This fall’s Pack Expo International will feature several enhancements, including a co-location partnership with the Grocery Manufacturers Association (GMA).

Pack Expo, organized by PMMI, will be held Oct. 31-Nov. 3 at McCormick Place in Chicago. PMMI officials held a press conference Feb. 17 to discuss several features of this year’s show. They include:

• A DistriPak Pavilion, sponsored by NPTA Alliance (formerly the National Paper Trade Association). This will be devoted to distributors of industrial packaging, as well as machinery and materials manufacturers who sell through distribution channels.

• A Reusable Packaging Pavilion, which will feature exhibitors displaying reusable pallets, bins, dunnage and other transport packaging.

• A first-ever Confectionery Pavilion, which will fill 15,000 square feet in the South Hall of McCormick Place. This pavilion is being done through a partnership with the National Confectioners’ Association.

• The partnership with GMA, which comprises a co-located Manufacturing Excellence Conference. This will deliver two days of education on topics including product safety, sustainability and operational reliability.

The DistriPak and Reusable Packaging Pavilions made their debuts at last year’s Pack Expo in Las Vegas; this year will mark their first time at Pack Expo International. The partnership with GMA is new, and the Manufacturing Excellence Conference will be the first of its kind.

“By partnering with PMMI, our goal is to provide GMA members and all of our industry partners a forum where we can work to align manufacturing, engineering and plant management problem-solving in the critical areas of product safety, sustainability and operational reliability,” said Pamela Bailey, president and CEO of GMA.

In addition, this year’s show will be the first to bring processing under the same roof. Many of the show’s expected 1,600 exhibitors will include packaging and processing innovations regardless of their locations on the show floor.

For more information, access thePack Expo website.