Packaging

Packaging industry gets going again

Wednesday 28. April 2010 - FachPack excellently equipped for visitors with money to invest; New trends and innovations in all exhibition segments

A good 1,300 exhibitors and over 33,000 visitors are expected at FachPack 2010 in the Exhibition Centre Nuremberg from 28-30 September. Leading companies in the packaging industry particularly used the difficult economic situation in 2009 to invest heavily in research and development. The experts can therefore look forward to innovative packaging solutions (FachPack), creative approaches to packaging processing (PrintPack) and cost-saving ideas for packaging logistics (LogIntern).

Plastics: more innovation potential
Development of the individual market segments in the German plastic packaging industry differed widely in 2009. The sector had to accept losses of some 10%, with sales dropping to 12.5 billion EUR. The production quantity also dropped by approx. 8% to 3.8 million t. Consumer goods packaging even managed growth in some cases, whereas the industrial packaging segment suffered losses in the two-figure range. Overall, a largely stable consumption climate prevented the situation getting worse (Industrievereinigung Kunststoffe, IK). IK forecasts that sales of member companies will developed positively in the first two quarters of 2010. The assessment of the export situation is also distinctly more encouraging than at the end of 2009, but the companies expect raw material prices to carry on rising.

The most widely used forms of packaging are plastic films for bags, trays or lids. Many manufacturers are currently working intensively on optimizing the sealing and welding processes. There is a big potential in this field, which promises both economic and qualitative improvements. The basic requirements of films are rising constantly. Decisive for the manufacturers are additional technical functions like suitability for sterilization, easy opening and resealing or the possibility of incorporating a transparent barrier. One example of films adapted to special food is the microwave composite. This requires one working step less than usual, which makes manufacture cheaper. The package content – chips, nachos, croquettes, potato powder, etc. – is heated together with the film in the microwave. The microwave composite can be made of different composite materials and allows temperatures up to 135 °C.

Ultrasonic sealing is an innovation that has become established in recent years, initially for the production of tubular bags. It saves material and shortens process times. The low energy transfer is kind to sensitive contents like lettuce or grated cheese. A new process now also enables the longitudinal overlap seam of tubular bags to be sealed by ultrasonic means. Ultrasonic sealing, which offers short sealing times, strength and exact reproducibility, was previously unable to cope with overlap seams. A conventional hot sealing process still had to be used for these seams for tubular bags, which needed a more expensive film designed for heat and sound. Now one packaging machine operates with a single sealing process for longitudinal and transverse seams. The use of a cheaper, thinner material is possible, capillaries at the transverse seams are avoided and the package is safely sealed.

Ultrasonic sealing has also been used recently for securing devices for strapping machines. This enables higher cycle rates, as the units need no warm-up times.

Paper and cardboard: online trade stimulates creativity
If fewer goods are sold, the demand for transport packaging drops. The Verband der Wellpappenindustrie (vdw – corrugated cardboard association) describes the prospects for 2010 as fair to middling. Particularly companies supplying sectors heavily affected by the crisis, such as machinery manufacture, automotive component suppliers or the chemical industry, are recording big losses. The manufacturers of packaging for the food industry have fewer complaints.

The German corrugated cardboard industry sold 6 % less last year than in 2008. Sales at a good 8.2 billionm² were almost 530 million m² below the previous year’s result. This corresponds to the average annual production of seven corrugated cardboard factories, says vdw. The vdw member companies are looking to the present year with cautious optimism. The break-even forecast for the first half of the year will be slightly exceeded. The industry meets at the Corrugated Cardboard Forum on the second day of FachPack (Wednesday, 29 September).

One growing market that requires creative corrugated cardboard packaging is the online trade. Shipping packages are also becoming part of the product presentation, as is possible in the classic trade through sensory experiences. Users also want to find the interactivity and variety of information in the online trade reflected in the product presentation when the products ordered are delivered. This means the shipping package will take over a key role in the product presentation of future online orders through finishing processes like printing or the design and creative arrangement inside the package.

Folding boxes: focus on the overall system
Due to their great variety of printing and processing options, folding boxes are one of the most important primary packages for food, confectionery and medicines. For example, Braille, which legislation stipulates for pharmaceutical products, can be easily applied to the box. The manufacturers of folding boxes are also becoming increasingly inventive regarding systems that are easy to open and close for older people. The focus is on the overall packaging system when it comes to the development of more efficient new solutions for folding boxes. For the integration of large package slips, postcards or sachets, a flexible dispensing solution has now been developed that reduces the risks of disruptions along the packing line. On many existing packing machines, the folding units are barely still capable of dispensing the increasingly extensive instructions for use.

Pharmaceuticals: the package is part of the product
One trend topic in the pharmaceutical sector involves disposable syringes, their safe use and reliable disposal in hectic everyday work in hospitals. Worldwide, approx. two million needle injuries occur every year among employees in the health care occupations with the risk of hepatitis and HIV virus infection. This means that priority is increasingly on safely handling syringes after the injection as well as safety in handling pre-filled disposable syringes in the sterile area. Several manufacturers of packaging supplies meanwhile offer processes that prevent injuries from used syringes. The most reliable current solution is equipping the disposable syringe with a safety device, which automatically or manually covers the needle with a protective tube after the injection. Depending on the system, this safety mechanism is activated automatically when the piston rod is pushed in as far as the end stop on administering the injection (passive system). An alternative to the safety device is the needle trap method, in which a plastic part firmly joined to the label is pressed onto the needle manually after the injection. The special locking mechanism of the plastic part encloses the needle and tip and prevents pricking injuries. Both systems are offered on syringe labelling machines that handle up to 24,000 syringes per hour.

Packaging machinery: robotics for all areas
The German packaging machinery industry closed 2009 better than expected in view of the economic crisis. Sales dropped over the previous year by only 15 %, to the same level as in 2006, reports the association, the Fachverband Nahrungsmittelmaschinen und Verpackungsmaschinen im Verband Deutscher Maschinen- und Anlagenbau (VDMA). Some 60 % of packaging machines go to the food and beverage industries, and another 20 % to the pharmaceutical industry. Export business in this sector also lost much of its dynamic in mid 2008. With an export share of well over 80 %, domestic business was unable to make good the considerable drops in incoming orders particularly from Eastern Europe and North America. The demand from key export markets in the first three quarters of 2009 remained weak at a quarter less than the figure for the previous year. Clear signs of stimulation in the demand from abroad did not return until the end of 2009. The association expects that the sector will recover faster than the rest of the machinery manufacturing industry.

The manufacturers of robots and automation, who are accustomed to success, also had to cope with a 34% sales drop to 6.1 billion EUR in 2009 (including automotive industry) – a decline to the annual sales level of 2002, reports the VDMA-Fachverband Robotik und Automation. Sales in the sector had risen by more than 50% between 2002 and 2008 to reach a peak of 9.3 billion EUR at the last count. However, a recovery has been noticeable since the 3rd quarter of 2009.

The manufacturers of end packaging systems know that flexibility is one of the most important properties of their machines, which must move various forms of packaging and weights ranging from grams to kilograms. Robot systems are the most adaptable in such cases. Whereas sliding, stacking and sorting chains characterized machine concepts in traditional packaging machinery manufacture, today’s robots only pick up the product once and place it in the box directly. This reduces the size changing times and the need for special machines and meets the requirements of the branded article industry, which is under enormous rationalization pressure. It can also be seen that the manufacturers of pick & place end packaging systems increasingly have their sights set on primary packaging too. After all, their know-how is also useful for the integration of robot systems in this field.