I attended two of the three days for Pack Expo East this week. It was great to see several of our clients who were exhibitors.
I had the opportunity to meet many interesting manufacturers and see unique capabilities that were offered by exhibitors. Two specifically come to mind. The first is one of our clients, ONExia, who is a custom machine builder, robotics integrator, and industrial distributor specializing in manual process automation. They had two booths at the show and in one was the only UR30 collaborative robot in the United States. The unique arm accessory grip made it safe to lift and transport up to 30 kg buckets, as they demonstrated at the show. (The second scene in the video below.)
The second company was a German manufacturer of a unique eco-friendly void fill machine. As soon as I saw the booth I knew it was special so I stopped to investigate. Visit www.papier-sprick.com to see their offerings.
Speaking of eco-friendly, I stopped at a booth of a company who makes recyclable packaging and I learned about packaging that is made with wood fibers that are bound by water soluble adhesive. The containers are used for cosmetics and related products.
I enjoy seeing machinery in action, such as the collaborative robots, or the machine shown below. This allows Expo attendees to see how a machine can solve their unique manufacturing challenges.
I spoke to people at the Kirk-Rudy booth. I know of Kirk-Rudy from when I worked over 16 years ago in the direct mail and fulfillment industry. Kirk-Rudy has a strong reputation of producing high quality equipment. At the Expo I learned that they now have RFID capabilities.
I spent a few minutes speaking with Caroline Kirk, the new energetic owner and CEO. I suspect that her enthusiasm and industry expertise will help propel the 55+ company to new heights.
The photo below shows some of the team from Enterprise Resource Partners, a local consulting company who works with manufacturers to improve their operational, information, and innovation excellence challenges.
Attend an Expo and you too can speak with industry experts. At the least you’ll walk away from the event having learned something new. Martha Stewart says, “If you learn something new each day, you can teach something new every day.”
Eric Jacobson, Business Growth Specialist – IQnection & Founder of Manufacturer Insights.