The recent AUSPACK PLUS exhibition in Sydney played host to the 2013 APPMA Awards of Excellence, announced on 8 May.
The biennial awards recognise innovative and outstanding packaging and processing solutions, with categories including Export Achievement, Design Achievement, Customer Partnership, Imported Equipment and Best New Product, as well as the APPMA Scholarship.
The Scholarship offers a packaging engineer the opportunity to enrol in the AIP Diploma in Packaging Technology – an internationally recognised and accredited course.
This year, the Scholarship was presented to Jamie Schellebeck, packaging engineer at Amcor Fibre Packaging.
Other award winners include:
2013 APPMA EXPORT ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
The recipient of the Export Achievement award is a company which has made a worthwhile contribution to an existing or new export market.
The 2013 APPMA Export Achievement Award was presented to JMP Engineering for its corner board applicator and stretch wrapping system.
The corner board applicator is designed to automatically apply any size corner board, on any size pallet with product, then automatically stretch wrap and top sheet. The system is a solution to an awkward manual process that improves safety and potentially reduces operating costs.
2013 APPMA DESIGN ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
The Design Achievement award recognises the development of a packaging or processing line or module that results in the significant advancement of packaging and processing machinery technology by either introducing a new idea or modifying an existing principle.
The 2013 APPMA Design Achievement Award was presented to Fibre King for the RPC GS Erector.
The RPC GS Erector is Fibre King’s low cost automation solution for the erecting of Reusable Plastic Crates (RPCs). Its detailed design development has led to a simpler machine, better matched to customer’s needs, reduced capital cost, improved up time, and resultant increased sales. The RPC GS Erector promotes use of recycled packaging solutions leading to lower environmental impact.
2013 APPMA CUSTOMER PARTNERSHIP AWARD
The Customer Partnership award has a major emphasis on the customisation of packaging and processing machinery which is required to suit a customer’s individual needs. The winner, individual or team will be able to demonstrate that the end user has experienced increased sales, increased plant efficiency and profitability.
The 2013 APPMA Customer Partnership Award was presented to JMP Engineering for its automatic palletising and stretch wrapping system designed for Pepsico Group.
The system is an automatic palletising and stretch wrapping system, in one. It's a combined and compact total system which automatically palletises any shape and size product, on any size pallet, and automatically stretch wraps within a compact cell, with rates of up to 80 pallets per hour.
2013 APPMA IMPORTED EQUIPMENT AWARD
The Imported Equipment award is to recognise the efforts of an APPMA Member or a Company eligible to be a APPMA Member who promotes their overseas principal’s equipment in the Australian market.
The 2013 APPMA Imported Equipment Award was presented to JMP Engineering for the Kawasaki manufacture and supplied robots that are integrated into JMP Engineering turnkey solutions.
2013 APPMA BEST NEW PRODUCT AWARD
The Best New Product award is designed to recognise the most innovative product or equipment in the packaging and processing industry that is launched in Australia for the first time during AUSPACK PLUS 2013.
The 2013 APPMA Best new Product Award winner is Machinery Automation & Robotics (MAR) for the Singulator.
The Singulator provides a simple answer to the requirement in packaging and processing environments for high speed sorting of products from a group of individual items in random orientations into a single stream.
The innovative design, requiring minimal floor space, encompasses a series of 90 degree turns as guided by belt conveyors, sequentially running at increasing travel rates to allow for gap creation and singulation of product units.