Newsmakers 264

Movers & Shakers

Rovema Packaging Machines welcomes the return of Paul Bibens as supervisor for spare parts and conversions; he served the co. from 1988 to 1995.

CombiScale, Inc. announces the appointment of Anthony Del Viscio as president.

Owens-Illinois, Inc. establishes the position of chief marketing officer and elevates global marketing vp Kevin J. Stevens to fill the position. The co. also appoints Michael Paparone as president, closure and specialty products, effective Sept. 1, when he replaces Michael McDaniel, retiring after more than 34 years with O-I.

Trans-Packers Services Corp. promotes operations manager Lester Weiss to chief operating officer.

Applied Manufacturing Technologies, Inc. brings in Chris Lohr, former Thiele executive, as regional sales manager responsible for the Midwest and Southeast regions.

Surefil LLC names Tim Butcher plant manager; Jeff Bevis chief engineer; Martin Chism purchasing auditor; and Bob Gordon quality assurance laboratory manager.

Huston Patterson creates the post of chief experience officer and selects Jeanice Gillett to occupy the position.

Durst Image Technology U.S., LLC hires Kenneth Flansburg to handle its new Rho 600 Pictor, also having hired Ron Corn to support the Rhopac large-format digital press and Skip Onyan as dedicated representative for the U.S. Northeast and Ontario, Quebec and the Maritime provinces.

National Adhesives appoints Ingrid Brase as global marketing manager of its p-s adhesives business.

The Italian Trade Commission brings Pasquale Bova from its Rome hq to become trade commissioner at its Chicago office, where he succeeds Paola Bellusci, who moves as trade commissioner to the Los Angeles office of ITC.

All-Pak, Inc. welcomes Doug Jacobs as global supply division sales manager and Kristin Yakulis as national account manager, All-Pak Custom Solutions.

WeighPack West names Ramon Delfin to be director of international sales and to also manage opportunities in southern CA, AZ and TX.

Kliklok-Woodman adds Rich Camps as strategic account manager, vf/f/s systems, in the Mid-central and Eastern U.S. and in the Canadian regions for customers in snack, bakery and frozen/prepared foods.

Key Technology moves Randy Untersheher up to the new position of director sales operations from sales engineering services manager.

B&H Labeling Systems brings aboard Jim Moshier as director of engineering.

Rovema Packaging Machines appoints Dennis Winberry as the new regional sales manager for the Northeast territory.

DS Containers welcomes Emil Obradovich as vp–sales, marketing and technical support. He had been with U.S. Can.

START Intl. hires as distributor account manager Robert Evans, handling distributors in the Central U.S.

Appleton names Ladd Zigman to be account manager for its performance packaging division's national sales team.

Maxcess Intl. recruits Lee Nanney to provide local sales and support for Fife, MAGPOWR and Tidland customers in IL.

Weber Marking Systems promotes Rich Russert, who was manager of partnerships and alliances, to be national sales director.

R.A. Jones & Co. appoints Dale Patterson as national account manager for Canada with a focus on the North American tissue market.

Philippe Becker Design hires Rick Jansen, formerly at Landor, to be project director.

CVC Technologies has a new marketing manager by the name of Britney Star.

Schwarz has chosen Paul R. Frantz, formerly with Pliant, to be vp and gm of flexible and film packaging.

Vacuum Barrier promotes Mike Johnson to director, North American Sales from senior application engineer.

Kammann Machines notes that Midwest sales manager Steve Gilbertson has taken over as president of North America.

GROWING & GOING

International Paper relocates its global hq to Memphis, TN, from Stamford, CT.

Siemens establishes Dematic as the successor name for its former Distribution and Industry Group of Siemens Logistics and Assembly Systems, Inc., making Dematic a wholly owned subsidiary.

BASF registers a new corporate name, BASF Catalysts LLC, in the U.S. and says it will extend its brand to Engelhard companies in other regions of the world based on local registration requirements.

Sidel segments the merged Sidel™ and Simonazzi™ brands, with the former name used for sensitive liquid and food fillers and the latter for beverage fillers, including beer, water, soft drink and hot-fill machines.

Barry-Wehmiller Design Group, Inc. opens its ninth office, this one in Cerritos, CA, in the Los Angeles area.

MeadWestvaco launches its Pack Center, a one-stop multiple packaging consulting, design, testing and fulfillment service to fast-track products to market.

Schneider Electric establishes its North American Adaptation Center as a simple, effective way to satisfy customers' needs for special features on sensing products, especially inductive and proximity sensors.

Logotech, Inc. purchases a Hewlett-Packard Indigo ws4050 7-color press and an AB Graphics finishing machine to complement the Gallus letterpress and Arsoma flexo machine at its Fairfield, NJ, operation.

Smyth Companies will enhance production with a new press for its sheetfed unit in Bedford, VA, and another for the roll-fed operation in Minneapolis while closing down its Saint Paul facility this fall.

BUYING & ALLYING

Captive Plastics signs a definitive agreement to acquire GRAFCO PET Packaging Technologies, a supplier of PET rigid containers.

Thermo Electron Corp. acquires EGS Gauging, a maker of measurement and control instruments for web processing.

Illinois Tool Works, Inc. says it has completed the purchase of BagCo, Inc., a provider of reclosable plastic packaging.

Valco Cincinnati, Inc. reports the acquisition of Melton S.L., a maker of compatible hot-melt equipment based in Navarra, Spain.

MDC Engineering, Inc., a maker of hf/f/s machines, completes its acquisition of Sure Torque, a maker of torque testing/calibration equipment.

Kliklok-Woodman forms an alliance with Flexi-Vel's Alko Intl. Div. for representation covering Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Panama.

Pearson Packaging Systems enters into a strategic alliance with W.E. Plemons Machinery Services for equipment sales interchange and a pooling of technology and sales.

Staubli Robotics signs a strategic partner agreement with Cognex Corp. to promote its robots with vision systems from Cognex.

ASSOCIATION ACTIONS

The Institute of Packaging Professionals issues a call for entries into the 2006 AmeriStar package competition. A package or family of packages made after Jan. 1, 2005 and not previously entered in the competition is eligible for any of 15 categories. Submissions made up until the early entry deadline of Oct. 6, 2006 qualify for entry fee discounts. The final deadline is Nov. 10, with judging slated for Dec. 8. Details and entry forms are available at www.iopp.org/ameristar or by calling 630/696-4006.

The American Beverage Association and the International Dairy Foods Association agree to take an active role in one another's trade shows, with IDFA and Worldwide Food Expo endorsing ABA-backed InterBev 2006 and ABA endorsing IDFA's Worldwide Food Expo 2007.

CHEERS

Sonoco Products Co. makes a $2.5 million donation to launch the Sonoco Institute of Packaging Design and Graphics at Clemson University.

Hitachi America Ltd. is presented with the 2006 Frost & Sullivan award for excellence in technology for Hitachi's new intelligent, sensorless vector control technology incorporated into its SJ200 iSLV drive series.

Phoenix Contact marks 25 years of U.S. operations by breaking ground for $12 million expansion at its U.S. hq.

ANSER Coding will celebrate its 20th year in business at its exhibit at PACK EXPO International this fall.