Pro Mach, Inc. (ProMachInc.com) has acquired Pace Packaging, a leading global manufacturer of automated bottle unscramblers and orientors based in Fairfield, New Jersey. Pace brings added capabilities in bottle handling and complements existing strengths in high-speed filling and capping offered by Pro Mach brands, Federal, Fowler, and Zalkin. Pro Mach’s Bottling & Capping Group continues to grow rapidly with operations in North America and Europe and a strong global customer base in beverage, pharmaceutical, food, consumer, and industrial goods.

Pace, founded more than 40 years ago, built its reputation on manufacturing high-quality, innovative systems that deliver high-speed performance for a wide variety of bottle types and product applications. In addition to unscramblers and orientors, Pace also manufactures conveyor cleaning systems for filling and bottling lines. Pace President Ken Regula will join Pro Mach as Vice President and General Manager, reporting to Pro Mach’s Bottling & Capping Group President Don Cotney. Pace Vice President of Sales Glenn Kelley will also join Pro Mach and continue leading selling efforts in the same role.

“We’re pleased to welcome the Pace team to Pro Mach,” says Mark Anderson, Pro Mach president and CEO. “We continue to add superior capabilities that bring value to our customers and offer them a more complete set of solutions. Pace systems fit well with our existing bottling and capping and primary packaging product lines and provide opportunities for us to increase our integrated system product offering. As we grow globally, we continue to look for opportunities that allow us to add best-in-class stand-alone solutions that ultimately enable us to offer a more complete range of integrated systems.” 

Pro Mach is one of North America’s largest packaging and processing machinery manufacturers and integrated system providers, with more than 20 equipment brands sold throughout the world. In addition to bottling and capping, it manufactures and integrates solutions for primary and secondary packaging, flexible packaging, end of line packaging, material handling, and identification and tracking. In recent years Pro Mach has increased its focus on markets outside North America, particularly Latin America and Europe.

 “Joining Pro Mach is an outstanding opportunity for Pace and our customers,” says Regula. “Our customers have greater access to new product lines. We also have opportunities to create new products and solution sets that add more value to our customers’ lines. We’re excited to better serve our customers in new ways.”