OEM Fall/OEM Insider 2022 by PMMIMediaGroup

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CONTENTS CONNECT WITH US: OEMmagazine.org@facebook.com/OEMmagazineOEMmagazine 2022FALL2 VOLUME 4 • ISSUE 3 20 FEATURES DEPARTMENTS OEM PROFILE 20 Hamrick Packaging Systems How the family-owned OEM is expanding its portfolio with robots and integration services. OEM PROFILE 26 Membrane Process & Control Meet PMMI’s newest member company. MANAGEMENT 30 Frain Industries Learn how the company’s equipment rental model beneﬁts other OEMs. TECHNOLOGY 35 The Basics of Smart Sensors A detailed explanation of the technology. SPECIAL REPORT 40 Corporate Social Responsibility How OEMs can become a sustainable organization. BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE 08 Robots & Cobots Find out where the installations are going. EMERGING LEADERS 10 Meredith Perry Get to know this emerging leader on the rise. INDUSTRY NEWS 13 Machine-as-a-Service A new Bain & Company report makes predictions for OEMs. MARKETING INSIGHTS 16 Planning the 2023 Marketing Budget Five factors that impact your allocations. SALES FOCUS 18 Relationship Selling Trusted partner vs. trusted resource. ASSOCIATION NEWS 45 PACK EXPO International Preview Find out what’s new this year at the show. EXHIBITOR’S CORNER 51 Key Actions for PACK EXPO International Seven steps for a successful show. PERSPECTIVES 53 Robot Control How to choose the right solution. WOMEN’S LEADERSHIP NETWORK 56 A Path to Success A conversation with T. Marze i’s Lisa Rathburn. APPLICATION BRIEF 58 Pneumatic and Servo Test Results Forpak calculates power consumption costs. WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT 62 PACK Challenge PMMI members mentor students building a ﬁlling machine. VOICE OF THE CUSTOMER 64 Anheuser-Busch Update What the beer company needs from OEMs. NEW PRODUCTS 68 OEM Machine Technology Check out the latest product innovations. 30 26 40

Adjustment smartphonevia $460 VEGAPOINT 24 G½" adapterHygienicsystem Individually selectable: 256 colors Measurement in progress Sensor Processswitchingmalfunction We bring color into view! Compact capacitive level switches with 360° custom-color status display www.vega.com/vegapoint န Completely ﬂush sensing element န Works on pastes and viscous media န No spray cleaning shadows န Very small installation dimensions

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The official publication of PMMI OEMMAGAZINE.ORG EASY TO ORDER, IN STOCK, AND ON-TIME GUIDE RAILS AND EXTRUSIONS OUR RAILS ARE THIS SMOOTHIT’S NO TRICK Available in UHMW, High Temp UHMW, Oil-Filled UHMW, MD-Nylon, and PTFE (Teflon™) Guide rails fit commercially available clips and brackets Custom profiles upon request WE REDUCE FRICTION ON YOUR MACHINERY IN YOUR OPERATION 508-854-0799 info@slideways.com www.slideways.com *No skateboarders were injured in the making of this ad Booth N-5047 OctChicago23–26

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The most notable feature of the EZGUIDE™ system is it does not have any protruding brackets or shafts which could be a major safety hazard. The EZGUIDE™ system does not have any mechanical components which protrude from the sides of the conveyor during adjustment. All the mechanics are done without the need to protrude past the conveyor, keeping everything safe for those walking close by.

Another feature of EZGUIDE™ is it is designed to remain adjustable through curves. That is, the radius of the guides can change as the guide width is increased/decreased in the curve. While there are many traditional guide rail systems which can be made to adjust their width in straight sections, there are very few that can truly be adjustable through a curved portion of conveyor. The reason is because changing the radius of a section is di cult – the guides must bend, and the length of the guide has to increase/ decrease as the radius is changed. The EZGUIDE™ system handles both of those problems with its unique design.

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FeedersConveyorsAd.qxp_Layout 1 2/22/21 9:28 PM Page 1 STEPHANIE NEIL EDITOR-IN-CHIEFFOR OPENERS

ustainability initiatives are ingrained in every company culture these days. In the past two issues of OEM magazine, we’ve reported on how companies are investing in energy-efﬁcient technologies and minimizing the number of parts to make “green machines” that reduce carbon emissions, or are adding solar panels for renewable energy to offset electrical consumption needs. Or, they are adapting machines to work with responsibly sourced renewable materials. These are all really effective ways to balance the environmental impact of manufacturing. But in this issue of OEM we dig a little deeper.

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Stephanie Neil is the Editor-in-Chief of OEM Magazine. She may be reached at sneil@oemmagazine.org or at www.linkedin.com/in/ stephaniesneil.

There’s another area of sustainability that isn’t as obvious, but is as important. It’s called corporate social responsibility (CSR), a self-regulating business model in which a company becomes accountable to itself, its stakeholders, and the public by being conscious of—and committed to—its positive impact on the well-being of all aspects of society, including economic, social, and environmental.

Be a Good Corporate Citizen

water stewardship programs, education, women’s empowerment, humanitarian, and disaster relief programs. Many other CPGs are focusing their CSR efforts on saving plastics from entering the world’s oceans, taking a stance against human trafficking, and choosing only fair trade. Our cover story (page 40) by contributing writer Liz Cuneo, covers all this and more. Find out how you too can join the CSR movement.Our OEM profile spotlights family-owned Hamrick Packaging Systems, an end of line packaging equipment manufacturer. The company’s president is a third generation owner who has incorporated some big ideas that have completely transformed this company from its humble beginnings. Turn to page 20 to find out what this progressive OEM is doing now.

for Every Challenge

For example, in 2014, Coca-Cola invested around $126 million in CSR projects including healthy living initiatives,

•Wide range of screener options

And, of course we are all excited to attend PACK EXPO International in October! Flip to Association News to get a summary of what’s new at the show.

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2022FALL8 BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE PMMI, The Association for Packaging and Processing Technologies, reports a collective perspective on the trends that are driving the explosive growth in industrial robot and cobot implementations. ROBOTS & COBOTS AN AUTOMATED FUTURE 2020 NEW ROBOTIC INSTALLATIONS3% Food and Beverage, 0% change from 2019. 168,377China units, +20% from 2019. 29% Electronics, +6% from 2019. 21% Automotive, -6% from 2019. 11% Metal and Machinery, -1% from 2019. 5% Plastics and Chemical Products, 0% change from 2019. 76% FROM FIVE LARGEST MARKETS 10% 44% 8% 8% 6% 38,653Japan units, -23% from 2019. 30,787U.S.A. units, -8% from 2019. The Republic of Korea 30,506 units, -7% from 2019. 22,302Germanyunits, 0% from 2019. NON-AUTOMOTIVE APPLICATIONS OUTPACED AUTOMOTIVE SECTOR OEM MACHINERY CPG MACHINERY 41%Cobotsnow using, 81% in the next ve years. 98%Robotsnow using, 100% in the next ve years. 84%Robotsnow using, 93% in the next ve years. 27%Cobotsnow using, 57% in the next ve years. TOP FIVE

BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE FALL2022 9 41%Cobotsnow using, 81% in the next ve years. 27%Cobotsnow using, 57% in the next ve years. PMMI connects consumer goods companies with manufacturing solutions through the world-class PACK EXPO portfolio of trade shows, PMMI Media Group and PMMI Business Drivers. Learn more at pmmi.org and packexpo.com and pmmimediagroup.com TOP IMPLEMENTATIONFIVEACHIEVEMENTS • REDUCE labor and repetitive tasks. • INCREASE speed and productivity. • ACHIEVE repeatable quality and consistent product handling. • IMPROVE operator safety. • MINIMIZE waste and human error. TOP IMPLEMENTATIONFIVECHALLENGES • INTERNAL shortfalls. • TOTAL COST of ownership. • SUPPORT services. • TECHNOLOGY and FUNCTIONALITY. • IDENTIFYING applications. TOP FIVE CPG REQUESTS OF SUPPLIERS PROVIDE ROI JUSTIFICATION with comprehensive TCO assessment including safety/guarding, installation, maintenance, and training. OFFER LOWER COST robots and cobots with easy set-up and installation, including pre-con gured application parameters. TRAIN AND EDUCATE engineers and operators on live, digitally integrated robotic production lines.Conduct PLANT AUDIT to identify and recommend where robot or cobot solutions make Presentsense.robot or cobot additions as part of an OVERALL SOLUTION INTEGRATED into the processing/packaging machine.

My role at Spec has evolved and grown, alongside the growth and evolution of our company. When I started in 2011, Spec was a very small company working to grow in the industry. My role shifted from administrative support to sales and marketing management and now to vice president of business operations. I have had the chance to learn all sides of the business. Starting on the project support side and growing into the sales and marketing part of the business, I have been able to experience a comprehensive view into how our operations work and also the customer relationship side.

How do you help your company innovate?

Spec has always been very supportive of my personal and professional development. They have supported me in getting a marketing certiﬁcate and have invested in many different programs, seminars, and continuing education courses throughout my career. Spec also has trusted me and gave me the opportunity to improve and enhance various procedures and programs within our organization. I have been able to collaborate with every department on various improvement initiatives over the years. I am very passionate about the continuous improvement at Spec.

Named as a 2021 PMMI Emerging Leader On the Rise Award Winner, Perry manages the day-to-day operations of the business, helping to grow the company as her own role

As a catalyst for growth at Spec Engineering (she helped the company grow from ﬁve employees to 100), Perry was recognized as a PMMI Emerging Leader On the Rise award winner in 2021. OEM magazine interviewed Perry to learn more about her role and career goals.

What is the most fascinating part of your job?

The most fascinating part of my job is the vastly different product applications that Spec gets involved in. We work with so many different materials and get to learn about how products are processed from raw ingredients to ﬁnished product. I get most excited when I get to interact with our customers and hear feedback on our solutions and services. I think it is important to stay close to our customers so that I don’t lose sight of our company purpose.

eredith Perry is the vice president of business operations at Spec Engineering, which specializes in system design and process equipment integration for everything from raw materials through packaging. When she started at the company in 2011 as a project administrator, she supported Spec Engineering’s Custom Process System projects with purchasing, quoting, vendor/ customer relations, billing, and additional project administrative jobs. Her role shifted from administration support to sales and marketing management, and now VP, where she oversees sales, marketing, accounting, HR, IT, procurement, logistics, and ofﬁce management departments.

How does your company support you as an emerging leader?

Stephanieevolves.Neil, Editor-in-Chief

Meredith Perry Keeps Continuous Improvement On Track at Spec Engineering

EMERGING LEADERS EMERGING LEADERS2022FALL10

What has your time at the company been like?

I help my company innovate by actively challenging col-

What are some industry trends you have been keeping your eye on?

Automation, robotics, augmented and virtual reality are all really important trends, especially with the workforce shortage issues that many companies are facing.

applications. LHSLHS air heatersair heaters Dependable heat sources for manufacturers

What intrigues you or surprises you about the packaging and processing industries?

My focus at Spec moving forward is around growth. I am working on how growth at Spec will look in the upcoming years – speciﬁcally our employee development and growth of our in-house capabilities. Safety and quality are also areas that my position is starting to develop into as well.

As an emerging leader, what were some obstacles you faced in your career and how did you overcome them?

Join trade organizations and become active members, networking is a major part of the industry and you never know what you will learn from other professionals in the ﬁeld. Find a mentor, and stay friendly with your competitors.

What advice do you have for other emerging leaders about getting involved in this industry?

We know how.www.leister.com With

As a rising star in your organization, what is next for you?

Not coming from a technical background, I had a lot to learn in the industry. PMMI and other trade organizations, as well as industry publications, are where I turned to learn about the industry and technology. I am thankful to these organizations and the educational material and expert knowledge that they put out.

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leagues and senior leadership to question why we do things the way we do, and not to get complacent. From a marketing perspective, I take pride in supporting our team to keep up with trends in the market and bringing that perspective to the rest of the company.

Meet the 2022 On the Rise Award winners in the Winter issue of OEM Magazine! To learn more: oemgo.to/emergingleaders2022 a small footprint and ease of integration, the LHS series of heaters is a popular choice for many industrial

EMERGING LEADERS FALL2022 11

I am intrigued by the automation innovation that we see in the industry. I know that this is where the industry will see the most growth in the coming years and it is fun to be at a company that is on the cutting edge of technology. I have also been surprised how small the industry feels once you are in it, there is so much collaboration between equipment and service suppliers.

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Machines-as-a-Service: This Trend Is Just Ge ing Started

In fact, so much around this issue has changed so quickly that Bain & Company now expects that OEMs “will sell most equipment as part of bundled solutions” by 2030—including software and services, thereby reducing hardware’s share of total proﬁts.

INDUSTRY NEWS FALL2022 13 INDUSTRY NEWS

The reticence in some industry verticals to allow third parties to remotely access equipment in their plants has largely vanished in the wake of nearly every aspect of operations going remote to at least some degree.

A new report from Bain & Company outlines what OEMs need to do to prepare for this unavoidable business model.

David Greenﬁeld, Editor-in-Chief and Director of Content, Automation World

In its “Global Machinery & Equipment Report 2022: Thinking Outside the Machine,” Bain states: “Industry 4.0 technologies are reshaping the business from one built around machines to one focused on services and integrated solutions. In some sectors, individual companies already generate more than 50% of revenues and 100% of proﬁts with services. That trend is accelerat-

ndustrial manufacturing verticals that are well-recognized as early adopters of advanced technologies, such as automotive and aerospace, have made big strides with softwareand Machines-as-a-Service (MaaS) over the past several years. Until very recently, however, the same could not be said of other industrial verticals. COVID changed that perception— dramatically and rapidly.

• Share the risk. A key aspect of outcome-based services for OEMs is that, while these services reduce customer risk, they also increase the OEM’s service revenues and profit. As Bain points out: “Instead of fixing equipment when it breaks down for a flat fee, the companies offering these services ask for a percentage of the guaranteed output. Similarly, contracts can focus on reducing energy use or boosting equipment efficiency.” asily share this article

ing and will become the norm across the industry over the next few years.”

• Sell equipment as a service. Atlas Copco, a global manufacturer of compressors, now offers MaaS contracts that eliminate machinery downtime and ensure an uninterrupted supply of compressed air. Bain adds that, for Atlas Copco, the new contracts also minimize unnecessary customer maintenance visits and help secure aftermarket sales and service over a long period with one customer interaction. Plus, the data and experience gathered from Atlas Copco’s worldwide base of connected equipment can be used to further enhance its products.

Insights from China

with your peers: oemgo.to/bainreport2022TakeFive:HowSaaSandMaaSImpacttheIndustry SCAN QR CODE ➲

ures before they happen and offer customers a quantum leap in preventive maintenance.

The Bain report notes that by “building on a deep knowledge base and decades of experience, OEMs are redeﬁning traditional machinery service as strategic care and designing new services that help customers perform better throughout the full life cycle of the installed machinery base.”

Though the MaaS trend may not yet be very visible here in the U.S., it has developed rapidly in China. According to Bain, “Chinese machinery companies…started innovating in services a decade ago to spur growth as equipment sales slowed. The [China] market is now a vibrant testbed for a future service- and solutions-based industry. One Chinese OEM that has reinvented its service offering is heavy equipment maker XCMG. The company’s internet platform, which provides services such as machine analysis, average work ing time analysis, equipment utilization data, and connected plants, has generated massive growth since its launch eight years ago. At the end of 2021 it had connected more than 460,000 machines. XCMG says its services give companies a competitive edge: greater efﬁciency and faster decision making based on data.”

Four key steps for OEMs

INDUSTRY NEWS2022FALL14

What this means for OEMs

• Develop digital service solutions. By using customers’ equipment data to derive insights and design innovative service models, OEMs can, for example, offer to guarantee the uptime or output of their machinery. Bain says performance-based contracts around remote monitoring and predictive maintenance can improve efﬁciency and reliability for an OEM’s clients while boosting the OEM’s service revenue. Other examples noted by Bain include pattern-recognition algorithms that can analyze thousands of hand-typed reports about machinery breakdowns, deriving insights to help service teams better manage equipment under contract and develop standard upgrades that can be sold throughout the installed base of customers.

In its report, Bain outlined four steps OEMs should take to better position their operation amid the growing MaaS trend:

To be successful in this new MaaS era, Bain says OEMs “now need to collaborate more closely with their customers. Advanced service contracts, for example, are broader in scope and may cover a full production line, all the equipment at a given site, multiple plants, or even an entire ﬂeet. The most effective equipment makers compile data and insights from their installed base and use the information to build innovative service

• Digitize and connect the installed base. Bain says OEMs need to invest in connected equipment and cloud-based platforms to create a trove of information about customers and their equipment. Such digital tools allow for most customer support to be managed remotely, reducing costs involved in servicing the installed base and dramatically improving overall efﬁciency. Digital portals also provide customers access to operating data, further enhancing the OEM/customer relationship. Also, sensors embedded in connected equipment can help OEMs anticipate machinery fail-

Many equipment manufacturers have seen this trend coming for years now, even if COVID-related accelerations caught them off guard.

Companiessolutions.leadingthe shift to advanced services and solu tions understand that equipment and service are no longer two separate businesses but are deeply interconnected.”

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Pre-Planning the 2023 Marketing Budget

Does your company publish and promote internal company goals in categories such as revenue growth, new product development, and operational efﬁciency? If so, this is the best place to start as it draws the clearest connection between marketing activity and success drivers for the business.Whilemarketing is most closely tied to supporting revenue goals, it can also support other areas of the business. For example, if improving customer experience is a company goal, marketing can help support this through improving customer onboarding or simplifying the company website.

omehow, although it happens every year like clockwork, budgeting season always seems to sneak up on me. It can feel like you’re planning for the year ahead before you’ve had a chance to measure what worked and what didn’t in the current year.

2.What’s working

If there is a company goal related to internal processes or operational efﬁciency, take this opportunity to align your marketing technology requests such as updating your CRM, introducing a marketing automation tool, or streamlining

analytics reporting.

If you’re not already testing new marketing strategies, consider allocating 10% of your 2023 budget to testing new channels, technologies, or content types. During the planning process, be sure to deﬁne goals to measure success.

