At North America’s big Pack Expo show last month, it was not difficult to see that machinery and material suppliers are working to capitalize on some trends sweeping the packaging industry. For instance, machinery to produce flexible plastic pouches and containers, which dominates other packaging types worldwide, was on wide display. At the co-located Pharma Expo, it was automation and coding technology for the growing healthcare market.
The three-day event, produced by PMMI, the Assn. for Packaging and Processing Technologies, drew 28,699 attendees to view 2,006 exhibitors in 844,510sq ft of the Las Vegas Convention Center. That bested 2013 with 1,788 exhibitors and 27,570 attendees. (In Chicago in 2014, Pack Expo drew 48,000 people and 2,400 exhibitors; the Vegas show held on alternate years is traditionally smaller.)