Pack Expo Las Vegas 2013 Here We Go!

Everyone in the packaging industry knows that it's getting close to show time for the Pack Expo Las Vegas 2013 show. I'm here in Las Vegas with our team putting together all the pieces that will make this an outstanding show for New England Machinery. Like most of the machinery manufacturers here, we have brought with us the best machines and newest technology to show off to potential customers. We're excited for the show to start on Monday, Sept. 23. If you haven't made plans yet to come, don't wait any longer. There are amazing machines here to see. Our booth, #C-2914 will feature three of our most popular models as well as our famous 'flying yellow bottles'. We will be hosting a happy hour from 3:30 to 4:30 pm on Monday and Tuesday. Stop by to say hello and see our machines in action. We look forward to seeing everyone here!

In-Line Capping Vs. Chuck Capping – Do You Know The Difference?

There are dozens of methods for closing containers/bottles/packages. These range from cappers to pluggers, lidders, sealers, and many more. But perhaps two of the most competitive and misunderstood methods that compete with one another on a regular basis are the In-Line Capper and the Chuck Capper. Both are used to cap bottles on a production line after the filler. Is one better than the other? Well, that depends...

The quick explanation is that the in-line capper is often less expensive and sometimes takes up less space. However, compared to a chuck capper it can be less reliable. Industries that require accurate torque and properly secured caps will need to look at the chuck capper. It is the age-old difference between cost versus quality. The in-line capper will generally get the job done, but there may be waste and accuracy issues in the process. The chuck capper will get the job done correctly every time.

For more information on the comparison between these capping methods visit New England Machinery’s website at www.neminc.com, click on Downloads and choose the white paper, “In-Line vs. Chuck Cappers”. Hopefully, this will help make the difference more clear.

The author, Marge Bonura, is the Director of Sales & Marketing for New England Machinery, Inc. (NEM). NEM is a leading packaging machinery manufacturer of bottle unscramblers, cappers, orienters, retorquers, lidders, pluggers, pump sorter/placers, scoop feeders, hopper elevators and much more. The company has been in business since 1974 selling to the food, beverage, pharmaceutical, personal care, chemical, household products, automotive and other industries. For more information on NEM, visit their website at www.neminc.com.

What You Need To Know When Buying a Capper Machine

Do you know what questions you should ask when purchasing a capping machine for your production line? I’ve often discovered that when researching a subject, it is the questions I don’t think to ask, that wind up causing me the most problems down the line. Later I will wonder how come I didn’t think to ask those questions, but we all have 20-20 hindsight.

To help production managers research the capper they need to purchase for a new line, New England Machinery has developed a list of the important questions that should be answered in the search. This list is available in a White Paper, free of charge. It is accessible by visiting NEM’s website at www.neminc.com, going to their Downloads section and choosing the white paper entitled “Questions You Need to Ask When Purchasing a Capper”.

We hope this white paper is useful and saves valuable time and money in researching the right capper for the job.

The author, Marge Bonura, is the Director of Sales & Marketing for New England Machinery, Inc. (NEM). NEM is a leading packaging machinery manufacturer of bottle unscramblers, cappers, orienters, retorquers, lidders, pluggers, pump sorter/placers, scoop feeders, hopper elevators and much more. The company has been in business since 1974 selling to the food, beverage, pharmaceutical, personal care, chemical, household products, automotive and other industries. For more information on NEM, visit their website at www.neminc.com.

The Art of Hiring New Employees

I recently read a great article that explained the importance of hiring an employee with the right cultural fit for your organization. It stated that there may be numerous individuals who have all the right qualifications, but if they don’t have the right personality to fit into your corporate culture, it will not be a success and can, in fact, be a huge detriment to your organization.

The most successful companies have a strong team mentality. They step in and assist each other without being asked. They pull together as they are all aware that if one fails, they all fail. Conversely, if one succeeds, they all succeed. To bring in a new employee who wants to ‘be the star’ or wants to work autonomously would cause resentment and ultimately weaken the team. They would not be the right fit for this particular corporate culture. However, if your organization requires minimal or no interaction among employees and thrives on individual over-achievers, then you want to hire the ‘lone wolf’ personality.

Make sure you know what type of personality will best fit your organization when interviewing for open positions. You can train most people to do the tasks required for a job, but you cannot train someone to change their personality. For the new hire to be successful and accomplish the goals you need to reach, be certain they will fit in your culture.

The author, Marge Bonura, is the Director of Sales & Marketing for New England Machinery, Inc. (NEM). NEM is a leading packaging machinery manufacturer of bottle unscramblers, cappers, orienters, retorquers, lidders, pluggers, pump sorter/placers, scoop feeders, hopper elevators and much more. The company has been in business since 1974 selling to the food, beverage, pharmaceutical, personal care, chemical, household products, automotive and other industries. For more information on NEM, visit their website at www.neminc.com.

Free Registration for Pack Expo Las Vegas 2013

New England Machinery will be exhibiting at the Pack Expo Las Vegas 2013 show in booth C-2914. We will be highlighting our model NERCC-3, Rotary Capper, our model NEHCPE-48, Compact Unscrambler and our famous ‘Flying Yellow Bottles’ display consisting of our monoblock NEHHLPE-72 Unscrambler and SOE-3/540 Secondary Orienter.

