PPMA Show 2014, held in Birmingham, UK, from 30 September to 2 October, is one of the largest processing and packaging machinery exhibitions in the UK, attracting hundreds of exhibitors and thousands of visitors every year.
The event showcases the latest technological innovations in the sector and offers a vast and insightful seminar programme, as well as the chance to talk to a range of industry professionals. FoodBev Media went along to the 2014 show and caught up with the latest developments in the field.
We began our visit to PPMA Show 2014 with a trip to the Sunfarming UK stand, where we were greeted by Sunfarming UK senior project manager Alan Lawson. Mr Lawson explained that a significant number of food and beverage brands had not installed solar PV panels and utilised the roof space available to them to generate a profit.
The Sunfarming UK representative went on to outline the benefits of the brand’s services in a detailed video interview and highlighted the point to the FoodBev team that solar energy will certainly give buyers a return on investment, providing enough time elapses. Objectively speaking, the rewards of this renewable form of energy definitely seem to outweigh any associated costs and all brands should seriously consider investing in this technology.
After delving into the world of solar energy, we wandered to the Festo stand and examined some of the company’s latest exciting and innovative machinery. One of the standout products in the Festo booth was the WaveHandling system; a pneumatic conveyor designed for the targeted transportation and simultaneous sorting of objects. The system consists of numerous bellows modules that deform the product’s surface, creating a wave motion that transports objects in a targeted manner.
Another interesting creation on the Festo stand was the brand’s MultiChoiceGripper, which was inspired by the human hand and specifically constructed to adapt to a range of different tasks. This particular machine’s fingers can grip in a parallel or centric manner, without requiring any conversion, which allow the construction to grip a wide variety of shapes quickly and easily. FoodBev interviewed Festo food & beverage team manager Andy Macpherson at the show, who gave an interesting insight into the company’s latest innovations.
Theodorou Automation was also present at the exhibition and the company was displaying its Printokit product, which the brand expects to ‘revolutionise the labels and ribbons market’. Printokit comprises one roll of blank thermal transfer labels and one roll of matched ribbon for printing, in a single, smartly packaged, economical kit. The creation is suitable for all common barcode printers and removes the need to buy labels and ribbons separately, saving cost and providing convenience.
As our aforementioned experiences at the exhibition indicate, PPMA Show 2014 turned out to be quite a lively and popular event, offering attendees the chance to see a range of interesting creations and dispensing a wealth of useful industry knowledge in the process. Hopefully next year’s edition will prove to be just as informative.
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