thePLACE
- Published: October 31, 2004, By David J. Bentley, Jr., Editor
Providing practical information to the converting and packaging industries
At its 2004 conference at the Westin Indianapolis Hotel in Indianapolis, Indiana, on August 29 to September, the PLACE Division of TAPPI attracted 440 attendees. Representing fifteen different countries world-wide, the registrants heard approximately 100 technical papers in 30 different sessions. The topics of the presentations covered all the areas of interest of the committees of the division including film extrusion, extrusion coating, flexible packaging, hot melts, and high barrier packaging.
A highlight of the meeting again this year was the “New Technology Showcase” in which speakers made short commercial presentations on newly emergent technology. The talks covered subjects such as polymers, on-line measurement techniques, die technology, films, coatings, primers, and similar items. Speakers vied with each other in a friendly and amusing way to garner the most attention of the attendees. A Table Top Reception with a more than 30 presenting organizations followed the session to allow the attendees to obtain additional information on specific products offered.
CONVERTER SPOTLIGHT
The concluding session of the conference was the “Converter Spotlight.” Presenters included Scott Denley of Alcan Packaging, James Stevenson of Alcoa Flexible Packaging, John Ozcomert of Amcor Flexibles, Mark Montsinger of Bryce Corp., Eric Koch of C&H Packaging, and Tom Dunn of Printpack, Inc. Each person addressed what they would like to see in innovations in raw materials and converting equipment. They also discussed one new product development they felt was important to their company.
The very popular session entitled “European Exchange” began with a paper by Manfred Stadlbauer and Manfred Kirchberger of Borealis GmbH on “High Value PP Resins For Extrusion Coating — The Move To Better Economics In A Critical Processing Technology.” Otto M. Plassmann of BP Koeln GmbH and Guenter Schubert of Hydro Aluminium Deutschland GmbH spoke on “Shedding A New Light On Corona-Treated Alu-Foil.” “Oxygen Transmission Rate Measurement Using Oxygen Sensitive Fluorescent Tracers” was the title of the paper given by Lars R. Lundquist, Chantal Pelletier, and Yves Wyser of Nestec Ltd.
A session developed by Julie Gibbons of The Dow Chemical Co. included a paper by Shaun E. Pirtle, Laura A. Mergenhagen, and Jeffrey J. Wooster of The Dow Chemical Co. on “The Effects Of Resin Selection And Extrusion Variables On Peelable Seal Performance.” “Easy-Opening Packaging Technology: A Polybutene-1 Technical Perspective” was the title of the presentation by Inge Roucourt, Johan De Clippeleir, and Spencer Hirata of Basell Polyolefins.
WEB HANDLING
Duane Smith of Black Clawson Conv. Mach. Inc. developed a session called “Flexible Film Web Handling And Winding Tutorial.” David R. Roisum of Finishing Technologies, Inc., John Campbell of Nexen Group, Dave Rumson of Dienes Corp., Ron Schmidt of Maxcess International, Jeff Damour of Converter Accessory Corp., and Timothy J. Walker of TJ Walker & Associates, Inc. were the members of the session. They spoke on avoiding film wrinkles, web tension and tension control systems, web spreading, winding systems, and other topics. After their formal presentations, they formed an “Ask The Experts Panel” on “Solving Web Handling And Winding Problems” to answer questions from the audience.
The Best Paper Award went to Per-Ake Clevenhag and Claes Oveby of Tetra Pak for “Rheological Indicators To Predict The Extrusion Coating Of LDPE.” The Best Session for the meeting was “European Exchange”
NETWORKING OPPORTUNITIES
In addition to the refreshment breaks, registrants at the 2004 PLACE Division Conference had other opportunities to network among their peers. This was especially true at the Indy 500 themed PLACE Gala during the evening of the final day of the meeting.
The 2005 PLACE Division Conference will be in Las Vegas, Nevada, at Caesar's Palace on September 26 to 29. This meeting will be in conjunction with with Pack Expo and CPP Expo. Additional information about the meeting will be on the TAPPI website at tappi.org.
For information about the PLACE Division of TAPPI, access the TAPPI web page at tappi.org. To obtain the complete papers whose expanded summaries appear in this section, go to the TAPPI web site at tappi.org., then click on “the PLACE” in the section designated Journals.
Telephone inquiries are welcome at the TAPPI Service Line by calling 1-800-332-8686 in the United States, 1-800-446-9431 in Canada, or +1-770-446-1400 in other countries. Send FAX to 1-770-446-6947. Address mail to TAPPI, Box 105113, Atlanta, GA, 30348-5113. Contact “the PLACE” editor by email at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
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