June 20, 2018 | Sacmi a partner in the European Z-Bre4K predictive diagnostics project

Maintenance in general – and predictive diagnostics in particular – lie at the very core of the new challenges facing European manufacturing. In keeping with the opportunities opened up by 4.0 enabling technology, the Z-Bre4K project (in which Sacmi, together with CRIT, is part of a 17-partner European team made up of leading players from industry, academia and research) hinges on a revolutionary approach to this field.

June 19, 2018 | End-of-line partnership with Gebo Cermex for Unilever's new facility in Dubai

Two comprehensive end-of-lines for production of shampoo and conditioner in shaped bottles have been successfully implemented by Gebo Cermex at Unilever’s site in Dubai, which is the largest personal care factory in the Middle East and Africa.

June 18, 2018 | Water is life! Bottle it with advanced plants

In Canada, in British Columbia, Ice Age Glacial Water Company bottles the water coming from glacier sources; a 100 % natural water, which, thanks to the use of modern bottling technologies reaches the tables of millions of consumers in North America maintaining its purity and freshness.

June 15, 2018 | Alpla-founder Alwin Lehner deceased

Alwin Lehner, founder of the Austrian packaging solutions specialist Alpla, died on Tuesday evening at the age of 86. Alwin Lehner, born in 1932 in Bregenz, Austria, founded “Alpenplastik Lehner Alwin GmbH” together with his brother Helmuth Lehner. He led the company to international success.

June 14, 2018 | Soccer World Cup beer bottles

The Martens brewery in Belgium is using Direct Print technology by KHS and, together with a French supermarket chain, is placing specially designed bottles on the shelves for the soccer World Cup. To mark the big kick-off in Moscow, Belgium’s Brouwerij Martens is offering its premium beer in 32 country-specific bottle designs on the French market. Various images of the participating nations have been printed straight onto the PET bottles using Direct Print.

June 13, 2018 | Arca Continental to build new plant in Texas

Arca Continental, one of the world’s largest Coca-Cola bottlers, announced that it will build a new production and distribution facility in Houston, Texas, through its subsidiary Coca-Cola Southwest Beverages (CCSWB). After a little over a year of becoming the first Latin American bottler to operate in the U.S. Coca-Cola system, the Monterrey, Mexico-based company announced that it will invest US$250 million in a facility close to 1 million square feet in size. This will be the first Coca-Cola production plant built in the U.S. in a decade.

June 12, 2018 | Cold Jet continues expansion - personnel growth in Europe

After the acquisition of Denmark-based IceTech in 2016, Cold Jet has further expanded European production of its dry ice cleaning and production systems in Poland and Denmark. In addition to these facilities, Cold Jet has installed several technical information and training centers in Belgium, Germany, Denmark and Poland. These technical centers are open for customer visits, demonstrations, sample test trials and training sessions for new and existing customers and partners.

June 11, 2018 | United Caps acquires Spanish closure manufacturer Embalatap

United Caps, an international manufacturer of caps and closures, announced it has acquired the Spanish closure manufacturer Embalatap. The acquisition acts to extend the United Caps product portfolio, especially as it relates to closures for edible oils typically used in the Southern European market. United Caps welcomes all Embalatap employees to the United Caps family and will maintain the existing manufacturing location.

June 08, 2018 | Wintec enlarging Changzhou plant

In order to meet the growing demand, Wintec is enlarging its production plant in Changzhou, China. "The production area will be more than doubled, and by the end of 2019 the number of employees in production alone will increase by 60 percent", reports Michael Feltes, President Sales and Service of Wintec, at the beginning of the Chinaplas plastics trade fair, end of April in Shanghai, China. Construction work is expected to commence in the autumn of this year. The plan is to already use the additional area by the fourth quarter of the coming year. Altogether, Wintec is investing more than 10 million euro into the first big expansion of the site since the company was established four years ago.

June 07, 2018 | Sacmi sales above 1.4 billion euro

The 2017 Financial Statement for Sacmi Imola shows higher sales and an increased gross operating margin with respect to 2016. Like its parent company, the Group as a whole closed the year by improving on the previous year’s performance, with sales touching 1.434 billion euro; the net consolidated result was over 35 million, also on the rise compared to 2016.

June 06, 2018 | Starlinger acquires Barmag Spinnzwirn from Oerlikon

The Austrian Starlinger Group takes over the business unit Barmag Spinnzwirn based in Chemnitz (Germany) from Oerlikon. The integration of the related technologies for spinning lines for the production of tapes, monofilaments, yarns, and twisted yarns as well as texturing machines into the existing product portfolio holds significant potential for synergy effects in service, engineering, and sales.

June 05, 2018 | NPE2018 attendance up by 1.7 percent

More than 2,100 companies from 121 countries gathered at NPE2018: The Plastics Show in Orlando, Fla. last month to make new investments and debut manufacturing technologies. NPE2018, hosted every three years by the Plastics Industry Association (PLASTICS), concluded on May 11, wrapping up five very active days of commerce on the trade show floor and numerous new and returning educational programs.

June 04, 2018 | Alpla builds new plant in Dayton, Ohio

Alpla, Inc., a global manufacturer of rigid plastic packaging for a wide range of consumer products, announced that it will build a new plant with at least 50 jobs by the time it reaches full production in April 2019. The plant, located adjacent to the Dayton International Airport in Park 70/75 represents a $21 million investment in 154,000 square feet of an existing building which will serve current and new customers within Alpla’s growing list of US locations.

June 01, 2018 | A boardroom table made out of collected PET bottles

Inspiration for the top of the Plastic Whale boardroom table is a surfacing whale, with its distinctive blowhole and graceful lines. It is made from layers of recycled PET felt, recycled PET foam, and FSC birch wood. While the surface is exquisitely finished using PET felt that has been heated and pressed to give it a luxurious look-and-feel. The table’s legs, which in their design recall a whale’s imposing skeleton, are made of robust FSC oak.

May 30, 2018 | PlasticsEurope reacts on EU Directive on single use plastics

PlasticsEurope supports the overarching objective of the “Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on the reduction of the impact of certain plastic products on the environment” presented by the European Commission, namely to reduce marine litter in our seas. PlasticsEurope states that marine litter is a result of a combination of factors, the most important of which being the lack of implementation of waste-related legislation at national/regional level, the lack of proper waste management in some parts of the world and inappropriate littering behaviour.

May 29, 2018 | Krones has taken over subsidiary for digital decoration technology

By purchasing the remaining shares, Krones has taken over Till GmbH in its entirety. Under the name of Dekron, the group’s subsidiary is now synergising the entire technology portfolio for digital decoration technology. The Krones product portfolio themed around digital decoration of containers had previously been split between two companies: firstly, Krones AG itself, and secondly Till GmbH, in which Krones had owned a majority shareholding of 51 per cent since 2014.