This November, Pack Expo 96 truly becomes one in a million--more than a million square feet for the first time. By early spring, the show went over the one million net square foot mark for the first time. The show, scheduled for November 17 to 21, will be held on two floors in the East Building, two floors in the North Building and one floor in the newly opened South Building. Pack Expo 96 is sponsored by the Packaging Machinery Manufac-turers Institute (Arlington, VA). PMMI expects 80ꯠ visitors to attend. With the availability of a completely new exhibit floor, Pack Expo 96 won't just be a whole lot bigger than two years ago, it'll be far more attendee- and exhibitor-friendly. That's because the new 240ꯠ square foot floor in the new South Building will more than replace the cramped exhibit space previously used in the lower level of the East building. Exhibits on this level had been forced to share space with restaurants, offices and a gift shop. "Exhibitor response has been outstanding," reports Eugene Waterfall of Rovema Corp., who serves as chairman of PMMI's Show Committee. "Fortunately, we were able to obtain added space in the new South Building at McCormick Place to accommodate the demand." When the final numbers are tallied, the show is expected to continue to set records in overall attendance, numbers of exhibitors and overseas attendance. At press time, PMMI reported 1굴 exhibitors signed up reserving a total of 1걋굎 net square feet. The number of exhibiting companies was up 11% over '94, and total exhibit space was up a whopping 21%. By early this summer, packaging machinery manufacturers represented 59% of the total exhibitors, but 79% of the floor space. Another 29% of the exhibitors are suppliers of materials and containers; these companies account for 19% of space. The balance is made up of companies that make components or supply services to manufacturers. To help you plan your time at the show, the list of 1군-plus exhibiting companies has been organized into 22 separate categories of machinery, materials and components. (For a guide to the product categories and where they can be found in this issue, see p. 37). The booth numbers and the list of exhibitor companies were accurate as of August 15. Along with this list of exhibiting manufacturers and booth numbers, Packaging World also presents its popular "New at Pack Expo," a guide to some of the most exciting equipment and containers that will be introduced to packagers for the first time at the show. These genuinely new products will be displayed alongside the exhibitor list throughout this issue. Eye-openers add value While there is no formal conference program during Pack Expo 96, PMMI has planned three early-morning seminar sessions dedicated to the discussion of current packaging issues. These eye-openers are scheduled to begin at 7:30 a.m., and a continental breakfast buffet will be available. The sessions are scheduled for Room E353 at McCormick Place East and will conclude before the exposition opens its doors at 9 a.m. On Monday, Nov. 18, the topic is "Today's packaging challenges," presented in conjunction with the Grocery Manufacturers of America. The speaker is Nick Rosa, president of Benevia, a unit of Monsanto Co., and maker and marketer of Equal®, Canderel® and Nutrasweet®. The program will discuss the marketing challenges faced by branded food marketers. Rosa will explain how Benevia plans to boost its global business through product and package innovations. Tuesday, Nov. 19, will open some eyes with "Nine operational strategies to improve your packaging line." In this session, Larry Smith, president of Bemis Packaging Machinery Co., and chairman of PMMI's Industry Relations Committee, will report on a special survey of member companies. The survey covers the machinery manufacturers' role in improving efficiencies for packagers in nine areas: modularized machine design to ease changeover; shortened change-over time; transfer of packaging responsibilities to suppliers; remote systems diagnostics and repair; mass customization; machinery links and transfers; servo-driven controls; operator training; and package simplification. In addition, machinery buyers attending this session will each receive a copy of Pack Expo 96 Guide to Improving Packaging Line Productivity. Along with summarizing common operations improvement strategies, the publication will also list exhibitors and booth numbers of PMMI members that offer the technologies included in the nine categories. Predictions for 2000 Tim Burns, well-known packaging stock analyst and founder of Cranial Capital, Inc., Cleveland, will offer his entertaining insights into industry trends and challenges. "A candid look at the packaging industry in the year 2000," is the title of this session. Packaging World presents a similar look at packaging jobs in the year 2000 (see page 53). In this eye-opener, Burns will reveal his choices for the packaging markets that will grow the most, how to redefine "value-added" and whether company size within packaging is the greatest determinant to success. Further, Burns will predict the winners in package design, materials and structures and systems. He'll discuss the pluses and minuses of mass customization and flexible manufacturing, and other short-range success theories. Cranial Capital is an independent research and advisory firm focusing on the packaging business. These sessions were introduced at Pack Expo 94, and were extremely popular. Seating is first-come, first-served. International efforts Like most recent Pack Expos, this show is definitely working hard to build its reputation as a world show. From the exhibitor side, six countries (Italy, Germany, Spain, Japan, Canada and the United Kingdom) will have their own pavilions to showcase companies interested in doing business in the U.S. The pavilions can serve many purposes. Those countries that regularly create pavilions for companies from their countries often allow companies established in the U.S. to most efficiently present their latest technology, according to Angelo Infusino, Italian trade commissioner. Germany, too, has long presented many of its companies under the umbrella of the German pavilion, organized by Dsseldorf Trade Shows. Using the national pavilion makes exhibiting at Pack Expo "as easy as possible for German companies," says Noel Hoekstra, director of marketing for DTS. Spain, on the other hand, sees its pavilion as the best way to introduce its companies to the U.S. market. "Products from Spain in this highly competitive sector are relatively unknown. The exhibitors' objectives are to gain recognition in the U.S. market, establish and expand distribution, and to become better informed about product demand," says Victor Pascual, director of ENVASGRAF, Spain's association of equipment makers. Building attendance PMMI has taken several steps to help build attendance from outside the U.S. and overseas. For the third time in a row, Pack Expo was selected by the U.S. Commerce Department to participate in the International Buyer Program. Promotion via the Commerce Dept. is expected to help build international attendance by some 16% over the 6ꯠ who attended the show two years ago. In fact, this year's show could actually double the number of overseas attendees from the show held as recently as 1990. The Commerce Dept. will also participate in the show's International Business Center, a fully-staffed and full-service center on the mezzanine level of the North Building. Specialists from the U.S. and Foreign Commercial Service will provide buyer services and information on related U.S. government programs. Interpreters fluent in seven languages will be available to help visitors in meeting the exhibitors that can fulfill their needs. To help these visitors finalize plans for registering and attending Pack Expo 96, PMMI has begun a travel registration program to simplify the process for manufacturers in Latin America, South America, Asia and Australia. Through a single phone call to local travel agents in 10 overseas countries, attendees can make travel plans, book hotel rooms and register for Pack Expo 96. For U.S. packagers, details on how to contact PMMI for registration is contained in the sidebar "Pack Expo 96 at a glance," on page 36.
