Packaging NewsMachinery

Innovation stage fills as PACK EXPO East 2015 nears

PMMI announces slate of free, on-floor educational sessions at the debut of its newest trade show

PACK EXPO East (Pennsylvania Convention Center, Philadelphia; Feb. 16–18, packexpoeast.com), the latest entry in the PACK EXPO portfolio of trade shows, will feature Innovation Stage education programs, produced by show owner and organizer PMMI, The Association for Packaging & Processing Technologies.

The free, on-floor education program has become an attendee favorite at PACK EXPO International, PACK EXPO Las Vegas and Pharma EXPO, which is co-located with both and produced in partnership with the International Society for Pharmaceutical Engineering (ISPE).

“Innovation Stage is one more way for attendees to learn how to make what they see on the show floor fit into their businesses,” says Maria Ferrante, vice president, Education and Workforce Development, PMMI.

Innovation Stage is in Booth 696, near the Education & Workforce Development Pavilion, the PMMI Partners Pavilion and the PMMI booth and features a dozen sessions scheduled over Monday, Feb. 16, and Tuesday, Feb. 17. Check Packexpoeast.com for updates.

Monday, Feb. 16

10:30–11:00 a.m.	“Process Validation and Hygienic Equipment Design in Heat Processed Low-Moisture Foods"	Stephen Perry, Ph.D., managing director, AIOE
11:30 a.m.–Noon	“Improving OEE through Automatic Changeovers with ProAdjust”	Kevin Keefe, marketing director, Schneider Packaging Equipment Co., Inc.
12:30–1:00 p.m.	“Unified Machine and Robot Control: One Language, One Company”	Chetan Kapoor, senior director of technology innovation, and Chris Knudsen, senior marketing strategist, Yaskawa America Inc.
1:30–2:00 p.m.	“From Shipper to Shelf with One Motion. Meet the New Delkor Cabrio Case”	Rick Gessler, director of marketing & strategic account management, Delkor Systems
3:30–4:00 p.m.	“Why OEE as a Metric? Learn How to Design a System to Maximize Visibility into OEE”	Bob Gates, General Electric; Chris Carlins, senior application engineer, AutomaTech, Inc.

Tuesday, Feb. 17

10:30–11:00 a.m.	“The Lean Connected Architecture: Smart Factories Need Smarter Automation to Reach Industry 4.0”	Daymon Thompson, TwinCAT product specialist, Beckhoff Automation
11:30 a.m.–Noon	“Functional Additive Masterbatches for Plastic Packaging: An Overview”	Dean Dodaro, sales engineer, Polyvel, Inc.
12:30–1:00 p.m.	“nVest for Success with Nordson Tankless Hot Melt Systems”	Duane Fisher, marketing manager–packaging, Nordson
1:30–2:00 p.m.	“Why Cloud? Why Now?”	Rob Bois, director, Product Marketing, Plex
2:30–3:00 p.m.	“The Power of 1% — Improving OEE and Driving Operational Excellence”	Chris Carlins, senior application engineer, AutomaTech, Inc.; Vikram Mankar, senior product manager, GE Intelligent Platforms
3:30–4:00 p.m.	“Tools for Driving Manufacturing Excellence: Total Cost of Ownership checklist and Overall Equipment Effectiveness Calculators”	Steve Schlegel, managing director, AIOE

Innovation Stage is just one of several places for learning at PACK EXPO East. Attendees can also take advantage of exhibitors’ in-booth education sessions and ISPE’s three-day “Manufacturing Solutions” conference.

PACK EXPO East features 375 top-tier suppliers in the Northeast’s only event for processing and packaging technologies across industries. Located in Center City Philadelphia, the newest PACK EXPO show is easy to reach and within 200 miles of a third of U.S. consumer packaged goods manufacturers.