Similarly, consider what’s not working and why. Several factors can contribute to failure including market ﬁt, internal support, and funding. After reviewing what contributed to the failure, ask yourself if it’s worth adjusting and reinvesting or if you should cut your losses.

4.Industry conditions

1.Company goals

Turning outward, examine how changing industry con-

If your marketing goals are not tightly bound to company goals, you can still use this pre-planning phase to connect with company leadership and ask how they envision marketing supporting the broader organization. You can even play a role in introducing a plan for broader company goals that could lead the plan for budgeting next year.

So how can you be better prepared to create a thoughtful, strategic budget for the year ahead? To start, before you begin your planning, do your homework and consider the internal and external factors that impact your goals and how you plan to achieve them.

3.What’s not working

Five factors that impact your allocations.

By Sharon Taylor, Director of Marketing, PMMI Media Group

Couple this lack of hindsight with the constant ﬂow of existing projects to get done, and it can be easy to treat budgets as an update exercise of tweaking what was done last year by asking for more money, adding a few new programs, and shifting spend among channels.

MARKETING INSIGHTS2022FALL16

initiatives or tried and true tactics? If existing strategies, do you continue to see incremental improvement or has growth stagnated? If a new strategy, how much did you invest to start and how much more would you invest moving forward?

Though you won’t have the beneﬁt of analysis of the full year for 2022, it’s worth reviewing your year-to-date progress to identify which marketing investments have been mostAresuccessful.thesenew

MARKETING INSIGHTS

And perhaps what’s not working for your marketing isn’t a failure at all, but rather it just isn’t as successful as your other efforts. The simplest question to ask yourself is if you had one more dollar to invest in marketing, where would you spend it.

In the same survey, only 27% of respondents indicated they plan to invest in webinars—a number much lower than the 67% of B2B organizations utilizing webinars as surveyed by the Content Marketing Institute. If you’re not utilizing webinars, ask yourself why not. Did you previously try webinars and ﬁnd them to be unsuccessful? Would the fact that two-thirds of all B2B companies incorporate webinars into their marketing strategy cause you to reconsider?

Once you’ve completed your pre-planning homework to deﬁne your marketing strategy

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Download the PMMI Q1 2022 Quarterly Business Indicator report here: h p://oemgo.to/aABEd

for 2023, it’s time to start mapping out your initiatives and allocating your budget across channels. A marketing budget template can help you get started.

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Consider also changes to your industry or the overall market. Over the last few years, the biggest problem for many machine builders has been fulfilling existing orders, however, this may start to change according to findings from PMMI’s Quarterly Business Indicator report for the first quarter of 2022 which show order quotations have dropped to the lowest level since 2008.

While these indicators may not hit your business right away, it’s essential to start planning for their impact with the right strategies and investments now.

5.Marketing trends

Another external area to explore during the budget pre-planning phase is overall marketing trends. Not every trend ﬁts every industry or business, but it’s worth considering what has worked for others both in your industry and outside of it.

ditions may impact your strategic goals. Has your position among competitors changed? A weakening competitor offers an opportunity to gain market share while a new or growing competitor may force you to defend your market share. In both instances, a doubling down on brand awareness is key. This may seem risky since marketing success is increasingly tied to revenue goals and marketers are focused on lead generation. However, if your goal is to own the market, the best strategy starts with acting like you already do.

For example, use of video marketing continues to grow across all industries as demonstrated in a 2021 PMMI Media Group survey in which 55% of respondents indicated they plan to leverage video marketing in 2022.

To access the results of the PMMI Media Group survey go to: oemgo.to/spendforecast

Jay Spielvogel, Founder and CEO, Venator Sales Group

The relationship salesperson

“My greatest strength is creating relationships.”

Unfortunately, the relationships that most salespeople have with their prospective customers lacks these critical factors. Rather than being deﬁned by mutual trust or bilateral commu nication, the relationships are transactional, based on quickly responding to any request made. Whether the prospect is asking for an onsite visit, demos, references, or pricing, most salespeople will deliver without hesitation. The best-case scenario is the prospect reciprocates with a note of appreciation, while the worst-case is the prospect disappears.

For example, when asked if they qualified a prospect, inquired about budgetary constraints, other decision makers and competition, many salespeople will voice the concern of frustrating their main contact with these questions. This level of discomfort wouldn’t exist if the salespeople had the self-esteem and conﬁdence to develop trusted relationships.

If there is any doubt regarding the challenges with these relationships, the proof can be found when doing pipeline and opportunity reviews. During these internal reviews, the sales people whose relationships are deﬁned by one-sided delivery will frequently pushback on sales coaching—especially when it requires them to ask additional qualifying information prior to sending a quote. It’s not for a lack of understanding the sales process and training material; in many cases the salespeople are excellent at role playing and demonstrating incredible subject matter comprehension. Execution becomes a problem when there is a fear of upsetting the prospect and creating pushback when using the sales techniques learned.

All salespeople like to win

“My customers buy from me because they trust me.”

ound familiar? Relationship selling will always be a critical capability; after all, people buy from people. In fact, most sales people would deﬁne their relationship skills as their most valued asset; even more important than their hunting, qualifying, and closing. When asked on a job interview, the most common response to interview questions about sales capa bility would be one of the answers above. Take it one step further and relationship selling has become a common excuse for pushing back on sales process training and utilizing CRMs.

The proof is in the pipeline

SALES FOCUS SALES FOCUS2022FALL18

Delivering on all pre-sales requests has become the baseline for most salespeople who view themselves as relationship driven. Whether resulting in an actual sale or not, the sense of accomplishment is in delivering for a prospect rather than closing. In fact, most salespeople pay very little attention to the percentage of deals that fall apart. For this reason, many CRM applications are bogged down with opportunities that

have aged far beyond the original close date and have little possibility of closing beyond the delivery of the proposal.

“I am in sales because I love building relationships.”

Relationship Selling: Trusted Partner vs. Trusted Resource

While all salespeople want to cater to their prospects for the purpose of winning the business, issues arise from a lack of attention to the losses and the time wasted on opportunities that don’t close. Many salespeople reading this article would argue that it’s their job to fulﬁll requests made of them by a prospective client. While this is true, if the relationship is so strong, what are the salespeople asking for—and getting—in return? Anything less than equal reciprocity on the part of the prospect would render the relationship conditional, with the salesperson acting as a resource rather than a partner.

While the ability to develop relationships has always been important in sales, there is debate over what a “great rela tionship” looks like. If you search for a clear deﬁnition of a great relationship, you ﬁnd words like mutual trust, openness, communication, sharing, and compromise.

2.Frequent deal reviews with special attention paid to one-sided relationships.

2.Can they posture themselves in a selling situation; even when selling to high-level

Best practices for recruiting and hiring

1.Will they ask difﬁcult qualifying questions on a sales call?

3.Dostakeholders?theyhavea high need for approval and low tolerance for conﬂict?

3.Pre-call planning sessions for upcoming meetings focused on the rep’s plan for

Beyond training the existing team and creating coaching routines, the ultimate solution to the relationship challenge is to hire salespeople who view themselves on equal footing with their prospects. It is critical to evaluate candidates for their ability to ask tough questions and chal lenge prospects. Years of experience, number of contacts, and expertise are not indicative of relationship skills. Independent of these factors are critical competencies that are must-haves. Important questions to ask when hiring a candi date are the following:

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4.Are they good at negotiating a win-win throughout the sales cycle?

SALES FOCUS FALL2022 19

1.Pipeline reviews focusing on early and mid-stage opportunities in addition to the closeable ones.

A ﬁnal word on relationship selling

4.Implementreciprocation.routines and discussions to reduce the risk that they deliver unilaterally without a process for qualifying.

Developing a team with trusted relationships

We would never want to discourage our sales people from developing relationships based

on responsiveness, reliability, and personal connection. However, we do need to coach them to build reciprocal relationships where they negotiate for something in return other than appreciation and hope.

Most importantly, did the candidate conﬁ dently ask great qualifying and challenging questions throughout the interview? Do they pride themselves on delivering for prospects or do they focus on qualifying and closing skills?

While it is possible to train a salesperson to be more assertive in their relationships with prospects, it can be a futile effort when ﬁghting against ingrained self-limiting beliefs. There will be existing team members who simply lack in the ability to develop trusted relationships with their prospects. While these people may be an important long-term part of the team, any attempt to train and change them may lead to frustration. This is where it is critical for sales management to introduce checks and balances in the form of coaching routines. These include the following:

Stephanie Neil, Editor-in-Chief

Photography by Laura Ebie

OEM PROFILE - HAMRICK PACKAGING2022FALL20

stablished in 1975 as Hamrick Manufacturing & Service, Inc., this Ohiobased company had humble beginnings as a re-builder and parts supplier of Meyer case packers and uncasers. The founders—and brothers— Luther “Red” Hamrick and Gene Hamrick, quickly evolved the business into a manufacturer of its own end-of-line case and tray packers. And for decades the company ran “comfortably” as it sold its quality equipment.

Jordan encouraged his elders to adopt more technology and diversify the offerings. But Red and Gene ran a tight ship. “The ownership was quite comfortable with the life they had built and didn’t want to rock the boat,” Hamrick remembers. “But I wanted to ﬂip the boat on its head.”

Hamrick Packaging Systems 2.0

In 2016, Jordan and his father, Phil, inherited ownership of the company when his great uncle Gene, grandfather Red, and uncle Tom sadly passed away within 4 years of each other. But now, as president of the company, it was Jordan’s chance to make a change. “I told my dad, ‘you sent me to school to ﬁgure this out, let me ﬁgure it out.’ And he did, he trusted me to make decisions,” he says. “My dad ran our company with both hands tied behind his back for years. One

Fast-forward to 2010, when Jordan Hamrick, a young graduate from Kent State University who majored in business management and marketing, joined the family business. With fresh eyes on the organization, Jordan quickly realized that operations were antiquated and equipment had not been updated in decades.“Mygrandfather and great uncle still ran [the business] at the time and it was like pulling teeth to get changes made,” Hamrick says, noting that even the equipment hadn’t changed in over 20 years. “We took the same pneumatic case packer to every trade show where customers would ask what was new. They were really asking to replace their 25 year-old machinery with a newer design.”

The addition of robotics and integration services diversiﬁes the OEM’s oﬀerings and positions this family-owned business for the future of packaging.

Revenue: $20 million to $50 million

Standard controls platform: Allen-Bradley, Mitsubishi Electric, Weintek, Weidmuller, Banner Engineering

Product range: Case packers, case erectors, case sealers, uncasers, pick & place machinery, lane dividers, robotic applications, specialty equipment

View from above of Hamrick Packaging System’s new 65,000 sq. . facility in Kent, OH.

Location: Kent, Ohio (headquarters)

Employees: 55

OEM PROFILE - HAMRICK PACKAGING FALL2022 21

Leadership: Phil Hamrick, CEO (55% owner, Board member); Jordan Hamrick, president/director of sales (45% owner, Board member); Brian Ebie, COO (Board member)

BackgroundCompany

Brian Ebie, COO; Jordan Hamrick, President; Phil Hamrick, CEO standing in the machine shop of Hamrick’s new facility in Kent, OH.

Established: 1975, founded by brothers Luther “Red” Hamrick and Gene Hamrick

Field service personnel: 4

of the things I’ve been most proud of is helping him build this company to what it should have been. He’s a very hands-on CEO, and still works on a lot of equipment on the ﬂoor. We have two very different skillsets, but they complement each other well, and are a big reason we make such a good team.”The father and son team started to invest in people, redesign the lineup of equipment, and move into robotics by becoming a system integrator for Fanuc America Corp. In 2020, the company rebranded as Hamrick Packaging Systems. And in 2021, they broke ground on a new 65,000 sq. ft. manufacturing facility in Kent, Ohio to accommodate its expanding equipmentTheoptions.executive team also includes

Hamrick Packaging has offered only two case packer models, which was the company’s bread and butter—and still is, because even though the industry was trending to more robotic pick and place, Hamrick recognized how important drop packing still is because it can run faster and is operator friendly, so it’s easier to maintain. “I decided if we’re going to stick with drop packing, let’s build the best drop packer on the market.” So they redesigned what they had and made it an entirely servo drop packer. The company has sold over 100 of those speciﬁc machines since its release in 2020. “It’s a good model for us. It’s been our cash cow and allowed us to take those margins and reinvest in growing areas of the company, which is robotics and system integration.”

Hamrick elected to involve the entire team for the groundbreaking ceremony in July 2021.

OEM PROFILE - HAMRICK PACKAGING2022FALL22

tions. In 2021, Hamrick Packaging developed its first case packer with auto-changeover, installed its first robotic palletizer for bags, and installed its first robotic palletizer for regular slotted container (RSC) boxes.

COO Brian Ebie. “Brian has been integral on the operations side of our business,” adds Hamrick. “He helped navigate through many uncertainties with COVID, implementing policies and procedures to keep our staff safe and healthy. He also did the majority of the planning on the new manufacturing site, which has helped me focus on Historically,sales.”

To that end, in the last few years, the OEM has re-designed the entire portfolio of secondary packaging equipment, including: case erecting (tape), robotic partition inserting, servo drop packing, gantry pick & place case packing, robotic case packing, case sealing (tape, glue, combo), robotic palletizing, and custom robotic applica-

Product infeed conveyor on a pick & place case packer for 750ml beer.

“We wanted to take the average purchase model, which in 2009 was probably $75,000, and get more pieces of that puzzle by being responsible for more and managing projects internally,” Hamrick explains. “And as we add

“We sold over 120 machines in 2021 and eclipsed $25 million in revenue,” Hamrick says, noting a tenfold increase in new machinery sales since 2012. And that is due not only to diversifying the equipment, but adding system integration to its service offerings.

“Our backlog went from 25 machines to over 90 within a matter of months,” Hamrick explains. “The busiest time in our history was unfortunately paired with the time when we became the least efﬁcient. A machine would sit on the ﬂoor for weeks, sometimes months waiting for components to arrive. We’ve purchased almost 50 PLCs on eBay in the last year. And it seems like we have meetings every day to discuss a new challenge that is preventing us from pleasing our customers. For me, that’s been the most frustrating part. Customer satisfaction is all that matters here, and it’s hard to do that when you’re constantly getting hit with bad news.”

As a result of the supply chain shortage, speciﬁcally their reliance on Allen-Bradley, they’ve proactively developed an alternate controls package through Mitsubishi Electric, Weintek, and Weidmuller, as well as Banner Engineering for the machine safety platform, while maintaining the Allen-Bradley PLCs when possible.

Jordan Hamrick, President, next to a custom dual-robot case packer.

Offering robotics gives Hamrick Packaging the ability to present options to customers. As does the expanded product portfolio. But it comes with a cost to the OEM due to recent industry events.

people to our Systems Group, it helps us to not only sell case packers, but erectors, packers, sealers, palletizers, conveyors, and line controls. So the [purchase order] goes from $75,000 to $100,000 in 2009 to $500,000 to over $1 million in 2022.”

OEM PROFILE - HAMRICK PACKAGING FALL2022 23

The company also has had struggles ﬁnding labor. Hamrick Packaging has hired over 15 individuals for new positions since COVID hit, but they are always looking for more talent. The hope is that the move in September to the new 65,000 sq. ft. facility will help. It is a wide open area to provide space to place a dozen pre-built servo case packers and to pre-build standard erectors and sealers, as well as

Obstacles and opportunities

Among its achievements in the past year, Hamrick Packaging Systems reached Tier 4 status with Fanuc within two years of entering the authorized system integrator (ASI) program. “We’re closing in on 50 arms sold in the ﬁrst 30 months in the Fanuc ASI program, and are forecasted to hit 100 arms sold by mid-2024.”

Bob Wa s, assembler, hooking up I/O lines in a Balluﬀ terminal block.

All of the Hamrick Packaging machines use Allen-Bradley controls, but the supply chain disaster and the dearth of controllers and components have caused the company to turn to alternate options—often buying controls on eBay—just to get machines out the door for the customer. But that comes with a hefty price tag. “We are buying them at 400% to 1,000% markup, but we won’t charge the customer that,” Hamrick says. “We are taking less margin on some machines, but doing what we can to assist customers. We want to keep them as happy as we can until the start-up while ensuring the machine will do its job.”

“But we also planned for the future so we can add 90,000 sq. ft. more within the eight and a half acres we purchased for this site,” says Hamrick. “We’ve added on to our existing building 12 times over 47 years, and it’s really hindered our growth opportunities. The new site will give us the space to shoot for our end goal–which is to become a $100 million a year company.”It’sexciting for the employees to have a new facility to work in, and it’s in a strategic location that puts the company in a good position for future recruiting programs. “Our facility is right off the highway between Kent and Akron, two schools we have partnered with for internship programs. That plan will start in 2023, and we hope to attract younger talent with an eagerness to learn everything automation has to offer,” Hamrick says.

OEM PROFILE - HAMRICK PACKAGING2022FALL24

All in the family

A dual-robot case packing cell being staged to run 1000 cans per minute.

The new servo indexing system is capable of running two and three case per cycle formats.

done without having ownership here,” he explains.

As a third generation owner of Hamrick Packaging Systems, Jordan does not lose sight of what’s important. In fact, in an article in Family Business magazine in which Jordan was named one of the “2021 NextGens to Watch,” he commented: “Family is everything. My passion is leaving my children with a better situation than we inherited if they want to continue building our legacy. I know the statistics on family-owned businesses, and I was determined to be an exception to that rule. I’m proud of what we’ve been able to accomplish as a family-owned and operated business for the last 46 years, and even prouder that we’re doing it in the right way.”

pick & place equipment, robotic case packers and palletizers, while leaving roughly 20,000 square feet to set up turnkey systems.

And employees become an extension of that family. “Our people are the reason we’re thriving nearly a half-century after we were founded. They kept us going through the tough years, and have helped us blossom through the good ones,” Hamrick says, noting that everyone at the company is focused on customer satisfaction, which ultimately secures long term business and trust with those customers. “What makes us shine is that we don’t base our success

In fact, there were many times that Jordan and his father entertained an acquisition of the company, but ultimately felt that the money couldn’t replace the good things they could do if they remained a family-run company. For example, they recently donated $100,000 to Jordan’s old high school to rebuild the football stadium after the bleachers had been condemned. “We felt it was something we could do to help out the community, which we likely couldn’t have

Carlos Gaiter, electrical engineer, wiring a panel on a servo drop packer.

