Supplier Side
Cospack America Launches Cool New Line
Cospack America Corp. (Edison, NJ) has introduced a new line of stock PETG bottles. Designed with a sleek, elegant profile, the Frost bottles are available in sizes of 50, 75, 100, 120, and 200 ml, with pumps and caps to match. The bottles' PETG material is chemical resistant and suited for skin and hair care products. The pumps are offered in metal or plastic finishes. The caps can feature a silver band. Silk-screening, hot stamping, and metallizing can be used to decorate the packages.
Portola Adds Plants, Technology, and More
Portola Packaging Inc. (Menlo Park, CA) announced that it has launched a new subsidiary business called YottaMark. The new venture was initiated to offer anticounterfeiting solutions.
According to the company, YottaMark technology can be applied to most types of packaging, either overtly or covertly. The technology gives each product its own "product fingerprint" or a unique code that can be used to identify products at the individual unit level. Retailers, manufacturers, and brand security or customs officials can quickly authenticate the codes using a handheld scanner, PC, or cell phone anywhere in the supply chain. Consumers can also verify the authenticity of products using the Internet or a cell phone. In addition, the system can be used to manage product return processes.
"It's a matter of having someone at the end of the supply chain with a scanner," says Jack Watts, chairman and CEO of Portola Packaging. "If the person with the scanner can access the Internet, then he can verify that the code on the package was generated on a particular packaging line and is valid. The codes are nonserial, nonrepeating, and appear randomly—and the system can detect duplicates."
In other company news, Portola Tech International (Woonsocket, RI), the cosmetic closures division of Portola Packaging, has begun injection molding closures and jars in its new European plant located in the Czech Republic. The facility is capable of molding materials such as polypropylene, PETG, and Surlyn.
The company has also started manufacturing injection-molded closures and jars in its new Shanghai plant.
Finally, Portola Tech has added six compression-molded closures to its stock catalog. Four of the designs are bottle closures—the 13/415 Fluted Flare, the 20/410 Monogram, the 18/415 Gendarme, and the 20/415 Ringed Extra Tall. The other two styles are the 48/400 Starburst jar cover and the 20-mm Monogram overcap.
Videojet, Accu-Sort Introduce RFID Solution
Videojet Technologies Inc. (Wood Dale, IL) and its sister company Accu-Sort Systems Inc. have introduced the portable Videojet FAST Tag RFID tag applicator. The applicator is designed to meet mandates from retailers such as Wal-Mart.
FAST Tag encodes and applies RFID tags utilizing a Videojet label applicator, an Accu-Sort RFID reader, and a patent-pending reject identification and recovery system.
"The bad-tag-reject system makes this a very cost-effective solution," says Ian Carver, RFID product manager for Videojet. "It catches bad tags before they make it to the product and into the supply chain."
Clariant Enhances Shanghai Plant
Clariant Masterbatches has expanded its facility in Xinzhuang Industrial Park, Shanghai. The facility is now the largest of the company's three production sites in China. To distinguish the facility from other operations in the region, the company has changed its name to Clariant Masterbatches (Shanghai) Ltd.