of packaging development as brand. The Heilbronn experts will demonstrate their expertise by the great potential provided by in-mold labeling in thermoforming (IML-T) combined with clean and hygienic filling and packaging of dairy products.

Leading IML-T-technology – economic and decorative In live demonstrations ILLIG will show the production of rectangular cups out of PP on the IML-T production line IC-RDM 70K, forming area 680 mm x 300 mm, together with the compact IML unit RDML 70b. The 18-up mold produces cups with 3 different labels at the same time with an hourly output of 17,280 cups. Decoration is performed in brilliant photo quality on all four side walls of the pack and also on the bottom directly during forming. Currently, ILLIG is the only machine manufacturer from which IML-T can be obtained from one source with all required and optimally synchronized technology modules. IML-T lines integrated in form, fill and seal lines (FSL lines) are also realized for clean and hygienic production, especially in the dairy industry.

IML thermoforming developed by ILLIG is more favorable with regard to cost aspects than IML injection molding, for example, which is also used for decoration of plastic packs. The IML-T system allows flexible decoration of most cup shapes with labels. Moreover, investment amounts for molds and maintenance costs are cheaper than in injection molding. Thermoformed articles can be manufactured with thinner walls and they are thus more lightweight than injection molded part. Lower energy consumption during processing is a benefit in addition to the substantially lower material consumption. Economic benefits are provided by IML thermoforming, particularly because multi-cavity molds can be employed.

meets the different hygienic demands by the food industry, even through hygienic class V according to VDMA (aseptic filling machines). All standard materials suitable for FFS lines can be processed on FSL 48, such as PS, PP, multilayer materials (e. g. PS/EVOH/ PE), APET and even materials made of the biopolymer PLA (polylactic acid).

Packaging development by ILLIG Every pack is unique. From the customer’s first idea through to an excellent pack which meets all recent requirements. There are numerous development stages in between and many technical questions that must be answered. ILLIG can meet these requirements thanks to its expertise in mold making and machine manufacturing and its knowledge of the markets – worldwide. The Heilbronn company with its new sector of packaging development can offer practical solutions and designs for thermoforming. ILLIG shows the great potential of thermoforming.

Visit: www.illig.de

FSL 48 combined with IML-T: Variable dairy packs The FSL 48 form, fill and seal line developed by ILLIG is suitable for requirements by the food and especially the dairy industry. The filler with CIP (cleaning in place) and SIP (sterilization in place) functions can be equipped technically in such a way that it Packaging Europe | 67 |

A sustainable outlook Finnish tissue and baking & cooking paper products company Metsä Tissue has a ‘unique proposition’ for its customers worldwide thanks to the smart ownership of the company and its complete solutions. Emma-Jane Batey spoke to vice-president for product development for the Metsä Tissue Away From Home division, Markus Reivala, to learn more.

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ith ten paper mills across Europe and a number of widely-recognised brands under its belt, Finnish paper products company Metsä Tissue is clearly a commercial success. What customers may not be aware of, however, is how much of a corporate social responsibility success Metsä Tissue is.

Markus Reivala told Industry Europe how the company’s ‘unique proposition based on the ownership of the company’ maintains and supports its focus on responsibility.

Mr Reivala said, “We are responsible in all ways – it’s not just something we say to tick a box for shareholders. We don’t have shareholders in the traditional sense as we are part of Metsä Group, which is owned by over 100,000 Finnish private forest owners. This unique ownership base and business structure gives us a competitive advantage and reinforces the long-term stability of our operations. So we do the right thing because it is the right thing to do in order to have a long-term, sustainable business; sustainable for the planet and sustainable for our ongoing success.”

Part of the Metsä Group, one of the world’s largest forest industry groups, Metsä Tissue is dedicated to making paper and pulp products from its network of mills. Metsä Tissue employs 2800 people and the company’s sales total €1 billion.

Part of life The Metsä Tissue product portfolio is primarily focused on the manufacture of tissue papers and baking and cooking papers, with its brands including Lambi, Serla, Mola, Tento, Katrin and SAGA. Mr Reivala continued, “Our business is part of our customers’ everyday lives. So whether they are a consumer or a professional buyer, we stand together with them to improve health, hygiene and wellbeing at home, work or leisure. As well as our own well-known brands, we also manufacture a number of supplier label products and various tailor-made customer label products for leading European retailers.”

Manufacturing a total paper production of 640,000 tonnes per year, of which 600,000 tonnes is tissue paper, Metsä Tissue’s ten production plants in five countries are all certified to ISO 9000 for quality and ISO 14000 for environmental management. But these certifications are hardly enough to illustrate just how seriously Metsä Tissue takes its quality and environmental responsibility. Mr Reivala explained, “All our members take care of their own forests and have done so for many, many years. For each tree that is harvested an average of three trees are planted in its place. We have been working like this for long before it was fashionable. In fact, 20 or 30 years ago the paper industry was

Packaging Europe | 69 |

blamed for causing eco-issues, but now it’s totally the opposite – people know that smart forestry and sustainable industry are important elements in the long-term protection of our planet.”

“All in all, efficient supply chain management is one of the cornerstones of our business strategy. Our mills are located close to our raw materials, consumers and partners, thus minimising the need for transportation. We favour railways and waterways and work only with transport companies that are either ISO certified or at an advanced stage in the certification process. We have long-term expertise in sustainability, and Metsä Tissue is an industry forerunner in mitigating climate change and minimising its environmental footprint,” Mr Reivala explained.

Forest for all This transparency in its ownership and operations is one of the reasons Mr Reivala notes that Metsä Tissue is helping to ‘take care of the forests for future generations’. He said, “This is not a fast business. It doesn’t work to just think of the next quarter. We all have the forests at our heart and we totally respect and value the forest. Our unique business structure is not just socially and environmentally responsible, it also gives us a competitive advantage as we have a solid, long-term stability. So even though we essentially have over 100,000 owners, we’re like a family. A very big family!”

As Metsä Tissue is ‘a very big family’ that operates in a smart, responsible manner, being part of the Metsä Group means it also has the advantage of being able to access an even bigger global network – an extended family of complementary skills. Mr Reivala said, “Within Metsä Group there is such a lot of expertise in areas that truly benefit our customers and the consumer. We have divisions that know everything there is to know about the production of pulp, the relevant chemicals, the raw materials...we have so many | 70 | Packaging Europe

state-of-the-art production facilities and process capabilities in the Group that whatever we need, we can usually find it. This offers our customers considerable commercial advantages as well as a speed that is unrivalled. All the way through the manufacture of our products we know every step of the production, which enhances our dedication to sustainability. All our products essentially lead back to nature in some way .”

Katrin Inclusive Dispensers – inspired by users Metsä Tissue has brought into the Away-from-Home market its new Katrin Inclusive Dispenser range. As the name suggests, this product range applies the concept of inclusive design, meaning that the dispensers are easy to use for everyone despite the age or physical abilities of the user.

Katrin Inclusive Dispensers, being universally accessible and easy to use, are designed for everyone. They have a strong focus on functionality, thus helping not just the end user, but also making assembly and maintenance work easy and convenient.

Visit: www.metsatissue.com

Packaging in perfection A family owned, highly driven business, drive belt manufacturer Max Schlatterer has long been making a difference across the driving, conveying and tobacco industries. Emma-Jane Batey spoke to Account Manager Markus Mayer to learn more.

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ow owned and operated by the third generation of the Schlatterer family, world renowned drive belt manufacturer Max Schlatterer GmbH & Co. KG is especially famous for its Esband brand. Founded in Germany in 1948, Max Schlatterer today employs over 600 people and remains synonymous with continuity, trust and sustainability.

Mr Mayer said, “Our main mission has not changed since we started nearly 70 years ago; we are dedicated to producing endless belts and tapes of the highest quality for a range of applications, always with the focus of improving efficiency. We have always been a family company and we have often been told that customers can feel that family approach. We take a long-term view of success and that means we can make smart decisions that suit our customers.

Nimble family For a well-established, highly respected European manufacturer that has been at the top of its game for nearly 70 years, Max Schlatterer continues to be light-footed and nimble. Mr Mayer continued, “Thanks to our excellent reputation and our proven ability to be smart and innovative, we have been able to expand within our established sectors of the tobacco industry but also to see a steadily-growing active field in the drive transportation and process belt industries. As the packaging sector is an important branch of this, Schlatterer is a reliable partner of well-known OEMs. Our customers particulary appreciate the possibility to acquire not only current market versions but also tailor-made solutions in accordance with their requirements.”

Mr Mayer is clear that a key USP for Max Schlatterer for the packaging industry is the fact that the company provides a ‘complete service from A–Z from one source. This total problem-solution competence illustrates how the company offers added value to its customers, since they provide the whole belting expertise from one hand.

Mr Mayer explained, “We do not outsource any part of our production and everything we make is manufactured here in Germany. Together with our family approach and our proven track record of expertise and know-how, that’s a pretty strong mix! So even though we do not have any so-called low-cost production sites in other parts of the world, as we keep everything in-house and have a long-term business strategy, we can actually offer our unrivalled products at a competitive price.”

Customers across the packaging industry can be assured that the company’s Esband process belts will deliver the exact performance required thanks to the various combinations of textile fabrics, coatings and special processing such as perforations or milling. Mr Mayer said, “Our absolutely homogenous process belts can be applied where normal belts run against their limits. An Esband belt offers consistent technical properties in width, thickness, structure, elongation, breaking strengh and running conditions. With Esband belts you have quality conformity at a very high performance.”

With Max Schlatterer soon to present its portfolio at interpack, Mr Mayer and his team are pleased to have the opportunity to further illustrate how the Esband belts can be fine tuned to meet the specific needs of the packaging industry. He noted, “interpack will be a great opportunity to show existing and potential customers our wide range of different solutions for the packaging industry. Next to pull-down timing belts for vertical bag form, fill and seal machines for example, we are proud to present our latest innovation: silicone pressure rollers. Those rollers can be used to attach labels or hold down transportation goods. Since they are made of silicone they can also be used in the food industry. This makes me feeling excited about the interpack and I invite everyone to see how an Esband helps to achieve greater efficiency.”

Visit: www.esband.de/en Packaging Europe | 71 |

Keep Your Vacuum

Providing expert advice and a comprehensive range of services, the allfogroup develops innovative barrier packaging for all applications in the food and pharmaceutical industry.

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he companies allfo and allvac offer specialist know-how in each of their specific fields to provide intelligent film products manufactured on cutting-edge machines.

From development and extrusion right through to converting, the entire process chain takes place in-house.

Special applications demand special solutions.

Allvac thermoforming films

Our high-barrier composites are available with antifog effect, in peelable quality and printed.

Allvac has produced PA/PE composite films for food packaging since 1992, specialising in high-grade film solutions for products, such as meat and sausage, boiled ham, fish and seafood as well as cheese.

The added value of our vacuum films are: • Optimum, aesthetic product presentation • High degree of transparency • Excellent recovery properties that make your packaging look like a second skin • First-class skin sealing properties (full-surface sealing) no product fluids between top and bottom web

• Very good machine runability for exceptional ease of processing • High barrier values

Allfo vacuum bags Our side seal bags have proven to be ideal for sealing in freshness and aroma, for all food products, as well as for maturing and convenience food.

• Excellent gas barrier for outstanding product and aroma protection • Tested quality – from raw material to the finished bag • Low air-penetration rates as a result of high tear resistance • Extensive range of sizes kept in stock • Excellent printability allfo side seal bags are also an excellent choice for non-food applications, e.g. for packaging pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, chemical and industrial products.

