Avery Dennison began the digital traffic sign revolution in 2014 with our introduction of the TrafficJet Print System. Quickly becoming one of the best-selling printers for specification compliant traffic signs with warranties exceeding industry standards, TrafficJet is in regular use in nearly 500 locations across 50 countries. This printer has been instrumental in the elimination of more than 1.5 million gallons of wastewater worldwide. “Our newest printer, TrafficJet Pro, truly challenges the need for toxic screen printing” says Aaron Means, senior product manager. “This affordable printer featuring UV LED instant cure and True Traffic Color spot inks, delivers print speeds comparable to high-volume screen printing, while eliminating the complexity and multiple waste streams associated with screen printing. In addition, the print production process can be housed in an area less than one-third required by screen printing, conserving valuable space and associated costs. For government agencies, longer-life TrafficJet Pro signs reduce their replacement cycles and maintenance costs, lessening the impact on the environment.

People with disabilities are the largest minority group in the world. In the United States alone, one in four people have a disability, yet beauty and personal care products often overlook their challenges and needs. As the world’s no.1 antiperspirant and deodorant brand, Degree is taking action to change this. Degree – also sold as Rexona, Sure and Shield in different countries – believes movement has the power to transform lives and that everyone should be able to experience the incredible physical, mental and social benefits it can bring, whoever you are and however you move.

Limited sight or arm mobility can make twisting a deodorant cap, turning a stick or pressing a spray a challenge, and sometimes fear of sweating without antiperspirant protection can prevent people with disabilities from moving as much as they would like to. That’s why Degree has worked with a diverse team of experts to put the specific needs of consumers with disabilities at the forefront of a new concept: Degree Inclusive, the world’s first adaptive deodorant.

Features that put accessibility first

Degree Inclusive’s hooked container is designed for one-handed usage. Enhanced grip placement and magnetic ‘click’ closures make it easier for users with limited grip or sight to remove and replace the cap. A larger roll-on applicator means the product reaches a greater surface area per swipe. The label also includes instructions in braille.

In partnership with the Muscular Dystrophy Association, non-profit organisations Open Style Lab and The Lighthouse Chicago, and a panel of engineers, designers and occupational therapists, Degree invited 200 consumers with a range of physical disabilities to trial its prototype roll-on. Their feedback will be applied to help improve the product for its future commercial launch.

“As a brand that’s committed to inspiring confidence in everyone to move more, Degree believes no one should be held back from breaking a sweat and enjoying the transformative benefits of movement,” says Kathryn Swallow, Global Degree Brand Vice President.

“More than 60 million people in the US live with a disability, yet products and experiences are still not designed with this community in mind. With Degree Inclusive, we hope to inspire bold action across the industry to ensure that people with disabilities have an equal playing field.”

To learn more about Degree Inclusive and the brand’s long-term commitment to equitable access to movement for all, visit www.degreedeodorant.com.

CL Smith specialises in manufacturing, warehousing, distribution and custom-designing rigid packaging solutions.

The company also operates Lyons Blow Moulding, an extrusion blow moulding facility in Brooklyn, Missouri, and is the exclusive distributor of products produced there.

CL Smith’s HAZPlus division serves as a one-stop resource for hazardous materials (HAZMAT) containers and packaging requirements. It acts as a self-certifier and conducts both new and re-certification performance testing.

Following the acquisition, Kelso will merge CL Smith with its present investment in Inmark, a company that distributes packaging products for the rigid container and life sciences markets.

CL Smith CEO Sarah Macdonald said: “We are pleased to welcome an experienced investment partner who shares our vision for the expansion of the company into a national packaging provider.

“Working together, we will strengthen our customer-focused value proposition and best-in-class service offering.”

Kelso investment partner Sandy Osborne said: “At Kelso, we constantly seek opportunities to partner with experienced operators with successful track records.

“Sarah Macdonald and the CL Smith management team have generated impressive historical performance while further strengthening the company’s differentiated market position.

“We look forward to working together to continue CL Smith’s exceptional growth trajectory.”

The financial details of the transaction have not been disclosed.

Kelso acquired the interest from Nancy Smith, who will invest proceeds in relation to the deal along with CL Smith’s management.

Debevoise and Plimpton acted as legal advisor to Kelso.

Ms Smith said: “CL Smith has a long and rich history of providing best-in-class customer service. We are excited to partner with Kelso, who share in our passion for customer care, our people and our culture.

“These customer-centric values are the root of CL Smith’s success and serve as our roadmap for future growth.”

The patent pending LCS2 product is designed to prevent thin semiconductor components from migrating out of the pockets of waffle pack chip trays during shipping and handling. 

"The new LCS2 product has the potential to save semiconductor manufacturers millions of dollars in costs associated with yield loss, rework labor and RMA's caused by die migration" said Darby Davis, VP of Sales and Marketing for Delphon.

