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A Peek at PACK EXPO

It’s been four years since PACK EXPO International graced the halls of Chicago’s McCormick Place with its dynamic presence, and what a return it was.

Pat Reynolds 2016 Official

Be sure to check out next month’s issue of Packaging World for our annual PACK EXPO Innovations Report. In the meantime, a few random observations of the October 23-26 show.

Supply chain challenges were a topic of discussion at countless booths, including that of Hamrick Packaging Systems. Especially difficult to get were controls components like servo motors and drives and HMI screens, noted President Jordan Hamrick. “So we found new vendors in some cases,” he explained. Take the Model 600D/TS tandem servo drop packer being introduced at the show. Servo drives and motors came from Mitsubishi, while the HMI is from Weintek. “We’ve been very impressed by the expanded capabilities of the Weintek HMI,” said Hamrick. “You can play training videos on it, or store manuals with it, and the interface is so intuitive.”

One thing that leaped out at me was how remarkably interconnected the exhibitors at the show are. One good example was on display at Triangle Package Machinery, which, by the way, just marked its 100th anniversary. Featured by Triangle at PACK EXPO was a cartoner whose capabilities were pretty impressive in their own right—like recipe-driven automated changeover in six minutes. But what’s also striking is that the system on display at the show included contributions from at least four other PACK EXPO exhibitors: Rockwell Automation for controls, Markem-Imaje for date coding, Valco Melton for adhesive application, and Cognex for a vision system.