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As for the future, Hamrick says he is still taking it one day at a time in this decade-long plan that is playing itself out. “We’re in the second ﬁve year plan for our company and the future for us is continued expansion and investment in robotics, continued addition of resources for system integration, controls engineering, robotics technicians, sales engineers, application engineers, and project managers. That is the plan heading forward.”Andthe start of the company’s next ﬁve year plan really launches in October in Chicago. “PACK EXPO International will be sort of our coming out party,” Hamrick says. “Working with the Kondracki Group, we bought a 3,400 sq. ft. booth in the south hall. To go from a 10x10 ft. booth a decade ago with just my father and I working it, to 3,400 sq. ft., six or seven machines, a brand new display with a dozen employees there, it’s special forHamrick’sus.”

OEM PROFILE - HAMRICK PACKAGING FALL2022 25

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Todd Smith, machinist, working on parts for a case erector.

Hamrick takes it personally, as well. Taking calls from customers any time of day or night, or making customer visits to provide on-the-spotdecisions. “My last name is on every piece of equipment we build so it really gives you some incentive to put out a quality product and take care of those customers.”

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vision of incorporating more technology, diversifying the portfolio, and growing the business is coming to fruition. And, despite the early resistance to his big ideas back in 2010, there’s no doubt Jordan has made his father, grandfather, and great uncle very proud.

But he’s not stopping now. “It’s an exciting time for us, but there are still a lot of goals for us to be chasing as we make this transition into Hamrick 2.0.”

Given PMMI’s prominent position as a trade organization within the process Senior News Director

Can you provide a brief history of MP&C?

PMMI?

embrane Process and Controls prides itself as a “one-stop service shop” for membrane systems and process requirements. Since opening its doors in Edgar, Wisconsin, in 1992, the company has grown from a developer of membrane ﬁltration technologies to a global custom end-to-end solutions provider for dairy, food, beverage, wastewater and pharmaceutical customers. OEM Magazine spoke with Bill Wenzel, Director, AMSE products, to introduce the new addition to the PMMI member rolls.

Photography by Membrane Process & Control

Founded in 1992, Membrane Process & Controls, Inc (MP&C) started our business by focusing on the controls side of the process industry. We pride ourselves and stake our reputation on integrity and quality backed by a name and a personal guarantee. Soon MP&C moved into other areas of custom designs, builds, installs, and services for a wide variety of stainless steel processing equipment. We provide a full-service offering including mechanical, electrical, software/ controls, fabrication, installation, commissioning, operational training, and service. The team at MP&C provides our customers with insight into methods and equipment that will improve project reliability, economics, safety, and maintenance. did MP&C join

Family Values Sustain Growth at Membrane Process & Controls Oﬀering full service solutions for membrane ﬁltration and process systems. Sean Riley,

NEW MEMBER PROFILE - MEMBRANE PROCESS & CONTROLS2022FALL26 Company Background Location: Edgar, Wisconsin Established: 1992 Leadership: Joel Stencil (President/Owner), Dennis Buehring (VP Ops/Director Sales & Marketing Revenue: $30 to $50M Employees: ~50 Facility: 35,000 sq. . Markets served: U.S., Canada, Brazil, Colombia, Spain, Argentina, South Africa and China Product range: Membrane ﬁltration and atmospheric tanks for dairy, food, beverage and pharmaceutical industries

Why

MP&C oﬀers system design, automation and UL-508A control panels on every system.

industry, MP&C felt there was strong alignment between our business and PMMI’s mission, events, and members. The networking opportunities and resources available through PMMI are a solid ﬁt for MP&C since so much of our business revolves around process industries.

A reverse osmosis ﬁltration system designed and fabricated for a dairy company.

NEW MEMBER PROFILE - MEMBRANE PROCESS & CONTROLS FALL2022 27

Has MP&C Participated in any PMMI programs?

MP&C has previously participated in PMMI’s PACK EXPO trade shows, and we look forward to doing so again this fall in Chicago as a PMMI member. We are considering leveraging the training and networking opportunities of PMMI’s annual meeting or other events and perhaps utilizing PMMI Media Groups’ marketing arm to further grow our business.

We began our business on the controls side of the process industry. Shortly after that, we began offering membrane filtration systems related to blood plasma processing, followed by the dairy industry. Membrane filtration expertise remains a key differentiator for our company. When we initially developed our membrane filtration capabilities, we also began supporting our customers with a full-time field service crew. Our field crew performs turnkey installation, system commissioning/tuning, operator training and maintenance support.Forthe past 15 years, MP&C has been fabricating stainless steel atmospheric tanks for dairy, food, medical, chemical, and other process industries. In 2021 we achieved our 3A Certification, and in 2022, MP&C was certified to fabricate ASME Section VIII, Division 1 pressure vessels. MP&C also has a UL-508A certified panel shop staffed by full-time technicians and an experienced supervisor. These additional capabilities are great complements to MP&C’s core competencies related to membrane filtration.

How has MP&C’s product line broadened over the years?

MP&C’s climate-controlled assembly facility.

What is your process for handling a customer’s initial inquiry and needs assessment?

How do you ization?thoseconﬁgurationsstandardizedbalancemachinewithrequiringcustom-

MP&C is primarily focused on providing customized solutions that are speciﬁcally tailored to meet our clients’ needs. We strategically employ sales managers, process engineers, automation engineers, mechanical engineers, and electrical engineers, as well as shop and ﬁeld personnel with backgrounds in various industries and process equipment. Instead of starting with a standard product and then seeking to modify it, as described above, MP&C’s team begins by truly understanding the client’s process needs. Once we understand our customer’s expectations, we offer our clients a fully customized solution and a detailed proposal.

NEW MEMBER PROFILE - MEMBRANE PROCESS & CONTROLS2022FALL28

To maximize the value we can offer our clients, MP&C must thoroughly understand the customer’s needs. How we achieve that required a level of understanding that can vary depending on the project. MP&C sales managers have extensive experience in the process industry. For basic to medium complexity projects, typically, our sales manager will interface with the customer and deﬁne the project. For more complex and larger projects, MP&C will involve a variety of our technical personnel to dive as deeply as necessary with our clients to ﬂesh out their needs and begin formulating appropriate solutions fully.

How do you handle ﬁeld service and training?

When we initially developed our membrane filtration capabilities, we also began supporting our customers with a full-time field service crew. Our field crew performs turnkey installation, system commissioning/tuning, operator training, and maintenance support. MP&C has on-call technicians available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

MP&C has a fully outﬁtted research and development center. Our R&D facility, which includes a spray dryer, is used by both MP&C and our customers to develop new processes and validate the effectiveness of our customized equipment solutions. MP&C’s R&D center provides considerable value, especially for customers working outside traditional, well-proven processes.

MP&C Designer utilizing SolidWorks to model a membrane ﬁltration system.

What lies ahead for MP&C?

MP&C looks to continue our strategic yet intentionally metered pace of growth. We built a new state-of-the-art climate-controlled 25,000 square foot fabrication facility in 2017. At that time, the facility was designed and utilities were installed to support doubling its footprint. Such an expansion is increasingly becoming a more vital consideration. In addition to expanding our output capacities regarding membrane ﬁltration skids, controls/automation and atmospheric tanks, MP&C sees signiﬁcant growth potential as we penetrate the market for stainless steel and higher alloy ASME pressure vessels.

How does MP&C approach project management?

Several MP&C employees came from small to mediumsized companies that larger corporations acquired. Almost inevitably, such acquisitions drive signiﬁcant cultural change and increased bureaucracy. MP&C is a familyowned business that has successfully expanded its capabilities to be a full-service provider to our customers while re-

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MP&C’s approach to project management heavily depends on the project’s size and nature. Well-defined, small-scale projects flow successfully through MP&C’s process with minimal oversight beyond the salesperson keeping track of project milestones and, along with MP&C design personnel, interfacing with the customer as needed to resolve any questions that surface. Conversely, medium to large-scale projects are assigned a project-specific project manager. The MP&C project manager on large ($20M +) projects will have a clearly defined support team divided by functional areas that indirectly report to the PM to ensure project success.

taining a family-based culture that resonates with our team members. Our employees also appreciate the straightforward, “keep it simple” way we conduct our business. Each person has a role and holds themselves accountable for meeting commitments to internal and external customers. Our focus is on meeting the needs of our customers while minimizing the amount of noise that frequently exists in modern corporations.

Why do employees enjoy working for MP&C?

other obstacles that surface.”

Frain Industries is renting out machines from other OEMs to help bridge the gap of long lead times.

As a result, PFM, like just about every OEM out there is quoting equipment with longer than normal delivery times. These long lead times are not good news for CPGs needing to deliver new products to consumers quickly. And awful news for OEMs that could lose a sale.

Stephanie Neil, Editor-in-Chief

Changing the Equipment Delivery Model

hen it comes to sourcing controllers, components, and other parts for packaging and processing equipment, the problems for OEMs just keep piling“Theup. supply chain as we know it is stretched beyond belief,” says Edward Young, CEO of PFM USA. “It has been a challenge for the last year, and it’s not showing signs of improvement. Anything we thought was an obstacle two months ago may now be under control, but there are always

PFM makes a range of horizontal ﬂow wrappers, vertical form/ﬁll/seal (f/f/s) machines, multihead weighers, and state-of-the art standup pouch equipment. Regardless of

Photography by Frain Industries

BUSINESS MANAGEMENT2022FALL30

the type of machine, if PFM can’t meet the customer timeframe Young knows he’ll lose the deal. “If they’re not buying a machine from us, they’ll go to another OEM and buy from them.”

In that situation, Young recommends the end user get a machine from Frain Industries, a packaging line integration company that offers a wide range of packaging and processing equipment from cappers and conveyors to ﬁllers, wrappers, weighers, and more. According to Frain, the company specializes in integrated solutions, not just single machines, so Frain will get any equipment a customer needs for the project.

Machine rentals

In the past, Frain would buy used equipment to resell into the market. This would make it hard for an OEM selling their new equipment to compete from a cost standpoint. It made for a contentious situation, Young admits. But about six years ago, Frain started buying new equipment from other OEMs, like PFM, and renting— not selling—to customers.

While it may sound strange to point a potential customer to what seems to be a competitor, in this case, it’s a brilliant move. That’s because Frain Industries buys PFM equipment and rents it out to CPGs.

This creates a tremendously unique new business model that completely changes the industry dynamic.

That means when a customer urgently needs a f/f/s machine from

“Frain has historically been viewed as a competitor, but now they’re a partner,” Young says, noting a recent change in the Frain business model that turns the OEMs from foes to friends.

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First, Frain is now a customer, not a competitor, to the OEMs they buy new equipment from. What started with buying new Loma checkweighers and metal detectors now spans to over 40 partnerships, giving Frain an enormous inventory of integrated equipment solutions on site and ready to go.

A bird's-eye view of inside and outside Frain Industries' facility.

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While Frain has been renting new equipment from other OEMs to manufacturers for the past six years, the pandemic and problems with the supply chain has made the model even more appealing to OEMs and end users alike.

“If I can’t deliver equipment to a customer with an urgent need, it is to my advantage to suggest to them that they get one of our machines from Frain,” Young explains. The customer can rent it for a few months while waiting for another PFM machine to be built, or they can continue renting it indeﬁnitely—and even buy it outright from Frain.

“But even if the customer doesn’t buy the PFM machine directly from us, Frain will turn around and re-order a machine because once they send a machine out, they need to restock. So it’s a win-win from my perspective.”

“It’s a ‘gap solution’ says Matt Wheatley, Frain Industries’ purchasing manager. “We are not selling this equipment, we are renting it, so we are not competing with the OEM.”

In fact, this business model sometimes provides the OEMs with a new sales channel.

PFM, like, yesterday, for example, rather than the customer waiting for the OEM to build the equipment, PFM can send them to Frain which already has a standard spec version of the machine on their ﬂoor that Frain can customize and have ready for the customer in a few weeks (not months).

nVenia, a manufacturer of primary, secondary, and endof-line packaging equipment, has also beneﬁtted from the Frain relationship. “What they do affects us in a positive way,” says Paul Ferrandino, nVenia’s senior vice president of sales. “They are the only customer we have that buys our

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“Deploying equipment rapidly is the biggest edge we have to help get projects started and moving cases out the door quicker,” Wheatley says, explaining that large CPGs with millions of SKUs may come out with a new product that only lasts a year and every month they are late getting products on the retail shelves, they lose 10% market share. “That spoke volumes to us. If we helped them get cases out the door and on the shelf in three months, that’s a game changer.”Andthe fact that Frain integrates entire packaging lines, the company is a one-stop-shop for building a turnkey line, including training and maintenance. “They provide a really unique service that many equipment OEMs don’t want to get caught up managing the logistics of,” says nVenia’s Ferrandino. As a result, what nVenia and Frain have is “a true partnership that will continue to grow.”

entire product line across industry segments including CPGs, food and beverage, and agriculture. And when they rent something out, they immediately replace it by buying something from us.”

Renting also gives manufacturers the ability to keep production inhouse vs. outsourcing to co-manufacturers and co-packers. So, when retailer Kroger tells the manufacturer they are putting products in 20 more stores next month, they must ﬁnd a way to ramp up production. Renting from Frain gives the CPG the ability to ramp up quickly and keep the equipment inhouse. “We help bridge the gap of growth,” Wheatley says.

In addition, the rental model appeals to emerging brands that may not have the ability to buy a six-ﬁgure machine. “A lot of startups don’t have the capital. This offers them the opportunity to get up and running and utilize the equipment as an operational expense vs. a capital expense,” says Wheatley.

Mind the gap

Startup solution

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Get up to speed with the basics of machine vision and smart instrument sensors, as well as how data from these sensors can be used by artiﬁcial intelligence to improve operations.

Machine vision refers to a combination of imaging, processing, and communication components integrated into a system for inspecting and analyzing objects. Required components of the image-capture system include lighting to illuminate objects, a camera for capturing images, and a CMOS-compatible vision sensor, which converts light captured through the camera lens into an electrical signal that can be processed as digital image output. Once an image has been digitized, it is sent to an industrial computer or other image-processing device equipped with software capable of using various algorithms and other methods to identify patterns in the objects being viewed.

Machine vision sensors

Various types of vision sensors can be used depending upon the machine vision application. These include:

David Greenﬁeld, Editor-in-Chief, Director of Content, Automation World & David Miller, Contributing Writer

In late summer 2021, Automation World ﬁelded two surveys. One was targeted to the magazine’s readers, consisting of automation end user professionals in a variety of industries, and received 67 responses. The other survey was targeted speciﬁcally to a segment of control systems integrators and received 19 responses. Both surveys wrapped up in late August 2021.

In this installment, the focus is on sensors. Speciﬁcally, machine vision sensors, smart instrument sensors, and the application of artiﬁcial intelligence (AI) to industrial sensor

• Contour sensors. By inspecting the shape and contour of a passing item in comparison to other items on an assembly line, these sensors can be used to verify the structure, orientation, position, or completeness of an object. Often, contour sensors are used for tasks such as verifying the proper alignment of parts.

Peer-to-Peer FAQ: AI, Machine Vision, and Smart Instrument Sensors

data.Let’s

Once a machine vision system is in place, an object sensor is used to detect when a part or component is present. From there, the sensor triggers the light source and camera, which captures an image of the object. The vision sensor then translates the image taken by the camera into a digital output. Finally, the digital ﬁle is saved on a computer

MMI Media Group’s Automation World magazine launched a peer-to-peer FAQ series earlier this year that highlights succinct yet detailed explanations of manufacturing technology, followed by insights from end users and integrators about their selection, implementation, and use. This information is very useful for OEMs as they design new machines, or simply want a refresher on how the technologies work.

• Pixel counter sensors. Used to measure objects by counting the individual pixels of identical gray-scale values within an image, pixel counter sensors are able to determine the shape, size, and shade of items. Possible applications include identifying missing threads in metal parts, verifying the correct shape of injection molded products, and counting the number of holes

start with the basics:

so that it can be analyzed by the system’s software, which compares the ﬁle against a set of predetermined criteria to identify some property of the object, such as what type of product it is, or if it has any defects.

ENGINEERING FALL2022 35

• Lack of precision in 3D point selection; and

• 3D sensors. Unlike other vision sensors, 3D sensors are capable of analyzing the surface of an object and its depth. For instance, a 3D sensor can determine if a crate has a full quota of bottles within it or if the proper number of items has been stored on a pallet.

4. Evaluate the choice of PC-based or embedded vision options. Embedded vision systems are often easier to integrate into existing systems, as they tend to be smaller. Because embedded vision systems tend to be housed in one device, they have few moving parts and require less maintenance.

End-user recommendations

2. Determine the need for color. If color is not necessary to the machine vision application, go with a monochrome version or mode.

Beyond these recommendations, 13 other pieces of application advice were recommended:

• Lack of lighting compensation for proper detection for metallic or shiny objects.

Integrator recommendations

5. Make sure the camera mounting does not interfere with operator interaction with the machine, such as removing failed parts, ﬁxing jams, or performing

Integrators responding to the survey for this FAQ installment listed the following errors as the most common ones they see with machine vision implementations:

8. Reference the VDI/VDE/VDMA 2632-2 standard for machine vision applications. This standard provides a guideline for machine vision technology suppliers and users related to setting up a machine vision system for speciﬁc tasks.

3. Realize the bigger picture—with vision systems you can go beyond rejecting defective parts. The data you collect about defects gives you the opportunity to identify and ﬁx performance issues on your production

• Code readers. These sensors recognize barcodes and other 2D codes for reading product packaging labels and sorting products by serial number for inventory management purposes.

11. Spend the money for the best but be mindful that price doesn’t necessarily equal value. One respondent noted: “Shiny metal pieces can be difﬁcult to detect” regardless of which system you choose.

12. Explore machine vision start-ups to access the latest capabilities. “This space is evolving quickly with lower

5. Don’t overlook granular details such as sensing distance and accuracy. Such factors can have dramatic impacts on the applications for which the machine vision technology is initially installed and its adaptability to process changes.

