PKN presents Pack Chat from Pack Expo, proudly supported by Heat and Control, bringing you packaging innovations that caught our eye on day four of the show.
Watch the video here:
SUMMARY TRANSCRIPT: Maneva’s Orchestration platform brings AI to factory vision systems. Steve Visco explained that traditional vision systems tell you whether a pack passes or fails; Orchestration tells you why – meat caught in a seal, for example – giving real root-cause data. It’s camera-agnostic, so plants can use their existing CCTV, and it also monitors labour efficiency, safety and machine health. The standout is Kaizen, a built-in AI assistant: ask what your seal defect rate was last week, and it pulls the answer straight from the plant’s data.
PakTech has been making multipack handles from 100 per cent post-consumer recycled HDPE for more than a decade. Brandon Rogers told me that, with packaging regulation like PPWR and US EPR in mind, it has lightweighted its handles by 20 to 40 per cent – the lighter version still holds bottles securely, just with fewer frills. All its black handles are now NIR-detectable for sorting. PakTech manufactures in Australia too.
Sappi has launched LusterFSB OGR, a new barrier-coated paperboard for takeout food – burger clamshells, doughnut boxes and the like. Brad Fisher explained that the moderate grease-resistant barrier is built in on the paper machine, on the uncoated side, while the coated side stays print-ready. The technology is patent pending, and it’s designed to pass BPI home-compostability certification, expected by the end of the year. [It’s one of several new grades Sappi can now commercialise, after converting a second paper machine last year to free up capacity.
The Technology Excellence Award winners are in – and two were featured here on Pack Chat. Amcor’s DecoFusion tube won the Sustainability category, and Colorcon’s OneLock closure won General Packaging and Processing. The Food and Beverage award went to Mitsui Chemicals America for its TAKELAC water-based barrier coating.
Finally, a quick-fire look at the AmeriStar awards. People’s Choice went to Graphic Packaging International’s EnviroClip Beam for Tudor Drinks’ Harry Brompton’s Peach Iced Tea – a glue-free paperboard clip that took the brand into a retail-ready four-pack. Best in Show went to AeroFlexx, whose mono-material liquid pack uses air chambers instead of thick plastic walls, with up to 85 per cent less plastic. And my personal pick: the Amcor HealthCare reclosable pouch, winner in Drug and Pharmaceutical. Made with recycle-ready film, it replaces plastic bottles for gummy vitamins, with a child-resistant zipper, and Amcor’s life cycle assessment shows an 83 per cent lower carbon footprint than a standard PET bottle.
Thanks for watching Pack Chat. That’s a wrap from Pack Expo Chicago – see you at the next show.
And thanks to our sponsor, Heat and Control. Whatever you want to make, Heat and Control will make it happen – proudly supporting the conversations and innovation shaping the future of processing and packaging.
