MOVERS & SHAKERS

Bosch Rexroth Corp. appoints Jeff Blackman vp–automation sales. He will be responsible for the linear motion and assembly technologies, electric drives and controls and pneumatics groups, as well as U.S. semiconductor and medical markets.

Jeff Blackman Bosch Rexroth Corp.

Watlow promotes Chad Merryman to vp, global end-user sales and support.

Prism USA hires Penny Chase on the West Coast and Joe Saro in the Midwest as MIS implementation and support specialists in North America. Both Chase and Saro will report to Michael Kinnear, the newly named operations manager in North America.

Chad Merryman Watlow

Weber Marking Systems, Inc. names Glenn C. Gilly president and CEO.

Global Closure Systems promotes Christian Voegeli to CEO.

Multivac, Inc. announces the retirement of chief technical officer Donald E. Smith.

Glenn C. Gilly Weber Marking Systems, Inc.

Barry-Wehmiller Design Group, Inc. names Mike Ripper, Sebastian Vega and Kurt Wirth as partners in the firm.

Rockwell Automation, Inc. names Theodore D. Crandall as senior vp and chief financial officer.

Surefil LLC hires Jamie Stackhouse as its human resources generalist.

Christopher Voght Toray Plastics (America), Inc.

Toray Plastics (America), Inc. appoints Christopher Voght as national sales manager, Torayfan Division.

Walle Corp. names Sean Keeney as CEO to succeed retiring Cecil Keeney.

Wavetrend appoints Saleem Miyan as CEO.

GROWING & GOING

Vacuum Barrier renovates and expands its Woburn, MA headquarters.

IDTechEx relocates its global headquarters to Boston. Susann Reuter, based in Chemnitz, Germany, joins the board of directors to expand the company's activities in Europe.

PTIS launches a new affiliate company, Global Sustainability Solutions, Inc., to meet the rising global demand for sustainable packaging solutions.

Multi-Color Corp. purchases a 247,000-sq-ft building in Batavia, OH, to expand its manufacturing base.

Rexam builds new beverage can plant in Denmark.

Sidel builds a new 35 million-euro, 40,000-sq-m plant in Beijing.

Unisource Worldwide, Inc. establishes a new Technology Packaging Group that will design precision packaging technologies that meet factory requirements while optimizing supply chain costs.

Americhem opens a new Packaging Design Center.

BUYING AND ALLYING

Langley Holdings PLC acquires Bradman Lake.

Cargill and Teijin Ltd. of Japan announce a joint venture in NatureWorks LLC. Teijin will acquire 50 percent ownership of NatureWorks, effective upon regulatory approvals.

CVC acquires a 29-percent stake in Zhuhai Zhongfu Enterprise Co., Ltd., China's largest PET bottle manufacturer and the largest in Asia by volume, for approximately $225 million.

Heat and Control, Inc., Ishida Scales Mfg. Co. and Multivac, Inc. enter into a strategic partnership to market Ishida tray sealers in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico.

Sonoco acquires fiber containers and plastics assets from Caraustar Industries, Inc.

CHEERS

American Packaging Corp. gives Rochester Institute of Technology $1 million to fund a packaging center.

CALLS FOR ENTRIES

Inst. of Packaging Professionals calls for presentations for its Packaging Summit Expo and Conference, which takes place May 13 to 15, 2008, at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center in Rosemont, IL. Presentations will be focused on three topic areas: Innovation, Packaging's Global Function and Outsourcing. Please respond by Nov. 16, 2007.

DuPont calls for entries for the 20th DuPont Awards. Entries will be accepted until Jan. 31, 2008.