Newsmakers 120

Krones, Inc. makes Andrew Fratianni a product manager for Krones Process Engineering, formerly Steinecker, Brewhouse Technology Div. of the Krones Group. He brings 12 years of experience in hands-on brewing to his position.

AMS Filling Systems, Inc. names Anthony J. Izzi president and CEO, succeeding William H. Sawyer. A 41-year industry veteran, Izzi previously held a number of senior management positions with Mateer-Burt.

Omron Electronics, LLC brings on Allen Vail as vp of finance. He joins the co. from Madison One Holdings, a global manufacturer of dairy and dehumidification equipment, where he served as vp and CFO.

Norwood Marking Systems appoints William Delmolino to the position of director of sales and marketing. He served most recently as vp, technical sales, for NJM/CLI, where he also was product manager for print-and-apply labelers and was active in the co.'s development of its RFID product line.

Sonoco elects Rex Varn as a corporate officer. The vp and gm, Varn recently rejoined the co. after having served as president and COO of Hilex Poly Co., LLC.

Caster Concepts, Inc. adds A.J. Harr as a sales manager for the Lower Great Lakes region. He's based in Cleveland.

FKI Logistex promotes Stephen Legg to the position of director, product technology and development. Gary Savarese is made a project manager specializing in palletizing and conveyor systems for food and beverage applications.

SIG Holding, Ltd. appoints Thomas Werder to the position of head of corporate communications and investor relations. He has held similar positions with Day Software and Swisslog.

Beckhoff Automation hires David Zimbrich, David Fischhaber and Andy Burleigh as application engineers/specialists for on-site customer support. Zimbrich is based in Chicago, Fischhaber in Atlanta and Burleigh in Toronto.

O-I names Kevin J. Stevens vp of global marketing. He began his career with the co. in 1989 and most recently served as vp and category director for beer for North American glass containers. Matthew G. Longthorne is named president of the co.'s North American glass operations, and L. Richard Crawford is made president of the co.'s Latin American glass operations.

Laminations hires Keri Otremba as a new-product engineer. She holds a bachelor's degree in packaging, with an emphasis in packaging design and research and development. Jamie Thorne is named an inside sales partner for states in the South and the Southwest. Otremba and Thorne are based in the co.'s Appleton, WI, office.

Smurfit-Stone announces the pending retirement of senior vp and gm David C. Stevens. Stevens joined the former Jefferson Smurfit Co. in '87 as vp of recycling sales and marketing and was promoted to vp and gm of the Recycling div. in '93. Michael R. Oswald, vp of operations, will succeed him.

Schneider Packaging Equipment Co., Ltd. names Leonard Greenia vp and COO. After joining the co. in '82, he has held a number of positions, most recently as vp of manufacturing and HR manager.

Pro Mach, Inc. appoints Mark W. Anderson as president and COO. He joins the co. from Tyler Refrigeration, where he held the position of vp and gm. He began his career as a manufacturing and systems engineer for Caterpillar, Inc.

Key Technology, Inc. hires John Boutsikaris to be its senior vp of sales and marketing. He has more than 30 years of experience in sales and marketing, most recently as executive vp of worldwide sales and marketing for Pemstar Corp.

Harpak, Inc. appoints Kevin Nolan to the position of senior vp. Nolan joined the co. in '97 as vp of sales. The co. welcomes Jim Ryan as vp of sales and Jerry Rundle as Northeast regional sales manager.

Linpac Materials Handling promotes Stuart Hayden to the position of plant manager of its Georgetown, KY, manufacturing facility. Brigitte Mader is promoted to marketing specialist.

Keller Crescent Co. adds Chris Preissler as quality manager for its Indianapolis div.

Shorewood Packaging names Bill Legard senior vp of its home entertainment segment. Legard joined the co. in '01, serving most recently as vp and gm of Shorewood Display.

ON THE MOVE

New Jersey Packaging moves three printing presses and finishing equipment from a sub. location in Elmwood Park, NJ, to its Fairfield, NJ-based hq.

Ampac Packaging, LLC forms Ampac Flexibles, combining the recently acquired, Minneapolis-based Kapak Corp. with Chicago-based Flexicon, Inc. and the co.'s existing Performance Films group, located in Cincinnati.

Smurfit-Stone Container Corp. closes its linerboard mill in New Richmond, Quebec, Canada, and its medium mill in Bathurst, New Brunswick. It also closes its #2 paper machine at its Fernanda Beach, FL-based linerboard mill.

Portola Blow Mold Technologies consolidates all of its business operations at Portola Packaging, Inc.'s 60,000-sq-ft, New Castle, PA facility. Portola's Allied Tool, Dairy Fabrication, Technical Service and Reciprocating Screw Machine businesses will also move to the location over the next few months.

ACCORDS

Kliklok-Woodman, Decatur, GA, enters into an agreement with CMD Corp., Appleton, WI, that expands the Woodman line of bagmakers and creates an exclusive marketing, sales and after-sales customer support channel for CMD vf/f/s technology.

HAPPENINGS

The Italian Trade Commission (ITC), UCIMA and the Institute of Packaging Professionals (IoPP) named the following students winners of the '05 Italian Packaging Technology Award: Alyssa Downing-Perrault, University of Wisconsin-Stout; Jennifer Farrin, Rochester Institute of Technology; Chris Forte, Rutgers University; John Halka, Clemson University; Maria Paz Gonzalez, Michigan State University; Ritesh Mahna, Virginia Tech; Shelton Wright, University of Florida; and Joanna Wong, California Polytechnic State University. The students were awarded a two-week trip to Italy, where they toured Italian packaging manufacturers Aetna Group-Robopac, Goglio, IMA, MG2, Sacmi Imola and Sympak Group-Corazza.

William Frick & Co., Libertyville, IL, celebrates its 30th anniversary in business. With humble beginnings in a garage with a staff of two, the co. now employs 30 people and is housed in an 80,000-sq-ft facility.

BUYING & SELLING

Printpack, Inc. purchases the assets of PBM Plastics, Inc., Newport News, VA.

TricorBraun acquires Cal-West Tool & Mold, a custom designer and manufacturer of blow molds. In conjunction with the acquisition, the co.'s design group has changed its name to TricorBraun Design & Engineering.

Barry-Wehmiller Cos. adds Owing Mills, OH-based Ambec, Inc. to its stable of cos. Ambec will become an operating group within the co.'s FleetwoodWyardGoldco sub., Fort Collins, CO. The co. also signs a letter-of-intent to purchase CVC Systems, Union City, CA.

DuPont acquires 100 percent of DuPont Authentication Systems, a joint venture between the co. and Keystone Technologies, LLC that was formed in '01.

Zip-Pak, an ITW Co., purchases Supreme Plastics, Ltd.'s reclosables div.

Danville Automation Holdings, LLC agrees to acquire selected assets of Advantage Puck Technologies, Inc., South Bend, IN.

Captive Plastics, Inc. acquires the assets and business of Spentech Plastics Containers, Inc., Richmond, VA. Spentech is a producer of rigid plastic bottles servicing the personal care, pet care, automotive, pharmaceutical and household chemical industries.

Dover Electronics, a sub. of Dover Corp., acquires Colder Products Co., St. Paul, MN.

Code, Hennessy & Simmons, LLC sells Tharco Holdings, Inc., a manufacturer and distributor of corrugated and engineered foam packaging solutions.