PACKAGING BRIEFS Tuesday, March 22

Logotech earns L.I.F.E. environmental certification

Logotech Inc has earned the Label Initiative for the Environment (L.I.F.E.) certification from the Tag and Label Manufacturers Institute. Fewer than a dozen label companies nationwide have earned the certification, which requires a review of 35 criteria ranging from clean production techniques to greenhouse gas emissions to management practices.

Gerresheimer acquires Brazilian pharmaceutical plastic packaging company Védat

Gerresheimer AG, a supplier to the pharma and healthcare industry, has acquired the Brazilian company Védat to strengthen its pharmaceutical plastic packaging business in South America. Védat is a major Brazilian manufacturer of pharmaceutical plastic packaging products, especially plastic closures.

RMT Robotics expands global sales force

RMT Robotics, the manufacturer and integrator of ADAM intelligent mobile robots (www.adamrobot.com), has entered into a global, nonexclusive sales agent agreement with Adept Technology for the promotion and sale of its ADAM robots.

Rollguard adds Heather Marx as marketing manager

Rollguard, part of Great Northern Corp.'s Specialty Group, has hired Heather Marx as marketing manager. She is responsible for analyzing, developing and expanding current markets and products, as well as helping in the development of new ones.

Astro-Med appoints vp/corporate controller

Astro-Med Inc. appoints J. Mancyak as vp and corporate controller. Mancyak was appointed corporate controller in January of 2009 and earlier served as Astro-Med's assistant controller.

IPACK-IMA to co-locate with the Expo 2015

IPACK-IMA 2015 is going to take place in conjunction with the EXPO 2015. The change in schedule from the traditional March dates to May 19 to 23 aims to take advantage of synergies between the mainstays of the exhibition, leader in the packaging, processing and food safety industries, and the Expo, drawing worldwide interest towards Milan with "Feeding the Planet, Energy for Life".

Grace announces pricing increases for Darex packaging business
Grace Davison, an operating segment of W. R. Grace & Co., has announced that it is implementing price increases of up to 20 percent across its Darex packaging business within the materials technologies product line. The products include can sealants, can coatings and closure compounds. This move is in response to significant raw material cost increases. Surging petrochemical olefins demand and tightening supply are causing increased costs for key raw materials used in many Grace products.

Jef Howell to receive PIMA's Ray H. Cross Community Service Award

Jef Howell, purchasing manager of Verso Paper Corp.'s Androscoggin Mill in Jay, ME, will receive the 2011 Ray H. Cross Community Service Award, presented by PIMA. This award pays tribute to pulp and paper industry persons who have rendered outstanding service to their communities by involvement in the activities of local business, educational, civic and philanthropic organizations. Howell will receive the award during the 2011 PaperCon Conference in Covington, Ky., near Cincinnati, Ohio, May 1 to 4.

Sapient Automation adds Remote Monitoring System to Customer One Protection

The new Intelligent Machine Health Monitoring (IMHM) system is designed to remotely check your horizontal carousel system minute to minute allowing Sapient Automation's COP (Customer One Protection) Service Group to respond prior to failure. The moment the IMHM system detects anything out of the ordinary, a message is sent to the local COP technician and to the central COP service monitoring group for immediate response. Depending on the issue, the facility service coordinator is contacted and a plan on how to correct the issue is discussed and executed.

CCL Industries to invest in label supplier for Middle East, India
CCL Industries Inc., a specialty packaging solutions provider for the consumer products and healthcare industries, has signed a binding agreement to acquire a 50 percent interest in Pacman-CCL, a privately owned group of label companies based in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates with additional operations in Cairo, Egypt and Muscat, Oman.

Cardia Bioplastics appoints Plastribution as distributor for the UK

Plastribution has been appointed by Cardia Bioplastics to provide its comprehensive range of bioplastic resins to the UK packaging and plastic products industries.

Henkel and Nordmeccanica host Scrap Reduction Workshop
Nearly 60 flexible packaging attendees, including many major converters in North America, attended a recent Scrap Reduction Workshop co-hosted by Nordmeccanica and the Packaging, Consumer Goods and Construction Adhesives business of Henkel Corporation at Nordmeccanica's U.S. headquarters. 

Domino scoops top prize at 25th Anniversary PLC Awards
Domino Printing Sciences plc, the Cambridge, UK-based manufacturer of product identification, traceability and digital printing solutions, has been named Company of the Year at the 2010 PLC Awards. Incorporated in 1978 and listed on the London Stock Exchange since 1984, the Domino Group reported sales for the year to 31 October 2010 of £300 million, a record growth of 17 percent over the previous year and the group's 32nd year of consecutive growth. Domino entered the FTSE 250 index in June 2008 and was admitted last year to the FTSE4Good Index Series, which measures the performance of companies that meet globally recognised corporate responsibility standards.

