Best of the Midwest to Converge at 9th-Annual Converters Expo

Hundreds of packaging converters, their suppliers and customers will converge at historic Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wisconsin, April 13 and 14 for the 9th-annual Converters Expo, one of North America’s largest events showcasing equipment and materials suppliers to the converting industry.

More than 100 booths will be open from 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. inside Lambeau Field’s Atrium on April 14. In addition, this year attendees will also get a chance to see the Packers’ new Hall of Fame, where a pre-show reception will be held from 6:30-8:30 p.m. on April 13.

Last year’s Converters Expo drew close to 600 attendees and exhibitors from across the Midwest and worldwide, and also featured a sold-out exhibit space. This year’s event is poised to follow suit, as among those scheduled to exhibit are makers of rewinding and slitting machinery, and those who provide services such as coating, laminating, ultrasonic sealing, folding, perforating, decorating, converyoring and packaging. Converters of disposable products such as tissue and wipes, flexographic printers, product testing and efficiency experts and product development firms will also be on display.

Paul Smith, a manufacturer representative with Withim Sales Corp. and show regular since the show’s beginning, signed up nine of his clients to exhibit at the show.

“It’s an important area of the country where there is a large converting and packaging customer base,” he says. “There are not really any other converting-specific shows like this in the Midwest.”

Several long-time exhibitors are also returning this year. Among them are Contract Converting, Appleton Manufacturing, Sierra Coatings and Parkinson Technologies. About a quarter of the total exhibitors are new this year.

“After hearing how fast the 2015 Converters Expo sold out, we knew it would be a pretty cool opportunity for us to share all that AMS has to offer to the packaging converting industry,” says Hans Ulland, VP of Sales for Air Motion Systems, a platinum sponsor of the event. “The fact that it is at Lambeau makes it just that much better.”

Other sponsors are Valley Grinding & Manufacturing, AccuWeb Inc. and Bank First National. A full list of exhibitors and sponsors is available at www.ConvertersExpo.com.

Converters Expo is owned by BNP Media’s Packaging Strategies group, the parent company of Flexible Packaging, which purchased the show in 2013.

What You Can See at Converters Expo

AccuWeb (A200): AccuWeb, a BST North America brand, is set to have its EVO 150 controller on hand, which operates on 24V DC and 150 watts of output power to control both brush and brushless actuator motors. It also features DualEdge Technology, which permits centerline guiding with just a single WideArray edge detector. The company is also set to display a collaboration between the AccuWeb Micro 400NET web guide controller interfacing with BST’s CLS Pro 600 laser-guided, digital line/edge sensor.

Erhardt + Leimer (C301): Erhardt + Leimer will have process control, web guiding, tension control equipment and inspection technology on hand at Converters Expo. Among its offerings include its Smartscan, which is designed to make inspection affordable, as it offers easy access to print image monitoring in field of label printing. In addition to monitoring function with zoom, it also inspects for gross defects, splice detection, detection of missing labels and unremoved matrix.

Filmquest (A233): Filmquest Group will showcase its Questar Polyester Film, a high-quality film that’s complemented with a full range of value-added products. The Questar Polyester Films portfolio includes, soft touch matte, no gloss matte, high-barrier, heat sealable, anti-fog, shrink, anti-static, polymer pigmented, Nanoshield clear high-barrier films and full line of Plystar premium lidding film.

Finzer Roller (B117): Finzer’s Razor Slitting Backing Brush replaces a grooved and hardened-steel roll and greatly reduces setup time, improves cut edge quality and increases the longevity of the slitting blade life. Since the inception of this product, Finzer has retrofitted hundreds of machines in the field across the country to positive results. The product functions in either web-driven or machine-driven applications. Finzer will also showcase its Web Flattening Tension Brush.

Wikoff Color Corp. (C300): Wikoff Color Corp. will showcase how its experts are leading the way in creating customized solutions for the flexible packaging market. Among the things Wikoff representatives will be showcasing and discussing include ink systems with high color densities, better mileage and excellent transfer properties; optimized ink formulations; multi-purpose ink systems for applications including plastics, aluminum foils, metalized paper and other paper types; customized ink systems; and electron beam inks and coatings, among others.

Yazoo Mills (C323): Yazoo Mills is a premier manufacturer of paper tubes and cores for the converting and label industries, and well-known as a supplier of choice when it comes to excellent service and consistent quality. Yazoo stocks 102 sizes of 3-inch I.D. cores and maintains an inventory of over 1.5 million cores at all times for same day shipment. Custom made orders have no minimum requirement and ship in 48 hours or less. Yazoo will also display its superior quality in-line printing capabilities and custom paper cores.

Simco-Ion (B103): Simco-Ion will feature its IQ Power Static Neutralizing System, which offers unprecedented performance and is now engineered to include IQ Easy sensor technology, bringing ultimate monitoring intelligence with a user-friendly interface. IQ Power is ideal for almost every step of the converting process with its smarter, more integrated, yet easy-to-use, solutions to static issues. Other highlighted equipment includes the Chargemaster VCM electrostatic charging generator, Pinner line of arc resistant charging bars, Magnum Force air knife system and the line of Teknek contact cleaning products.

Meech International (B105): Meech will showcase its successful Hyperion range of static control systems, including the 924IPS, a compact, short-range pulsed DC ionising bar that’s suitable for use in a variety of sectors, including print, packaging, converting and labeling. At 32mm high, the 924IPS is the most compact pulsed DC bar available on the market, which makes it suitable for installation in challenging positions that would normally require an AC bar. The system employs the same 4 pin M8 connector and shock-less titanium emitter pins as other Hyperion bars, while also having an IP rating of 66, making the bar suitable for use in harsh environments.

Prolamina – A Division of ProAmpac (B101): Recently, ProAmpac merged Coating Excellence International (cei) into its Prolamina brand, creating a unified Extrusion Division. The newly joined Prolamina brand offers customers expanded capabilities, extra capacity and outstanding service. Prolamina will feature a full range of capabilities at Converters Expo 2016 including its PRO-POUCH and CleanStrip products. Prolamina offers pouch structures with a wide range of sealant resins and co-extrusion variations and offers tandem extrusion, adhesive laminating, metallizing and printing capabilities. In addition, Prolamina will feature CleanStrip, its patent-pending, easy-open film ream wrap with a tear strip.

Jemmco (A216): Jemmco will showcase its simple and cost-effective JemmTac Component Style Contact Web. The web cleaner works by simply covering your existing idler roll with the JemmTac Web Cleaning Sleeve, a silicone-based contact cleaning roller covering, and mounting the web cleaner directly above. Using pneumatic actuators, the web cleaner moves the JemmTac Pre-Sheeted Adhesive Roll into and out of contact with the sleeve-covered idler roller for easy inspection. Jemmco will also display its full line of release, web cleaning, anti-static, traction and corona treating sleeves, among others.