PACKAGING BRIEFS Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Inland Label honored with awards of excellence in Statewide Print Competition
Inland Label, headquartered in La Crosse, WI, received three Awards of Excellence in the 11th Annual Graphics Excellence Awards, a statewide printing competition hosted by the Printing Industries of Wisconsin. PIW is the state's trade association for printing and the graphic arts. One for the flexographic printed Bones Rum p-s label, another for the Rubbermaid Horses Tote Injection in-mold label, and a third for their offset printed Packers Bucket Injection in-mold label, molded by Jokey for Spirit Popcorn.

Amtech brings new president on board to develop North American market
Amtech Drives announces the appointment of Charles F. Geraldi as the North American division's new President. Mr. Geraldi is a 27 year veteran of the high tech automation industry and holds a BEEE from Stevens Institute of Technology along with a MBA from Iona College. Geraldi's executive management experience includes a variety of blue chip technology companies in marketing and product development positions. He is also an adjunct professor for his alma mater where he teaches engineering students Mechatronics as well as advanced motion control methods.

Special commission for Crown Specialty Packaging at the Royal Wedding
Crown Specialty Packaging Europe, a business unit of Crown Holdings, Inc., was honored to be commissioned by His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales to create a decorative tin holding, as tradition requires, a slice of the Royal couple's wedding cake.

GMG acquires Aurelon
GMG, a developer and supplier of high-end color management software solutions, acquires Aurelon, located in The Netherlands. Aurelon provides modular and scalable technology for the processing of digital information to any media that requires accurate graphic production and output. The acquisition is GMG's second acquisition this year. 

Flint Group expands manufacturing capabilities
To meet the increased market demand for low migration UV inks, Flint Group has made a major investment into additional manufacturing equipment for their growing ink product range in its motherplant for narrow web inks in Trelleborg, Sweden. 

Klöckner Pentaplast appoints new CEO
The Klöckner Pentaplast Group appoints Dr. Christian Holtmann as CEO of the group, effective June 1, 2011.  Holtmann succeeds Tom Goeke, who will remain an advisor to the company. Holtmann will be based in Montabaur, Germany.

Eriez announces eco-certification program for magnetic separation, feeding, recycling equipment
Eriez has developed an eco-certification designation for a variety of the company's magnetic separation and recycling equipment as well as its line of small feeders. The self-certified program was put in place in October 2010 and will expand into other product categories after an internal analysis. Equipment identified by Eriez for the Eco-Certified designation has met several criteria: the products have a positive impact on recycling processes and the recycling industry; they are manufactured with energy-savings features, including the use of energy-free permanent magnets;  an electronic, paperless format is used when promoting the selected equipment or when marketed using hard copy, promotional material is printed on recycled paper; equipment is built in an Eriez facility that focuses on recycling consumables, driving down energy usage and drastically reducing solid landfill waste; and it was manufactured using a completely digital workflow, both internally and externally, to reduce its dependence on paper. 

GMA creates new position: executive vp of global strategies
Grocery Manufacturers Assn. appoints Sean Darragh as executive vp of global strategies, a newly created position within the association. The executive vp of global strategies is responsible for expanding GMA's international program by defining and effectively executing a global policy and advocacy strategy that is fully integrated into the GMA strategic plan. In this role, Darragh will lead GMA's efforts to further develop and use international public policy and advocacy tools to advance the global commerce interests of the CPG industry. Darragh also currently serves as executive vp of international affairs at Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO), where he leads BIO's international regulatory and policy advocacy operations, and oversees BIO's efforts to build its international presence, membership and global reach. Prior to coming to BIO, Sean served as deputy vp, international, at the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers Assn.

SPE issues call for papers for plastics technical conference
The Society of Plastics Engineers (SPE) is now accepting abstract and paper submissions for the SPE-ANTEC 2012 Conference. The submission deadline is October 19, 2011. The entire submission and review process is conducted online. The conference will take place April 2 to 4, 2012.

Triangle names new marketing manager, southeast regional sales manager
Triangle Package Machinery Co. has appointed Kim Magon to the position of marketing manager. Magon has held inside sales and marketing positions with several leading packaging OEMs, and was most recently marketing manager with a cartoning OEM in the Chicagoland area. Triangle also has appointed Jay Leveroni as its new southeast regional sales manager.