Shipping today's thin semiconductor die in industry standard waffle packs presents a challenge for many semiconductor manufacturers. Thin devices packaged in these chip trays have a tendency to migrate, causing costly Component-Out-Of-Pocket (COOP) damage to occur. 

Together Gel-Pak and BAE Systems studied the root causes of COOP and created this unique solution. The LCS2 product, designed to work with industry standard waffle pack trays, consists of pad and interleaf materials integrated into a static dissipative gold lid along with a highly engineered single piece clip that uniformly compresses the tray and lid together to seal each waffle pack pocket. This lid/lip system has been shown to eliminate thin die migration issues.

Developed by Smurfit Kappa with 100% recyclable materials, the main advantage of the packaging design is its flexibility and the ability to accommodate different shapes and sizes of wine bottles safely, without having to use any filling materials. This design has a variety of 220 options to optimise space within the cardboard box and to accommodate different formats allowing for the wine bottle and food to fit perfectly. 

Commenting on the award, Juan Guillermo Castañeda, CEO of Smurfit Kappa The Americas said: “We are extremely pleased to receive the Product Design 2021 Red Dot Award. It demonstrates that our innovative and sustainable packaging designs are making a difference. Partnerships with businesses like Wine & Bite Box are extremely important to us. We embrace the challenge to improve and develop our packaging designs to meet the changing needs of our customers and to build on our expertise.”

With the growth in e-commerce during 2020, accelerated due to the pandemic, Wine & Bite Box saw an increase of 21% in sales and, currently, its products are being delivered across Brazil.

“The new packaging solution developed by Smurfit Kappa will ensure that my products arrive safely and securely to my customers, wherever in Brazil they may be, guaranteeing a positive experience from start to finish,” said Myriam Echeverri, sommelier and founder of Wine & Bite Box.

“Each of my gourmet tasting boxes are unique, and that uniqueness starts with the packaging. It is a great honour to receive this award together with Smurfit Kappa, as we are not only working on something that is innovative and sustainable, but also provides the best unboxing experience for customers.”

Smurfit Kappa is known for Better Planet Packaging, a portfolio of innovative packaging solutions which are designed to be more sustainable and tailored to customer needs.

The company has installed a Kiefel KMD 78 that increases capacity but also enables companies the option of plastics and cartonboard hybrid packaging.

Nigel Coates, managing director of LVF Packaging, said: “2020 was a busy year for us, especially in terms of the higher volume lines that we produce for many of the supermarkets, and it was apparent that production efficiency on our oldest Kiefel – a KMD 75 – was falling well behind our newer KMD 78s and that the time had come to replace it.

“The new machine is our fifth KMD 78 and the third with down-stacking technology – a feature that saves us time and money during the manufacturing process.”

Business development director, Daniel Coates, added that the machine comes with an extended frame that provides capability to add an extra station. This enables trays to be manufactured with cartonboard and plastics for food contact barrier or to enable sealing. The two elements are easily separated for recycling.

The hybrid station that can be added to LVF Packaging’s new KMD 78 enables pre-erected cartons to be introduced directly into the plastics thermoforming tool and thin gauge material formed directly into them.

“Hybrid packaging is one of a number of potential new technologies that we are looking into,” explained Coates. “Our intention is to gauge the direction the market is taking before making any additional investment – but having the capacity to simply add a hybrid station to our new machine means we are already one step ahead of the vast majority of our competitors.”

The £550,000 being spent on new Kiefel KLMD 78 takes LVF Packaging’s investment in business development to more than £3 million ($4.1m) in the last five years.

Professional painters and do-it-yourselfers appreciate it equally: The quality wallpapers of the traditional brand ERFURT. It all started with woodchip wallpaper. Today, the family business ERFURT & SOHN KG, managed in the seventh generation, sells a diverse product portfolio all around the world for contemporary wall design in addition to its sales classics: from non-woven, smooth non-woven and embossed paper wallpapers to individually designable digital print wallpapers.

Modern non-woven woodchip and non-woven wallpapers are very much in vogue, as they enable a particularly convenient and clean method of renovation with the wall-pasting technique. ERFURT & SOHN now offers an extra plus in convenience with the wallpaper box developed by DS Smith. The special highlight: The innovative solution for the professional and do-it-yourselfer saves the wallpaper table. The wallpaper strip can be attached directly from the wallpapering box to the pre-glued wall from the running roll. The integrated wall spacer, the positioning tabs for the ladder and the cut edge marked on the packaging ensure that the strips are always the right length. Waste of wallpaper material can be reduced considerably in this way. At the same time, the wallpaper box protects the wallpaper roll against soiling.

Thanks to the printed assembly instructions, DS Smith's wallpaper box can be set up in no time at all and can be easily adjusted to the size of the wallpaper roll by means of reduction tabs inside the box. And it is just as easy to use