By Art Tanner
President

When Standard-Knapp put its first strategic plan together almost 20 years ago, one of the most important decisions was to do only a few things and, most importantly, to do them well. We recognized that our location in a relatively high-cost area of the country would not allow us to compete on low-price, commodity type products. However, since we, the employee-owners, loved the area and were committed to staying, we decided to concentrate on the case and tray packing needs of the leaders in the food and beverage industries, which tend to be more demanding.

By Kristofer Kolstad Vice President of Marketing This fall, PMMI's Pack Expo trade show will be held in Chicago. Standard-Knapp will be there in force, from November 5 through November 9, demonstrating some of our latest inventions and technology. This show is anticipated to be the biggest ever, with over 75,000 visitors walking through 1.2 million square feet of booth space to see 1,500 exhibitors. Over 6,000 international visitors will come from over 60 countries, hence the show's new name: "Pack Expo International". For those coming to the show, it will be an ideal opportunity to catch up on Standard-Knapp's newest offerings, including three machines that will be making their first appearance at a trade show. Ted Dickes will be in attendance — and not for the first time. In fact, he's been to almost every PMMI show since its inception in 1956. Ted, a Standard-Knapp veteran of over 50 years, will be making his last "official" appearance this year before he eases into retirement. Please stop by booth N-3506 to wish him well.

One of the most innovative case packers to be exhibited in Chicago will be the Standard-Knapp Phoenix concept. Inventor and Vice President of Engineering Mike Weaver developed the Phoenix after a series of customer visits and interviews regarding non-round and uniquely-shaped products. Manufacturers of consumer products such as detergents, cleaning fluids, auto fluids, personal care products, juices, wine, and liquor often use "unique" shapes to identify their products and build brand awareness. Marketers of new product launches are particularly sensitive to this and often pick unusual shapes to distinguish their brand. The advances in plastics and molding processes have been dramatic over the past decade and give packaging engineers more latitude in choosing sizes and shapes. Containers such as reverse-taper wine bottles, rectangular plastic containers, and glass flasks have often created difficult challenges during conveying and case packing. Jamming, locking, shingling, and toppling are typical problems associated with the unique container shapes. The Phoenix concept directly addresses these challenges. A demonstration of its capabilities and benefits will be on display at our booth.

Standard-Knapp's new Phoenix concept solves problems with unique product shapes.

Standard-Knapp will also be demonstrating a unique capability of the Continuum™ Tray Packer and Shrink Wrapper System at Pack Expo. The Continuum, launched in 1996, has seen several advances in recent years, including an integrated shrink wrapping option, integrated two-tier stacking, and, most recently, the ability to package with cost-saving chipboard.

There are many advantages to switching to chipboard. The most notable is the pure cost savings of chipboard over corrugated. One major Standard-Knapp customer estimates the savings to be between 20% and 30% when switching from corrugated to chipboard. Depending on tray volume, this could easily amount to hundreds of thousands of dollars in just one year. Chipboard also opens up opportunities for printing on the sides of the trays. The material will more readily run through large printing presses versus the corrugated alternative. This will allow for standard product information and special promotions to be placed on the standard package. A third advantage to chipboard is that it takes up less than 1/4 of the volume when compared to corrugated material. This saves money in shipping of the tray blanks to the plant and reduces warehouse storage. In addition, less pallet space is required on the production floor near the tray packer. Chipboard also produces less waste volume at the point of retail — providing an environmentally-friendly dynamic.

While the standard Model 296I utilizes corrugated trays with the ability to run a full range of weights from "C" to "E" flute, Standard-Knapp has recognized the need to meet the needs of those wanting to switch to chipboard. The Model 296C is enhanced with special features allowing for the handling of very thin chipboard material through the magazine, tray transport, product merge, and compression sections. This ability to tray pack with chipboard at high speeds, with wide product flexibility and rapid 15 minute changeover, makes our 296C unlike any other machine on the market.

Positron Model 396

The Positron Model 396 Continuous Motion Bottle Packer will be shown packing a 2 L PET bottle into a plastic "wave" case. The Positron serves the soft drink, juice, water, sports drink, and "new age" beverage markets. After the show, this Positron will be shipped directly to Mexico, where Grupo Continental already has several others in operation, running .5 L, 1 L, and 2 L bottles in various cases. The Positron has an all-mechanical, continuous motion packing principal and a small overall footprint to give maximum versatility to the beverage industry. The Positron places the bottle to the bottom of the case, even at speeds to 65 cases per minute. Standard-Knapp's changeover technology allows for complete size changes in less than 15 minutes.

Since 1996, the Positron has replaced our previous design, the Orbitron Model 357, and has several distinct advantages. In contrast to the Johnson wheel utilized by the Orbitron, the Positron uses a short flight bar design to collate and time the bottles into the case. The case advance lug is geared to the bottle flight for precision and reliability. Overhead cranes are not necessary during changeover because only the flight bars need to be changed from one size to the next; the flight assembly module stays in the machine. Depending on the application, several advanced infeed designs are available to ensure consistent lane division and modulate line pressure. Two examples are the patented "Zig-Zag" lane guides, ideal for controlling line pressure on compressible non-carbonated bottles, and our Zero Gap Infeed, for consistent lane division at high speeds. Standard-Knapp is thankful to Grupo Continental for partnering with us at Pack Expo.

The "Soft Catch" principal of the Versatron Case Packer, first introduced at the Pack Expo in 1998, will again be featured at our exhibit. The Versatron was originally conceived for bottlers who required a gentler packing process after "light-weighting" their containers in an effort to reduce costs. Many of the dozens of users who own Versatrons have since rated the user-friendly benefits and quick change features as equally important. The two-axis servo system makes changeover quick and repeatable and eliminates guesswork and the need for fine tuning. Ease-of-maintenance has also been an advantage with the stainless steel frame and a "smart" operator interface. The tubular frame and integrated guarding allow for quick access to any motor or controls device. The servo drives have helped reduce the number of mechanical wear parts and have simplified trouble-shooting procedures. This design helps users to stay competitive. The Versatron will be on display, running a .75 L glass bottle into a full RSC, 4-flap case. Standard-Knapp is grateful to the Jim Beam Company for their cooperation in allowing their machine to be on display at Pack Expo.

A two-axis servo system allows the Versatron to actually "catch" the product while it descends into the case.