Meeting face-to-face with packaging leaders and innovators at PACK EXPO Las Vegas provided valuable context and nuance that official news releases don’t offer.

In February 2022, my wife and I had the pleasure of seeing two spectacular musical acts back-to-back on two separate nights in Las Vegas – Metallica on Friday, and then Billy Joel on Saturday.

I see several tie-ins between that great experience and the one I just had at PACK EXPO Las Vegas (September 11-13).

First, while it’s fun to crank up tunes at home, it’s obviously infinitely better to take in live performances of uber-talented musicians. The same can be said of meeting one-on-one with packaging leaders and innovators at PACK EXPO. While I have written about dozens of companies over the last several months, meeting face-to-face with packaging executives and technicians provides valuable context and nuance that official news releases don’t offer.

For example, I have written about IWK Packaging Systems Inc., a manufacturer of premium cartoning and tube filling equipment. However, I learned about a milestone anniversary when I met with IWK’s Dana Austin (General Manager North America).

Austin pointed out that IWK is a true pioneer in its field, noting that the company at the end of September would be celebrating 130 years of innovation in tube fillers and cartoners. Over those many decades, IWK has designed and engineered cutting-edge tube filling and cartoning machines for a wide variety of industries, predominantly the pharmaceutical and health & beauty sectors.

Another great discussion that I had at PACK EXPO was with Fresh-Lock’s Todd Meussling (Senior Manager, Market Development), who gave me a crash course on considerations that need to be made when producing compostable packaging, including compostable zippers and closures.

“It’s not our job to dictate which sustainable path people want to take. It’s just our job to support them,” Meussling noted. “Some people say, ‘Well, I can compost in the back yard, but I don’t have a place where I can drop something off from an industrial standpoint.’”

So even though Fresh-Lock had already created closures meeting industrial compostable standards, Fresh-Lock and Tipa teamed up to respond to requests for home-compostable closures. While doing just a soft rollout at PACK EXPO, Meussling said the companies later this year will officially announce their new child-resistant, home-compostable 10-millimeter zipper that can be paired with home-compostable pouches.

Another engaging discussion that I had at PACK EXPO was with Eran Sinbar, CEO of Yoran Imaging.

As the company’s name suggests, Yoran develops and supplies thermal imaging systems to optimize filling and heat-sealing processes on packaging lines.

However, Sinbar stressed the data-capture aspect of Yoran’s technology as a key component in helping its clients achieve efficient food and beverage packaging.

“We generate data. You need in-line data about the process. The idea is to predict the failures, to understand your process, to improve your process,” Sinbar said, noting that data capture is key when it comes to helping companies connect packaging machinery and create autonomous production lines. “We are an information company at the end of the day.”

While I can’t possibly mention all of the engaging discussions that I had at PACK EXPO, I do see one other tie-in to the great concerts that my wife and I saw last year. Just as Metallica and Billy Joel have their own unique approaches to music, the hundreds of companies that participated in PACK EXPO have their own unique approaches to addressing the packaging industry’s most pressing challenges.

I plan to continue the discussions that I started at PACK EXPO as a way to keep game-changing packaging innovations in the marquee lights.