Converters Expo Sold Out, 100 Exhibitors Expected
More than 100 companies will be represented at the eighth annual Converters Expo April 15-16 in Green Bay, Wis.
This event, produced by Packaging Strategies, showcases converting machinery and suppliers during a day-long expo at the historic Lambeau Field, home of the Green Bay Packers. In addition, the $45 registration includes a welcome reception the evening before, as well as breakfast and lunch the day of the show.
Some long-time exhibitors are returning again this year. One is Bob Saari, vice president of business development for Contract Converting LLC, an Appleton, Wis., provider of slitting and rewinding services.
“We’ve been (there) every year. It’s a good (show) for us,” Saari says. In addition to returning, Saari served on the board of Converting Influence, which formerly owned the show. Packaging Strategies and BNP Media bought it in 2013.
Another member of the advisory board in previous years is Brett Buratti, sales manager for Little Rapids Corp.’s printing and converting division.
Since the business is based in Green Bay, “It’s important for us to get that exposure,” Buratti says. “It’s a good networking event.”
The company makes and prints the overwrap that converters of tissue and hygiene products use for packaging. It also prints other items such as paper bands and flexible laminates at its Green Bay plant.
Parkinson Technologies Inc., a manufacturer of slitter rewinders, will also be in attendance at this year’s expo. The company first exhibited in 2014.
“It makes sense for us to be in converting country,” says Brian Lundgren, marketing manager.
He adds that the company sells the Dusenbery line of slitter rewinders and will custom fit them. “We have a lot of proof our machines work well and we’re really good at custom jobs; we build to customers’ applications.”
Many more companies will be exhibiting, including sponsors Preco and Valley Grinding & Manufacturing.
A full list of exhibitors is available at www.convertersexpo.com.
Converters Expo.
(800) 524-7225
www.convertersexpo.com
SIDE BAR 1:
Exhibitors at Converters Expo feature the following products and services:
• Rewinding, slitting and sheeting
• Folding and finishing
• Coating, laminating and adhesives
• Packaging, warehousing, shipping and logistics
• Flexographic printing and inks
• Equipment and associated engineering
• Automation and handling
• Testing, product development and more
SIDE BAR 2:
Agenda for 2015 Converters Expo Lambeau Field Atrium
Wednesday April 15
6:00-7:30 p.m.,
Welcome Reception, Club 1919
Thursday April 16
9:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m.,
Expo Open, Legends Club Room, Legends Pre-Function,
North Balcony
12:00 p.m.-1:00 p.m.,
Lunch Buffet, Club 1919
TAPPI PLACE Celebrates 100 Years
Celebrating 100 years of service to the industry, the TAPPI Polymers, Lamination, Adhesives, Coatings and Extrusions (PLACE) Division – the division for all critical technical information and development regarding the present flexible packaging market – has a lot in store for 2015.
“This coming year is a very busy year for the PLACE Division,” says PLACE Division chairman Rob Hammond. “In April at the 100-year TAPPI anniversary, PLACE will have a one-day seminar on technical insights for packaging structures that have paper and plastics.”
The seminar will take place April 20 at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta, during TAPPI PLACE’s Centennial Celebration Week April 18-25 in Atlanta. The program will focus on extrusion coating, primer on extrusion coating and more. A centennial celebration gala will also take place that evening following the program.
Other centennial events lined up for this year include the PLACE Conference, which will be held May 11-13 in Nice, France.
The PLACE Division will also be joining the Global Pouch Forum event on June 10-12 in Miami. There, the division will host a one-day seminar, the Flexible Packaging Symposium, which will take place June 10. Topics that will be covered during the seminar include: pouch innovations; new developments in renewable resins and films; sustainable flexible packaging practices; branding strategies and more. For more information, visit www.globalpouchforum.com.
In August, the TAPPI extrusion coating course will be held in Charlotte, N.C. Officials say this event is a highly successful and increasingly growing short course, where industry experts teach about extrusion coating equipment and the entire extrusion process over a three-day period.