Do not accept any compromises when it comes to your products’ packaging.

For further information about allfogroup products and services please visit the company at Hall 5 / Booth 5/F03 or visit us online at www.allfo.de and www.allvac.de

More aware scanware is the technology leader in the development of inspection systems for quality control on packaging lines for the pharma, cosmetics and food industries.

Philip Yorke reports.

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ince it was founded in 1989, scanware has been more aware of the market needs for inspection systems in the packaging industry than any other company. It is the technology leader in many of its disciplines and in particular for blister inspection systems. Furthermore, it is the only solution provider for the 3D inspection of blister machines.

With a clear focus on development, innovation and service, scanware is able to offer dedicated, customised solutions for a broad range of packaging applications, from pinhole detection, to colour and 3D fill, print control and Track & Trace solutions.

The company specialises in providing optimised, customised systems. scanware’s new, ground-breaking, line management software LYNX-IMPERA will be showcased at interpack this year along with its full packing-line technology capabilities. Martina Wagner, scanware’s marketing manager said, “We offer many systems and stations, and all our hard and software products are modular and therefore expandable and upgradable, as well as being customised to suit the individual and specific needs of the customer.

“We also develop our own illumination units as well as most of our hardware in-house. We provide the best possible solutions and adjust our components to provide the optimal results for our clients. What is more, our illumination units are wire-free and electronically controllable.

“Our frame grabber is also an in-house development and our systems and components are flexible, reliable and have a very long lifetime. As a result of this, we can offer a 10-year guaranteed replacement and support service for our old systems.”

The scanware LYNX-SPECTRA 3D offers exceptional advantages for product inspection tasks that can’t be accomplished with original product inspection systems.

It is capable of inspecting not only the common range of product criteria, including presence, position and shape, as well as the detection of double fillings and broken items but also perimeter, overfilling, geometry and volume – which is especially useful for the inspection of dry powder or multi-layered tablets. The company’s laser based system is particularly useful in low-contrast cases and with fragile products.

The use of the real-time operating system QNX®, also enables high-speed signal processing and high failure safety. Security is further increased by the many additional advantages of the system, including the facility to expand and increase the system for future requirements, making this system fully ‘future-proof’.

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Visit: www.scanware.de

Taking Innovation

to interpack Greiner Packaging, one of Europe’s leading plastic packaging manufacturers in the food and non-food sector, has big plans to take its suite of packaging innovations across borders to Germany at interpack 2017 — though its network of locations in 19 different countries around the world already makes it an active global player.

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reiner Packaging is particularly present in Europe, with its headquarters located in Austria. Packaging Europe spoke to Joerg Sabo, marketing director of Greiner Packaging International, who explained how the company’s continued strategic growth and solid financial position means it is able to look forward to its next long chapter of global success. Sabo said, “Our continuous growth over more than half a century is largely thanks to our diversification of products and markets. This has long been our strategy and remains as relevant today as it did over more than 50 years ago.”

This strategic growth, alongside new production plant acquisitions in both Turkey and India, is a key element in Greiner Packaging’s plans for the future. Sabo explained, “It’s all about the trend for globalisation. It isn’t going away and it’s a trend where we can — and are — really flourishing. Last year was a very important year for us in terms of globalisation, and it was certainly in response to working with some of the world’s biggest brands. Our key accounts expect us to go into new markets with them and to continue to provide the same impressive service wherever they are in the world. We are only too happy to deliver on this expectation. Our goal is to deliver the same quality no matter if we produce it in India, in the US or in Europe...we will deliver on our clients’ expectations anywhere and everywhere.”

“We are not just producing the packaging; we are providing a full service for our clients.

Regardless of which solution is chosen, both technologies protect the product by minimising external effects to the filling inside the packaging — this allows us to extend the shelf life without adding preservatives. The ideal barrier really depends on the filling inside and the packaging,” Sabo tells us. “We offer nearly all technologies and combinations, as well state-of-the-art machinery. And this, combined with our knowledge of the latest industry trends, really allows our clients to make a choice that is appropriate for their needs.”

The company hopes to utilise its experience at interpack for more than a product reveal, however. Sabo told us he hopes to gain some insights from the attendee base regarding the worldwide needs of potential clients and discover potential target markets, as well as finding out about new developments for the healthcare industry to enhance the healthcare focused capabilities of its production site in Rastatt, Germany. Those stopping by its booth will have the opportunity to explore the capabilities of Greiner Packaging in regards to quality as well as process innovation via a virtual reality tour.

Visit: www.greiner-gpi.com

Exclusive launch The company plans to launch a new innovation for an international audience at interpack this coming May. “We will be presenting one new innovation and we are excited to see the reaction from the industry. I don’t want to tell you too much, but it will have something to do with reducing the plastic content of the cup even further than we already have with some of our current solutions,” says Sabo.

Though unable to elaborate prior to the reveal on the tradeshow floor, Sabo tells us that the focus at interpack, and beyond, will include the company’s suite of barrier technologies. Greiner Packaging, unlike others in the industry, offers customers options when it comes to protecting the product from the outside-in. Whether one opts for multi-barrier technology (MBT), which involves embedding a barrier layer of EVOH within many layers of polypropylene plastic packaging, or inert barrier technology (IBT), where the barrier layer is applied on the cup, Greiner Packaging’s consultative approach aims to assist its customers to make the appropriate choice for them.

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New machine for single-dose packaging Valmatic, a dynamic Italian company based near Modena in the heart of the industrial district in Emilia Romagna, will present at interpack an innovative solution for singledose packaging that has been designed to meet specific market needs. Designed equally for those who produce directly and for contractors, the Valmatic solution is suitable for a range of different sectors, including the food, cosmetic, chemical and pharmaceutical industries.

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rimarily created to serve the pharmaceutical market, the single dose is now also widely used in the food and home & personal care industries – areas that increasingly take into account aspects such as ease of use and waste reduction. Furthermore, producers are placing growing importance on the materials used and prioritising process costs. “The trend,” says Graziana Tassinari, head of marketing at Valmatic, “is moving towards the increasing use of single-dose products. Families tend to be much smaller and people are moving around more than ever; however, they are also much more attentive to waste. The key benefits of disposable products fully meet these needs: dimensions are minimal, the dosage of the product is appropriate to the relevant use and consumers are reassured that they are always fresh at the time of use. In addition, the single-dose solution allows less material wastage with reduced impact on the environment.”

Valmatic V75: created in Italy, a citizen of the world The company from San Prospero has been investing heavily now for several years in the development of machines suitable for single-dose product packaging, designing and marketing solutions that anticipate the needs of customers who increasingly require flexible machines that are simple to operate and easy to maintain. The Valmatic V75 was created to respond to these needs, offering the ideal solution for the single-dose packaging of a wide range of liquids and creams used in various sectors from food to pharmaceuticals.

Specifically, the Valmatic unit can package products such as detergents for home care, | 74 | Packaging Europe

vitamins, dietary supplements, balsamic vinegar, olive oil, sauces, creams for cosmetic use and medications, to mention just a few. Essentially, V75 appeals to the global market in the broadest sense and it does so while maintaining its strong mechanical and technological know-how developed over nearly 40 years in the heart of one of the most important districts in global automation – namely in the Emilia Romagna ‘Packaging Valley’ that has made the concept of ‘flexibility’ its own distinctive trademark.

Different uses, the same user friendliness Just a few details are needed to comprehend the flexibility of the machine: V75 is in fact able to work at a speed of 30 cycles per minute, packaging liquids in vials from 0.5 to 150 ml, and is able to work both materials combined with aluminium and a wide range of barriered plastic compounds, such as PP/PET/EVOH/PE, PET/EVOH/PE and PET/PS/PE. V75 is also able to work with very thick material, from 150 to 500 microns, ensuring that cutting processes and pack forming is always of the highest standard. The machine stands out thanks to the adoption of a latest generation cutter that was designed with a focus on flexibility and ease of use; it can be changed quickly and easily to allow different types of cutting.

V75 is also characterised by an extremely efficient operator-machine interface which greatly simplifies its use. Specific softwares were developed to make the operating, maintenance and format change operations extremely simple. In addition, intuitive video tutorials will be part of the PLC equipment to help the

operator identify the functions of the machine immediately. The machine is also equipped with a level control system with automatic removal of non-compliant products. Finally, V75 has relatively contained dimensions which means it can be easily incorporated within different layouts, including those of contractors who are traditionally focused on optimising space as well as costs.

exact quantity of material necessary for the machine, thereby optimising use and reducing waste. Finally, the V75 is equipped as standard with a remote communication system that allows the specialist technical personnel to carry out real time on-line assistance operations using a simple LAN connection.

Visit: www.valmaticsrl.com

High technology and optional groups While it is simple to operate and maintain, the machine has characteristics that make it suitable to the packaging needs of high-end products. For example, the Oxygen Transmission Rate (OTR) and Water Vapour Transmission Rate (WVTR) are very low and guarantee a product weight loss over 40 days of stability of less than 1 per cent: a performance that also optimises use of the machine for pharmaceutical liquids or high quality cosmetic creams. V75 also offers a feature that unique to the market: The machine can be equipped with an on-line material printing unit, called the Valmatic Thermoprinter, that works in synchronisation with the packaging operations and was designed to print the

Valmatic will be present at interpack from 4 to 10 May, at stand no. B21 - Pav. 08A

Packaging Europe | 75 |

Film success

For 70 years, the Chemical Plant Nitro-Chem SA has been operating in the explosives manufacturing sector. Throughout the years, it has gained an extensive production potential and diversified technical and logistic resources, becoming a leader in its sector. With a creative and committed team of specialists, the company has been continuously developing.

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April 2011, Nitro-Chem SA opened its plastics film department, which has gone from strength to strength and is an excellent example of its continuous progress.

Nitro-Chemâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s product range in the areas of films includes the cast polypropylene films PP Triniflex, cast polyester films PET Triniflex and cast polylactide films PLA Triniflex. They are manufactured on one of the most modern production lines in Europe, using raw materials of the highest quality supplied by the largest companies in this sector in Europe. Today, the companyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s products are supplied to packaging manufacturers throughout Europe, as well as to Australia, South Korea and South Africa.

Unique selling points In packaging applications, these films are distinguished by their high clarity, resistance to mechanical damage, barrier to gases and vapour transmission, high seal strength, and stronger resistance to low temperatures ensured by the latest generation of elastomers used. | 76 | Packaging Europe

These composition modifications very effectively influence laminates used in advanced DOYPACK or STABILO packaging, as well as in lidding laminates, for example for coffee capsules.

A range of modified polyester films – including cast PET, cast PET G, cast PLA and cast PBT – is distinguished by its exceptional glassiness and high seal strength.

An example of a specialist cast PET application is its use in the lamination of blister cartons, forming a substrate for sealing with a pressed cast PET or rPET tray.

Product range Nitro-Chem’s products are unoriented films manufactured using the cast method, in which liquid material is extruded onto a chill-roll. They are significantly ahead of standard cast PP films, and the company can offer films for demanding applications, including anti-fog, peel, anti-fog with peel, ultrathin films of 12–18 microns, tinted films or film for freezing. A major success was the development of a technology for the manufacturing of cast PET film and biodegradable cast PLA film, which represents a breakthrough at the European level.

interpack showcase At this year’s edition of interpack in Düsseldorf in Germany, Nitro-Chem, against the background of its basic range, will present new versions of products, expanding possible applications of cast PP, cast PET and cast PLA films in the packaging sector.