7. Environmental operating conditions. Verify that the machine vision systems you’re investigating are guaranteed to function in your operating environment.

1. Be very clear about the current process requirements, as they help narrow down what to expect from the vision system.

4.Theline. production process should allow ample time for inspection by the vision system best suited to your application.

2. Develop an in-house vision team to help in the selection and programming of the vision system(s). Similarly, other respondents recommended having a clear internal owner who’s in charge of support and changes before going into production with the vision system.

ENGINEERING2022FALL36

• Not compensating or correcting for moisture on the lens;

9.The vision system should have data trending capabilities and be able to provide real time data to the process equipment to allow for making changes onthe-ﬂy.

10. Record and store pass/fail data for continuous improvement.

Compared with machine vision selection recommendations from integrators—which tend to focus on core feature/ functionality aspects, reader recommendations spotlight application tips and advice. Most commonly, readers focused on ease of use and solid tech support from the vendor. These two factors were cited most often, as vision system accuracy and correct conﬁguration are critical to successful application of the technology.

• Improper center distance from the sensor;

6. Ensure Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) connectivity. This includes available Ethernet ports as well as applicability of various industrial communications protocols.

7.Make sure the vision system works with your room lighting and be prepared to add lighting as needed.

8. Find a good vision system integrator—successful setup of machine vision often requires a good integrator.

As part of Automation World’s research on this subject, they asked system integrators to share their top recommendations for the selection and implementation of machine vision. When it comes to the selection process, eight key aspects were clear:

• Incorrect mounting of the camera/sensor for the given setup;

within a rotor.

1. Evaluate the sensor type used in the camera—CMOS or CCD. CMOS tends to be preferred over CCD because of its ﬂexibility and greater range of options.

3. Consider the machine vision system’s compatibility with existing systems and other installed technologies with which the machine vision system will operate.

6.Lookmaintenance.foramachine vision system with an intuitive and easy to understand operator interface.

• Expect to spend more money than planned when bringing your ﬁrst smart instrument systems into use.

• Make sure the instrument has the communication options you seek now and, potentially, in the future; i.e., open communication options are often preferred.

Robotic pick-and-place operations on a production line can similarly beneﬁt from AI-driven machine vision. Often, robots performing these operations are trained using teach pendants or hand-guiding procedures that require operators to manually guide the robot arms through each step in a standardized operation. If a work-cell conﬁguration or the items to be handled change, the robots must be manually reprogrammed. However, when an AI-driven machine vision system is used for guidance instead, robots can automatically calibrate themselves. This functionality is particularly useful in environments with rapid change-

Artiﬁcial intelligence can play a substantial role in making use of the data collected by sensors. For example, in machine vision, where the images captured cannot be analyzed without a software algorithm, this process often entails the use of ﬁxed rules determined by a human programmer and do not qualify as AI-driven. In these cases, data is extracted from object images in the form of various criteria, such as measurement or object type, and then compared against pre-established target values to make a decision pertaining to the object.

Smart instruments are typically deﬁned as instruments that have been imbued with measurement and diagnostic capabilities beyond their primary function. For instance, a device such as a Coriolis ﬂow meter would qualify as a smart instrument because it is capable of measuring mass, volume, and density simultaneously. To do this, smart instruments rely on intelligent sensors capable of interfacing with onboard microprocessors. In addition to the sensor, a transmitter gives the instrument the ability to communicate data over a network.

Moreover, because smart instruments can process data natively, they can also bypass lower-level control systems to transmit information directly over the internet or a private digital network, saving space, power, and computational resources. This also allows operators to access maintenance, calibration, and commissioning data via mobile devices such as phones or tablets, rather than having to visit ﬁxed workstations.Finally,smart instruments are capable of engaging in self-diagnostics and can report potential calibration issues to operators before they occur. By assessing their own outputs against traceable and well-established calibration standards, smart instruments can self-conﬁrm the quality of the data they produce. Like their ability to record and transmit multiple process variables simultaneously, this would not be possible without intelligent sensors capable of interfacing with an embedded microprocessor.

In contrast, AI-driven machine vision quality inspection relies on deep learning technology, which employs a deep neural net (DNN) inspired by real biological processes to ingest and process large amounts of visual data. Through the use of a DNN, a machine vision system can autonomously create rules that determine the combination of properties that differentiate quality products from those with defects. This not only allows the system to learn how to detect more subtle and qualitative imperfections, but it may also improve the ﬂexibility of quality inspections systems by allowing reconﬁguration to proceed autonomically. In essence, an AI-driven machine learning system could generate its own set of rules for determining whether a new product should pass or fail inspection merely by viewing a set of images of both good quality and defective items.

Smart instruments sensors

• Be sure to review the manufacturer’s speciﬁcations to ensure the instrument can deliver the results you’re seeking.

• Verify the instrument’s accuracy and repeatability.

Ultimately, the intelligent sensors that drive smart instruments record the same process variables such as level, temperature, pressure, and proximity as analog base sensors. However, a base sensor is calibrated to send a voltage signal directly corresponding to one of these process values to an external control system which then interprets and acts on the information. By contrast, an intelligent sensor uses its own onboard microprocessor to convert the data into a usable, digital format before any communication to external devices occurs. In other words, whereas a base sensor’s output is raw and must be converted into a usable format by an external device, an intelligent sensor produces output that is ready-to-use. Similarly, because the intelligent sensor does not need to pass analog voltage signals to an external control system, it can process, record, and transmit multiple variables simultaneously.

Integrators responding to our survey noted the following as their top seven pieces of advice when it comes to selecting smart instruments with advanced sensing technology:

• Choose an integrator with proven experience working with the sensors and instruments you select.

costs alternatives,” noted one respondent.

Application of AI to sensor data

13. Take the time to do a proof of concept with two to three vendors to compare results and drive competition among suppliers.

• Carefully review climatic condition requirements.

ENGINEERING FALL2022 37

Usage recommendations

While smart instruments may be “smart” in terms of the additional insights they can provide about the processes they’re monitoring, they still need handholding when it comes to successful implementation and use.

• Ensure that the instruments are compatible with existing systems in your facility.

• Part and product positions on conveyors;

• Torque, temperature, and vibration analyses.

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• Quality inspections; and

• Choose AI technologies that can be applied to multiple processes.

• Be generous with your database sizes.

Most importantly, integrators advised manufacturers to “get started ASAP” in applying AI to sensor data. With more than a quarter of the market already using it, those who lag in AI adoption could ﬁnd themselves at a signiﬁcant disadvantage from an operational uptime viewpoint as well as in longer-term strategic decision-making capabilities.

users noted the following speciﬁc types of applications in which they are using AI:

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• Leverage existing data with AI before adding more sensors, as you may already have enough data to make a positive impact.

• Take advantage of new cloud-based AI/ML (machine learning) services that can simplify and/or accelerate model development and deployment.

• Explore AI technology startups focused on industrial data.

• Component and product inspection;

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AI application trends

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• Overall asset health;

• Start small with a couple of your most critical/valuable assets; don’t try to boil the ocean.

ENGINEERING2022FALL38

Among the more interesting insights derived from the research for this article are the differences in the types of devices or systems using AI on sensor data cited by end users and integrators. For integrators, the top three AI-enabled systems being applied to sensor data are: controllers (50%), manufacturing execution systems (33%), and edge devices and cloud applications (tied at 33% each). For end users, the top three AI-enabled technologies are controllers (53%), drives (33%), and manufacturing execution systems (27%).End

Looking beyond general applications of AI to sensor data, integrators also had several tips about speciﬁc application types that can be especially useful. These tips include:

overs or a high-mix of different products, which mandate frequent reconﬁguration.

• Seek out technologies that provide for ﬂexibility in changing AI algorithms; this can be particularly useful in applications requiring micron-level accuracy.

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Many things can fall under the umbrella of CSR including meeting ethical standards within the business, participating in charitable giving, volunteering, improving labor policies, and improving the company’s environmental impact. The fact is, when done well, CSR affects everything from current employees to talent retention, attractiveness to customers, and even overall company success.

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The company isn’t just addressing environmental sustainability. In 2014, Coca-Cola invested around $126 million in CSR projects including “healthy living initiatives, water stewardship programs, education, women’s empowerment, humanitarian, and disaster relief programs.”

Many other CPGs are focusing their CSR efforts on saving plastics from entering the world’s oceans, taking a stance against human trafﬁcking, and choosing only fair trade. Method, the personal and home care products company, has focused efforts on ensuring transparency in its supply chains. The company supports the goals of the California Transparency in Supply Chain Act, “which

One such way is Coca-Cola’s World Without Waste initia-

tive that focuses on three key areas. As part of the design focus, the company aims to make 100% of its packaging recyclable globally by 2025, use at least 50% recycled material in its packaging by 2030, and lastly reduce the use of virgin plastic derived from non-renewable sources by a cumulative 3 million metric tons by 2025.

hen you think of the term sustainability, you may think of reducing material usage and lowering your carbon footprint. Or maybe you envision increasing your recycling efforts and planting trees. Those are all great, but another part of sustainability factors in building a better future for both your company and the world. And you can achieve that through corporate social responsibility (CSR).

Additionally, its reuse goal is to have at least 25% of all beverages worldwide by volume sold in reﬁllable/returnable glass or plastic bottles, or in fountain dispensers with reusable packaging by the year 2030.

Expanding the Sustainability Mindset: How to Be a Good Corporate Citizen

SPECIAL REPORT2022FALL40

In today’s changing workplace, social responsibility emerges as a key company policy.

Many companies today have grasped the importance of CSR and have made strides to actively participate in measures to lessen their environmental impact to improve the world as a whole. Consumer packaged goods companies (CPGs), especially, are taking a tailored approach. Take for instance, the Coca-Cola company. As the world’s largest nonalcoholic beverage company, it produces a lot of plastic bottles, and as such, is taking measures to lessen the impact of the waste associated with those bottles.

Liz Cuneo, Contributing Writer

SPECIAL REPORT FALL2022 41

Many companies are focusing on both policy and products. Intralox, a leading conveyance solutions provider is undertaking a global, cross-functional initiative to continuously improve the environmental sustainability of its plastic products. The company is also committed to CSR, integrating community investment considerations into its decision making and business practices and assists in local capacity building to develop mutually beneﬁcial relationships with Intraloxcommunities.saysitcontributes to its host communities’ quality of life by supporting innovative programs in health, education, social services, the environment, and cultural, civic, and other projects. The company also leads criminal justice reform efforts locally, in its home state of Louisiana.

Then there’s the Bumblebee Seafood Company. The food brand works to champion sustainable fishing and advocate for fishers, while providing its consumers with only sustainable seafood.“The responsible management of fisheries from which we source is central to our programs. We supply products from sustainable, healthy fisheries and from areas that have action plans to return the fishery to a thriving state. Our commitment is that all seafood sourced will be externally recognized as sustainable or in a formal program moving towards certification by 2025.”

Watch a short video on Bumble Bee Seafood Company’s Seafood Future initiative. h ps://thebumblebeecompany.com/impact/

Right now, 71% of the company’s seafood supply is externally recognized as sustainable by a certiﬁcation system validated by the Global Sustainable Seafood Institute (GSSI) or is moving toward certiﬁcation by the year 2025.

OEM and suppliers up their CSR game

continuously updating our code of ethics to ensure a common set of rules and standards for all to adhere to.”

“In 2021, we introduced a goal of doubling representation at the leadership level of women globally and minorities in the U.S. by 2030… We’re also committed to creating positive change in the communities where we live and work. Education is an area of particular importance to us because we know it can be the catalyst to great opportunity for under-resourced communities and minority populations. We are now focusing our giving efforts, pledging $200 million over the next 10 years to organizations that address the vital issue of education inequity, with a particular emphasis on the development of children and youth. This commitment underscores our vision to create a more equitable future for all.”

As part of its World Without Waste campaign, the Coca-Cola Company teams up with Bill Nye to unveil an animated short ﬁlm that illustrates the holistic recycling process.

Emerson, the automation solutions provider, places a strong emphasis on both diversity and sustainability. The company has strong messages regarding modernizing the workplace, as well as supporting education initiatives. In a recent statement, CEO Lal Karsanbhai shared the company’s vision:

Both education equity and diversity in the workplace are excellent efforts that offer far-reaching beneﬁts. Diversity, especially, is a very important topic in today’s changing

requires companies to disclose the efforts they have made to ensure that their supply chains are free from slavery and human trafﬁcking.” Within this, the company works to ensure that “quality and safety standards are maintained throughout our supply chain and that workers are treated fairly and in accordance with all applicableThroughlaws.”transparency in supply chains, Method is choosing to focus energy on improving the lives of its employees, as well as the companies and individuals involved in creating and shipping its products.

A more socially responsible mindset is not only growing amongst CPGs. OEMs and suppliers are also developing CSR programs that commit to the well-being of their community and society through environmental and social initiatives. Take for instance Arnold Fastening Systems, an automotive parts supplier out of Rochester Hills, Michigan. The company includes CSR as one of its top ﬁve global strategic direction initiatives.

“Some of the practical ways we embrace CSR include eco-friendly designs of our products, processes, and facilities to reduce our carbon footprint, promoting diversity within our workforce, giving back to our local communities, and ensuring business decisions are ethical,” says Arnold CEO Bill Clark. “More specifically, we are adding hundreds of charging stations globally to replace our entire company vehicle fleet with electric cars. [We are also] defining, tracking, and responding to key diversity KPIs, sponsoring local area schools and organizations, and clearly defining and

•Participating in

According to the Digital Marketing Institute, the most common forms of CSR include:

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While some of these examples listed above are global initiatives that may only be feasible for large companies, the truth is that any sized company can leverage CSR to satisfy today’s conscious consumer and create a plan to offer better business practices within every facet of the organization. If you’re just starting out on this path, the ﬁrst step may be to simply introduce and educate your employees about what social responsibility is and how you want to incorporate it into your company’s code of ethics. After that, start with small, manageable measures to lessen your

you’re a large corporation or a locally owned family business, corporate social responsibility is an important initiative that not only helps gain customer trust but can have far-reaching beneﬁts, impacting global warming, your employees, and the community. Remember, while corporate social responsibility is primarily about giving back, it also plays a role in your brand image, so stepping up your CSR game is one initiative that could have far-reaching beneﬁts for your company and community.

Whetherbase.

Practical ways to boost CSR

environmental impact or boost your social impact. For example, host local social programs like food drives, blood drives, and even community outreaches like sponsoring a local park, or planting trees.

JLS Automation, a product handling, case packing, and carton loading equipment manufacturer, uses several resources and outreaches as part of its position focused on community engagement.

•Community and virtual

equity, and inclusion

•Improving policies

And according to the Digital Marketing Institute, it’s today’s younger generation to thank for this push. The institute reported that Millennials and Generation Z ﬁnd that socially responsible companies are more important today than ever. They believe companies should invest in improving society and look for solutions that assist in those improvements.Aspartoftheir CSR initiatives, and for the sake of transparency, this age group expects companies of all sizes, and across industries, to share how they’re trying to make a positive impact on the world, so the public can see their pro-social initiatives. So, consider leveraging social media platforms to help get your CSR message out to your customer

fair trade

•Charitable global

giving

volunteering

•Socially and environmentally conscious investments

In reality it’s less about the size of the gesture, and more about the heart. Now more than ever, corporate leadership on environmental, social, and governance (ESG) issues is imperative. And so is transparency. Consumers today are more aware of social and environmental issues and want to align with companies that are taking a stand through initiatives and policy.

labor

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workplace and the very deﬁnition is expanding to embrace people of all races, genders, cultures, disabilities, and sexual orientations. Embracing this topic as part of your CSR can go a long way in employee retention and satisfaction.

SPECIAL REPORT2022FALL42

•Reducing carbon footprints

•Corporate policies that beneﬁt the environment

“A practical way for any organization to practice corporate social responsibility is to create awareness and educate your team,” says Craig Souser, president and CEO of JLS. “We’ve had multiple speakers such as clergy, police chiefs, and community leaders come to speak to the diversity, equity, and inclusion issue. We’ve created scholarships for students of color, [but] if ﬁnancial support is not feasible or limited, then donate some time from your team to support local organizations. We’ve done everything from helping clean up a Veteran’s Memorial annually to sponsoring Pride Night at the local minor league baseball team.”

•Diversity,

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ASSOCIATION NEWS

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In addition to networking with industry peers, hear from keynote speaker Dawn Hudson, former President and CEO of Pepsi Cola North America and former Chief Marketing Ofﬁcer of the National Football League. Drawing on her own diverse experiences, Hudson shares winning business strategies for women, including clean communication, emotional intelligence, leadership techniques, and tips for elevating your networking and negotiation game. PPWLN serves to recruit, retain, and advance women’s careers in packaging and processing through fastship.ingdevelopment,leadershipnetwork-events,andmentor-Registerforthebreak-networkingevent: oemgo.to/ppwlnevent2022

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It’s easier than ever to invest in the skills of your employees and students with the PMMI U Skills Fund. PMMI will match your company’s contributions up to $10,000 per year for work-related, multi-employee training and up to $50,000 per year to support the regional education programs of your choice. Apply today at pmmi.org/skills-fund.

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Designed by PMMI, with support from The International Trade Administration, this free course walks participants through the fundamentals and importance of standards engagement and the development process. The course’s three modules will increase your team’s awareness and knowledge of U.S. and international standards, explain the U.S. and ISO standards development process, and show you how your company can participate in the development of ANSI and ISO standards. Find out more and register for FREE at pmmistandardstraining.com.

• Robots have seen their role in processing steadily expand as IP69K construction standards, AI/machine learning, and enhanced robot vision systems have become more common and affordable.

• The packaging machinery order backlog is estimated to have been worth $3.7 billion as of Dec. 31, 2021. This represents a 19.2% increase from 2020.

• Total U.S. production of packaging machinery is estimated to have been worth $11.2 billion in 2021. This represents 10.8% growth from 2020.

