PACKAGING BRIEFS Thursday, Feb. 17

Injection molder invests $1.6 million in new presses
Hoffer Plastics, one of the country's largest custom injection molding firms, has purchased four new, high-tech production presses to better serve its numerous customers in the packaging industry. This purchase comes on the heels of a strong 2010, with the addition of 50 new employees and a revenue increase of 23 percent. The new presses, which represent an investment of $1.6 million, include three 470-ton Demag Systec injection molding presses and matched Wittmann-Battenfeld robots and an extended daylight 600-ton high-speed KraussMaffei unit.

Printing industry recovering, says placement firm
Semper International, a leading placement firm for skilled help in the graphic arts and printing industry, has released research that shows the printing industry may finally be starting its recovery from the economic downturn. Results of its most recent Industry Insight survey show positive outlook and an increased willingness to hire. 73 percent of companies surveyed reported a profitable 4Q2010. This represents an increase of nearly 13 percentage points over the previous quarter. Additionally, the vast majority of respondents indicated that hiring levels will remained the same or increase—there was a marked increase in companies hiring.

Pregis tech support "on" 24/7
A new toll-free Pregis Service Hotline is manned 24/7 by "live" staff. According to Jim Arturi, technical service director, "During the Pregis Hotline beta launch, we were able to solve 85 percent of the issues on the telephone within 15 minutes. This shaves hours-even days-off of the typical technical service experience." The Pregis Service Hotline is available in both English and Spanish to all North American customers and supports the company's line of protective packaging equipment.

Florida-based contract packager receives President's Volunteer Service Award
Tampa-based contract packaging company, Versatile Packagers, has been awarded the President's Volunteer Service Award. The award is presented by the President's Council on Service and Civic Participation in conjunction with the Corporation for National and Community Service. The Award comes with a letter from Barack Obama, in recognition of companies or organizations that are committed to strengthening our nation and making a difference through volunteer services. Versatile Packagers received this award for its efforts in providing space, equipment and manpower to a variety of projects throughout the year. Versatile Packagers, which has a second location opening in the near future, plans to continue its volunteer efforts and get new employees involved as well. The company consistently seeks out opportunities to give back to the community.

Wireless remote boosts stretch wrapping operations
Orion Packaging now offers a wireless remote option for its Flex A Series of standalone stretch wrappers. The new handheld device makes the stretch wrapping cycle more efficient by allowing fork lift drivers to initiate the process while on board the vehicle. The remote eliminates the need to get off the forklift or position it within reach of a lanyard switch to start the stretch wrapper. The remote uses unique RF frequencies to prevent accidental activation from stray signals within the facility. The transmitter must be within a prescribed range to activate the machine.

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