Mike Bruner named TAPPI/PIMA Mill Manager of the Year for 2011
Mike Bruner, mill manager with Intl Paper's Courtland Mill in Courtland, AL, has been named TAPPI/PIMA's 2011 Mill Manager of the Year. This award recognizes the mill manager who has best demonstrated outstanding leadership, management and organizational skills leading to improved results at the facility for which he or she is responsible. Nominees for the award are judged on four criteria: skill in people development; application of best management practices; effective use of external resources; and change management. Bruner will receive the award during the 2011 PaperCon Conference in Covington, KY, near Cincinnati, OH, May 1 to4.

The John Roberts Co. adopts Prism WIN MIS and QTMS Automated Shop Floor and WIP Tracking

After an extensive search for an MIS system that provides operational and manufacturing efficiencies and improved customer communication, The John Roberts Company has begun the implementation of the full suite of Prism WIN management information system (MIS) including QTMS for automated shop floor data capture and automated tracking of work in progress (WIP). The print provider and packaging converter has enjoyed positive growth and is preparing to compliment and extend the value they add to their customers with a highly efficient and fully integrated solution including estimating, job tracking, scheduling, order management and WIP tracking.

Nicholas Knowlen to Receive TAPPI/PIMA Student of the Year Award
Nicholas Knowlen, a senior chemical engineering student at the University of Maine, will receive the TAPPI/PIMA Student of the Year award, which recognizes and supports outstanding students in paper science programs. Knowlen has been active with TAPPI/PIMA for four years and currently serves as vp the student chapter. He has previously held the positions of treasurer and fund-raiser.. He is a member of the AIChE student chapter at the University of Maine, and he works as an undergraduate research assistant for Professor Michael Mason. He is slated to graduate in May 2011.

CRI recognized for employee safety, eco-friendly manufacturing practices
NAPIM (National Assn of Printing Ink Manufacturers) recently conducted a plant evaluation at Color Resolutions International (CRI), an international packaging ink company focused on water-based and UV flexo inks for corrugated, flexible packaging, envelopes, tags and labels, and folding cartons. The evaluation concluded that CRI minimizes or eliminates both employee exposures and environmental impact, and has state of the art materials handling techniques, which reduce the risk of employee injuries.

Kundinger Controls exclusive B&R partner in Michigan
B&R Industrial Automation has appointed Kundinger Controls to their ranks of partners in North America. Kundinger, based in Auburn Hills, Michigan, distributes, designs, engineers, manufactures, installs, and provides ongoing service support for virtually any machine application and every type of customer. Michigan will be a new B&R partner location next to offices in Illinois, Wisconsin Ohio and Indiana.

Zanella Earns Promotion at INX Digital

INX Digital Intll President Ken Kisner announced the promotion of Marco Zanella to product development manager.

Political strategist Karl Rove to headline Intl Dairy Show

The Intl Dairy Foods Association announced that Karl Rove, who served as senior advisor and deputy chief of staff to former President George W. Bush, will lead off the International Dairy Show in Atlanta. Rove will share his view of the political landscape leading up to 2012 elections and outline the challenges he sees ahead for the country during the Signature Session on Monday, September 19, at 10:00 a.m. The International Dairy Show will run September 19 to 21, 2011, at the Georgia World Congress Center.

Menasha Packaging upgrades laminator to enhance capabilities

Menasha Packaging announces several new upgrades to its Asitrade litho-laminator at the company's display plant in Philadelphia. The new equipment increases the capacity of the laminator, produces superior printing surfaces and expands the company's product offerings. Equipment upgrades include a new single facer, automatic splicers, roll-fed substrate capability, the ability to produce longer sheets, and the addition of c-flute singleface lamination for graphic packaging with improved stacking strength.

Brian Smith, Ph.D. joins PACS Short Courses and Consulting Services
Brian Smith, Ph.D. joins PACS Short Courses and Consulting Services. Dr Smith is the author of three popular books on infrared spectroscopy; Fundamentals of FTIR and Infrared Spectral Interpretation, published by CRC Press, and Quantitative Spectroscopy: Theory and Practice, published by Academic Press. Dr. Smith earned his Ph.D. in Chemistry from Dartmouth College and graduated summa cum laude from Rochester Institute of Technology with a B.S. in Chemistry.

PaperWorks to increase CRB prices in April
PaperWorks Industries announces price increases coming into effect on April 21, 2011. The company will increase prices on all grades of coated recycled paperboard by $40 per ton. This applies to all North American customers and will include all MasterWorks CRB grades, including the News, Plus, Blister, Freeze, Lite and Beverage grades. PWI will continue to minimize these increases with ongoing cost savings initiatives as well as provide leading quality, excellent availability and service for all their paperboard products.

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