The main films showcased will include cast PP FREEZE for food industry applications, highly transparent cast PP films for the packing of flowers, cast PLA – a biodegradable polylactide, cast PBT – a thermoplastic material resistant to ageing,

BOPET/BOPA/cast PP lidding laminates, BOPP /BOPETmet/ cast PP laminates used as material for DOYPACK packaging, starch-based paper touch films and flame resistant cast PP film to be used in laminates with polyurethane foams.

Its participation at interpack allows Nitro-Chem to present its products, fortify its market position and strengthen relations with customers from Poland and all over the world. It is an opportunity to seek new challenges and finding interesting answers.

Watching the market Nitro-Chem identifies the main potential in film applications in the areas of thin wall packaging, DOYPACK packaging and paper touch films. In these sectors, its Triniflex brand has won considerable recognition, while its environmentally friendly materials, based on PLA, compostable and biodegradable materials, have also seen growth. The cast PLA Triniflex films are very successful in this sector.

Looking to the future In 2017, NitroChem plans to present further modifications of the fire-resistant cast PP, cast PLA and paper touch cast PBT films, responding to increasing customer demand and filling a gap in the packaging market.

The company has a strong focus on development, and this year started a cooperation with scientific personnel at the Centre of Bioimmobilisation and Innovative Packaging Materials, at the West Pomeranian University of Technology in Szczecin.

This cooperation will allow the company to expand its activities in the field of research and development, and ensures a wider scope of application for its products n in new sectors of the packaging industry.

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Rasch Universal-Wrapping

Machine Type RU Rasch universal wrapping machine RU – this name is a promise. It offers numerous possibilities to wrap a wide variety of products in many different wrapping styles. This machine has been continuously developed and therefore fulfills all expectations for a modern packaging machine.

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matter whether moulded or extruded products, the RU universal wrapping machine is the ideal choice when it comes to the wrapping of figures, flat-bottom chocolate products or lollies, round or oval products, (small) bars, chocolate bottles, truffles, balls, eggs, bath tablets, paraffined cheese or many others. Throughout the years, this machine has also become a reliable partner for the handling of non-moulded products with quite high tolerances in size.

For example, the RU machine handles high quality Ramadan baked goods without any problems for some of Rasch’s Arabian customers.

Diverse possibilities On top of that, you can choose from a variety of wrapping styles: Front folding, figure foiling, figure z-fold, hot-sealing, double-twist wrap, bunch wrap, envelop wrap, top-twist or sachet style, single-twist or banderole are no problem for this type of machine. Even a cardboard, an adhesive string or a twisted string can be attached.

Moreover, the Rasch RU universal wrapping machine offers diverse possibilities for labeling, which is becoming increasingly important from a regulatory perspective.

This machine can handle products up to a maximum of 120 pieces per minute, depending on the products and/or wrapping style. Of course, it handles all common wrapping material.

This machine type can either be fed manually or, in order to reach maximum speed, be equipped with different, customised feeding systems. The range comprises simple feeding belts, directional feeders as well as complex pick and place systems. Products can either be fed from moulds or loose. In this field, Rasch will launch an entirely new universal feeding system for new and existing wrapping units.

The Rasch wrapping machine type RU can be equipped with additional format parts and devices any time and stands out thanks to its simple changeovers and ease of operation.

Customers talk, Rieke listens Rieke is a technological leader, providing a range of dispensers and closures in niche sectors within the industrial, health, beauty, home care and food & beverage segments.

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he company is well equipped to continue on its successful path in the coming years, as Vice-President for corporate development, David Jones, points out.

“By continually outperforming our peers and advancing technological and service differentiation, over the next five years Rieke will leverage its manufacturing footprint, expand geographically and further penetrate key MNCs and end markets.”

He describes the Rieke brand as becoming synonymous with innovation, agility, safety, responsiveness and competitiveness.

“Furthermore, our customer intimacy and accelerated speed to market for innovative rigid packaging technology will be key to our future development.”

Showcasing expertise at interpack Rieke will exhibit a range of popular products as well as new innovations at interpack 2017, which takes place from 4–10 May in Düsseldorf in Germany. The trade show is ideal for showcasing the company’s strengths, as Mr Jones explains. | 78 | Packaging Europe

“We are market focused and understand our customers’ current and future packaging needs. Our brand stands for our innovative technology and service leadership as demonstrated through our products, flexibility, cost effectiveness and operational excellence.”

The interpack trade fair is an important event for Rieke to show the world what the company has to offer.

“Our aim is to increase brand awareness and understanding of our value added proposition, thus generating new customers and communicating our points of difference in the marketplace,” Mr Jones says.

This ties in with the company’s longer-term goals: “We want to delight our customers and increase our market share through our agility and customer intimacy across our three vertical markets,” he concludes.

Visit: www.riekepackaging.com

Integrity, integrated Leading US-based, globally-active packaging and engineered coatings manufacturer Coveris is further increasing its extensive capabilities with a value proposition that is being presented across 2017’s European trade shows. Emma-Jane Batey spoke to communications director Chris Swalm to learn more.

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hile providing solutions that enhance the safety, quality and convenience of products we use every day,’ Coveris is first and foremost committed to driving results for its customers. With this focus, and common Key Performance Indicators for the packaging company and the many, varied customers it serves, Coveris offers an unparalleled portfolio of products for an ever-growing roster of global brands.

Communications director Chris Swalm spoke to Packaging Europe to explain how Coveris has long been ‘contributing to the lives of millions everyday’ through its portfolio of vital rigid and flexible packaging products and engineered coatings that protect customer products across sectors including food, industrial, medical supplies and electrical devices. Mr Swalm said, “Coveris has one of the largest product offerings in the industry and we excel at both having a local partnership approach to business as well as being a true global leader in the manufacture and distribution of packaging solutions and coated film technologies. We tell customers that their brand is our brand, and we stand by that commitment everywhere we operate around the world.”

Reinforcing capabilities Mr Swalm highlighted how Coveris’ global network and extensive experience in optimised global packaging solutions means it is a valued partner to many household names.

He said, “We work with many of the world’s leading brands and we are passionate about giving the best possible customer service every day and developing and maintaining intimate relationships with our customers. We like to utilise our capabilities on a global scale so that we reinforce our capabilities in servicing global accounts.”

This extensive global capability to perfectly serve large CPG environments is a key driver in Coveris’s new value proposition. Mr Swalm explained, “We are proud to have multiple touch points with large CPGs and we can deliver where it makes sense. Coveris is everywhere worldwide – we currently have 69 rigid and flexible packaging manufacturing locations. We have prioritised building a world-class team and culture, established processes that drive cost down, increase production efficiencies, and bring new innovation to market – all things our customers want from a partner, and implement in their own business. Doing this consistently across geographies, sectors and substrates gives us a great edge when working with multinational businesses who benefit from one dedicated solutions provider.”

This breadth has made Coveris is the partner of choice for the world’s leading brands in multiple key end-use markets, including: Pet Products, Proteins, Dairy & Spreads, Produce, Dry Goods, Food Service and Convenience Foods.

Anticipating needs Mr Swalm said, “We are constantly anticipating the shifting needs of both our customers and consumers when developing new products, and how we can make our packaging stand out. Coveris’s packaging solutions deliver brand impact, structural integrity, sustainability and food safety without compromising on convenience or freshness, which are major concerns for consumers and processors alike.”

These new packaging solutions are set to be part of Coveris’s participation at the upcoming interpack show, as Mr Swalm explained. “interpack is a great way for us to connect to existing customers and potential customers. We’ve got a great stand planned that will give us the opportunity to show our forward-thinking innovations to the markets we participate in. Of the many innovations we’ll highlight at this year’s event, visitors are invited to discover an inspiration gallery that features packaging solutions based on new and sustainable materials, lightweight and cost-efficient technologies, or stand-out products with high-quality and custom-made decoration options. Rigid packaging examples include the FFS Sheet NEOCELL PP+, products using lightweight injection compression moulding technology and thermoforming in-mould labelling, uniting barrier and decoration in one plastic package as well as our DuoSmart® range, which utilize a combination of an inner plastic cup and a paper outer wrap to provide a very unique packaging solution that is secure, functional and highly decorative.”

Another innovation mentioned by Mr. Swalm was Coveris’s Envio™ forming and non-forming films, “Our new Envio line can be supplied with several consumer-friendly peel seal options that allow for greater consumer convenience. The top web can be fully printed up to 10-colours flexo to maximize shelf presence. Food safety managers can be confident that these films have been developed with the highest safety standards in mind, with extreme toughness and hermetic seals ensuring lock-in freshness and protection of the product throughout the entire distribution chain.”

With Coveris’s full line of rigid and flexible packaging solutions available across all of its global locations, the upcoming European trade exhibitions will be a perfect opportunity to reach those customers that value a multi-location solution to packaging requirements. Mr Swalm concluded, “These next few years are all about us maximising the extensive investment and development programme we’ve completed over the past three years, to the tune of about USD 450 million. We’re driving top line growth, getting people and minds together that can really make a difference, and maintaining a focus on the customer. It is an exciting time to be at such an innovative company, and we look forward to sharing this excitement with interpack attendees in May.” Visit: www.coveris.com

Packaging Europe | 79 |

Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a wrap

Italy-based Colines has recently launched its AllwrapperÂŽ machines for wrapping stretch film around bottles, cans, jars, pot, dispenser, boxes, made of different material (plastic, metal, paper, carton, glass, etc.). Mr Francesco Peccetti, Marketing Manager, talks to Barbara Rossi about this new technology and the benefits it brings to customers.

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he Colines extrusion lines are designed, manufactured and tested in Italy, but are then sold all over the world. The range of products on offer includes extrusion lines for stretch, multi-layer cast film lines and customized lines for highly technical products: CPP,air bubble, barrier, breathable and embossed film, Bubble Guard® Board alveolar sheets, extrusion coating and tandem lines and gaskets for household and industrials refrigerators and freezers.

A recent development is our Allwrapper® technology, connected to stretch film machinery. The Allwrapper® system performs orbital evolutions around products to be bundled, resulting in an improved stability during transportation and handling. It comes in two models: Basic and Auto. This technology has broadened the boundaries of our range, as it allows us to offer packaging machinery in addition to our extrusion lines. The Allwrapper® machines complement the AllrollEX® models, which manufacture stretch film reels. The Allwrapper® technology offers very significant advantages, as it makes heat shrinking unnecessary, thus offering major savings in terms of energy (reduction of the energy requirement by more than 90 per cent) and raw materials (Packaging weight reduction by more than 50%compared with the traditional heat-shrink wrapping). For a bottled water producer, or another bottled drink producer, the overall savings can be outstanding. Allwrapper® machines are sophisticated but easy to use, and can process

up to 100,000 bottles per hour. Plus, as no heat is involved in the process, the machines are perfect to be used for packaging of food, medical, cosmetics, flammable and under pressure products.

“Allwrapper® also offers a lot of flexibility, as the customer can choose how many products they want in each bundle.

The difference between Basic and Auto is in terms of their capacity and the range of products for whose packaging they can be used. Auto offers larger capacity and is only suitable for bottle packaging, while Basic can cater for a wider range of products.”

Standing out from the crowd The company has four plants engaged in the production of extrusion lines. They are all based in Italy, respectively in Novara, Azzate (Varese), Bastia Umbra (Perugia) and Candia Lomellina (Pavia). In addition to these, there is ELAV (Novara) which takes care of electronics for all of the lines. “Being able to develop the software and electronic components for our lines in-house really gives us a competitive advantage. Clients are increasingly interested in software and electronics for line control and monitoring, as well as in their integration with their management systems.” Last, but not least, the group also includes B-Pack (Novara), which actually manufactures about 20,000 tonnes of flexible multilayer coextruded film a year, and Imballaggi Protettivi (Lodi), which produces

Packaging Europe | 81 |

10,000 tons a year of a rigid alveolar sheet in polypropylene named Bubble Guard® Board. Both companies produce their products by using the Colines machines.