PMMI MEMBERS2022FALL46

Ready to Help Your Business Beneﬁt from Development?Standards

The PMMI Foundation established the Tuition Reimbursement program to encourage and support the efforts of individuals furthering their education. Individuals who work for a PMMI member company can apply for reimbursement of up to $1,000 per jobrelated course. Each member company is eligible for two reimbursements for two different employees per year, not to exceed $1,000 per course. PMMI educational offerings qualify for tuition reimbursement. Find out more at pmmi.org/tuitionreimbursement.

PMMI Manufacturing Excellence (MaX) is a collaborative Member Forum driving efficiencies and streamlining operations by sharing best practices for optimizing business, convening share groups to discuss best practices, and developing focused training to improve operations. Facilitated by PMMI’s Industry Relations Committee, MaX Member Forum’s three share groups will focus on identifying challenges and creating solutions around sales, field service, and engineering topics.Find out how you can participate and download our first free solution memberforum.org.at pmmimax-

The State of the Industry Report, formerly the U.S. Packaging Machinery Shipments Study, establishes and maintains a reliable base of machinery shipment statistics incorporated into an in-depth report on the packaging and converting machinery industry. This report contains the most up-to-date statistics, estimates, and analysis available on the U.S. packaging machinery industry. Most importantly, the project is structured to deﬁne the size of the total market by machinery category. Here is a snapshot of this year’s report:

• The value of domestic shipments of U.S. produced packaging machinery is estimated at $10.5 billion in 2021. This represents 11.2% growth from 2020.

Collaborative MaX Member Forum

State of the Industry: Fast Facts

Attendees will discover solutions they didn’t even know existed from 2,000+ exhibitors displaying the latest technology for over 40 vertical markets in 1.2 million net square feet of exhibit space and 100+ free educational sessions on the show ﬂoor.

PACK Match at PACK EXPO International debuts, providing attendees complimentary personalized, one-on-one guidance with PACK Match Advisors to connect attendees with suitable suppliers.

PACK Challenge, sponsored by PepsiCo, is a brand-new competition bringing high school teams together for a head-to-head machine-building challenge. The winning school will be awarded $6,000 for overall Best in Show with three additional categories to compete in: Filler Performance Gold Cup, Engineering Method/Most Innovative

The Logistics Pavilion A crucial part of the product journey is from manufacturer to consumer. With the boom in e-commerce, The Logistics Pavilion in the North Build-

New Show Features Include:

PACK EXPO International is BACK

Filler Design, and Marketing/Sales. Afterward, the teams will take the machine back to their school, providing future students the opportunity for hands-on experience.

The new Industry Speaks Stage features expert sessions from the PACK EXPO Partner Program, addressing the latest hot button topics and industry trends across multiple industry verticals.

The Healthcare Packaging Pavilion The name is the only thing that’s changed about this gathering ground for life science industries. Innovations for pharmaceuticals, biopharmaceuticals, nutraceuticals, and medical devices will be front and center in this targeted show ﬂoor destination.

The interactive PACK to the Future Exhibit celebrates the role of packaging and processing throughout history and the impact it is poised to have on our future. The PACK to the Future Stage will provide free industry-expert presentations on cutting-edge industry advancements.

PMMI’s flagship show PACK EXPO International returns to McCormick Place, Chicago, for the first time since 2018.“It is vital for the packaging and processing industries to come together and share innovations, connect with colleagues, hear from experts, and see machinery in action. PACK EXPO International 2022 is the most efficient and effective way to do it all,” says Jim Pittas, president and CEO, PMMI, The Association for Packaging and Processing Technologies. “No other event this year will showcase entire production line solutions and offer attendees everything needed to compete in a changing marketplace.”

The one-day Emerging Brands Summit debuts at PACK EXPO International 2022 and will feature educational content, tabletop exhibits, and expert advisors. This new program is aimed at founders and leaders of startup manufacturing companies looking to scale their brand to more signiﬁcant production through either in-house facility build-out or outsourced relationships with contract manufacturers and packagers. For more information go to: emergingbrandssummit.com

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The Processing Zone returns to PACK EXPO International in 2022 along with the new Processing Innovation Stage focusing on the latest breakthroughs in processing. In today’s manufacturing environment, processing and packaging are integrated systems, making it critical to bring both solutions under one roof.

PMMI MEMBERS2022FALL48 Color/MarkPhotosensorsSensors F85RN-ILPFiberOpticSensorwithI/OLinkTechnologyAMulti-FunctionSensorwithDualDisplay Toll Free: 1-877-371-2727 | Web: www.takex.com Ultrasonic Sensors BGS/FGS Sensors

own diverse experiences, Hudson shares winning business strategies for women, including clean communication, emotional intelligence, leadership techniques, and tips for elevating your networking and negotiation game. Registration is now open at: oemgo.to/ppwlnevent2022

Finally, The Technology Excellence Awards will recognize the most innovative technologies not yet shown at a previous PACK EXPO. Attendees can vote onsite on the app or online for their favorite ﬁnalists selected in speciﬁc market segments.

In addition to PACK Challenge, PACK EXPO International offers additional programs and activities to get students excited about careers in packaging and processing:

In addition, PACK EXPO International offers the highest quality connections through specialized networking events such as the Packaging & Processing Women’s Leadership Network Event, which tackles timely issues facing women in the industry. At this year’s networking breakfast, hear from keynote speaker Dawn Hudson, former chief marketing ofﬁcer at the National Football League and former president and CEO of Pepsi Cola North America. Drawing on her

Visit packexpointernational.com to learn more about the exciting show features, search for exhibitors, and register. Registration for PACK EXPO International is $30 until Sept. 30, which then increases to $130.

ing will be the place to ﬁnd targeted solutions related to the supply chain, including warehousing, fulﬁllment, distribution logistics services, and transportation providers.

The Amazing Packaging Race, sponsored by Emerson, is a fun, educational event where teams from colleges and universities in North America race around the show ﬂoor to complete tasks at the booths of participating exhibitors.

CareerLink Live @ PACK EXPO is an opportunity for Association members and consumer packaged goods (CPG) companies to meet with students and veterans pursuing careers in packaging and processing during one-on-one informational interviews at the show. PMMI will also offer popular training workshops in Chicago to coincide with PACK EXPO International.

PACK EXPO’s annual event PACK gives BACK, sponsored by Rockwell Automation, returns to PACK EXPO International bigger and better than ever! For the ﬁrst time in its Chicago history, the event will be a musical performance, with headlining band STYX taking center stage at McCormick Place. And immediately following PACK gives BACK, the Emerging Leaders Network will host an evening event for young professionals at Punchbowl Social in downtown Chicago.

Returning favorites include unmatched show floor education on three Innovation Stages and at The Forum. The Forum will feature interactive sessions, including small group discussions and Q&A sessions. The Innovation Stages on the show floor provide quick presentations on breakthrough technologies and techniques focused on a wide range of industry-specific solutions.

The Future Innovators Robotics Showcase is where high school robotics teams from across the country showcase their design, engineering, and troubleshooting skills.

SEE IT. EXPLORE IT. EXPERIENCE IT. PACK EXPO International is back in Chicago, giving you the unmissable opportunity to explore technology, materials and reinforce industry connections. Discover innovative solutions for packaging and processing, automation, sustainability, e-commerce, and more at the most comprehensive packaging and processing event in the world in 2022! LEARN MORE & REGISTER NOW FOR ONLY $30 2000+SUPPLIERSLEADING FULL-SCALEMACHINERY 100+ SESSIONSFREE 40+INDUSTRIESVERTICAL October 23–26, 2022  Chicago, IL USA  McCormick Place  PACKEXPOINTERNATIONAL.COM 7 PAVILIONS INCLUDING 3 NEW HOTSPOTS:

www.zero-max.com 800.533.1731 KEYLESSSHAFTCONNECTIONS OVERLOADPROTECTION SHOCKPROOFING HIGHTORQUEREGISTRATION From Food Processing and Case Packers to Filling and Pouching Systems •Comprehensive Portfolio of Solutions to Solve Motion Transmission, Control, and Safety Needs •Servo Couplings, Overload Safety Couplings, Keyless Connections, Right Angle Gear Drives • Large Inventory of Field-Proven Designs • Standard Models / Fully Customizable •Engineering Assistance / Fast Delivery

4. Take full advantage of social events. People do business with people they know, like, and trust. Social events present a great opportunity to connect in a casual setting that can lead to business conversations. Review the event schedule to identify social events being held. Arrive early and scout the venue for deco-

EXPO International From booth etique e to follow-up campaigns, here are seven steps to a more successful show. eﬀerson Davis, Exhibiting Productivity Expert, Competitive Edge

Key Actions During and A er PACK

2. Hold a brief end-of-shift or end-of-day in-booth staff meeting. The goal is to review each day to discuss

what worked and what didn’t and make in-game adjustments.

At-show success tips:

3. Optimize in-booth interactions with visitors. What your staff does or does not do in that short window of opportunity they have with visitors will determine your ultimate exhibiting success. Make sure you have enough booth staffers. Make sure you have a mix of staff, including product managers and technical experts. Be responsive to booth visitors. Spend the ﬁrst few minutes of the interaction learning about who they are, why they are visiting, and what they hope to accomplish. Find out what problems they are facing or what projects they are working on. Uncover a speciﬁc need and focus your product/service presentation on how you can help them address that need. Get feedback from the visitor on how well they feel your service might be able to help them with their need. And then you can collaborate on a clear next action.

ACK EXPO International is right around the corner. Now is the time to sharpen your focus on key actions you and your exhibit team can take during and after the show to have a more successful exhibiting experience.

1. Hold a pre-show exhibit staff prep meeting. Ideally, on the last set-up day in the mid to late afternoon, or, if necessary, the morning before the show opens, gather your entire exhibits team for a preshow kickoff meeting. During the meeting, review the event schedule and booth duty schedule. Discuss exhibiting goals and staff roles. Have the product manager check the solutions featured in the booth with emphasis on who the ideal customer is, what situations might be happening in their packaging process that would create interest or need, and discuss the top messages booth staffers should be able to deliver. Review booth etiquette to be sure everyone’s ready to put their best foot forward. Discuss your lead goal along with your lead capture process. If possible, have your staff practice using the lead capture device before they hit the ﬂoor.

EXHIBITOR’S CORNER MANAGEMENT | SALES & MARKETING FALL2022 51

1. Discuss and secure a commitment to the next step with qualiﬁed visitors. The biggest mistakes booth staffers make are: scanning attendees’ badges too early, not conﬁrming there is a legitimate interest, and not discussing and gaining agreement on what happens next. Be sure to identify what the typical next actions are based on the type of visitor and train your staff on asking the right questions to qualify and capture more information in your lead capture device. And always be sure to discuss what the next action is with each visitor.

LR6-IL Series Modular Signal Towers NE-IL Series Multi-color Signal Beacon Thousands of Items In withStandardizeStock! Come See Us at Booth #S-1440 Streamline costs and signalingIO-Link-enabledperformanceoperationalwithsolutions MGMT: SALES & MARKETING2022FALL52

Post-show follow-up tips:

3. Stay in it for the long haul. Too many exhibitors follow up with information, send one or two emails, and then stop. The philosophy must be, “any lead worth taking is worth following up on for the long haul.” There are many reasons why a potential customer may not be ready to engage. What is important is that you “be there when the buyers are ready to buy—not just when you are ready to sell.” By automating your lead follow-up campaigns and using multiple media, you can maintain your presence. A point of caution: do not make every follow-up attempt about trying to sell. What information can you share with customers over time that will help position you as a knowledgeable, credible, sustaining resource?

To learn more about PACK EXPO International in Chicago, October 23-26th go to: h ps://www.packexpointernational.com.

By applying these seven at and post-show strategies, you will dramatically increase your odds of having a highly productive and proﬁtable PACK EXPO International experience.

rations, food, theme, and entertainment. These are good conversation starters. Be sure to bring business cards, a pen, and a small notepad. Set a goal to interact with a target number of people per hour during the event. Watch for people standing alone and gently approach them and introduce yourself. Focus your questions on who they are and what brought them to the event. Develop a short elevator speech that quickly communicates what you do and how it helps customers. Don’t get too long and deep during the social event. Invite them to your exhibit to learn more and continue the conversation.

2. Follow-up fast. A Harvard Business Review article said that ﬁrst lead responders win the majority of deals. With improvements in lead capture technology, you should be able to upload your key follow-up documents and email immediately upon capturing the lead. This is showing your attendees that you are highly responsive and can make you stand out from your competition.

Faster, simpler integration of robots into machines can accelerate time to market and deliver customer beneﬁts.

Justin Garski, North America OEM segment lead, Rockwell Automation

Now, with some OEMs facing back logs that go out to 2023, there’s clearly a need to work more efﬁciently to get robot-enabled machines to customers faster. But is that possible? It is if you take advantage of advances in robot integration.

For example, both approaches allow you to use add-on instruction (AOI) libraries, which provide preconfigured setup of the parameters and settings needed to control the robots on your machines. This can significantly reduce engineering and configuration time. Vendors are also working on additional libraries to further ease work to the point where you’ll soon have almost out-of-the-box, ready-to-run robot support.

Two integration options

Robot integration provides value well beyond the design and development stage. It can also provide other beneﬁts to you and your customers over the lifetime of a system, including: Improved productivity: Better coordination between robot and control systems can help customers boost productivity and throughput. This is especially true if they’re currently

Robot Integration Strategies to Diﬀerentiate Your Business

PERSPECTIVES ENGINEERING FALL2022 53

tart-up deadlines have always weighed heavily on the minds of engineers tasked with marrying the two worlds of robots and machine control systems. But perhaps never more so than today.

and machine controllers via EtherNet/IP. With this approach, the machine controller typically acts as a supervisor controller. The robot controller still manages all aspects of the robot but synchronizes that operation with the machine controller.

Other beneﬁts

Also, both integration approaches can help you create more standardized machinery. This can save time by allowing you to create an inventory of mostly prebuilt machinery–with only the robot end effector left to incorporate–that you can reuse across a wide range of customer projects.

The traditional process of marrying the two worlds of robot and machine control systems can be onerous and time consuming. The two systems need to be programmed separately. And trying to align their performance can be cumbersome and involve a lot of trial and error.

But modern robot integration options help simplify and ease the process. For example, you could connect the robot

By more easily connecting your robot and machine control systems, or combining them into a single system, you can reduce work for your engineering teams and get machines to market faster.

Another option is uniﬁed robot control. This is made possi ble through partnerships between automation and robot vendors. With this approach, the machine controller directly controls the robot. This eliminates the need for a dedicated robot controller and offers the ability to consolidate the robot’s servo drives and I/O into the system control cabinet.

The approach you use can depend on your application and the robot vendor selected. But in the end, both can help accel erate your time to market.

Demand for robots has surged in the CPG industry as manufacturers seek to create more ﬂexible operations and stay productive amid challenges like COVID-19 and worker shortages. At the same time, today’s robots bring greater complexity. They’re more intelligent and collaborative and require tighter integration with plant and ERP systems.

Both integration approaches are also compatible with emulation and simulation software. This allows you to simulate 100% of your machine and robot’s operations to prove and optimize a process before you assemble hardware. You can also use simulation for control testing and virtual

Simpler, smarter operations: Both integration approaches can simplify visualization and improve how production staff monitors operations.

spending time on mechanical adjustments and equipment synchronization to carry out changeovers.

commissioning, which can help keep machine deployments on schedule.

With EtherNet/IP integration, staff can use preconfigured HMI screens from robot vendors to manage robot and machine operations on the same operator interface. And a unified robot control approach allows you to create one unified source of information for both robot and machine control. This single information source can improve how customers monitor things like efficiency and quality. And it can be combined with software tools and enterprise systems to unleash new insights like predictive analytics.

For example, F.R. Drake, a supplier of load ing systems for cylindrical food products like sausage and cheese sticks, showed what’s possible with robot integration on its SR-400, an automated machine for packaging non-uniform natural casing sausages. The SR-400 uses one controller for everything, from robot control to indexing and conveyance. And because it has a single control environment, the entire system can be managed from one touch screen. The overall machine design is also simpler and easier to maintain.

Flexible machines delivered faster Robot integration options can deliver significant time and effort savings at a time when many OEMs are looking for any opportunity to shorten their engineering cycle. By better connecting or unifying robot controllers with a machine control system, you can create the ﬂexible, high-performing robot applications that your customers want, with the urgency they need.

E oemgo.to/rwrobot2022

asily share this article with your peers:

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Improved ease of support: A skilled worker shortage is making it more difficult than ever for you and your customers to support machines. Unified robot control reduces the burden put on your support team and your customers’ maintenance teams, because they only need to learn oneAndsystem.withunified robot control, your customers only need to call one number for support. There’s no longer any question if a problem is occurring in the robot or control system.

ENGINEERING2022FALL54

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EMERGING BRANDS

OEM: OpX has this strong suite of tools and best practices that are out there for use in the industry, what new areas are being worked on by the network?

OEM: Very interesting, because I know having had some of these podcasts with other members of OpX that you

A conversation with Lisa Rathburn, vice president of engineering at T. Marze i Company.

Sean Riley, Senior News Director

We have three new work products that are underway this year to add to our suite of materials. We really reached out to see what were the challenges that were common across the industry that had some white space for us to go after. And one of those was with respect to Industry 4.0 and an IoT roadmap. Another very critical one with the labor market is onboarding and retention of critical staff within manufacturing. And then the last one is a focus on women in manufacturing and providing a tool and resources that would be inspiring to women in the industry.

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A Path to Success for Women in Packaging and Processing

You’re absolutely right. All of these tools touch on people, processes, and projects, and with the current market and the challenges that we’re all having, what we’re seeing is deﬁnitely a need for tools to help a lot more on the people side and business process side. One of the things that we’re ﬁnding is that companies have a hard time understand-

WOMEN’S LEADERSHIP

n a recent unPACKed podcast, PMMI Media Group’s Sean Riley sat down with Lisa Rathburn, vice president of engineering at T. Marzetti Company. Rathburn is also the current chair of the OpX Leadership Network and a member of the executive council for PMMI’s Packaging & Processing Women’s Leadership Network (PPWLN). The discussion spans new projects underway at OpX, as well as Lisa’s own experience in manufacturing, providing guidance for others looking to create a career in this industry. Here is an excerpt of that conversation

guys have touched on total cost of ownership and things like that…more technical things. And now we’re getting into issues that are affecting the industry, which in my opinion includes Industry 4.0. So, what is the concept behind the Industry 4.0 roadmap?

ing where to start with Industry 4.0. This tool is to help them identify those critical ﬁrst steps to implementing movement in that direction to digitize their manufacturing network. There are common elements that need to be addressed by anyone, regardless of how far they take this and where they go with it. And that’s the intent of the document, just to give people a starting point.