Although the organization is in the midst of celebrating its 100-year milestone, PLACE Chairman Rob Hammond says the division is continuing in its efforts to stay relevant to the ever-changing flexible packaging market.
“There are so many trade shows, technical conferences and symposiums that it is difficult for the professionals in the industry to know what to attend and who to meet,” explains Hammond. “The PLACE division is looking to partner with other technical organizations for stronger, more useful events to gather information, discuss ideas and network with other professionals.”
The PLACE Division consists of three separate teams: the technical program team, the marketing and promotions team and the products and resources team. Each team is made up of TAPPI members who share common interests and goals. One of the many great aspects about TAPPI PLACE Division teams is that they are centered on short-term projects, and are therefore ideal for people who want to be involved but are not looking for full-time commitment.
The technical program team, led by Jim Macnamara of Leprino Foods, prepares information for the different programs and conferences. The team participates in a variety of tasks for short courses, conferences, webinars and symposiums. Members help establish topics, write papers, prepare presentations, develop sessions and coordinate small meetings.
The marketing and promotions team is led by Rory Wolf of ITW Pillar Technologies. Members can help coordinate PLACE’s student outreach or participate in a campus visit. Team members also have a chance to become a sub team leader for new-member recruitment, help draw in additional brand owners and converters to the division, and participate in the selection of conference and short course promotional opportunities.
The largest PLACE Division team is the products and resource team led by Warren Durling of Clorox Services Co. This team is currently working to update and revise a variety of books, and is also creating monthly webinars relating to key industry topics. Typically, members of this team have the opportunity to write or edit a chapter of a technical manual, develop a test standard and work with a sub team for the manual to be reviewed and published, submit content to the PLACE e-newsletter, and contribute to or write a book for publication through the TAPPI Press.
For more information on TAPPI PLACE’s Centennial Celebration, visit www.tappi100years.org.
TAPPI PLACE
(770) 446-1400
www.tappi.org
FTA 2015 Annual Forum & InfoFlex Set for Nashville
Thousands of package-printing and converting professionals will arrive in Nashville, Tenn., for four days of learning and networking with over 2,000 attendees. There, they will learn valuable insight on how to ensure a successful print run.
The event will open on Sunday, May 3, with a series of informative, technical sessions that will run all the way through Wednesday, May 6. Forum’s technical sessions will leave attendees with ideas for revenue growth in markets previously untapped, officials say. Participants can expect to hear about new trends and technologies in interactive packaging and design; become proficient in global standards that pledge high-quality print; and take away key insights into process control, workforce management, color control and even competitive/complementary printing processes like digital printing.
2015 InfoFlex Exhibitors
The exhibition portion of the FTA event, InfoFlex, will take place May 4-5. Below are several companies that plan on showcasing their latest product offerings at the show:
Polymag Tek will be displaying its two-sided desktop sheet cleaner (4RSC-DT), which the company says offers big sheet-cleaning capability in a small package. Tesa Tape's flagship products include signature plate mounting tapes offered in 15, 20, and 60 mil thicknesses. Its newest innovations include the all-new Tesa Softprint secure plate-mounting family, as well as two new film splicing products for flexible package printing.
ROTOSTAR UV Shrink Gold from Eckart will also be promoted at the show. This product is a brand new flexo ink based on the company’s advanced formulation that provides a “true gold” look for shrink-sleeve graphics.
Daetwyler will be showcasing its flexographic elastomer plate process, as well as its range of doctor blades for flexographic printing. The company says it will also be discussing parts washing and distillation systems.
Yazoo Mills company will have on display its in-line printing capabilities and custom paper cores for attendees to view.
Also at InfoFlex, Goss will be showcasing actual print samples from its Vpak 500 web offset press for packaging.
Flexographic Technical Association
(631) 737-6020
www.flexography.org
