What our customer taught us and you can benefit from. Our customer bought a new FA-ST overwrapper to replace his 1940’s vintage FA overwrapper last year. They bought with the initial intent of using it only to wrap their shrink-wrapped, two-piece  boxes of candy in seasonal gift paper. After some issues around programming the glue […]

There is  a great recent article Maximizing Your Equipment Life by Determining Failure Modes by Terry Harris, in which he discusses how machinery failures can be prevented and preventive care enhanced. He says, “I have been in a few textile and oilseeds plants where the fan guard on the motor is covered with product. This […]

Why the FA-ST is the best overwrapper on the market – technology, flexibility, customization, training and experienced support.

Productivity of candy company is enhanced by new TTDF diefold machine from Package Machinery.

Collaboration and sharing knowledge and expertise of product and wrapping machine is key to successful implementation and start up. Nothing substitutes for knowledgeable people working together.

The packaging people that Package Machinery follows to learn and think about state of the art packaging and package design are reviewed here.

Green and sustainable or Green vs sustainable. Answering questions about how “green” are sustainable wrapping materials or other “new” plastics and what are the issues to consider

Overwrapped bundles (vs. shrink and flow wrap) look better and use less film and usually less energy. This makes for tremendous material savings over the life of a machine.

Lots to learn from Sustainable Packaging Coalition spring meeting. Most interesting items were WRAP, Global Packaging Partnership, World Wildlife Fund partnerships and debates over oxy-degradables.

Do manufacturers think about their water foot print along with a carbon footprint? Maybe they should.

Not all products can be overwrapped. Package Machinery knows its wrapping limits and gives honest answers.

PAckage MAchinery tells its story about reducing customer wrapping costs and improving package looks at Wal-Mart’s Sustainable Packaging conference and expo.

Package Machinery has created an affordable candy wrapping machine, the TTDF, for smaller candy companies. It puts all the tucks and folds on the bottom. This style of wrap is called diefold wrapping.

how checklists improve performance

What to tell a wrapping machinery maker when thinking about what you want in a new wrapping machine.

Sustainability means keeping a good packaging machine running indefinitely. Strong service and support are provided by Package Machinery Co Inc.

We decided 2010 was the year to have resolutions for Package Machinery and its wrapping machines as well as our personal ones. We are resolved to Create new machines. Our first will be a semi-automatic machine for wrapping individual rolls of tape. Yes, we are moving to wrapping round things!! Shorten the lead time for […]

The purchase price to buy a wrapping machine should be weighed against the cost to operate  the wrapper. A cheap old machine that runs fast may not give you the throughput you require because of learning curve, set up time, maintenance expense. Initial purchase price can be misleading in that it does not include start […]

Over the life of a product, you typically spend much more on the film but agonize over the purchase price of the machine to do the wrap. Lets try to understand how they work together.

Choices in Film to Wrap Your product has its own special needs. Different products require different film characteristics to achieve an attractive wrap. Let’s discuss BOPP (biaxially oriented polypropylene) and its equivalents which are used for flowwrap and overwrap. Over the life of a product, you typically spend much more on the film but agonize […]

To get the best performance from your wrapper, invest time as well as money in it. Here is what to do.

We need to discuss the future of packing with everyone involved.

Yesterday we were touring a customer’s facility. We had not been there in a long while and were amazed at the change in the atmosphere. Staff on the production floor smiled at us and looked us in the eye. If nothing else teaches us, that taught us that management makes a big difference. We got […]

Why packaging is important to consumers and manufacturers

A few years ago, one of John’s co-workers started calling him the wrapping god. The name has stuck. John Bernet lives up to his name though. Not only did John invent our semi-automatic wrapping machine, the Wrapster, but he is hard at work on another semi-automatic machine , the TTDF, a machine designed to put […]

We are getting ready for the Pack Expo show. Usually this means polishing up our newest high speed overwrapper and getting it ready to ship. Unfortunately this year our customers could not wait and our latest FA-ST overwrapping machine shipped two weeks ago. So we are polishing up our DVDs and videos of our overwrappers […]

It is important to think about what film characteristics best complement your product. When looking at how to wrap a product, the important things to keep in mind are the balance between Moisture/Air Barrier or Breathability Folds vs. Sealing Product  Enhancement/Protection Moisture or air may enhance a product, but some products need protection from one or […]

Building a wrapping machine is always “hurry up and wait.” First sales, then engineering are busy, then purchasing and manufacturing. Like the pig in the belly of a snake, it is a big lump at each step of the way and cannot be distributed evenly. As much as we try to plan for this, it […]

Lots of companies that now build packaging machinery use servo motors. Back in 2001, when we started building our overwrapping machines using servo motors, we had to explain why we were doing it and heard lots of stories of breakdowns or inadequate support on servo  wrappers. Today most plant managers and engineers understand the benefits […]

Just a quick suggestion this week for those in the food packaging business – elefant oil. http://www.sugardissolvingoil.com/v9/ This oil is great for lubricating overwrapping machinery or dissolving sugar where it might accumulate and prevent smooth operation of your overwrapper. It is safe for food contact. We have used it with great success and it comes […]

Yesterday our president Kate Putnam was interviewed on Fox Business News about healthcare  reform in Massachusetts and its impact on small businesses.   Here is the link to her appearance. http://video.foxbusiness.com/7521480/health-care-reforms-impact-on-small-busines/?category_id=39cd07fef0cf91993cc2914150877c3d89020568 Here are her elaborations on the topic of her appearance. I find the topic of healthcare reform scary, because someone’s ox has to be […]

In the past year, we have had two customers shift from shrink wrap to overwrap for their candy boxes.  In one case, it was to achieve costs savings in wrapping material. This customer is now looking at the energy savings that accompany getting rid of a shrink tunnel. Oddly though, the energy savings seem less […]

You need a packaging machine. You pretty much know what kind of machine you like. You place an order for your wrapping equipment. Now What? Show up for the Factory Acceptance Test. These guys are your partners in a successful installation.  In fact, come visit ahead, if you can, to see how it is going […]

The SUSTAINABLE word is now so heavy with meaning that it seems scary to say out loud. So let’s just talk about it as that spot where preserving our planet and making a profit meet. I don’t think we have a single wrapping customer who does not want to achieve both of those goals but […]