The FAT tool has probably been the one that we have leveraged the most at Marzetti. We were a part of some benchmarking and in sessions and discussion groups around virtual factory acceptance tests early on in COVID, having had to do those virtually with Europe, virtually here in the U.S., and realizing that the way we did FATs in the past wasn’t working. And so, I’m happy to see this tool get revised this year to kind of get refreshed and updated and incorporate a lot of what was in an amendment during COVID on how to do virtual FATs.

OEM: We’ve had this Great Resignation, and we are having such a hard time in manufacturing, and packaging and processing in particular, with keeping people in the workforce or ﬁnding people. In terms of onboarding and retention, who are the critical staff you are addressing that you’re looking to make sure are onboarded and retained?

OEM: I’m excited to see women in manufacturing as a target of OpX as well. What’s the thinking behind the women in manufacturing work product.

Listen to the full conversation here: oemgo.to/unpackedrathburn

When we say attract new talent, make it more well-known that manufacturing is essentially a pretty fun space to work in, and that it is high-tech and that it is a place to learn and grow and problem solve.

WOMEN’S LEADERSHIP NETWORK FALL2022 57

OEM: How have you taken advantage of the OpX Leadership Network work products at T. Marzetti? Do you have any examples of how they’ve beneﬁted the company? Oh, absolutely. So, I’ve been at T. Marzetti now for almost four years in an engineering group that is a corporate group that supports 15 manufacturing facilities across the United States. And it’s a conglomeration of different brands and different products and a lot of different types of projects being run. The OpX toolkit has really helped me share with my engineering team, just some best practices on how to run projects. We have used the RFP tool in reaching out to vendors, so that we had very clear, concise expectations of what we’re asking for in a quote, making sure that we’re deﬁning the scope well upfront, so that we can make sure that we’re having the right dialogue at the start of the project with the equipment suppliers. One other work product that I wanted to mention as well was one of the newer ones on remote access. We found the need of connecting our equipment remotely to the OEMs for troubleshooting and updating software or programming information. And that work package provided six different alternatives of how to do remote access in a secure way, knowing that cybersecurity was a critical issue that every company was trying to solve with this, and that work product actually became a tool that I gave to my IT organization to start the conversations to help us look at the six options, pick what was right for us, and start implementing consistently plant-to-plant. It has been incredibly valuable for Marzetti.

We see this as an opportunity to provide some sort of documentation, some success stories, some inspiration and tips that will help and encourage the women that are currently in the industry, but also be something that can be out there that will also make people want to join. So, bring women to come work in the industry, whether they’re coming right out of school, or if they’re already in a different industry, we want to help the whole manufacturing sector be staffed with top talent, and technical talent. And if there’s something that’s hindering women from working in this type of industry, we want to be able to tear down those biases and take out the assumptions and share what it’s really like, so that there is a perception that it’s a place that you want to go and a place that you want to work.

Yeah, the biggest issue that we hear from our members is that there’s a lack of resources available to that manufacturing space. And a lot of feedback has come around technical resources, such as engineers and technicians, but that’s not it, manufacturing’s also struggling with operational resources, with operators, quality assurance professionals, supervisors on the floor, and so forth. And so, this guideline is to prepare both operations personnel and HR personnel on how to find some best practices to find, onboard, and retain quality employees that fill these positions.Thereseems to be a lot of turnover in these areas, a lot of competition where we’re fighting for the talent just across the industries overall. And so, the goal is to help us learn what’s important to the new generations that are coming in, what’s changing over time, how do we make manufacturing attractive and a place where people want to be?

The Packaging & Processing Women’s Leadership Network is hosting a breakfast at PACK EXPO International in Chicago featuring keynote speaker Dawn Hudson, former CEO of Pepsi Cola North America and former Chief Marketing Oﬃcer at the National Football League. The networking breakfast will be held in room S-100 at McCormick Place on October 25, 2022 from 7:30 a.m.- 9:00 a.m. For more information and to register: oemgo.to/peippwln2022

OEM: It’s awesome to hear that these work products coming out of OpX are actually being utilized out there and you’ve provided some perfect examples of how having these discussions ahead of time and having these best practices are ideal for both sides. So, that’s tremendous.

“I had kept on pushing Peter [Zaﬁro of LinMot] to make a smaller and smaller motor, and he asked me, ‘How many would you buy?’” Brownson recalls. “I answered, ‘Well, how many can you make?’ Because if I can make an all-electric stacker, it would really make efﬁciencies go Brownsonup.”

“I was looking for a IP69K solution for a project that we had, so I went to my vendors and they came up with [linear drive system supplier] LinMot,” he says. “I was introduced to them, and we’ve never looked back.”

alwaysStill,possible.Brownson sought producing an all-electric model because he says LinMot linear servo motors save energy and are highly efﬁcient for his speciﬁc set of applications and customer base. Plus, they allow for a lower total cost of ownership thanks to their comparatively few wear items, and that results in less downtime—especially unexpected downtime. In his experience, these factors bring real-

APPLICATION BRIEF APPLICATION BRIEF2022FALL58

Head-to-head Pneumatic vs. Servo Test Shows CPGs Savings

Forpak puts LinMot’s all-electric linear servo motors to the energy-consumption test to calculate total savings.

More recently, Brownson has had his sights set on building an all-electric, pneumatic actuator-free stacker. But it was a matter of waiting for the right size and shape of linear motion tech to be ready—nothing existed on the market that could ﬁt his application.

ave Brownson, Engineering Manager at Forpak, was the ﬁrst engineer hired onto the food stacking equipment OEM when it opened its doors more than 30 years ago. With three decades under his belt as an engineer with the company, Brownson remembers the days when pneumatics were the only actuator game in town for Forpak machinery applications. He also recalls the ﬁrst introduction of linear servo in the place of incumbent pneumatic technology about six or seven years ago.

ﬁnally saw the LinMot prototype that would do the job at a recent PACK EXPO. Forpak is now developing a machine that is 100% electric with no pneumatic technology. The plan is to exhibit the new machine at PACK EXPO International, to be held Oct. 23-26, 2022 in Chicago.

Ma Reynolds, Editor, Packaging World

It bears mentioning that pneumatics aren’t going anywhere, and they are ﬁrmly ensconced in the controls and automation tool kit. And some operations require pneumatics for safety reasons, in explosive environments for instance, so switching out pneumatic for electric isn’t

The stroke of the LinMot actuator in the Forpak application - this graphic demonstrates the footprint of the axis.

Equipment being tested

The test team ran into one limitation during the test run—the number of data points able to be stored in the PLC. As such, the data pulled was for 15 minutes of run time, and the average power was consistent throughout the study. Running the machine for an additional 45 minutes to achieve an hourly count proved that the data would not have changed. The compressor never turned off in the entire 60 minutes. So, the team says it’s conﬁdent that the data pulled for the entire 60 minutes would have been nearly identical as the 15 minutes test data, extrapolated for the 60-minute test. The power consumption was consistent at 5161 kWh throughout the test.

Stroke 177.8 mm

With the help of Korte from Van Meter Inc. and a Rockwell Automation Power Monitor 5000, actual power consumption was recorded. The Power Monitor traced data points including amperage, time, and kWh from an independent, high-efﬁciency 7 cfm electric air compressor. The team ran the machine for 30 minutes and sampled every 10 msec. This setup does not account for pneumatic line

losses as the air provided to the cylinders had a very short run from the compressor, with no other devices operating on the same air supply.

This Forpak Stacker (Model Number GSS5-8) is a typical electric vertical stacker with pneumatic horizontal cylinders used for stacking products. The test model was a four-lane unit (Model Number GSS5-4). The picture also shows a takeaway conveyor a ached for manual or downstream automated packaging.

Findings

LinMot’s Lin Designer program shows this speciﬁc horizontal pusher application and provides for calculated power consumption for the LinMot actuators and an equivalent pneumatic cylinder. Lin Designer’s pneumatic cylinder power consumption calculations are based on the two most popular pneumatic cylinder manufacturers’ energy power consumption calculations. These are directfrom-the-factory expected energy consumption rates.

But so far, that’s just been Brownson’s anecdotal experience—one man’s opinion. To test the efﬁciency and power savings, Zaﬁro enlisted Brownson, along with Joel Geisel and Adam Shank, both from Hamilton Automation, a LinMot manufacturer representative, and JB Korte of Van Meter Inc., a LinMot distributor. The OEM, automation supplier, and distributors together devised a test of Forpak’s machine using pneumatic actuators as compared to all-electric actuators. The idea was to establish actual power consumption and develop actual energy savings data, and what follows is what came of this testing.

APPLICATION BRIEF FALL2022 59

Forpak stackers occupy a niche in baked product and protein packaging lines that exists between upstream freezers and downstream ﬂowwrapping, bagging, or hand-packaging. Typical products might be frozen hamburger patties, wafﬂes, or cookies that exit the freezer either randomly or semi-organized. That product needs to be oriented, laned, and stacked for downstream packaging equipment.

Slider 270 mm 66.65 mm 161.6 mm

world, long-term savings that are attractive to Forpak’s CPG and brandowner customers.

For this speciﬁc cycle, LinMot’s Lin Designer program estimates 4575 kWh power consumption. The test used the lower of the two values to calculate pneumatic cylinder

“The slide plate and push parts of the stacking were pneumatic, and they always have been, up until just recently,” Brownson says. “Now that LinMot developed the right size actuator, we’re able to do both traditional pneumatic and all-electric, and we performed this test to see the difference.”Forpakassisted by allowing the team access to a typical stacker machine in operation at many end-user sites. The stacker machine is a four-lane machine, with eight pneumatic actuators operating in a horizontal direction.

The savings here are calculated to be $7,320 (pneumatic) minus $388.80 (electric), or $6,931.20 per calendar year. If a plant operates at lower output, say to a 6,000 hours per year schedule, the savings would be $5,198.40 per calendar year.Zaﬁro, Geisel, and Korte note that these values do not include any maintenance or unexpected downtime costs when a pneumatic cylinder fails.

“There are very few mechanical pieces with this type of actuator, so you essentially limit the amount of wear that could happen,” Geisel adds. “And by limiting the amount of wear, it requires less maintenance than what a pneumatic

Reach the PINNACLE of Performance and Reliability

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Test notes: Testing was completed on November 2nd 2021, at Forpak’s manufacturing facility. It was completed by Adam Shank of Hamilton Automation and JB Korte of Van Meter Inc., with the help of Dave Brownson of Forpak. Evaluation and analysis of results were completed by Joel Geisel of Hamilton Automa-

Addingoperation.thisto the more than $6,900 worth of electricity cost savings, Brownson was impressed. He notes that this test was done on a four-lane Forpak stacker machine. A typical Forpak stacker uses between six and 10 lanes, meaning for those machines, the savings will be higher as extrapolated over more lanes.

APPLICATION BRIEF2022FALL60 (866) americas.fujielectric.com/pinnacle238-5127 Ù¨Ò

energy operational cost, as follows:

The 4575 kWh multiplied by a fully loaded $0.20 per kWh (test note: this value is usually much higher, especially when plants run during peak surcharge periods during the daylight hours for most of the calendar year) would yield an expected cost of $915 per cylinder per 8,000 hours of operation per year. Since this machine uses eight pneumatic cylinders, the operating cost for this speciﬁc machine would be $7,320 per 8,000 hours of operation per year.

The equivalent machine using LinMot actuators provided linear motor yields the following power consumption result:The same cycle resulted in 243 kWh for a PS01-23x80FHP-SSCP-R20 motor in a 175 mm cycle in 200 msec and -175 mm in 200 msec with a 600 msec dwell time. The 243 kWh multiplied by a fully loaded $0.20 per kWh would equal $48.60 per LinMot actuator. All eight actuators would cost $388.80 to operate 8,000 hours of operation per year.

“Such fails are more common with frequent cycling applications, such as the one in this study,” Brownson notes. “I’d estimate that replacing a pneumatic cylinder usually takes between 30 to 90 minutes, with typical plant downtime being valued at $15,000 to $20,000 per hour. Even though it’s not considered in this test, downtime is huge.”

Results

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The test study revealed that, at least for this specific application, running eight pneumatic cylinders costs significantly more than eight linear motors. According to data from the world’s two largest pneumatic cylinder manufacturers, the carbon emission savings would be over 4,600 lbs. per cylinder, or more than 36,000 lbs. of CO2 emission savings for this specific machine with the 8,000 hours per year

cylinder would require. You don’t have seals that are breaking down. You’re not losing air, and you’re not having to replace cheaper components more often. There’s just very little wear or necessary downtime.”

Easilytion.

“I was expecting a savings, but I wasn’t expecting this amount of savings,” Brownson he says. “It really will help me in showcasing the new machine in the future—as far as at PACK EXPO International, and for sales in the future also. It shows that the cost of ownership on the front side is going to be a little bit higher, but overall, the course of the life of the machine, it’ll be less.”

As the leaders in packaging and processing solutions, it’s imperative that you understand every facet of your customers’ businesses. The best ways to stay ahead of your customers’ needs and on top of emerging technologies, is to take advantage of PMMI’s FREE market research and industry trend reports, and media brands like Packaging World, ProFood World, and OEM magazine – a technology-driven member publication.

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s the industry faces a skills shortage, the biggest obstacle to overcome is getting teenagers interested in packaging as a career in order to ﬁll the pipeline of future talent. To do that, students must get some exposure to the foundation of manu facturing, like building a machine. And that requires some creativity. Sure, there are plenty of robotics competi tions to pique their engineering inter ests, but what about learning how to design, assemble, operate, and market a machine on a production line?

This year, PMMI’s Future Workforce Committee got very creative and devel oped a program called the “PACK Challenge” that initiates efforts to expand the future workforce in packaging and processing industries.

WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT

The students received a tour of the company’s facilities, where they were able to spend the day learning about SpeeDee’s filling technologies and the career opportunities that the packaging industry offers. Students were able to ask ques tions, get to know more about the competition, and network with their peers. During the visit, the competitors were able to see an example of a finished filling system to help inspire their own designs.

students and nine faculty members for the PACK Challenge kickoff, as well as team members from co-strategic partner Morrison Container Handling Solutions and Siemens, a PACK Challenge sponsor providing training for the controls, HMI, and electrical components they supplied.

Dave Navin, president and CEO of Spee-Dee commented: “The PACK Challenge kickoff at Spee-Dee was a huge success. It was wonderful to see such an engaged group of students ask questions, learn about the packaging industry, and see ﬁrst-hand how a ﬁlling system is designed, manufactured, assembled, wired, programmed, and tested.”

Earlier this year, the PACK Challenge pilot program launched with PepsiCo as the title sponsor and six participating high schools (five from Illinois and one from Wisconsin). Each team received kits that contained the majority of components necessary to build a machine that fills a specified number of marbles into the provided container in a mock production line. The teams have through October of 2022 to design and build their machines, which will be crated and shipped to PACK EXPO International in Chicago where students will be required to set up their filling machines on-site and conduct multiple presentations as part of the competition.

HR | WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT2022FALL62

PACK Challenge Brings Packaging to Life for Students this real-world, end-to-end competition, six high school teams will build a ﬁlling machine on-site at PACK EXPO International 2022.

Stephanie Neil, Editor-in-Chief

In June, Spee-Dee hosted 50 participating high school

Of course, they are not doing this without supervision. Some PMMI members are teaming up to mentor speciﬁc schools, while the strategic partners for the challenge—Morri son Container Handling Solutions and Spee-Dee Packaging Machinery—are mentoring every team and also hosted “build days” at their facilities.

The competition is not just about the design and build, but also the marketing side. “They have to tell us what they are doing and why to come up with a marketing campaign, includ ing what they will spend,” said Nancy Wilson, CEO of Morrison

To learn more or get involved contact Kate Fiorianti at kﬁorianti@ pmmi.org.

To reward the students for their creativity, several prizes are lined up for the winners of PACK Challenge. The overall best in show team will be awarded $6,000, with second place receiving $3,000, and third $1,000. Other awards will include Filler Performance Gold Cup, Most Creative Filler Design, and Marketing/Sales. After the event, the teams will take the machines back to their school, where future students will have the opportunity for hands-on experience and inspiration.

Sponsors: Dorner, Festo, Igus, Rockwell Automation, SICK, SMC, SupportingSiemens

For more information on the PACK Challenge go to: oemgo.to/ packchallenge2022

HR | WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT FALL2022 63

Container Handling Solutions and the chair of PMMI’s Future Workforce Committee. Teams also need to keep an engineer ing journal to track how they approached the development of the ﬁlling process and what they tried and learned along the way, so there’s multiple facets and different areas for the students to work on.

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Then build day took place in July at Morrison Handling Container Solutions where the teams were able to get their hands on the components provided and began the assembly process of their ﬁlling machines that will place marbles into two different size jars, and requires the teams to perform a container changeover.

Title Sponsor: PepsiCo

“Our goal is that each of the schools will end up with ﬁlling machines and we can develop curriculum for them that can be incorporated into the regular curriculum for the school year,” Wilson explained. Ultimately, it means providing that exposure to the packaging industry that many students would likely not have had without this program—which is why PACK Challenge is critical to the future success of the packaging industry. “We’re reaching a group of students we’ve never reached before, and that’s what is exciting about it.”

Organizations: Beckhoﬀ, Belden, Fallas Automation, KHS, Schneider Electric, Triangle Packaging

More than a machine

“Build Day was a positive way to turn over the base equipment and help provide some guidance as the students began to assemble their project,” said Wilson. “The students brought a contagious energy, and it was fun to watch their skills develop and excitement as they began the hands-on build of their machine. Programs like these are needed to grow interest for young people in the packaging industry.”

PACK Challenge Sponsors

Strategic Partners: Morrison Container Handling Solutions, Spee-Dee Packaging Machinery

The teams got a lot accomplished at the Morrison facil ity, then their kits, in whatever state they were in at the end of the supervised build day, were shipped to the schools for completion. The next stop is PACK EXPO International where the teams will set up the machine on-site and be judged in a variety of areas, including design, operator training, change over and sales/marketing.