R&D investments are carried out on a continuous basis, including at testing level in an actual production environment. In recent years, important investments have been made into the development of the group’s facilities, with the opening of new manufacturing plants. Furthermore, two service companies were established, respectively in the US and India. The rest of the investments were in technological upgrades.

Global supplier The main segments served by Colines are the industrial sector in general, followed by the personal care, medical, cosmetic and automotive segments. Beverage has been a welcome new addition, made possible by the Allwrapper® technology. Geographically, Colines supplies customers all over the world with growing demand for example “We do very well in India and South America. Exports are vital to us, as they represent the great majority of our turnover.

“We are happy with our market position and how we have optimised our processes.

We have paid a lot of attention to lowering structural costs and our financial position is very solid. Our target is continuing our growth: In fact, I would say we will grow by 15 per cent in the next few years to saturate our production capacity. We have to carry on looking forward, trying to anticipate future market needs. We are working on new technology and we will be able to present some very interesting developments in the

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next two years. Our winning cards are innovative technology and highly performing machines, which translate into high profitability for our customers. We are very technically focused and customers come to us because our machines are reliable and offer an excellent performance.”

Visit: www.colines.it

Strong grip Global filling and packaging company KHS will be proudly exhibiting its entire range of systems and solutions at a number of trade shows in 2017, including the upcoming interpack in Dusseldorf/Germany (4–10 May, 2017).

Emma-Jane Batey spoke to Norbert Pastoors, Executive Vice President of Packaging at KHS, to learn more.

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leading name in the global filling and packaging business, KHS develops and manufactures equipment for the beverage, food and non-food sectors.

Based in Dortmund, Germany, the company was established in 1993 and has its roots reaching back to 1868. With nearly 5000 employees and a turnover of €1.17 billion in 2015, KHS Group is wholly owned by Salzgitter AG and part of the Salzgitter Technology Division.

KHS operates five plants in Germany where the company develops and manufactures a full range of filling and packaging machines, providing solutions within three business areas – ‘lines and systems’, ‘single machines’ and ‘services’, and all created with a focus on the best performance possible. Packaging Europe spoke to Executive Vice President of Packaging Mr Pastoors to gain an insight into the company’s approach. Mr Pastoors said, “We’ve long been known as an innovative leader in our field, so by consistently creating and producing excellent filling and packaging machinery, we’re proud to ensure that our reputation continues. Our technological achievements and our service certainly help to set us apart from the competition and we believe it is our commitment to quality in everything we do that makes this happen.”

Multiple sites Alongside the company headquarters, KHS also houses its centre for bottle washing, pasteurizing, labeling, conveying technology and line systems in Dortmund. Each of its five sites has a specialism in terms of development and production capabilities, which gives the company a strong position. Mr Pastoors explained, “Our factory in Kleve manages our packaging technology and focuses on secondary packaging. Our Bad Kreuznach plant concentrates on process, filler plus rinsing and aseptic technology, including closing systems, and is responsible for filtration systems, beverage blending units, flash pasteurizers and keg technology. The plant in Worms is where our high performance palletizing and packing and unpacking systems are manufactured. We also have a plant in Hamburg where our PET activities are located, which also includes stretch blow molders, barrier technology and bottle design. Outside of Germany we have additional sites in the US, Mexico, Brazil, India and China.”

Mr Pastoors is clear that a key competence for KHS is its in-depth understanding of the secondary and tertiary packaging market. As a valued market leader and supplier of innovative, reliable and highly efficient products and services, including single machines and conversions, KHS’s vision is to be ‘the first choice in technology and service’. Mr

Pastoors continued, “We do not produce filling and packaging machines in a bubble! We are very close to our customers and we take great care to understand what our customers need to bring the right benefits to consumers.”

This close understanding of what its customers need is what Mr Pastoors is most keen to highlight. He explained, “Today secondary packaging has to fulfill more than just bringing goods from A to B; it has to meet end-user expectations for ergonomics and convenience, and we see ourselves as a system and solution provider for our customers.

We certainly have a deep knowledge of our customer requirements and market needs and by going beyond that, by making sure we know the whole story of how our products are used in the market, in the lives of consumers, we can be sure that we are making a perfect match. It’s all about the real life of our products – that’s how we provide the best possible solution.”

Always innovating As an innovative, technologically-advanced company, KHS is always looking to develop machinery that offers long-term solutions, even though it is consistently upgrading its product range. Mr Pastoors noted, “We work with all leading global beverage brands as well as with upcoming, smaller and medium-sized customers such as micro brewers, and have done for many years. Of course, we love to win new business and a big single job can be great, but our true mission comes from working with customers in the long-term, building up key accounts over many years. In order to keep our business how we like it, we engage with our customers and make sure we are creating innovative packaging and filling machinery that develops as they develop. We are a very fruitful and effective partner.”

Innovative developments from KHS include a number of variations on the theme of smart multipack packaging, such as an easy to handle, easy to open multipack that is totally consumer friendly and can be used without any secondary or tertiary packaging materials. It also offers a range of diverse multipack options with different configurations.

The next five years are expected to bring considerable growth for KHS. The company predicts further integration across its plants, allowing even greater cost optimisation and technological development. Mr Pastoors concluded: “We will continue to use our strong global footprint to ensure we are even closer to our customers. We are going to increase our production network too and bring the advantages of our close-knit sales and aftersales forces to our greatly-appreciated customers worldwide.”

Visit: www.khs.com Packaging Europe | 83 |

Inspection perfection Technology-driven inspection equipment specialist Teledyne TapTone has invested considerably in recent years in order to further push forward its sensor solutions.

Emma-Jane Batey spoke to Product Line Manager Michael Mierjeski to see how the company brings its answers to the packaging industry.

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nspection equipment experts, Teledyne TapTone, are a business unit of Teledyne Instruments, which itself is part of Teledyne Technologies, based in California.

As a leading provider of sophisticated instrumentation, digital imaging and software, Teledyne Technologies is primarily active in the US, Canada and Europe, with production facilities in North America, the UK and across Europe. Teledyne TapTone is dedicated to the manufacture of on-line inspections for leak, fill level and vision on metal, glass and flexible containers.

Teledyne TapTone develops, manufactures, sells and supports its product portfolio that includes leak sensors, fill level sensors, vision sensors, user interfaces and rejectors.

Mr Mierjeski explained, “Our capabilities are perfectly in tune with the modern needs of food and drink producers, yet I am constantly amazed when I ask people at trade shows what steps they take to protect their production. The usual answer is none! So it’s great to get talking to people and to share what our inspection solutions can offer in terms of protecting their brand; after all, mistakes are expensive!”

At this year’s interpack show taking place in Dusseldorf Germany, Teledyne TapTone will present a number of its standard solutions as well as more customised technology.

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“We’ll be showing our newest proximity product, the T550 Twin Proximity. It’s really exciting as an industry differentiator; it’s got twin sensors and is particularly suited to the vegetable canning industry. It’s great for the canning sector because it has been developed specifically to handle bi-metal cans, (aluminium pull tabs and steel ends) where a standard single proximity sensor can get confused with the two materials and short circuit or give false rejects.”

Teledyne TapTone will also be presenting a number of its compression sensor products. This will include its T550 Compression sensor, which is designed to integrate with standard flexible packaging products such as squeezy bottles and yoghurt cartons, and also the PRO Series Dual Sensor Compression, which is best suited to the everpopular stand up pouches.

Mr Mierjeski added, “We are also very excited to discuss an as-yet-unreleased product which will be available from Autumn 2017. Our SIT Seal Integrity Tester is a unique product in that it has patented technology that is specifically designed to provide in-line seal integrity inspection on filling lines for the plastic cup food sector.”

Visit: www.taptone.com

Blow/Fill/Seal, an ADVANCED LIQUID PROCESSING TECHNOLOGY As the world’s leading manufacturer of the most advanced aseptic liquid packaging technology, US-based Weiler Engineering, Inc. is steadily expanding its global reach. Emma-Jane Batey spoke to sales and marketing director Andy Goll to find out how Weiler’s range of Blow/Fill/Seal (B/F/S) liquid packaging machines are taking centre stage across Europe’s trade exhibitions.

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eiler Engineering, Inc. is dedicated to providing the most advanced aseptic liquid processing technology, utilising its customisable B/F/S machinery and integrated services to the best possible advantage. Under the tagline ‘safeguarding solutions through innovative packaging’, Weiler has been active since 1959.

Weiler Engineering, Inc. is the world’s leading manufacturer of B/F/S machinery for the filling of aseptic liquid packaging for pharmaceutical and healthcare applications, so its customers can be assured of the highest level of quality in the production of sterile liquid products. Sales and marketing director Andy Goll told Packaging Europe how the company’s product portfolio has delivered success over the past several decades.

He said, “Right from the start, we’ve been focused on bringing innovation in design, development, technology, validation and regulatory science to each project. Continuous innovation and incorporation of the latest technological advances in equipment design and systems is very much what has formed the foundation of our achievements since the early days. We’ve built on this business model ever since, which has proven to be a positive approach.”

Presenting in Europe The Weiler custom blow/fill/seal machinery portfolio is once again on show at interpack, an important date in the company’s trade show calendar. Mr Goll continued, “We’ve attended interpack for many years and feel it is a good way to be present in Europe. We are always pleased to meet customers and potential customers and highlight our capabilities.

It can be hard to know how best to utilise our marketing budget when there are various shows to attend, but interpack is always a success for us. We also have our own YouTube channel which is a great way to engage with our customers on a different level; we have a number of short videos that show our machines in a range of applications. It gives people different ideas about our capabilities and gives a brief tour of our facility, showcasing our different packaging equipment – and you can watch them from anywhere in the world!”

Weiler Engineering’s aim for this year’s interpack is to highlight the advantages of changing from glass to plastic packaging for pharmaceutical applications, with experts on hand to explain the myriad advantages. Mr Goll explained, “We’re excited to interact with potential customers at interpack because we know our blow/fill/seal machines are perfectly suited to pharmaceutical applications. We’re showing our flexible container design which can offer multiple product lines on just one machine. We’re particularly looking forward to speaking with customers that are currently using glass. As we know that changing to plastic brings a myriad of benefits: For example, while we know that glass ampoules are accepted in the injectables market, and have been long before B/F/S

technology. It is our goal to show the benefits of choosing plastic over glass primarily for new product applications. There is a significant cost benfit to using plastic over glass, not to mention the benefits of safety and stability when comparing the two applications. The market has adapted well to filling ophthalmic and respiratory therapy and various other liquid products in plastic utilizing B/F/S technology, we are just aiming for a broader market reach.”

Plastic advantages The advantages of using plastic for these pharmaceutical applications include there being no films or lamination processes required in the plastic resin, great stability and very little inventory of components when comparing to a glass vial. Mr Goll added, “Vials can be aseptically filled in seconds and the plastic does not have to be washed and sterilised like glass, this is accomplished thru the extrusion process. We offer customisable sizes from 0.5ml up to 1000ml, so there’s always the right product available. Pharmaceutical applications are very much our primary growth focus at the moment and shows like interpack are great for reaching our target market – we find that people visit from Asia and the Middle East too, so that’s a great way to meet people from all round the world. We’re expecting to meet with pharmaceutical companies that are interested to learn more about aseptic liquid packaging, utilizing B/F/S technology.”

