Newsmakers 358

SATO America, Inc. appoints Mark Lyon as its new Western regional sales manager.

Power/mation introduces Mike Kazmerski as its regional vp. He comes to the St. Paul-based co. following a stint as director of corporate accounts for W.W. Grainger, Inc.

Rollprint Packaging Products, Inc. names Dhuanne Dodrill president and COO. An executive vp since ?02, Dodrill joined the co. in 1984 and has held a variety of positions. Doug Dodrill is promoted to the position of vp of technology, and Tony Paolino is elevated to the position of director of sales and marketing.

Rexam PLC makes Lars Emilson CEO, replacing Stefan Angwald. Emilson most recently served as the co.'s group director, beverage cans. He has also been a main board director since 1999.

Wulftec/M.J. Maillis Group appoints Steve Fleming as sales director and Jeff Carey as national account manager. Fleming has served in various sales and management positions with leading palletizer, stretch wrapper, filler and sealer manufacturers. Carey has 12 years of sales experience in the packaging market.

Stull Technologies appoints Paul Donahie to the position of vp of sales. Prior to joining the co., he was a regional sales manager and business development manager for Grafco PET Packaging.

Matthews Packaging Graphics & Design adds John G. Hickey as the director of sales & marketing for the Packaging Graphics and Design Div. His 20-year career includes stints with CreoScitex and Artworks Systems, among others.

O/K Intl. Group. brings Stephen T. Kellett into the fold as COO.

Cermex, Inc. appoints David Rushing to the position of president. He previously worked for Sidel as engineering and manufacturing manager for the Conveying and Cap Feeding Div.

Innovia Films, Ltd. makes David Beeby, a 28-yr packaging market veteran, CEO. He previously served as vp of marketing and intl. sales for Alcan Packaging.

Pliant Corp. names Kevin Howard as vp of North American sales for printed products. Glenn Harsh is appointed to the position of vp of global sales and marketing for PE stretch films.

Graphic Packaging Corp. elects David W. Scheible to the position of COO. He has been the co.'s executive vp of commercial operations since August, ?03.

ACG Identification GmbH introduces Holger Winterhalter as product manager RFID transponders.

TNA Europe makes Inline its German agent. The co. will be represented by Peter Heilen.

CELEBRATING

Rena Systems, Inc. celebrates its 20th anniversary. The co. is based in Oaks, PA.

Sonoco's customer-dedicated Pack Center in Devens, MA, receives STAR Voluntary Protection Programs Worksite status from the Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA). The designation recognizes employers and employees who work with OSHA to achieve employee injury and illness rates below the industry average through occupational safety and health programs.

New England Machinery, Inc. receives two export awards: the ?04 Governor's Business Diversification Award and the Export Achievement Award.

ON THE MOVE

SATO America, Inc. creates a dedicated RFID business unit. The unit is focused exclusively on helping customers understand and implement mandated RFID systems.

Bradman-Lake forms Bradman Lake Group Limited from the recently acquired Autowrappers, Europack and GEI Ashford.

CHANGING OF THE GUARD

First Choice Packaging changes the name of its Atlanta-based sub., PKG Alliance, Inc., to FCP Alliance, Inc. The sub. moves to a larger facility in Alpharetta, GA.

Innovia Films is the new name of UCB Group, following the co.'s acquisition by a consortium led by Dennis Matthewman, managing director of Hays Chemical Distribution, and Candover Partners, Ltd.

Meetings of the minds

Nova Packaging Systems agrees to a merger with IMA Industria Macchine Automatiche SpA, Bologna, Italy. The merger includes Nova's U.K. facility, which has been operating under the name Swiftpack Automation and will now be known as IMA Swiftpack. The U.S. operations will adopt the name IMA Nova.

Barry-Wehmiller Design Group completes a merger with New Hampshire-based Stahlman Group, Inc., a designer of food and beverage production and distribution plants.

Ferro Corp. of Cleveland, OH settles a dispute with TherMark, LLC, of Los Angeles, over a patented laser marking technology. A license agreement allows both parties to practice and promote laser-marking technology under the applicable patent.

BUYING & SELLING

Packaging Machinery Manufacturer's Institute (PMMI) acquires the remaining shares of Expopak de las Americas, Inc., a joint partnership between PMMI and Oprex that produces the annual Expo Pack M?xico tradeshow.

Orbis Corp. adds Inventive Container Solutions. The CA-based co. was formerly known as Hays Container Services and will operate as Orbis Container Services, a sub. of Orbis Corp.

Ahlstrom divests its two remaining flexible packaging units. Italy-based Tecno Jolly is sold to Sacchital SpA; Russia-based ZAO Akerlund & Rausing Kuban is sold to Kuban AB.

HAPPENINGS

SATO America, Inc. participates in the EPCGlobal Hardware Inoperability testing, an effort to improve EPC and RFID hardware inoperability within the EPCGlobal community.

Videojet Technologies, Inc. announces a contest to find the oldest Videojet small-character ink-jet printer still in active production. Call 800/843-3610 or log onto www.videojet.com for more information. The deadline is Dec. 31.