The PACK Challenge build day at Morrison Container Handling Solutions.

OEM magazine visited AnheuserBusch headquarters in St. Louis in July as part of PMMI’s Roadshow Series, hosted by nearby Barry-Wehmiller. Here, we sat down with Ken VonderHaar, global director of the Anheuser-Busch Can Division, at the Budweiser brewery to talk packaging and partnerships over an icecold beer.

You do both a high volume in glass and a high volume of cans. How do you balance the mix?

The mix shifted a lot during COVID19, where we had about 40% glass and 60% cans, and some percentage was kegs. And of course, during pandemic, all the bars and venues shut down, so a lot more people were taking their 30-packs of cans home. That shifted the mix a little bit more, to higher than 60% cans, but predominantly cans are the higher volume. Cans are continuing to trend up in volume, even before the pandemic, and COVID-19 accelerated that. It looks like cans is going to be the biggest growth package for us moving forward.

Essentially, we’re asking for simplicity.

As Anheuser-Busch responds to consumer demand for multipacks and seltzers— generating many more SKUs—OEMs become an important part of the business strategy.

VOICE OF THE CUSTOMER VOICE OF THE CUSTOMER2022FALL64

You cited that 40% of your workforce is of an age that could potentially retire at any time. Given a tightening labor market, what are you asking of your OEM partners in terms of how they design the machinery?

Stephanie Neil, Editor-in-Chief

Budweiser Talks Remote Access, Payment Terms, and Machine Design

The Anheuser-Busch packaging lines in St. Louis, MO.

But to your point, we are approaching our new projects with earlier involvement with the suppliers and more of a partner ing mindset than we have in the past. Back then, it was really a lump sum, competitive bid type of operation. And we still will do some of that. But in some of the more complex jobs, we will start choosing partners to deal with and then start ﬁguring out what those machines look like to maximize ﬂexibility, minimize complexity, have the training documentation in place, and, again, make the machine as simple as possible.

When do you bring your machine builder partners into the internal conversations about sustainability, whether it’s energy efﬁcient machines or new materials?

VOICE OF THE CUSTOMER FALL2022 65

You mentioned that you are doing some new things in terms of rainbow packs or variety packs. Tell us about your early experiences cutting your teeth with new multipack lines, and what the balance of that will look like going forward, between doing that yourself vs. hiring that out to contract packing.

Would you allow a machine builder to remotely manage your equipment on the plant ﬂoor?

There are two efforts that we’re trying to do with regards to energy efficiency and sustainability. One is to make the current operation more sustainable and more energy efﬁcient. And we absolutely need our equipment suppli ers to come in and help us figure out how to mini

So we’ve installed two lines now that will make a variety pack. And, of course, a variety pack translates to a lot of SKUs that we have to run. We spent years studying what’s the right way to try to install a variety pack line. Do you depalletize or palletize a bunch of product for days and days? And you only make a brand change every three or four days on the ﬁller, and then you mix it together?

The answer, we found out, was that wasn’t really the right solution from an economics perspective. What we’ve chosen to do is make lines with large, full-can accumulation systems on them. About every four hours, we will convert from ﬂavor A

Anheuser-Busch’s Michael Higgins, NAZ Capex Director (le ) and Ken VonderHaar, Global Director, Can Division speaking at the PMMI Roadshow.

It’s always a challenge with our IT team to remote into anything in the brewery. And that’s just because of the risk. I think the trend is there, and we have to figure out how to do that. And at the end of the day, yes, we want to do that. We need to figure out how to do that safely and try to do it in a manner that doesn’t put our operations at risk. We [currently] do that on some of our equipment, but it’s very limited, and it is on equipment that is not accessible to the whole network. So, we will have to figure out how to do that more with the packaging machinery providers.

mize compressed air usage, how to reduce gas usage, and how to limit electricity usage. That is the first step.

We would like for all of the complexity to be under the hood, and we would like an operator interface that’s very simple, that’s easy to understand, and that our younger employees are able to interface with some type of video screens. We also look for set-up procedures that are built into the operator screen. And we’d love it if they could help with training our operators to do that, also.

We have certain targets around weighted average payment terms that are set by our Board of Directors. And we understand that long payment terms are not popular with our suppliers and really, quite honestly, we’re not trying to make things tough for our suppliers. We recognize that that is a burden there. But what we will try to do is work with the suppliers to try to perhaps change our progress payments, to try to get money earlier into the process. Or, generally speaking, try to partner with them a little bit more to work with better overall terms and conditions. Maybe not necessarily the payment terms, but say liability terms and that type of thing. Then we can work with them to make it an easier contract for them to sign.

Listen in to part of the conversation with VonderHaar here

Payment terms, especially extended payment terms, are often a sore spot at the intersection of OEM and CPG, especially with large CPGs. How do Anheuser-Busch and Budweiser packaging operations approach their equipment vendor relationships with regards to extended payment terms?

to flavor B, and C, and D. And then once we’re running flavor D, we will merge the other three flavors together into the packer and put them together into a variety pack.

We decide, for example, do we put [pneumatic scale] Angelus seamer in this training center or a Ferrum seamer? We decide that on a couple of factors. Number one, how many Angelus machines do I have versus Ferrum machines? And in this particular case, I have a lot of Angelus machines and only a few Ferrums. But it also depends on risk—if we’re having a lot of problems on a Ferrum because our people don’t know how to work on the machine, we will make a decision to put that machine into our training center. But for the most part, it’s based on where our biggest knowledge gaps are around daily operation, which means if there’s a machine that we have more of, we will tend to pick that one, since that one creates the most risk of downtime.

aluminum supplier and when he wants to try to put recycled product into his work stream there, but it can be a very quick turnaround, and it’s inﬁnitely reusable.

Seltzers were a recent big trend for beverage manufacturers small and large. Will we see them keep growing, or give way to something new?

We have a lot of new innovation that’s primarily around the package and the ﬂexibility around the different types of pack ages. You will see us introducing, say in the next year or so, a completely new package for a machine that was developed in-house by Anheuser-Busch. It will be introduced into the market for some secondary packaging for bottles.

VOICE OF THE CUSTOMER2022FALL66

What’s the speed of recycling and circularity with your bottles and cans, as it relates to making your own or buying them from suppliers?

So what’s the next big thing coming out of Budweiser on the packaging side of things?

In the current labor environment, training is key, and you’ve made an investment in a bricks and mortar training facility. But with so many production facilities, each with so many lines, and so many different pieces of equipment across your enterprise, how do you select what equipment to purchase and install in the training facility?

And that’s always in competition with just getting highvolume brands out the door. You can run our high-volume brands—say, Bud Light—for a week. And the question is always a balance between how much of that do I want to do? How much do I want to let co-packers manage that complexity segment, versus how much do we want to do it in-house? And it really comes down to what is the cost of co-packing. And in some areas, the cost is fairly high, and it allows us to make a pretty signiﬁcant investment in-house and make a good economic return ourselves. And in some other areas, it will not.

Once the consumer recycles the can, it’ll go back to the smelter. And the turnaround time with these operators is very short, or at least it can be very short. It’s at the point where smelters can turn that [recycled can] into a coil in just a matter of days, and a few days later get that coil back to us. And if we make a can in our can plant down in Arnold, Mo., 30 miles south of here in St. Louis, we will typically ﬁll it [with beer] within a day of it being made. And then it’ll be on the market within a couple of days after that. Obviously, it depends on the

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It’s hard to say what the next trend is because the consumer defines the next trend. We think that the seltzer market still has more legs to it—more flavors and that type of thing—but our innovations team is constantly working on all kinds of different brands and all kinds of different varieties to try to figure out what the next big thing is going to be. We’ll test market that and see what sticks.

We have two operations that do that. We have two different design concepts on how that is done. And as with anything, there are pros and cons to each design concept. But essen tially, it’s full-can accumulation, and then we’re running it to the packer. What we have found, of course, is that adds great complexity. It increases our changeover time, and it reduces our yield for the line because we’re constantly changing to the new ﬂavor.

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Powerful Research Designed to Move Your Business Forward

The multi-axis system features the Festo Motion Control Package (FMCP) for UR, which is a complete motion control panel for up to four axis motion. The FMCP is fully integrated with the UR cobot control panel and HMI and features a UR safety I/O and communications Ininterface.addition to a seventh axis used for linear transfer, the FMCP can control turning tables, automatic storage systems, conveyors, and transfer tables, all under the UR umbrella. The FMCP has extra space within the panel for future expansion and brackets for wall mounting, which reduces footprint.

The Snap Platform saves all relevant process data and creates a traceable visual record of every unit. Data is catalogued for easy search and analysis. This not only helps with traceability, but also allows for the discovery of yield loss sources. Users can determine the root cause of losses with data post-processing.

an end-to-end, artiﬁcial intelligence (AI) vision inspection solution. Advantech is a leading provider of industrial Internet of Things (IoT) and edge hardware technology. Overview, founded by Tesla automation engineers, develops vision inspection platforms leveraging deep learning to automate and improve inspection processes. The Snap Platform from Overview is an adaptable machine vision solution that handles everything from device management, algorithm development, product quality support, and traceability. When integrated with smart cameras, such as the Advantech ICAM-500, the Snap Platform automatically inspects from a PLC trigger, interval, or—in the case of video events—continuous capture.

Advantech, Advantech.com

Multi-Axis Cobot

NEW PRODUCTS2022FALL68

The seventh axis is also used for extending the range of action for a UR cobot in such applications as palletizing and machine tending. Festo EGC belt-driven or ball-screw linear axes comes equipped with a cobot mounting plate. The EGC has an energy chain for cable management and servo motor optimized for performance. Standard EGC axes are available in lengths of up to 8 m with up to 10 m axes available by request.

AI Vision Inspection

Overview, overview.ai

Advantech and Overview have joined forces to oﬀer manufacturers

Embedded with Nvidia Jetson Nano modules, Advantech’s new ICAM-500 AI camera combines an industrial-grade image sensor, advanced LED lighting, and a variable focus lens with acquisition and AI computing capabilities. These features enable systems integrators and so ware vendors to integrate AI and machine vision into applications, while also eﬃciently performing AI automated optical inspection (AOI), AI optical character recognition (OCR), and object recognition at the edge.

Festo, festo.com/us/en/ Festo is in development of its multi-axis oﬀering for Universal Robotics (UR) cobots. The certiﬁed UR system adds up to four axes of motion beyond the UR cobot six axes. This lowers customer engineering time and speeds startup as it arrives ready to install.

No programming is involved in set up and no additional PLC is required, as multi-axes are conﬁgured through the UR HMI. Users simply set position, speed, and acceleration on the HMI or, using the URCap toolbar, move the axes in manual mode to conﬁgure motion.

In a typical common DC bus servo system, Melservo-J5D servo amplifiers are connected on a DC bus bar connected to a MR-CV power regeneration converter unit. The MR-CV converts 400VAC power to DC. Regenerative energy can then be shared among the different servo drives or recaptured and returned to the power supply, improving overall energy efficacy of a machine.

NEW PRODUCTS FALL2022 69

•Maximum allowable torque: 295 -lbs (400 Nm)

The coupling’s aerodynamic profile decreases noise while optimizing performance at high speeds. Simple yet reliable, the ASK coupling is easily configurable to accommodate a wide range of distance between sha ends (DBSE). Bores can be arranged with clamp, taper-lock, or keyed styles for specific application requirements.

Therequired.secure-by-design controllers oﬀer open communications through native, pre-licensed support for OPC UA Secure and other common industrial protocols for ﬂexible connectivity over high-speed Gigabit Ethernet. IEC 61131 and C programming languages help engineers write and run the high-performance algorithms that enable proprietary production strategies and advanced automation technologies.

•Bore size range: 0.118 in. to 2.17 in.

ASK Couplings

The coupling offers exceptional torsional stiffness and strength and is designed to assure accurate sha rotation with precise control. The coupling is available in different materials that dampen conductive heat transfer from motor to output sha . Also important, the coupling provides limited sha misalignment to alleviate premature system bearing wear.

Miki Pulley stainless-steel ASK couplings feature a unique “sliced” body structure, making them an eﬀective corrosion-resistant solution that can accommodate many types of misalignment. The one-piece ASK coupling design compensates all types of system misalignment in a sha -to-sha connection. The sliced design handles high rotation speeds in high temperature ranges experienced in food.

Mitsubishi Electric Automation, us.mitsubishielectric.com/fa/en Made for OEMs designing machines with energy conservation in mind, Mitsubishi Electric Automation’s Melservo-J5D servo ampliﬁers are ideal for medium to large servo applications that require multiple drive units capable of managing regenerative energy. Available in 400V and 1kW to 7kW capacity, the ampliﬁers expand the existing drive capabilities for the Melservo-J5 portfolio and are compatible with Melservo-J5 servo motors (HK-KT/ST/RT/MT).

•Ambient operating temperature: -40°F to 248°F

•Backlash: Zero

•Maximum rpm: 11,500

When multiple MR-J5D-G4 drive units are connected to an MR-CV_4 power regeneration converter unit by a common DC bus connection, the regenerative power of one axis can be used for driving other axes, contributing to energy saving. The MR-CV can also return regenerative energy to the power supply for other power requirements. Common DC bus connection reduces overall wiring requirements and eliminates the need for multiple MCCB or MC branch protection devices. Cables are managed above and below the servo ampliﬁer, enabling a clean panel design.

Basic ASK coupling speciﬁcations are:

Servo Ampliﬁers

Emerson, emerson.com/en-us/ Emerson recently release its PACSystems RSTi-EP CPE programmable automation controllers (PAC). This new family of compact PACs helps OEMs meet customer requirements by minimizing the need for specialized so ware engineering talent. CPE 200 controllers will deliver large programmable logic controller (PLC) capability in a small, cost-eﬀective, IIoTready form factor so machine manufacturers do not need to sacriﬁce performance for price.

Miki Pulley, mikipulley-us.com

Compact Controller

To stay competitive, today’s OEM machine builders must provide equipment that is ready to support analytics and give end users competitive advantage through increased eﬃciency, speed, and quality. But they can struggle to program and deliver machine control systems on time and within budget with the performance, security, and ﬂexible connectivity

www.eammosca.com | info@eammosca.com | 570-673-0650

The GN 817.7 is made of robust stainless steel and is available in four plunger diameters and three functional variants. The indexing plunger operates with pressures between 4 and 6 bar, while the IP 67-compliant sensor emits DC signals between 12 and 30 volts.

Your Turn Key Strapping System Partner

In addition to being pneumatically actuated, the part also detects both end positions with just a single sensor. The GN 817.7 can replace the manually operated indexing plunger, GN 817.6, without changing dimensions or signal processing. The new plunger can also be used in hard-to-reach locations and integrates into automated processes.

The position detection is proven magnet technology with added innovation. Not only are both end positions now detectable, but they can also be individually deﬁned. Perform the sensor teaching directly on-site with a small operating element on the sensor, held in place by a clip and supported by a cable. There are even LEDs for visual feedback. The other option for teaching is to use the convenient IO-Link feature via the system control unit. This standardized interface makes teaching easy and allows immediate replacement in the case of faults, signiﬁcantly reducing downtime.

Smart Pneumatic Indexing Plungers

NEW PRODUCTS2022FALL70

JW Winco, jwwinco.com

Call today for a free in-plant survey or virtual consultation.

When considering an end-of-line strapping system partner, choose the leader with years experience.

Shown: USI-Sonixs island system featuring SoniXs sealing technoloy, indexing head and strap lance.

Scan to watch the USI-SoniXs in action!

The high signals upon reaching the respective end positions are transmi ed directly over the 4-pin M8 cable plug to the control unit of the system.

industry

Our machines easily integrate with other equipment in the packaging process, and our engineers collaborate with you for a hassle-free solution providing optimum performance and value. We’re committed to after-market service and support, continuing the relationship beyond the machine purchase.

JW Winco expands its indexing plungers’ range while adding new technical functionality. The latest addition, type GN 817.7, is pneumatically actuated and can be integrated seamlessly into automated processes thanks to state-of-the-art sensors.

Cost-effective, convenient training... just for you. Industry Training Support your training through the PMMI U Skills Fund, a workforce investment matching program. pmmi.org/skills-fund Fundamentals of Field Service Improve your service technician team’s customer service skills and boost customer satisfaction (PMMI members only) Oct. 23-24, 2022 PACK EXPO International; Chicago, IL Certified Trainer Workshop Provide better machinery training for your customers while enhancing safety Oct. 23-24, 2022 & Oct. 25-26, 2022 PACK EXPO International; Chicago, IL Risk Assessment Workshop Learn risk assessment basics and how to incorporate risk assessment into machine design Oct. 21-22, 2022 PACK EXPO International; Chicago, IL Learn more and register at pmmi.org/industry-training Want a workshop tailored to your company? Consider a PMMI in-plant workshop, customizing these workshops to meet your company’s speci c needs and goals.

The number two topic of choice may come as a bit of a surprise after the past year plus of constant orders and pent-up demand, but we are also hearing/ seeing from business indicators that business is slowing a bit. Of course, any talk of slowing must be taken with a grain of salt for many in the packaging and processing sector, which saw record years in both revenue and orders.