Mr Goll highlighted that Weiler Engineering, Inc. is selling at a very high level, engineer to engineer. He noted, “We’re not your typical sales people – we’re all very technical with engineering back grounds, we’re selling to very intelligent people in the pharmaceutical industry who know exactly what they need, but maybe not how to accomplish it.

OurTechnical Sales and Engineering teams are always on hand to answer any possible question both from a technical and practical perspective. We’re looking to engage upper level management, engineers, validation experts, quality control experts, technical support staff. We’re here to make sure the process works, so partnering with Weiler makes perfect sense. We’re small enough to keep the process personal, professional and large enough to deliver a first rate, top quality, state of the art B/F/S, ASEP-Tech® liquid filling machine.”

Mr Goll is eager to emphasise the exciting possibilities in the packaging market for Weiler Engineering, Inc., particularly in terms of pharmaceutical applications in plastic.

The company is also ready to discuss its latest sterilising equipment at this year’s shows.

Indeed, following its collaboration with Noxilizer, a US company that specialises in using nitrogen dioxide as a gas sterilant, Weiler is pleased to add an even greater advantage to its proven blow/fill/seal portfolio.

Visit: www.weilerengineering.com Packaging Europe | 85 |

SOMIC – The newest High-End Machine on Display at interpack 2017 Again, SOMIC is setting standards in the business of secondary and ­end-of-line-packaging machines. The new “424 W3 ddx” will be the highlight on the show on display at the brand new SOMIC booth in Hall 8b, stand C57. This machine will be the fastest, smallest, most fl ­ exible machine not only for capsules, but also for many other products.

More than 40 years of innovative packaging solutions SOMIC is a family-owned machine manufacturer for secondary and e ­ nd-of-line packaging solutions all around the world for more than 40 years. Having started the business building special purpose packaging machines, SOMIC later focused on secondary and end-of-line packaging machines. ­Today SOMIC is a strong and reliable partner in the world of corrugated ­material and cardboard packaging.

Faster, smaller and more flexible Just to illustrate before mentioned facts: The new 424 W3 ddx performs at a speed of 1,200 coffee capsules collected and packed in 120 wrap-around cases in just one minute. In other words: 20 capsules are handled every second. Also, the machine is equipped with additional electronic features for easy operation, such as a wireless second HMI-Pad or the SOMIC Wiki displaying and explaining all machine parts and functions supporting the operator at any time.

In addition to case erectors, wrap-around and multi-component packaging machines, SOMIC offers handling and transport systems with a proven track in all relevant industries.

The SOMIC approach: Customer success!

The crucial success factors of SOMIC machines are speed, minimized space, modular machine design and flexible and fast format changes.

The SOMIC modular platform provides exceptional performance fulfilling all these factors with one system. At the same time, SOMIC packaging machines can be adapted to a wide range of functional requirements.

The standard components, which range from the smallest mechatronic devices to complete functional groups, ensure ultimate machine flexibility.

The mechatronic functional units can be tested and validated as an auto­nomous system, since they are connected to a decentralized motion structure. The outcome of using such engineered machines is a safe and efficient production with a maximized up-time.

The new 424 W3 ddx (Application: coffee capsules) More facts: • Automatic control of presence and orientation of carton blanks in magazine • Extended grouping options • Software adjustable collation unit for fully automated format changes

Entering a new performance level This new high-performance machine derives from the SOMIC modular machine system ensuring a safe investment in durable performance and reliability.

In addition, it also comprises the proven SOMIC format-flexibility with quick, tool-free format changes. The speed of this machine comes up to that of continuous motion machines with all advantages of an intermittent motion machine. The new 424 W3 ddx is especially designed for secondary packaging at small footprint and high speed that guarantees a steady and efficient high volume production. | 86 | Packaging Europe

Inside a SOMIC machine

The new commissioning, testing and engineering facility.

SOMIC machines: Engineered to Perform No matter what demand in secondary and end-of-line-packaging, S ­ OMIC has the proper solution: Tray packers, wrap around packers for single component packaging and multi-component packaging requirements with tray/cover or cover/tray packers up to modular packaging lines represent ­today’s SOMIC product portfolio.

maximize the performance of the entire system. As an example, this system structure is particularly suitable for two packages being produced in a single cycle.

From Bavaria to the World: SOMIC’s Success Story The specialization in secondary and end-of-line packaging machines was the key-successor for expansion into new markets. With double digit growth rates over the last years, leading to the most prosperous year 2016, with an extended technical infrastructure and production space SOMIC is well prepared to continue its expansion. This development is the foundation for the next level of internatio­nalization towards a global footprint.

Planning the next Steps The US retail market is changing more and more to shelf-ready packaging.

Therefore, US customers require more sophisticated machines which opens a broad market for the family of flexible format change machines from SOMIC. With the sales and service office based in Bensenville near Chicago, Illinois, SOMIC is already well-prepared for serving the American market.

We would like to invite you to meet us at interpack 2017 from May 4th through May 10th in Düsseldorf.

SOMIC 424 TD Tray/Cover Packer The SOMIC system allows maximum flexibility for a diverse range of product and package desings. Individual, independent packaging steps

For further information please contact: SOMIC-Group | Am Kroit 7 | 83123 Amerang www.somic.de or marketing@somic.de Packaging Europe | 87 |

It’s all about the label Rigid paper containers (also known as composite cans) are sturdy and practical, which explains their popularity among consumers. But marketing experts are big fans too, thanks to the impressive design flexibility they offer: given its wraparound label, the all-rounder’s design can be quickly and easily adapted. This allows optimal brand management, all the way to the consumer’s kitchen table.

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igid paper containers are one of the modern classics in the world of convenience packaging. For more than five decades, Sonoco’s round and non-round containers have been at home not just on supermarket shelves, but also in consumers’ pantries. “You’ll find our packaging in practically every home,” says Rolf Regelmann, Director Sales and Marketing at Sonoco Europe in Hockenheim. “Our studies show that 95 per cent of consumers would buy a product in a rigid paper container again. That’s an unusually high approval rate, and proof of how popular our cans continue to be.”

Granted, the basic concept may have hardly changed over the past 50 years – rigid paper containers are made of 90 per cent processed recycling paper; the bottom and lid are made of plastic, cardboard or metal. But the can’s true talent lies in how easily it can change its outfit: like no other packaging solution, it has adapted to fit the changing times and set new trends of its own, helping it win over consumers for generations. Today it’s one of the few packaging solutions favoured by the most disparate consumer groups: from hipsters to senior citizens, and from snack fans to the health-conscious friends of superfoods.

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Convenience meets decoration One of the main keys to the Sonoco rigid paper container’s success is its outstanding convenience. Sturdy and resealable, it is equally suited for on-the-go applications and long-term storage. “We’ve invested heavily in research and development for this aspect over the past few years. As a result, today we can offer a broad range of closures that allow the rigid paper container to be ideally tailored to the product – from a simple snap-on lid, to sophisticated spice-mill lids,” Regelmann explains. “Our packaging solutions offer consumers real added value, together with a trendy exterior.”

In fact, the exterior of the rigid paper container is often nearly as important as its contents. Food and drink manufacturers in particular consider the design options it offers to be a decisive advantage: thanks to the wraparound label, which is firmly glued to the container’s body during the production process, the entire exterior surface is used and designed. As such, though it retains its clean and simple shape, designers can decorate the label with practically anything they can imagine.

Further, the container’s height can easily be adjusted to match different volumes of

content – e.g. for free samples. “That’s a major advantage over solid moulded-plastic packages, where you need a new and expensive mould for every change you make,” says Regelmann.

The can as a core element of brand identity Given its combination of convenience and wraparound design options, the rigid paper container has become an integral element of many products’ brand identity.

A prime example: stacking chips, which many consumers are quite fond of. Snack manufacturers often use a range of different designs, which they vary for specific markets or different seasons. Though the content is always the same – crispy and tasty – there are practically no limits to the range of designs.

When it comes to the label, customers can design it to their heart’s content, starting from the choice of paper – simple, high-gloss paper and gravure printing, or perhaps environmentally friendly natural paper instead – and ranging to complex embellishments and embossments. Sonoco can deliver whatever you prefer, and whatever best accentuates the rigid paper container’s contents at the point of sale.

The latest example is a rigid paper container that Sonoco experts in Hockenheim developed for Munich-based cocoa manufacturer Beckscocoa’s Especial Series of single-origin drinking chocolates. “Though it’s essentially a basic rigid paper container, its lavish design clearly sets it apart from other cocoa products,” says Regelmann. The select cocoa’s label is decorated with a golden hot-foil embossing; the rigid paper container is adorned with a glossy surface and shiny gold cocoabean motifs. “In this way, it perfectly conveys the brand promise: the luxurious decoration reflects the exclusive quality of the contents,” explains Regelmann.

“Furthermore, it is the ideal container for the cocoa – both in terms of preserving

the product’s quality, and visually. There’s no need for the consumer to transfer the contents to another container, so they can simply put the rigid paper container right in the cupboard. Consequently, the brand stays with the consumers right down to the last cup.”

Wraparound decoration – from top to bottom In the future, Sonoco’s customers will have the option of designing both the label and the container itself. Embossing the plastic snap-on lid is already a popular means of extending brand management to the top of the container. Sonoco recently began offering plastic lids decorated using in-mould labelling (IML). According to Regelmann, “Here we can capitalise on our expertise in the manufacture of highly decorative IML plastic cups. With the help of this technology, we can even place photo-realistic images on the rigid paper container’s lid.”

And that’s not all: Soon it will also be possible to design the bottom of the rigid paper container – at least for those models with a cardboard bottom. “We’re now working on making this area, which has largely been overlooked to date, printable too,” says Regelmann. “Then we’ll have reached our goal: rigid paper containers that can be decorated anywhere, from top to bottom.”

Sonoco at interpack 2017 Fully-decorated rigid paper containers and other innovations will be presented by Sonoco at interpack in Düsseldorf (hall 9 / booth C34.D31). At the completely newly designed booth, Sonoco Alcore and Sonoco Plastics will be represented as co-exhibitors. Sonoco Alcore, a specialist in high-quality tube and core solutions, will showcase its broad portfolio including solutions for synthetic fibre yarns, foils, labels and metals.

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The latest in tube filling and cartoning technology Citus Kalix, a member of the Coesia group and known for decades for its expertise in cosmetic filling and cartoning technologies, will exhibit at interpack in Dusseldorf, from 4–10 May (Hall 6 / E31-D31-E57-D57).

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nterpack is the most important show for packaging in Europe and it is always with great enthusiasm that we participate,” says Sébastien Boileau, Marketing Director of Citus Kalix.

Alongside other solutions from Coesia companies, Citus Kalix will showcase two machines: the gold standard KX903, which is a tube filler running at 90 tubes per minute; and the brand new KV800, which is a vertical cartoning machine capable of packing at 80 cartons per minute.

Both machines are very important parts of Citus Kalix’s portfolio, especially for major cosmetics brands looking for perfect care of their products, speed and a large range of options.

Gold standard tube filler KX903 “KX903 was launched some years ago mainly to meet the needs of global brands, but we realize that it has become the best choice for regional players and many contract packers too.”

Compared to KX803, which is usually selected for price reasons, KX903 has been designed to deliver more efficiency. Faster and with a robust base, KX903 offers the user increased comfort in production and changeover thanks to functions included in the base

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machine – such as the advanced PLC equipped with a 10’’ touch screen that can record all format recipes.

