APRIL 23, 2009

Crown begins construction on can plant in Slovakia
Crown Holdings, Inc. announces that a ceremonial groundbreaking event held on-site today marked the official start of construction of its new beverage can plant in Kechnec, in eastern Slovakia. Scheduled for completion in early 2010, the new plant will have an initial capacity of 750 million cans per year. The plant is being designed to support additional production lines, as future market needs require. Crown currently operates five production plants in Eastern Europe for its food and closures businesses.

AMGRAPH Packaging’s New “Green Plant” Expansion Nearing Completion
Versailles, CT-based AMGRAPH Packaging, Inc., a leading supplier of flexible packaging to the food, health & beauty, seed, lawn care, and pharmaceutical industries, announced the Company will be celebrating its 25th Anniversary with the opening of its “Green Plant” expansion later this year. The new building – which adds 50% more operating space and new printing, laminating, extruding, and slitting capabilities – will incorporate LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification principles in its design underscoring the Company’s commitment to environmental stewardship. As part of the Green Plant expansion, AMGRAPH has invested heavily in new equipment, including a new printing press, multiple slitters, and a new adhesive laminator and cold seal application line, in addition to expanding its extrusion line. All the new equipment is up and running as the expansion is nearing completion. Rockwell Automation launches new Safety Solutions web portal Rockwell Automation has launched a new site that includes resources to help deal with today’s safety automation issues. The site emphasizes machine safety, process safety, safety services, legislation and standards. Resources available include: case studies, white papers, webcasts, video, news and articles.  PlastipakAnnounces Hot-Fill Lightweighting Technology Deal with Tecsor HR
Plastipak Packaging, Inc. a wholly owned subsidiary of Plastipak Holdings, Inc., is pleased to announce that it has entered into a perpetual and exclusive worldwide hot-fill technology license with Tecsor HR, a French corporation. Plastipak has the right to sublicense the technology, and also has an option to take an equity stake in Tecsor HR. The technology includes patented breakthrough bottle lightweighting and reshaping processes that Plastipak expects will revolutionize the global hot-fill market. The technology offers significant material savings, the ability to use high-speed blowmolding/filling lines, and the potential of bottle design flexibility and differentiation.NatureWorksOpens State-of-the-Art Applications Lab
NatureWorks invested $1 million and 18 months of staff time to transform its former pilot plant in Savage, Minn., into an Ingeo™ bioresin applications lab capable of commercial grade compounding, sheet extrusion, thermoforming, injection molding and fiber spinning. In addition to a sheet extrusion line, commercial size thermoformer, fiber spinning line and injection molder, the lab has the capability to melt compound Ingeo™ based formulations and blends at rates up to 300 pounds (136 kilograms) per hour for use in the lab or to ship to customers for their own application evaluations. The NatureWorks lab also performs physical testing, chemical composition and molecular weight determination and rheology and thermo analysis.

APRIL 22, 2009

PakTechOne of Oregon’s Top 100 Green Businesses
In March the Oregon Business Magazine announced PakTech as one of Oregon’s Top 100 Green Businesses. The results are based on employee and employer surveys conducted in the fall of 2008. The sustainability section was among other more general questions in the 100 Best Oregon Businesses Survey. Results provided to management show PakTech to be the only plastic manufacturer in the Top 100, and scores showed PakTech to have averaged higher than most others in the Top 100. Top 10 will be announced in June during a congratulatory ceremony in Portland, Oregon.

KUKA Robotics expands global reach with the opening of Canadian Subsidiary
KUKA Robotics Roboter GmbH, a leading global manufacturer of industrial robots, announced expansion into Canada addressing the growing demand for innovative automation solutions and automation support for the Americas. In response to the announcement of the Canadian subsidiary, Stuart Shepherd President of KUKA Robotics U.S. and CEO of KUKA Robotics Canada stated, “Opening of the Canadian subsidiary is a key step in support of KUKA’s continued growth in the Canadian marketplace.  We see strong growth potential for KUKA in all industrial markets. This subsidiary will allow KUKA to offer direct support of products and services to new and existing customers while continuing to work with KUKA’s System Partners and integrators to deliver consistent high quality, innovative turnkey systems.”
Habasit America moves into new 340,000 square foot building in Suwanee, GA
Suwanee, Georgia – Habasit America, a leader in the conveyor belt manufacturing industry, held the official ribbon cutting ceremony for their new 340,000 sq ft North American headquarters on April 21. In attendance were Congressman John Linder and Vice President, Economic Development & Partnership of the Gwinnett Chamber of Commerce Nick Masino, both spoke at the ceremony addressing employees and staff. Habasit is making a commitment to Gwinnett County with the purchased land and building and a commitment to the environment with the ‘green’ enhancements made to this new facility.
Mettler-Toledo Hi-Speed Appoints Bob Urban as Operations Manager
Mettler-Toledo Hi-Speed, a leader in in-line checkweighers, appoints Bob Urban as Operations Manager.  Mr. Urban is a seasoned operations management professional and will oversee operations engineering, materials, and production functions at Mettler-Toledo Hi-Speed. Throughout his career in manufacturing leadership, Bob has focused on quality, lean manufacturing, and continuous improvement initiatives, most recently as President & Plant Manager of National Refrigeration Company in Honea Path, South Carolina. Bob holds a Master of Business Administration and a Bachelors of Science in Business Management.  He is also certified as an ASQ Quality Engineer. 

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