Shifting into Catch Up Mode

we have spoken to also expect a continuation of the recent trend seen at PACK EXPO Las Vegas, PACK EXPO East, and EXPO PACK Mexico of actual “project in the works” level leads vs. attendees just looking to see what’s out there. Attendee registration has tracked consistently since registration opened, and so far, we are seeing numbers at or above the 2018 show year to date. Although it’s too early to predict where we will end up, we know right now that buyers attending will have actual challenges they are dealing with in the hopes that our members and other exhibitors can offer timely solutions.

the industry’s desire to reconnect, we have already set a new record for association partners, with 41 coming on board. Our Association Partner Plus participants are also holding ancillary events and meetings

Upcoming Trade Shows

PACK EXPO East, March 18-20, 2024 Pennsylvania Convention Center, Philadelphia

PACK EXPO Las Vegas, Sept. 11-13, 2023, Las Vegas Convention Center, Las Vegas

The evolving business landscape also sets the stage for the return of PACK EXPO International (McCormick Place, Chicago, Oct. 23-26) for the ﬁrst time since 2018. Absence alone makes the return exciting, but it also presents the best opportunity in the world this year for packaging and processing decision makers to come together and ﬂesh out solutions, plan future projects, and simply reconnect with each

oming off another successful Annual Meeting, it’s clear from talking to members that supply chain issues remain a huge topic of concern as we clear the third quarter. Our PMMI Business Intelligence’s How’s Business Report serves as nearly realtime analysis of the packaging industry. From Q1 to Q2, it reports that supply chain disruptions increased from an already astronomical 97% to an almost unheard-of 99%. It remains the most signiﬁcant indicator that the impact of the pandemic is clearly not entirely in our rearview mirror and the number one issue in our industry.

in conjunction with the show as part of our new Industry Meets program. These courses, events, conferences, and networking opportunities allow a more robust and comprehensive offering to the entire supply chain and continue our efforts to bring the whole industry together under one roof.This doesn’t even include our new Emerging Brands Summit occurring during PACK EXPO International which will bring together new brands with experts in manufacturing and packaging to develop a blueprint to scale operations. This will draw those companies looking for ways to best produce and package new products and brands currently in production, looking to expand or scale up operations.Exhibitors

FINAL THOUGHTS

As a native Chicagoan, I know I can’t wait to return to McCormick Place for PACK EXPO International, and I hope to see all of you there as well.

PACK EXPO International, Oct. 23-26, 2022, McCormick Place, Chicago

PACK EXPO Guadalajara, June 13-15, 2023, Expo Guadalajara, Mexico

Recognizingother.

Jim Pittas is the President & CEO of PMMI. He may be reached at jpittas@pmmi.org or at linkedin.com/in/jimpittas.

JIM PITTAS PRESIDENT & CEO, PMMI

FINAL THOUGHTS2022FALL72

This gradual return to normal is something that can be viewed as a good thing when framed correctly. Many PMMI members point to the leveling out as an opportunity to get caught up on current orders. While business was indeed good for nearly two years, it was so good that lead times became stretched into the future, beyond what the industry is typically comfortable with. As long as it doesn’t last too long, the pause will allow more time for the supply chain to turn the corner, making it a perfect time to restock on critical parts.

PMMI Media Group Custom Research can help! We offer: •Brand & Competitive Analysis •Value Proposition & Product Development Insights •Thought Leadership Research Need to know the trends to guide strategies?go-to-marketfuture Looking to develop products?new Want to know where you t into landscape?competitivethe Learn more about custom research for the packaging and processing industry! pmmimediagroup.com/custom-research Questions? Contact:Jorge Izquierdo, vice president, Market Development, PMMI jizquierdo@pmmi.org | 571.612.3199

ContentsOEM INSIDER Beckhoff Automation ....................................... 74 Dorner .............................................................. 75 Encoder Products Company ........................... 75 Eriez 75 Fenner Precision Polymers ............................... 76 HERMA US ......................................................... 76 igus ................................................................... 77 ISM .................................................................... 77 JW Winco ......................................................... 78 Lenze Americas ................................................ 78 Morrison Container Handling Solutions .......... 78 Multi-Conveyor ................................................. 79 PATLITE (U.S.A.) Corporation ............................ 79 Paxton Products ............................................... 79 POBO, Inc. 80 Pro-face ............................................................ 80 QC Conveyors .................................................. 81 Slideways ......................................................... 81 SMC Corporation of America .......................... 82 Takex ................................................................ 82 Tolomatic, Inc. .................................................. 82 Turck ................................................................. 83 VDG (Van der Graaf) ....................................... 83 Reconnect at PACK EXPO International to experience the latest innovations that can move your business forward. With so much changing over the last year, you need to see and experience it all in Chicago! OEM Insider helps you engage with the industry, see the latest innovations, and nd solutions direct from experts at the most comprehensive packaging and processing event in the world in 2022! *This guide features a selection of participating exhibitors with relevant products as of press time. View the full exhibitor line-up and complete product listings online at www.PackExpo.com Alphabetical company placements may be adjusted for space consideration as needed. Beckhoff Automation XPlanar®: Agile packaging machines with adaptive automation XPlanar from Beckho is here to completely transform your packaging machines with adaptive manufacturing technology. Via Flying Motion, XPlanar movers float and fly freely above planar tiles arranged in customizable layouts that enable extremely flexible, precise and agile packaging applications. www.beckho .com/packexpo Featured Products Include: Levitating and flying movers, 6 degrees of freedom and countless tile path options. Visit Us at Booth #S-3822 October 23–26, 2022 • Chicago, IL

75PACK EXPO International OEM INSIDER 2022

Dorner Transforming Conveyor Automation

Feeding & Conveying, Inspection & Detection

Encoder Products Company

See Dorner’s innovative conveyor solutions. With our complete line of customizable stainless steel and aluminum conveyor systems, Dorner can provide solutions for almost any conveyor need. Be sure to stop by our booth to see our brand new products debuting for the ﬁ rst time at PACK EXPO! www.dornerconveyors.com

EPC is a global manufacturer of motion sensing devices. We are vertically integrated and have been US-based for over 50 years.

Visit Us at PACK EXPO Booth #N-5214

Featured Products Include: FlexMove, Edge Roller Tech., Sanitary Systems, Custom Engineered Solutions, Pallet Systems

EPC specializes in precision motion feedback for packaging functions like bottling, label inspection, date coding, product rejection, and more. Our encoders are designed to provide reliable motion feedback while withstanding washdown, heat, and vibration. www.encoder.com

Featured Products Include: Variable speed controls, high speed packaging units and high deﬂection models for di cult product

Eriez

Quality You Can Rely On Exceptional Customer Service Industry Leading Three-year Warranty • Incremental Rotary Encoders • Absolute Encoders • Linear Measurement Solutions

Visit Us N-5725,BoothsatEB-67

Booth S-4026

Whether your operation requires a heavy-duty feeder for bulk material handling, or a sanitary rapid-cycling feeder to package snack foods, Eriez o ers speciﬁc vibratory equipment to meet your needs. Select from low-proﬁle mechanical feeders to high-speed electromagnetic units to match your application. These same drive systems are available for conveying and screening applications. www.eriez.com

Linear Motion, Machine Components, Machine Control

Fenner Drives

Featured Products Include: Lumsden Sidewinder Belts, Eagle® High-Tension O-Rings, and Eagle® Orange Belts

HERMA US Booth PackageW-17016Machinery, Machine Components

www.FennerDrives.com • www.lumsdencorp.com

connection and is available

PACK EXPO Exhibitors using our products:

Fenner Precision Polymers

The HERMA 500 Label Applicator is an IOT-enabled machine utilizing real-time metrics to optimize production e ciency and consistency even in a multi-factory setting. Capable of achieving labeling speeds up to 6 ft/min the E M can handle label widths between 3-1 inches and roll diameters from 11 3 inches. www.herma.us oﬀers an industrial-grade ethernet for quick turnaround.

Bellatrx - Booth# S-1637, W-18032 Pineberry Manufacturing - Booth# S-1525 • Power • Flexible • Highly Connected The HERMA 500 also

The fastest and most accurate label applicator

Fenner Precision Polymers is home to a trusted family of brands, like Fenner Drives and Lumsden, in manufacturing products for polymetric, metal and textile-based industries. R&D behind our Lumsden metal conveyor belting features greater strength and minimal stretch. Eagle® High Tension O-rings and Eagle® Orange Poly-V Belts represent just a couple of the workhorses in our stable of power transmission products.

76 PACK EXPO International OEM INSIDER 2022 Visit Us At PACK LakesideCHICAGOEXPOUpperHallBooth#7020

End your search, simplify your supply chain

igus® is a leading, global manufacturer of engineered plastic components that are self-lubricating & maintenance-free. Our products include polymer bearings, linear slides, cable carriers & more. Contact us today to discuss solutions for your project. Designed for the speciﬁ c needs of the packaging industry, such as food hygiene, FDA and/or EU-compliance, we supply dryrunning, corrosion-resistant machine components made from high-performance plastics to help optimize your packaging machines.

www.industrialspec.com

igus® Booth Packaging#LU-7847Machinery, Machine Components, Linear Motion, Drives and Motors

ISM

igus® uses its innovative polymers to develop creative solutions & exceeds customers’ expectations with fast, accurate service.

www.igus.com

Our goal is to be your trusted source of miniature pneumatic fl ow control fi ttings, fi lters, and valves. For 40 years, ISM has supported OEMs and manufacturers of automated systems. We’ve expanded by partnering with United Silicone. Their thermally conductive silicone heat seal tooling o ers improved seal integrity and higher production yields. Connect with our experienced team at booth N-5018.

• No Contamination from Lubricants

77PACK EXPO International OEM INSIDER 2022 Visit Us At PACKBoothCHICAGOEXPONorthHall#5018

Maintenance-Free • Predictable Service Life

Featured Products Include: Silicone heat seal tooling, pneumatic ﬁttings, inline ﬁ ltration, value add services

Lenze is a leading automation company for the machinebuilding industry, and a specialist in Motion Centric Automation. As a systems supplier with solutions competence, we develop high-quality mechatronic products and packages; powerful hardware and so ware for machine automation systems; and digital services for data management, cloud/mobile solutions, and IIoT so ware.

JW Winco

With over 75,000 standard parts available, JW Winco o ers the highest possible product availability & customer service. Adjustable levers, handles, knobs, hinges, conveyor components, leveling mounts, indexing plungers, jig, ﬁxtures, clamps, casters, & more.

Lenze Americas Booth Motion#N-5239Control and Machine Automation Technology; Electromechanical Drives

JW Winco – A Market Leader in Standard Parts

Featured Products Include: Metal detectable parts - visible to the human eye & optical monitoring systems.

Visit Us at PACK EXPO Booth #LU-8249

Morrison Container Handling Solutions

Morrison is the expert in container handling, allowing OEMs to focus on and optimize the other critical aspects of their application and machine. With over 25 engineers on the team, we o er a wide range of solutions that pair well with your equipment to make it run more e ciently and give you an edge up on your competition when it comes to positive control of containers.

Visit Us at PACK EXPO Booth #N-4906

78 PACK EXPO International OEM INSIDER 2022

Standard Parts. Easy. Essential. Winco. www.jwwinco.com

Smart Servo Axis – a smart, scalable drive solution. The combination of an i950 servo inverter, m850 synchronous motor, and g700 planetary gearbox – easy-to-handle and facilitates cost-e ective and ﬂ exible production processes. The i950, with greater computing power and integrated EtherCAT-Port, makes it possible to control multiple axes synchronously at high speed to complete complex tasks.

www.morrison-chs.com

Featured Products: X4 Remote Cloud Solution, i550 protec NEMA 4X Frequency Inverter, i950 Multi-talented Servo Inverter. www.lenze.com

Featured Products Include: Timing screws, change parts, timing screw drive units, combiners/dividers, vertical denesters

Grow with Morrison as your Container Handling Expert

PATLITE (U.S.A.) Corporation

Optimize Operational Performance With IO-Link Solutions

Multi-Conveyor

Visit us at Booth #S-3401

We provide technology driven operator-to-controls communications in functional engineering designs. HMI interface and servos provide faster, more e cient changeovers to feed a myriad of product shapes or sizes; overall packaging; case packing; and pallet forming conﬁ gurations.

Featured Products Include: OEE quality-built, reliable conveyors, for maximum productivity in reduced overall footprint.

Adapt to the industry standard with IO-Link-enabled solutions from PATLITE. Choose from the compact NE-IL or the fully modular LR6-IL to streamline operational performance, reduce costs and wiring and enable remote monitoring. With IO-Link products from PATLITE, the standard is set.

Visit Us at PACK EXPO Booth #S-1440 Paxton Products Booth #N-5117 Air Delivery Devices Paxton Products, an ITW Company, provides

79PACK EXPO International OEM INSIDER 2022

www.patlite.com

centrifugal blowers and air delivery devices for blow o and drying applications, with unmatched engineering expertise and an industry best warranty with 100% performance guarantee. Featured Products: CapDryer, CanDryer, Ionizing Can Rinser Manifold, Ionizing Bottle Rinser Manifold, and sampling of other air delivery devices https://www.paxtonproducts.com Visit Us At PACKBoothCHICAGOEXPONorthHall#5117

Our engineers make sure your systems “talk”

www.multi-conveyor.com

Featured Products Include: Modular Signal Towers, Network Connected Signaling Devices, Programmable Signal Towers high e ciency

Our renowned product quality, start-to-ﬁnish support, and global reach are unsurpassed. Training, customization and solution design: our experience makes the di erence.

We look forward to supporting your engineers, manufacturing team, and purchasing agents. www.pobcoplastics.com

Pro-face o ers dedicated and PC-based, open architecture, visualization and control systems. Our high powered, but easy to use so ware allows for a clear and functional operator interface. Extensive connectivity to PLCs and industrial devices make Pro-face the best choice for your control solution.

POBCO standard and custom products are made from plastics (bearing-grade and food-grade) and lube-ﬁlled hardwood. These products include bearings, wear strips, rollers, guide rails, chain guides and conveyor components.

POBCO, Inc.

Visit Us At PACK LakesideCHICAGOEXPOUpperHallBooth#7243

Featured Products Include: Outdoor HMIs, Modular HMIs, HMI Development So ware, IPCs, Product Customization

The Proven Leader in HMIs and Industrial PCs

Pro-face brand products have been installed on factory ﬂoors and in ﬁeld operations worldwide. Proface sets the HMI standard with state-of-the-art technology, e cient manufacturing, unparalleled testing, and global distribution and support. We continually upgrade our o erings to help keep your HMI applications on the cutting edge. www.profaceamerica.com.com

80 PACK EXPO International OEM INSIDER 2022 Visit Us At PACK BoothCHICAGOEXPONorthHall#6038

Pro-face

POBCO Inc. is celebrating 93 years as a successful manufacturing business in Worcester, MA. POBCO remains a 4th generation, family-owned business with a growing employee family. Current ownership and employees emulate the work ethic and dedication of our predecessors. POBCO recognizes that we are competing globally with quality suppliers of conveyor components. We appreciate every opportunity to quote and every order we earn.

Pro-face sets the HMI standard with state-of-the-art technology, e cient manufacturing, unparalleled testing, and global distribution and support. Our core product o er includes Pro-face brand HMI so ware and hardware, and both panel and box style Industrial PCs.

QC Conveyors Conveyors & Conveyor Systems

Guide Rails Conveyor Components Belt & Chain Guides Plastic Chain Tracks Extruded Profiles Be a part of the 2023 Leaders in Packaging program, featuring year-round digital and print exposure to your best prospects. Reserve your spot now to get maximum results.

Designed for simple integration, ease of use, and long-term reliability, you can feel conﬁdent when incorporating QC Conveyors’ products into your machinery. A dedicated team of OEM experts can help ﬁnd the right conveyor for your application, including custom ready-to-install packages.

Slideways Conveyors and Machinery

www.qcconveyors.com

Slideways manufactures standard and custom plastic parts and components for the conveying, packaging, and processing industries. We utilize a range of advanced mechanical plastics that provide wear and friction reduction as well as corrosion and temperature resistance. Our responsive and experienced engineering team works with you to nd a solution for your demanding applications and deadlines. www.slideways.com

Featured Products Include: Conveyors: Belt, Modular Plastic Chain, Sanitary, Curved Belt, Steel Frame, Aluminum Frame Visit Us at PACK EXPO Booth #EB-23 • S-3653

81PACK EXPO International OEM INSIDER 2022

Booth Plastic#N-5047Partsfor

82 PACK EXPO International OEM INSIDER 2022

Machine Control; Machine Safety

Digital Pressure Switches

Download our white paper: 5 tips for hygienic design. www.Tolomatic.com/hygienic

Featured Products Include: Hygienically designed electric linear rod-style actuators and integrated servo linear actuators.

SMC has several products with IO-Link connectivity. IO-Link is the first standardized IO technology worldwide (IEC 61131-9) for the communication with sensors and also actuators. The powerful point-to-point communication is based on the long established 3-wire sensor and actuator connection without additional requirements regarding the cable material. SMC provides a line up of pressure switches / flow switches / actuator position sensors / Electro-pneumatic regulators / step controllers / Master fieldbus control for IO-Link..

Visit us at Booth #N-4627

Visit Us at PACK EXPO Booth #N-5165

Actuator Position Sensors

Tolomatic, Inc.

www.smcusa.com

Electro-Pneumatic Regulator

SMC Corporation of America Booth Pneumatics;S-3982

Clean, Continuous Control

Takex

Security and Industrial Sensors

As part of the prestigious Takenaka Sensor group in Japan, TAKEX is the leading manufacturer of Security and Industrial Sensors for a demanding global market. www.takex.com

Improve e ciency, quality and yield with Tolomatic hygienic actuators. Stainless steel IP69K and clean-in-place ﬂexibility, plus 27/7 reliability for high duty cycle, deliver clean, continuous control.

When others say no, Turck ﬁnds a way.

E cient, Reliable & Space Saving Conveyor Drive

www.vandergraaf.com

Turck

www.turck.us

Synchronous Permanent Magnet Drum Motor, Standard Series & Hygienic SSV Series Drum Motor Visit Us at PACK EXPO Booth #S-3566 Be a part of the 2023 Leaders in Packaging program, featuring year-round digital and print exposure to your best prospects. Reserve your spot now to get maximum results.

Turck is a pioneer in automation technology, providing customers with a comprehensive line of rugged and reliable industrial sensors, connectivity, ﬁeldbus technology and RFID solutions. Turck has built global partnerships with customers based on its engineering expertise, ﬂexibility and willingness to take on engineering challenges that others won’t.

Explore VDG’s innovative conveyor drives for belt conveyors, designed, and manufactured in-house in USA using cutting edge production technology, ensuring product quality, fast delivery, and exceptional customer support. Maintenance-free VDG Drum Motors are built for longevity and reliability.

OEM Fall/OEM Insider 2022

Articles inside

OEM Machine Technology

Key Actions for PACK EXPO International

Robot Control

Machine-as-a-Service

Meredith Perry