KV800 the vertical cartoner for ultimate cosmetic care “KV800 is an entirely new machine and will complete our cartoning portfolio,” says Mr Boileau. “All features appreciated by our customers on our horizontal machines have been transferred to vertical.” This includes simplicity of operation, fast and easy format changes, and perfect care for the carton.

This machine, which can also be equipped with a liner module, is the best choice for packing jars or fragrances bottles – especially for special shapes that are difficult to handle with horizontal machines.

“Citus Kalix’s ambition is to become the preferred machine supplier for cosmetic applications. Tube, mascara, jar, lipstick filling or delicate horizontal and vertical cartoning are our core technologies and we will continue to bring all our efforts to bring the best of it. Hope to see you at interpack!”

Visit: www.citus-kalix.fr

Canned success Sarten is the largest packaging entity in Turkey and specialises in the manufacture of cans and plastic packaging consumables for the food and cosmetics industries, as well as a broad range of products for industrial applications. Philip Yorke reports on a company that continues to exceed expectations and will be demonstrating how it achieves its ambitious goals at interpack.

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arten was founded in Corlu, western Turkey in 1972 and remains one of the biggest integrated packaging companies in Europe. In addition to supplying innovative packaging to the food and cosmetic industries, the company also manufactures metal and plastic packaging for lubrication oils and chemical products, as well as for aerosol cans and twist closures.

Today Sarten supplies packaging products to more than a thousand companies across nearly 80 countries worldwide. Zeki Saribekir, the company’s CEO, told Packaging Europe, “Currently we have a total of 16 plants in Turkey in addition to two other facilities in Bulgaria and Russia. During the last few years we have also opened permanent sales offices in Greece, Romania and Serbia. Furthermore, last year we established an office in Sophia in order to be able to coordinate our growing business in the Balkans. In another exciting development and in parallel to our expansion strategy, we also plan to open a new, purpose-built plant in the Netherlands.

“With our slogan ‘Sarten – the supermarket of packaging’ we are now the third largest packaging company in Europe. In 2015 we produced more than 160,000 tonnes of metal products and over 16,000 tonnes of plastic packaging. Around a quarter of our 350 million dollar turnover represents our products for export. In 2015, Mitsui became a 15 per cent partner of Sarten and this will enable us to export our products to even more companies through our access to Mitsui’s global sales network.”

At interpack this year, we will not only be able to demonstrate our award-winning new products, but also welcome new customers, with whom we hope to be contributing our advanced technologies to increase their efficiency and profitability.”

On-going investment programme In addition to an on-going investment programme in new facilities, the company is also continuing to invest in new technology. Recently two high-tech printing machines were installed, one of which is capable of printing in seven colours and the other in eight colours. These are the most advanced KBA machines on the market and have the largest capacities in Europe. In addition, Sarten has invested in a number of brand new production lines for its twist closures and easy-open ends products.

The company is aware that its customers could elect to take their packaging requirements to China. However, Turkey offers the same low-cost incentives with the added advantage of being in the same time zone and also able to guarantee faster and ‘just-in-time’ deliveries. This, along with many other benefits, means that Sarten will n always have the competitive edge over the world’s emerging economies.

For further details of Sarten’s latest innovative products and services visit: www.sarten.com.tr

Innovation driving sales Sarten’s extensive R&D facilities are located at its modern Technology Centre headquartered in Silivri, Turkey. This facility supports the company’s life-long commitment to innovation, quality and efficiency.

Saribekir added, “At Sarten we attach great importance to our customer-oriented approach in all of our business processes.

We are always working in close cooperation with our clients when designing new products, in order to be able to offer them the best possible solutions to their needs.

“Thanks to our advanced technology, high quality products and unrivalled high-speed service, as well as our ability to satisfy post-sales support and affordable prices, we are able to maintain our enviable position as one of Europe’s foremost packaging providers.

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Greener Closures UNITED CAPS is an international pioneer in the packaging industry. What truly sets the company apart is its ability to deliver products supporting Differentiated Total Packaging Solutions – with the help of superior innovation, differentiated design and the pioneering use of technology.

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eadquartered in Luxembourg with manufacturing facilities in Belgium, France, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Luxembourg and Spain, UNITED CAPS develops closures for virtually any application across a wide range of sectors, from food and beverage to chemicals, automotive and pharmaceuticals.

UNITED CAPS’ success is supported by three pillars: RELATE, through a focus on insight-driven innovation for on-the-shelf impact; PERFORM, by optimising throughout the product journey; and SUSTAIN, by helping to meet today’s packaging needs without compromising the future. As a dedicated partner, UNITED CAPS enables a wide variety of international companies to evolve and extend their own packaging solutions and to maintain their market leading positions through the design and supply of outstanding customised and non-bespoke closures.

“Customer relationship management is a central focus point,” says the company’s CEO Benoît Henckes. “A very healthy proportion of our business comes from products that we co-create with our customers. They come to us to help them develop solutions that help them stand out on the shelf, and we consider that a very significant endorsement of our capabilities. Furthermore, we believe that the solutions we develop today shouldn’t harm the future, so within the product range you’ll find a powerful range of high-performing solutions that help to reduce carbon footprints and sustain the planet,” he explains.

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He tells us that participating at interpack will further enhance customer relationships and serve as an opportunity to introduce the latest in product development.

“We are excited to showcase our In-Mould Labelling capabilities. We will also be featuring our kinder cap – GREENCAP – that is kinder to both the planet and the budget. In our booth you will be able to see how, through a focus on continuous improvement, we are able to make even traditional technologies more sustainable,” Mr Henckes says.

For UNITED CAPS, the future will see its continued transformation into a global reference player in the packaging industry. The company has taken steps to sharpen its global focus and to create the right internal environment to foster controlled growth, through investment in the company’s structures and talent development.

“You’ll see us expand our presence globally, anticipating opportunities in new markets,” says Mr Henckes. “We believe there are ample opportunities in global markets and we are positioning ourselves to capitalise on them. Innovation and differentiation continue to be key drivers of our performance. We will strive to sustain our growth and keep developing a portfolio that performs even better but fully in harmony with the environment,” he stresses.

Visit: www.unitedcaps.com

Unique Printing Technologies

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SP GROUP we are aware of the important role packaging plays in the purchasing decisions of end consumers. Therefore, as well as offering our clients rotogravure and flexography printing systems, we also use new and revolutionary offset and digital printing techniques. The group currently has two COMEXI OFFSET CI8 printers and an HP Indigo 20000 Digital printer.

Offset printing provides high-quality, high-definition printing in relation to the chosen medium (paper or plastic film). As well as its greater speed in the production phase, the offset technique is characterised by the absence of the initial costs of plates or cylinders, and for being comparable in quality to rotogravure

printing. Offset is ideal for products that have a high rotation of designs because it is the most suitable technique for medium-length runs.

The advantage of digital printing is that it allows you to use packaging as a marketing and communication tool, achieving greater personalisation and versatility of your packaging to reach consumers with more targeted messages in one-off campaigns, and on special occasions, such as specific holidays and so on. It is most suited to small runs, which are very useful for pre-launch testing, or market testing, and for special offers or small-volume products, among others.

Both technologies are fully adapted to the needs of the food sector.

Visit: www.spg-pack.com

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9th International Packaging Innovations Trade Fair in Warsaw, Poland Spring is approaching along with the 9th edition of the International Packaging Innovations Trade Show, which will take place on 4â&#x20AC;&#x201C;5 April, 2017 in EXPO XXI Warsaw, Poland. The event is a combination of packaging exhibition, expert meetings, numerous lectures, conferences and showcase of the latest innovative solutions. The show is aimed at manufacturers and distributors of all kinds of packaging, labels, displays and related packaging services.

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ackaging Innovations International Trade Show is the industry’s most important event in central Europe, with every new edition attracting more and more visitors and exhibitors. This year the organisers are expecting as many as 5000 visitors who will be able to view the product offerings of 200 exhibitors.

Meeting expectations “Packaging Innovations” International Trade Show is the best event in Poland when it comes to packaging and we could not miss it. The offer variety, i.e. the product diversification, makes it releveant for every industry. Consumer awareness is growing, so expectations are rising and you have to meet them. The best place to find the inspiration to change is right here at the Packaging Innovations Trade Show,” says Robert Baczmaga from Delphi Blonie, who visited the show last year.

Packaging Innovations International Trade Show is a place where everyone can find packaging tailored to the needs of their brand and products. Attendees also have the opportunity to establish interesting business contacts.

Knowledge is the key to success Packaging Innovations International Trade Show is not only a business platform and a place to present the services and products to the industry: it is also the event that bring together experts from the packaging sector, with numerous conferences taking place throughout the two-day event. As part of the show there will be three conferences: ‘How to pack brands’, ‘Digital Printing Forum’ and ‘Label Innovations’.

Dedicated workShops will also form an important part of the programme, while the accompanying free lectures are a good place for practitioners to share their experiences

and vast know-how with visitors to the show. In two workShops zones located in both exhibition halls, representatives of well-known companies will talk about the newest products that appear in their offering.

Action innovation As its name suggests Packaging Innovations is the place to find out about the latest innovations from the industry. For example, at its stand Polpak Packaging will showcase its silicone travel packages, which also serve as a massager. It is also certainly worth visiting the Karl Knauer KG stand as this company is the winner of one of the world’s most important packaging competitions, the If Design Award. It is always good to draw inspiration from the best.

Power of design Every year, the Student Zone at Packaging Innovations Trade Show – now in its sixth edition – attracts a great deal of interest. The initiative is targeted at young and talented packaging designers who are not yet working in the industry. Student Zone is a competition in which participants are asked to create a project, and then make a prototype package.

The core of the concept should be an innovative and surprising idea that can be put into production. Entries are marked by the professional jury and winners will receive prizes as well as important introductions to industry experts.

Registration for Visitors for the Packaging Innovations Trade Show is now open, so everyone interested in packaging can sign up for the show. Visitors registering online at www.packaginginnovations.pl will receive free tickets. Information about participation as Exhibitor you can get on holody@targi.krakow.pl.

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Laser leader

Coherent-Rofin is a global market leader in laser sources and systems for material processing, also active in the niche packaging market. Emma-Jane Batey spoke to sales manager Andrea Kraft and Dr Hansjörg Rohde to see how the company’s focus on innovation is bringing added convenience to customers.

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he merger of Coherent and Rofin has created the most powerful laser company in the world, leading in both sources and systems, with over 5000 employees. As such, it offers the very best of both well-respected companies.

One of Coherent-Rofin’s business segments is the packaging industry, with dedicated specialists for local markets across Europe and the world, backed up by a proven service network.

As a pioneer in the use of lasers for enhancing packaging material, its 20-plus years of expertise means that Coherent-Rofin is consistently able to choose the right solution for its customers and their specific application needs.

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Totally user friendly One of the newly developed machines is the StarPack CW Hybrid system, an economic alternative to the well-respected Coherent-Rofin machine StarPack AP. Sales manager Andrea Kraft told Packaging Europe, “It covers the needs of many customers for medium size production volumes with both cross web and web direction demands. The system works with one or two lasers and up to six 2-axes scanners, which allow any form in cross web direction as well as in web direction.

The perforation of round micro-holes is also possible. Different optics can be used to fulfil different requests and demands and the motorised axis in combination

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with the user software StarFlex makes the changing of the optics very simple and user-friendly.”

Ms Kraft added, “We are not only the market leader in laser sources, Coherent-Rofin is actually increasing our its activity in the packaging sector and are passionate about the fact that packaging is a great place to show innovation.”

