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50 Years Of Interpack：Since 2000
In many industries, it is not enough to optimize the production factors within a region, a country or even a continent. The companies look all over the world for the best solution. International networking sometimes leads to the prevalence of certain helplessness in economic policy. The systems are too complex for undesirable developments to be corrected with a few twists of the wrist at the well known adjusting screws. The introduction of the joint European currency – the Euro – makes the economic region’s strength evident. The influence of the capital markets bring the danger of bubbles forming.
Web 2.0 represents a force – in markets and opinions – that companies have to take into account. In the virtual world, new models of society are tried out – still playfully – and the real world is made virtual on the Internet of Things. Instead of breaking into far-off galaxies, research breaks into the microcosm. Nanotechnology makes materials with new characteristics possible. The tangible effects of climate change ensure that work on the implementation of new energy concepts is intensified. The end of fossil fuels approaches.
Products such as the iPod show that mega-trends are still possible. Finding a concept that will appear desirable to millions is becoming more difficult, however, because consumers are becoming increasingly differentiated in their requirements. Against this background, new forms of trading and production are being tried out. For example: “mass customization”.
The more difficult the consumer is to understand, the more refined are the attempts to appeal to him. The consumption topics of Far East, wellness, beauty and aesthetics, purity and clarity, urbanity and mobility, regionality and familiarity – the consumer is made a huge number of offers for all of these. Manufacturers who use one of these as a decorative element normally damage their sales more than they help them. Because only goods and services that give the impression of authenticity, in the short period of time in which the consumer is paying attention to them, will have the opportunity to distinguish themselves from the competing products. The product idea, product design and packaging must each consistently result from one another. As has been the case with brands for over 100 years.
In 2002, under the slogan “N° 1 for Systems, Processes, Solutions”, the interpack once again attracted guests from all over the world. These benefited from an extended range of services even before the start of the trade fair. For the first time it is possible to register for the interpack 2002 quickly and conveniently online. In addition to this, direct contact can be established swiftly between visitors and exhibiting companies, thanks to a virtual visiting card. In the new millennium as well, the interpack will continue to show the latest trends, technical progress and pioneering innovations from the packaging industry. At the end of the 2002 trade fair, Erhard Rustler (Theegarten-Pactec) praised the full presence of the world market. “All of the globally important customers were here without exception.” The above average proportion of high-ranking visitors from the trade made the interpack a special exception with regards to the increasing competition in international fairs.
The carousel of substitution and re-substitution of packaging materials continues turning. One engine of this movement is the respective raw material prices, another is the taste of the times and consumer habits, and another is innovation in the materials and in design. Finely finished, printed corrugated cardboard is in demand as shelf-ready packaging. “Active packaging” that keeps foodstuffs fresh for longer is being discussed. This can, for example, be a film that releases antibacterial substances. Whereas this kind of packaging is becoming increasingly widespread in Japan, EU foods regulations made its introduction difficult until 2005. The trade and industry are also sceptical about the possible reaction of the consumers – after all, this is a matter of substances that affect food. In the field of biologically degradable plastics, new materials were introduced at the beginning of the decade that are expected to find broader application. For the time being, however, fruit and vegetables continue to be packed with bio-plastics. Here, for example, the gas permeability of reinforcing foil ensures that no condensation water forms.
The substitution of glass continues in beverage filling. Bottles made of PET are accepted by the consumer and are being used for more and more varieties of beverages. The filling technology for PET is being improved. It is becoming possible to fill juice with cold aseptic procedures. Sufficient shelf-life can be achieved without preservatives. Beer and wine are still a real bastion of the glass bottle.
The pharmaceuticals industry is demanding even more flexibility from the manufacturers of folding boxes. On top of big orders from concerns that bundle their purchase, there is the trend towards very small batches. “White Packaging Technology” is tried out for these quantities. Folding box sections and package inserts are printed during packing. The trade in faked medicines is booming all over the world, and work on procedures for protecting originality is correspondingly intensive. There are systems that are orientated towards the consumer and ones that can only be checked with additional devices, such as tiny particles with a colour code or transparent ink that becomes visible under UV light.
The industry is adapting to packaging products that are tailor-made even more precisely to the requirements of a society of individualists. From the standpoint of senior citizens, however, there has always been an absolutely fundamental task to solve: packaging that can be opened with stiff fingers, and lettering that can be deciphered even with impaired eyesight.
With RFID technology (Radio Frequency Identification Device), data is stored on a radio label (RFID tag), and this data can be read contact-free and over greater distances. A type of packaging that can be equipped with specific information – for an information-driven economy there is enormous potential here. The first applications are being found in particular in transport packaging.
Quality and efficiency in the production process increasingly depends on how fast and how comprehensively data can be gathered, linked and analysed. Packaging companies are therefore interested in integrating the theme of packaging into the data field of their company. To do this, however, it must be guaranteed that communication between all components of this data field functions without a hitch. In this context OMAC Workgroup Packaging presented its “Guidelines 2.0” at the interpack 2002. OMAC stands for “Open Modular Architecture Controls”. In 1997, manufacturers and users of software and components for automation solutions joined together in this alliance in order to define manufacturer-independent standards for open, modular control concepts.
In the next few years there are follow-up versions, each with the latest level of development and a new release number. The industry welcomes the guidelines, but there is no agreement over how these are to be interpreted in detail for the automation of a packaging machine. Some are working with a concept of shared intelligence, while others insist on the necessity of a central processor. A third opinion, the Zen solution so to speak, assumes that the either-or decision is the wrong way, and that an up-to-date automation technology can contain both central and decentralized elements.
Tel:886-2-28941823 Fax:886-2-28941837 E-mail:viya@packsourcing.com
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