Sustainability, efficiency and automation will be front and center when leading manufacturers from across Australia and New Zealand converge on Melbourne for the Australasian Processing and Packaging Expo (APPEX) 2024.

Presented by the Australian Packaging and Processing Machinery Association (APPMA), the event will be the largest business-to-business gathering for the processing and packaging sector ever to be held in Australia.

APPEX builds on the 35-year foundation of the former AUSPACK exhibitions, taking what was previously a packaging-focused event and combining it with the processing industry in what will be a 50 percent larger showcase at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre (MCEC) from March 12 to 15.

Here is a look at just a few of the many companies that will be presenting packaging solutions at APPEX.

Rockwell Automation

With the proliferation of SKUs and labels, there is a need for sustainable materials, retail-ready packaging, and better pallet usage. Flexible packaging is more important than ever, and Rockwell’s solutions offer:

• Built-in line performance management
• Flexible approach to integrating discrete manufacturing lines
• Setup, control, and analysis of an entire line from one location

“Automated packaging equipment must be flexible enough to keep up with frequent line changes and scalable enough to handle new products. Rockwell can help processors and manufacturers keep up with customer demands for customization with greater speed, accuracy, and shortened lead times,” said Anthony Wong, regional director, South Pacific, Rockwell Automation.

Rockwell Automation, in partnership with Endress+Hauser, will display at APPEX a specialized food rig, which has been precisely designed to meet the instrumentation and automation needs of the food and beverage industry. Demonstrations will be held at Stand A120.

It emphasizes hygienic design, real-time quality monitoring, and seamless integration. APPEX visitors can discover how laboratory measurements seamlessly integrate into production, improving quality control and efficiency – and see first-hand how the partnership between Endress+Hauser and Rockwell enhances value and innovation.

Among other solutions, the Rockwell stand will also feature the latest FactoryTalk® Optix™ cloud-enabled human-machine interface (HMI) platform.

Ball & Doggett

Ball & Doggett, Australia’s largest distributor of printable materials and consumables, is driving the conversation for sustainable packaging with a new online educational resource.

More specifically, Ball & Doggett in June 2023 released an online educational platform regarding sustainable packaging called ecoporium, which led to the company picking up an Industry award from the Australian Packaging Covenant Organisation (APCO) in November.

“APPEX invited us to bring this platform to life – which we will be executing on our 9 x 6 meter stand,” the company said in a statement.

Positioned as “The Destination for Sustainable Packaging,” it creates a channel for all audiences to gain insight to world of labels and packaging through the lens of the Ball & Doggett Group.

“We are the architects of our own business future and building the foundation of our sustainable culture. It’s about the conversation, the collective impact and sharing important information pertaining to sustainable packaging,” said Zaidee Jackson, the principal creative project lead on ecoporium.

With an eye toward achieving the national packaging targets set by APCO, Jackson says the resource “has been curated with intent and purpose to offer visibility on our labels and packaging range along with an experience that our customers trust when partnering with Ball & Doggett.”

Select Equip

Established in 1984, Australia’s Select Equip provides comprehensive solutions covering multiple aspects of packaging, from tray sealing to end-of-line automation, primary and secondary packaging, product handling, and right through to quality control for the Fresh Produce, Ready Meals, Snacking, Dairy, Bakery, Meat, Seafood, and Poultry markets.

At APPEX, Select Equip will be launching for the first time in Australia:

• General Packer - Select Equip are the exclusive distributors of General packer. They provide automatic pouch filling and sealing machines, and it’s the first time it will be seen in Australia.
• Primoreels represented by Select Equip Reels. Primoreels is an innovative lidding system for the dairy market that is being launched in Australia through Select Equip.

Select Equip also will have on show:

• G.Mondini's Cigno and Neural S Systems
• Marco - LineMaster V and Table top Take away scale
• Keymac K101 - sleeving machine
• Primodan - Primo Basic
• Purpak Purflow Compact - HFFS machine
• Purpak Edge 400 VFFS machine
• Bilwinco multihead weigher