As Coherent-Rofin specialized in packaging material, they also developed laser sources of different wavelengths. Dr. Rohde explained, “Thus we are able to choose the right solution for our customers and their special application needs, for example by offering the most suitable wavelength depending on the type of material, obtaining much better results and shorter process times.”

Exciting growth in packaging With competition in the packaging market getting more competitive, good printing and artworks have become more important for the suppliers of packaging materials. Dr. Rohde noted, “Packaging represents a very interesting growth opportunity for us and we are investing heavily in order to maximise this opportunity. Packaging is not only needed to protect the product, but also to position a brand; it’s actually a place to show innovation! Easy opening features enable Coherent-Rofin’s customers to stand out from the crowd, particularly as easy opening is not only suitable for children and helpful for the silver market, but is also convenient for everyone.”

The software on offer from Coherent-Rofin is a key part of the company’s value added approach. Its software brands include StarMAP and StarFLEX, which have been fine| 98 | Packaging Europe

tuned to work together for the customers’ best advantage. All software development is completed in-house.

Coherent-Rofin is the only laser company that has developed its own software specifically for Equilibrum Modified Atmosphere Packaging – StarMAP – this easy to use software delivers intelligent perforation that reduces waste and saves time. Working with this simple and user-friendly tool, customers can easily adapt their microperforation pattern to varying circumstances.

“We are also able to add camera systems for real-time monitoring of micro-hole perforation- even on transparent material. Thus there’s no production waste due to incorrect set up and 100% quality control.” Dr. Rohde said.

Another investment in its systems for the packaging market and its latest development is the StarFlex software. This provides comprehensive information with an easy to use GUI; everything is clearly arranged on the display. It is very convenient for the customer, as all StarPack systems come with the same user interface, no matter which type of system, whether web direction or cross web, perforation or scribing. The software operates systems with up to nine laser sources, and makes changes of layout extremely fast and easy.

Ms Kraft concluded, “Whether customers need a system for simple scribing/scoring in web direction, for a system to create more complicated forms in cross web direction, a system that combines everything or even a system for a more special application such as Equilibrum Modified Atmosphere, Coherent-Rofin is the experienced supplier of laser n systems specialising in the packaging market.”

Visit: www.rofin.co.uk

Quality and quantity TSC Auto ID is a world-class auto ID solutions provider thanks to its portfolio of technically-advanced printers that perfectly match the rapidly growing global auto ID market. Emma-Jane Batey spoke to sales director Henning Mahlstedt to find out more.

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ounded in 1991 as a developer and manufacturer of thermal barcode printers to the OEM market, TSC Auto ID is part of the Taiwanese operation Taiwan Semiconductor Company (TSC), which specialises in the production of semiconductor rectifiers and is a world leader in its field. In response to the fast growing auto ID market, TSC launched a new line of thermal barcode printers in 1996 and, since then, its printers have been sold both under the respected TSC brand and under private label for many of the world’s leading barcode printer companies.

TSC opened its own dedicated high volume manufacturing centre in 2006, with an impressive capacity of over 200,000 printers each year. By 2007, the decision was made for TSC Auto ID Technology Co. Ltd to become a 100 per cent independent company, and is now one of the major manufacturers of barcode printers in the world.

Top 5 manufacturer Henning Mahlstedt is the sales director for TSC Auto ID Technology EMEA GmbH and he spoke to Packaging Europe ahead of the upcoming interpack show to explain how the company is making the most of this platform. “Since TSC launched our own branded printer in 1996 after years as an OEM business, we have been continuously adding new models for different labelling tasks in transport and logistics, retail, healthcare and manufacturing verticals. Today, TSC is a top 5 manufacturer of thermal printers with a strong track record of developments and innovative solutions. We are 100 percent channel driven and we only sell through our proven network of skilled partners and system integrators.”

Mr Mahlstedt continued, “The trend in our industry is that most brands outsource development and manufacturing, which often has the effect of losing quality level and reliability. Our true USP is that we produce our own products that we developed ourselves and manufacture in our own factories. Everything we do is carefully controlled in-house to be of the highest quality. We are very flexible and we listen to our customers’ specific requests in order to create non-standard solutions, alongside the standard ones.

So not only can we guarantee excellent quality, we can also eliminate one level of cost as everything is done in-house. We are able to provide high class products at a lower cost, so it’s a very appealing offer.”

TSC Auto ID is the only manufacturer with such a broad portfolio of printers, with a range including portable printers, desktop printers and industrial printers, available for high volume applications as well as industry-specific applications such as those required by healthcare and logistics. Mr Mahlstedt added, “TSC printers are very easy to integrate as all common interfaces are standard as well as all drivers for common operating systems. They are certified by all the main software vendors and we can cover all major applications for on-demand label printing as TSC is specialised in the development and manufacture of thermal label and barcode printers.”

Ready for interpack At the upcoming interpack 2017, TSC Auto ID will be presenting its latest products and solutions. With the overall aim to highlight its extensive capabilities in thermal barcode printing, interpack 2017 will see new technical developments and innovative features from TSC. Mr Mahlstedt said, “We will be demonstrating our brand new MH Series, TE Series and the Alpha-2R Series at interpack this year. We expect to enjoy increased brand awareness, gain valuable sales leads and highlight how the TSC Auto ID brand stands for high quality and dedication. With the increasing demand for more intelligent solutions integrated into printers across the packaging industry, we know that interpack represents a great opportunity for sharing our smart solutions.”

The smart solutions from TSC Auto ID are simple to integrate and intuitive to use, with the majority of its models featuring full colour LCD and clear, step-by-step instructions to ensure the printer is up and running in no time. Mr Mahlstedt concluded, “We have so many smart features across the TSC Auto ID range. Technically, we have the Thermal Smart Control feature that is a real state-of-the-art electronic platform that allows the temperature on the printhead to be controlled very precisely and provide an unrivalled print quality. I am most looking forward to presenting our innovative solutions at interpack and we welcome anyone who is interested in TSC to our stand A01 in hall 12.”

Visit: www.tscprinters.com

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Packaging of the future Packaging Europe spoke with Carlos Silva Lopes, Marketing Director, Packaging and Speciality Plastics at Dow Europe, about modern packaging, what the packaging of the future will look like and Dow’s strategy of collaboration to drive innovation.

What does modern packaging look like?

Today’s packaging should be lightweight, convenient and enhance the consumer’s experience. We know that a consumer takes less than a second to choose a product, so brand owners and retailers are increasingly aware of how a consumer interacts with the packaging. Today’s packaging also needs to optimise the resources required to create it – we need to be as efficient as possible with not just packaging materials but the resources like energy and water that are used to create it. Finally and most importantly, packaging needs to protect the product inside, and in terms of food packaging it must help to preserve food.

From a Dow perspective what are the so-called Megatrends in packaging?

The trends that we see driving our business are several: urbanisation means more people are living in cities all over the world, and this means produce has to travel longer distances and remain intact and fresher for longer. Packaging plays several roles here, so industrial and transportation packaging enables us to move our goods safely, and the food packaging itself is essential to keeping food fresh and preventing waste.

With urbanisation we also see smaller households, and therefore portion packaging becomes very important. With people living longer we must consider that elderly people need to be able to open the packaging without any problems, so ease of use is important too. Overall consumers are becoming much more particular in the way they look at packaging – they want to be able to see the product inside and therefore good optics is essential. All members of the value chain understand there is a demand for packaging differentiation on the supermarket shelf, so good haptics – or the feel of the package – is also important these days.

What is Dow’s strategy to meet these?

The key word here is ‘collaboration’. By working with the value chain through our Pack Studios concept, we can interpret market trends early on, and translate these into business opportunities by designing our resins with the precision required to meet new requirements. We collaborate with all the key stakeholders in the value chain.

What would you name as game-changing innovation in packaging within the last 10 years?

Good question! I would say that the relationship between the product and the packaging has become more and more important, with the material used for the package becoming thinner, lighter and more functional. We have advanced from | 100 | Packaging Europe

rigid packaging to flexible packaging to the stand-up pouch – in fact some emerging economies have skipped the rigid packaging altogether and gone straight from the newspaper wrapped product to a stand-up pouch.

What will the packaging of the future look like?

Active and intelligent packaging is going to be interesting. The difference between the two is that while active packaging will act directly with the product by interacting chemically or biologically, the aim of intelligent packaging will be to detect and communicate information about the condition of a product without taking direct action. Both these types of packaging will be able to monitor freshness, improve safety and convenience, thereby extending shelf life and freshness.

Which characteristics/functions does the ‘packaging of the future’ need to offer?

Everyone is concerned with what happens to end-of-life packaging so recyclability will be increasingly important, as well as the ability to be efficient with resources required and used. Functionality aspects such as barrier and hermeticity will continue to be very important to protect the product inside. And of course enhanced appeal for the consumer.

Many of these benefits are possible – and Dow is at the forefront of making sure we are involved from the very beginning to help create solutions for improved recyclability, increased functionality and consumer experience.

Will Dow be showcasing some of these solutions at interpack 2017?

Yes, we are excited to be at interpack again this year, where we will present our latest game-changing solutions for better food packaging and improved load stability. I invite everyone to visit the Dow Boutique at stand FG H09 to see and touch numerous application and packaging prototypes, explore new innovations through interactive n spaces and meet with our experts to discuss their packaging needs.

Smaller, faster,

more practical

As a single-source provider for filling, palletising and packaging technologies, BEUMER Group supports its customers in all respects supplying sustainable solutions from a single source. The BEUMER stretch hood A sees the intralogistics specialist from Beckum, Germany redesign its tried-and-trusted packaging system from scratch.

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or companies in the construction material, chemical or food and beverage industries, the topic of safety when transporting and storing palletised products has been becoming more important. This is what prompted BEUMER to develop a new machine in its proven BEUMER stretch hood model range that offers even more practical and safer handling for the user, compared with other machines in this model range. To facilitate work for maintenance staff, and thus ensure higher machine availability, the new BEUMER stretch hood A is accessable without a platform and steps. Maintenance work, such as changing the blades or the sealing bars, is now handled at floor level. The operator opens a drawer for these activities, providing free access to blades and sealing bars. The machine is automatically brought to a standstill to protect the operator, removing the need to move subassemblies to maintenance position. Due to this rapid access capability, maintenance work is accelerated, and the risk of accidents and malfunctions minimised.

The machineâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s ergonomics have also been consistently advanced. With just a few actions, and completely without tools, the operator can feed in the film. This means substantial reductions to tooling and conversion times. Additional benefits include the compact design of the BEUMER stretch hood and the resulting low height and small footprint.

An innovative, material friendly film transport system feeds the previously created film hood into the system. On its way to the crimping and stretching unit, the sealing seam on the film hood cools down so that it can be crimped without loosing time. This removes the need for an energy-intensive cooling unit and time-consuming cooling. The pallets can be packed in a shorter cycle time thus reducing idle times, while at the same time ensuring improved packaging performance and less energy consumption.

Unique interface The developers have also improved the human-machine interface to offer an even more ergonomic workflow to the user. For this, the intralogistics specialist has introduced the BEUMER Group Human Machine Interface (HMI), a newly-developed operator panel

with an optimised user interface and graphical navigation. This easily understandable and intuitive interaction concept helps to define efficient working sequences. The operator can control the machine safely with only a little training saving time and money, which ensures high economic efficiency. The soft-touch panel uses pictograms to guide the user through the machine control menus. The panel also gives the operator access to all required training programs. The system is controlled by a Siemens SIMATIC S7-300.

Energy-saving motors and low compressed air requirements ensure a favourable energy balance. The compressed air requirements have been significantly reduced compared with the previous model.

