Packaging Briefs – Wednesday, August 4, 2010

Ball completes Sale of Plastic Packaging Division, Americas
Ball Corporation completed the sale of its plastic packaging, Americas, business to Amcor Limited for approximately $280 million. The sale includes five U.S. plants that manufacture polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles and preforms and polypropylene bottles, as well as associated customer contracts and other related assets. Ball's plastics business employed approximately 1,000 people and had sales of $635 million in 2009. Manufacturing plants are located in Ames, Iowa; Batavia, Ill.; Bellevue, Ohio; Chino, Calif.; and Delran, N.J.; and research and development operations were based in Broomfield and Westminster, Colo.

Benchmark Automation acquires Blair-Fuehrer
Benchmark Automation, LLC, Athens, GA has broadened its presence in the packaging industry by acquiring Blair-Fuehrer, Inc., a manufacturer of Intermittent Motion (IM), Horizontal Form, Fill and Seal (HFFS) machinery.  The purchase includes all equipment patents, designs and drawings along with an extensive parts inventory.  The acquisition fits well with the company's long-term strategy to continue expanding its packaging machinery offerings. Blair-Fuehrer, Inc. has provided used, reconditioned and newly manufactured IM packagers for over 20 years. 

Richard R. Denison joins Delkor Systems as Director of Operations
Richard R. (Rick) Denison joins Delkor Systems Inc. as Director of Operations with responsibility for leading all aspects of the company’s manufacturing and assembly operations. Denison, a Six Sigma Black Belt with TOC/ICO certification in supply chain logistics, joins Delkor with twenty-five years engineering and managerial experience with capital goods manufacturers, including work as a consulting engineer for manufacturing operations in several high technology industries.

All-Fill converts to solar power
All-Fill and RMK Solar announce the completion and switchover of a 197.1 KW roof-based solar system. The system consists of 896 solar panels, each producing 22 watts yielding a total of 197.1 KW. The arrays are connected to a Central Inverter connected to the main electrical service. It is estimated that the roof installation will provide up to 41% of the annual electrical usage for All-Fill’s building and operations.

Document Security Systems, Inc. signs licensing agreement with pharmaceutical label manufacturer
Document Security Systems, Inc. announced that it has signed a licensing agreement with Wisconsin-based ATL, Inc., a secure product label manufacturer. As part of the two-year agreement, ATL will manufacture security labels for its pharmaceutical industry clients containing Document Security Systems, Inc.'s AuthentiGuard suite of technologies. Document Security Systems' new Bar Code Protection technology called "AuthentiGuard - Bar Code Barricade" will be the main feature of the technology package licensed by ATL.

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