If you would like to register to attend the show for free, please go to the show’s official website at: www.packexpo.com and use the following customer invite code: 59N76.

We look forward to seeing everyone at the show and will be hosting a ‘happy hour’ on Monday and Tuesday evenings starting at 3:00 p.m. in our booth #C-2914. Don’t miss this great event!

The author, Marge Bonura, is the Director of Sales & Marketing for New England Machinery, Inc. (NEM). NEM is a leading packaging machinery manufacturer of bottle unscramblers, cappers, orienters, retorquers, lidders, pluggers, pump sorter/placers, scoop feeders, hopper elevators and much more. The company has been in business since 1974 selling to the food, beverage, pharmaceutical, personal care, chemical, household products, automotive and other industries. For more information on NEM, visit their website at www.neminc.com.

PMMI Researches Opportunities and Challenges in Packaging Part III

Earlier this year PMMI (Packaging Machinery Manufacturers Institute released a research report on the opportunities and challenges for the packaging machinery industry. They held focus groups at the end of 2012 and identified 10 top priorities facing the packaging industry. The final four items on the list were:

7. Enabling end users to benefit from innovations in packaging materials used in innovative package designs and packaging operations. Every company wants their product to ‘stand out’ on the shelf in a marketplace. Machinery manufacturers need to work closely with the designers of new packaging to assure that it can be easily and cost effectively produced. A new package design is only good if it can be mass produced utilizing existing or low-cost, highly efficient machinery.

8. Consciously incorporating U.S. strategies and operations into fulfilling end users’ global packaging requirements and global presence. Creating packaging that can be used in multiple countries without changing can save millions of dollars to multi-national companies. The ability to create an O&M manual that automatically translates into any language may not be possible today, but would be invaluable to the company that develops it.

9. Recognizing that packaging creates a marketplace differentiation platform but that machinery purchases use scarce capital and create expense streams. Machinery manufacturers need to develop machines that are versatile throughout a plant. Production plants are looking to buy one machine that can be used for dozens of SKUs. They cannot afford to have machinery that is ‘dedicated’ to one product.

10. Supporting end users’ environmental strategy emphases in response to consumers’ green interest and behaviors. I recently saw a presentation on a new company that is using the roots of mushrooms to create foam containers for biodegradeable packaging. The roots are highly compressed and will form together in pre-formed shapes similar to Styrofoam. The best part is that once in a landfill they will breakdown safely. This is the future not just for packaging, but for the safety of planet earth.

For more ‘information regarding PMMI’s Top to Top Summit Report contact PMMI at www.pmmi.org.

The author, Marge Bonura, is the Director of Sales & Marketing for New England Machinery, Inc. (NEM). NEM is a leading packaging machinery manufacturer of bottle unscramblers, cappers, orienters, retorquers, lidders, pluggers, pump sorter/placers, scoop feeders, hopper elevators and much more. The company has been in business since 1974 selling to the food, beverage, pharmaceutical, personal care, chemical, household products, automotive and other industries. For more information on NEM, visit their website at www.neminc.com.

PMMI Researches Opportunities and Challenges in Packaging Part II

Earlier this year PMMI (Packaging Machinery Manufacturers Institute) released a research report on the opportunities and challenges for the packaging machinery industry. They held focus groups at the end of 2012 and identified 10 top priorities facing the packaging industry. The second three items on the list were:

4.                  Recognizing and leveraging accelerated social media usage and its impacts on products and brands. Not since the invention of the printing press has there been a more effective way of promoting products than the new explosion of social media usage. A product that ‘goes viral’ on the internet can make a start up company a multi-million dollar company literally overnight. How is your company leveraging this important opportunity?

5.                  Understanding regulations and managing regulatory compliance at all supply chain levels. The pharmaceutical and food industries are especially affected by constantly changing government regulations. Recent legislation such as Serialization and the Food Safety Modernization Act are just two examples of ever changing regulations directly affecting the packaging industry. How are you keeping up with them?

6.                  Ensuring efficient and reliable machinery manufacturing practices and operations from order placement to start-up functions. Is your company utilizing ERP software to track orders from placement to delivery? Do you use a CRM software to track every sales opportunity? Are you using lean manufacturing techniques to optimize efficiency? If not, your competitors probably are and that will hurt you in the long run.

For more ‘Opportunities and Challenges’ noted in the PMMI report, contact PMMI at www.pmmi.org, or read the next installment in my Part III blog.

The author, Marge Bonura, is the Director of Sales & Marketing for New England Machinery, Inc. (NEM). NEM is a leading packaging machinery manufacturer of bottle unscramblers, cappers, orienters, retorquers, lidders, pluggers, pump sorter/placers, scoop feeders, hopper elevators and much more. The company has been in business since 1974 selling to the food, beverage, pharmaceutical, personal care, chemical, household products, automotive and other industries. For more information on NEM, visit their website at www.neminc.com.