With its U-shaped frame design, the BEUMER stretch hood can be easily connected to existing conveying systems. Removing the need to interrupt the conveying system also guarantees smooth conveying performance for the pallets and the stability of the palletised goods.

The BEUMER stretch hood can be equipped with the BEUMER OptiStretch system. The crimping bow, made of high-quality steel, swivels in even closer to the package, thus substantially improving the controlled application of film to the package. This improves system availability and enhances the visual appearance. The palletised goods are clearly visible through the smooth surface of the transparent, highly flexible film. Film packaging protects the goods against atmospheric influences, water, dust and insects and transport safety is substantially improved.

In order to process various films and implement a variety of packaging processes, such as understretch or high-rack stretch, the new system can be equipped with the BEUMER multistretch system.

In addition, the operator receives an eLearning program via USB stick for this system. This way the employees can train themselves immediately in operating the new BEUMER stretch hood A. This ensures a flexible and rapid familiarisation with the system.

Visit: www.beumergroup.com Packaging Europe | 101 |

Ready, steady, whistle!

The truly innovative pasteurisation method created by Micvac has revolutionised the European chilled ready meal sector. Emma-Jane Batey spoke to managing director Håkan Pettersson, and sales and marketing director Christina Frohm Kramer, to learn how Micvac offers ‘Fresh thinking, served’.

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candinavian food technology company Micvac has developed a modern packaging and pasteurisation method that allows for chilled ready meals to be cooked in the microwave without loosing any nutrients, colour or texture. Anyone that has relied on ready meals for whatever reason – busy lives, times of illness, convenience when travelling or at work – will appreciate just how innovative this really is!

It can be that ready meals are the ‘make do’ option when we do not have the time, inclination or capability to cook a meal from scratch, but what the Micvac method allows is for people that want a tasty yet easy meal option to not have to go without the pleasure of a freshly-cooked meal. Micvac’s sales and marketing director Christina Frohm Kramer told Packaging Europe, “The Micvac method allows you to put proper food on the table even when there is little or no time for preparation. It’s a miracle! It’s a pasteurisation method for the food processing industry to ensure ready meals are as delicious as they are meant to be.” | 102 | Packaging Europe

A new method Requiring no additives, Micvac offers a smooth, modern production method based on in-pack cooking and pasteurisation in one continuous process. Each tray, or pouch, is filled, sealed and then pasteurised while passing through a microwave tunnel. The four key steps to the Micvac method see the tray filled with ingredients either by hand or by machine, with the film and all-important valve applied in an automated process. The now-sealed meal is then cooked and pasteurised in a microwave tunnel and, during this process, the Micvac valve opens to let out the steam and the oxygen. The valve then closes and a natural vacuum is created. Following this, the meal is rapidly cooled in a cooling unit and is ready for the supermarket shelf.

Håkan Pettersson explained, “We’ve invested in independent consumer surveys across Europe to help identify the trends and challenges faced by our customers, by the ready meal sector, and we know there are different issues for consumers in the UK than for

Germany or France, for example. What we know is that vacuum-packed meals can still be quite new for purchasers in the supply chain, but that consumers love it. Consumers really value the advantages of the Micvac method, particularly the freshness and the quality. They also love the whistling!”

Ah yes, the whistling: Micvac meals offer an audible advantage too. When the Micvac meal is cooked in the microwave, the valve whistles when it’s ready to eat. Ms Frohm Kramer explained, “It’s an interactive element, a reminder that your meal is ready. It’s like it’s saying, ‘Hello! I'm ready for you to enjoy!'”

The ‘focused, gentle cooking’ the Micvac method offers is natural, with no added preservatives. With the vacuum removing the oxygen, it means that the meals stay fresh and tasty for longer, which can lead to minimised waste throughout the value chain. Indeed, Micvac independent taste tests show that, even up to four weeks later, consumers could not tell the difference. Mr Pettersson added, “Consumers really love the quality of the meal that’s packaged using the Micvac method, and buyers and retailers love it when consumers are happy. The Micvac method results in a very high quality end product – the texture, colour and nutritional value of the meal is all better than other chilled ready meals.”

Time to taste The enthusiastic Micvac team is preparing to present its unique method at the upcoming interpack show. But rather than simply telling visitors that consumers love the ready meals using the Micvac method, the team is letting them decide for themselves. Ms Frohm Kramer said, “We’re showing why we say Micvac is ‘Fresh thinking, served’ but giving visitors to our interpack stand the opportunity to try our meals. We have a selection of chilled ready meals for people to try, and to let them see the Micvac method working in real life. We will also be able to show how the Micvac method is suitable for wider applications for the catering industry, such as larger packs.”

With a range of different patents already in place, Micvac’s dedication to innovation when it comes to chilled ready meal packaging is second-to-none. Mr Pettersson

concluded, “The Micvac method and our pioneering valve certainly has some exciting opportunities across the food sector. It’s not just about packaging, it’s a whole system – a method that adds value to chilled ready meals at a time when the sector is booming.

We supply the equipment in the food packaging line, as well as the packaging material needed, and work closely with our customers to ensure they are truly getting the very best advantage from investing in the Micvac method.”

Visit: www.micvac.com/retail-solutions/packaging

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Driving integrated technologies forward

Barry-Wehmiller is a global leader in manufacturing technology for the packaging, corrugating, sheeting and paper converting industries. Philip Yorke talked to Carol O’Neill, the company’s group president, Packaging, about its latest strategy for growth and the innovation and experience it will showcase at interpack.

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arry-Wehmiller (BW) was founded in 1885 in St. Louis, Missouri, USA, originally producing bottle washing equipment and pasteurizers for the brewing industry.

Today, the company is a market-leading player that is unique in its comprehensive range of products and services. By blending people- focused leadership with disciplined operational strategies and purpose-driven growth, BW has become a €2.4+ billion global organisation with more than 11,000 employees in 28 countries.

“At interpack, what we most want attendees to know is that through our six different businesses, we offer a cohesive platform that covers the full breadth and depth of the packaging business. And we can serve your needs wherever you are in the world. Today we are continuing to see strong growth in all our markets, including in Europe and North & Latin America, and have also started to see real growth in South Africa. In addition, we have now established a small, select sales team in India.”

BW Packaging Solutions

Increasing European presence

Barry-Wehmiller has grown over the years to incorporate more than 80 acquisitions worldwide. Its packaging companies include Accraply, BW Container Systems, Hayssen Flexible Systems, Pneumatic Scale Angelus, Synerlink and Thiele Technologies divisions.

Within those divisions are many brands familiar to the European market – Arcil, Hema, DairyPak, Hudson-Sharp, Rose Forgrove, Schib, Mateer, Sandicare, Simionato, Dosil, Dinieper, Slidell, Ambec, Fleetwood, Goldco, Wyard, SYMACH, Stanford, Graham, Sleevit, Trine and many more.

Recently, BW introduced a new initiative – BW Packaging Solutions—to better serve customers through its comprehensive and customizable offerings. “BW Packaging Solutions is the team of people from across Barry-Wehmiller who are committed to tapping the best of our collective insights to benefit companies seeking solutions to their packaging challenges, “ O’Neill said. “Whether the need is to design and build a new line or to identify and purchase equipment that will improve efficiency, flexibility and throughput, this team is a resource to companies large and small.”

The forthcoming interpack International trade show in Dusseldorf will give customers old and new an opportunity to learn more about the company’s latest products first hand at Hall 6 Booth D62.

Accraply is one of the numerous subsidiaries of Barry-Wehmiller and specialises in product decoration and material converting. It also represents some of the industry’s most trusted brands, including Sleevit, Stanford and Trine.

The company is a global leader in the design and manufacture of pressure-sensitive, roll-fed and shrink-sleeve label application systems, as well as cutting-edge converting and finishing equipment.

Recently, Accraply acquired Harland Machine Systems of Manchester, England, further strengthening its European presence. Harland specializes in the design and manufacture of a comprehensive range of high quality, reliable, efficient and cost-effective self-adhesive (pressure-sensitive) labelling machinery.

“Harland complements our existing self-adhesive business with robust technology, a global sales and service network, and a dedicated team that brings experience, passion and a determination to deliver exceptional performance for our customers,” O’Neill stated. “It’s a trusted brand that we’re proud to now steward.”

Pioneering integrated technologies O’Neill said, “We are clearly differentiated from our competitors because we are a truly global operation with highly specialised and dedicated industries in more than 100 locations worldwide. We are committed to providing lifetime support and tailored services for all our customers. For example, in addition to training and consultancy, a customer might want a unique filler-capper, or for us to create a case-packing and palletisation facility. Anything is possible at BW. | 104 | Packaging Europe

A global powerhouse O’Neill said that the formation of BW Packaging Solutions represented a coordinated, comprehensive approach to the needs of their clients. “At Barry-Wehmiller, we’ve recognized there are changing needs in the marketplace. Our company is a $2.4B privatelyheld organization with over 130 years of proven packaging experience. Our global clients are seeking solution providers that provide not only innovative equipment and a lifetime of support, but have also invested in the ability to provide integrated solutions and mitigate client risk.”

For further details about BW Packaging Solutions, visit: www.BWPackagingSolutions.com

Embossed lids never looked so brilliant Berhalter – Switzerland’s leading manufacturer of high-performance die-cutting machines – is presenting a unique technology at interpack exclusively for embossing lids on the sealing rim area.

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erhalter will be presenting the newest generation of high-performance die-cutting machines at interpack in Düsseldorf, along with trendsetting innovations, which Berhalter AG is pioneering worldwide.

The first of these, the SMARTembosser™, is the logical evolution for pre-cut lids.

As the name suggests, the SMARTembosser™ is a smart way to produce embossed lids. This Berhalter-patented system is unique and offers fantastic opportunities for rim-embossing, logo-embossing and de- embossing of pre-cut lids. The SMARTembosser ™ makes every lid special and gives additional technical advantages.

With the application of rim-embossing (embossing is carried out only in the sealing rim area) the lid is shining brighter and greatly enhances the clarity of coloured edges. It allows the printing of considerably smaller, yet readable lettering, which is important for product placement as well as for the food facts required under food regulations. Last but not least, the SMARTembosser™ for rim embossed lids can greatly influence the productivity of filling and sealing machines.

The application of logo-embossing and de-embossing gives Berhalter’s customers the opportunity to produce non-printed pre-cut lids highlighting a brand logo, sign or writing.

Using the patented Berhalter SMARTembosser™ technology, lids can be printed with intense colour with more space for graphics and product information: pre-cut lids never looked so brilliant.

The mark of flexibility Die-cutting is one stage in the complete supply chain of a final product, but it is nonetheless significnat. The die-cutting solution you choose can affect the final appearance of the product, sustainability, quality as well as efficiency.

Over the past few years, Berhalter has reacted continuously and highly flexibly to increasing market demands and has introduced a number of innovations to the market. Alongside its capacity for constant innovation, Berhalter is synonymous with the production of efficient and customer-oriented die-cutting systems. The company specialises in the manufacturing of user-friendly but highly productive die-cutting machines.

This applies to flat packaging lids from aluminum or polyester, such as Nestlé yoghurt lids, as well as to packaging lids with relief impressions, like lids for Philadelphia cheese spread. Deep-drawn aluminum lids, such as those used for pet food like Sheba or Cesar, enhance the extensive range of product opportunities. But Berhalter die-cutting machines can also be used to produce paper labels, e.g. on beer bottles and labels for IML applications such as those on Starbucks coffee cups.

According to Berhalter, “We have the unique possibility to supply die-cutting machines and tools according to the specific market demand.”

Visit the company at interpack, Hall 11C76.

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