Global Packaging Alliance holds annual meeting in Hong Kong
The Global Packaging Alliance (GPA) recently held its annual meeting in Hong Kong, providing a forum for its members to review industry trends and the latest developments in packaging innovation and sustainability. The group also focused on ways to further support international brands in growth markets. The Global Packaging Alliance is an international organization of independent packaging experts proficient at managing all aspects of the supply chain. Members include Diamond Packaging Rochester, NY USA; rlc | packaging group, Hannover, Germany; Colorpak Limited Melbourne Australia; Gonçalves SA Indústria Gráfica, Sao Paolo, Brazil; Polygrafoformlenie - Flexo, St. Petersburg, Russia; Yau Bon Offset Printing, Shenzhen, China; Cartmont Packaging, Tlalnepantla, Mexico; Kumar Printers, Gurgaon, India; and Masterpack, Johannesburg, South Africa. 

Siemens online game launch proves a success
Siemens Industry Inc. announced that Plantville, its new online gaming platform that simulates the experience of being a plant manager, has reached more than 57,000 visitors and boasts nearly 12,000 players in more than 130 countries since its launch on March 24. Plantville players hailed from 500-plus universities and schools, 8,600 companies and 139 countries. 

Renold repositions senior-level management for new growth
Renold has repositioned its senior-level management in order to fully capitalize on post-recession growth opportunities. Mike Pelehach was named executive vp of sales and marketing for Renold Americas, which includes the U.S. and Central and South America. He will report directly to George Graham, managing director of global chain sales for Renold plc. Pelehach previously served as president for the U.S. business before managing global marketing for the past several years.

Schneider Packaging appoints new director of engineering, announces 2 engineers received Fanuc certification
Schneider Packaging Equipment Co. Inc. has appointed Mick Gleason director of engineering effective immediately. Prior to joining Schneider, he worked with a global provider of air defense, operations management, and data integration and distribution. Schneider engineers Chris Hoover and William Carolan have successfully completed training and received professional certifications from Fanuc Robotics. Chris Hoover received Fanuc Certified Service Engineer certification, and William Carolan received Fanuc Master Service Engineer certification, Fanuc's highest level of engineering certification. 

Advanced Motion Systems joins B&R as new U.S. partner
Advanced Motion Systems Inc. located in Upstate New York is the latest partner company to join the growing B&R Industrial Automation partner network in North America. AMS has four office locations, with the main office in Rochester, as well as offices in Marathon, Buffalo, and Syracuse. With this addition, B&R has a network of more than 24 B&R offices and partner offices throughout North America. 

Charter Films expands outreach to minority- and women-owned business enterprises.
To expand outreach to minority- and women-owned enterprises (MWBE), Charter Films Inc. has announced that it will have signage indicating our support for MWBEs and will be available to meet with potential suppliers at tradeshows. 

John Staruch named vp business development at Batching Systems, Inc.

John Staruch has joined Batching Systems Inc., a provider of high technology filling and packaging solutions to the industrial, food, and medical industries, as vp of business development. Staruch joins Batching Systems from executive management positions at Bosch Packaging Technology and HayssenSandiacre as well as his own consulting business.

Zip-Pak introduces Package Realization Team
Zip-Pak introduces the Package Realization Team, which is the company's new consultatory approach helping brand owners transition from existing package styles to resealable flexible formats, or enhance their existing packaging.

PMMI issues call for Packaging Hall Of Fame Class Of 2011 nominations
PMMI is now accepting nominations for the Packaging Hall of Fame Class of 2011. The annual honor will be presented at a reception during PACK EXPO Las Vegas on Monday, September 26, 2011 at the Las Vegas Hilton. Nominations are due to Maria Ferrante, vp, education and workforce development, PMMI, no later than June 30, 2011. They can be submitted directly by e-mail or with an online nomination form. Submissions should clearly describe how the candidate has: personally advanced the science, technology and practice of packaging; expanded packaging knowledge and the understanding of packaging); and been a remarkable volunteer leader in the packaging community.

Neenah Paper formally appoints new CEO
Neenah Paper Inc.'s board of directors formally appointed John O'Donnell as CEO effective as part of its previously announced executive succession plan. O'Donnell, who was senior vp and COO, assumes the position from Sean Erwin, who is retiring as CEO. Erwin will remain on Neenah Paper's Board of Directors as its non-executive chairman. 

Apollo appoints Quadpack as exclusive distributor
International cosmetic packaging provider Quadpack has signed a contract with Korean manufacturer Apollo to distribute its innovative range of dispensers in Europe, Australia and New Zealand.

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