Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG), a leading manufacturer of fluid handling
equipment, was awarded the Gold Visionary Award by UBM Canon’s Packaging
Group in a ceremony held last night at the EastPack 2013 packaging
industry trade show in Philadelphia, Pa. The award recognized Graco for
its design of the InvisiPac Tank-Free Hot Melt Delivery System, which
was previewed at Pack Expo 2012 and launched in February 2013. Graco
Global Product Marketing Manager Nicholas Long accepted the award on
behalf of the development team.
“It is especially gratifying to be recognized for this innovation,” Long
said. “We developed the product in response to a set of specific
customer problems within a relatively short time frame. The fact that we
emerged with an award-winning, new technology for the packaging industry
is a testament to the creative minds of a lot of people, including our
first customer, Summit Brewing.”
While traditional hot melt systems use large tanks to heat adhesive to
liquid form, the InvisiPac system is tank-free and its compact melting
chamber processes pellets in small batches. Because the adhesive spends
only a short amount of time at high temperatures there is significantly
less char formation than in traditional tank systems. Less char
eliminates the possibility of plugged nozzles and greatly reduces
overall system maintenance.
“Without a tank attached to the system, InvisiPac reduces char and
eliminates nozzle plugging. Operators no longer need to go through the
time-consuming process of tank scraping and cleaning. The system
ultimately lowers the end user’s maintenance requirements,” said Long.
“The end result is better line efficiency and less downtime, resulting
in time and cost savings for the packaging customer.”
The Summit Brewing Company of St. Paul, Minn. installed and tested two
InvisiPac machines in the spring of 2012 and expects to install two more
by the fall of 2013, converting their entire hot melt adhesive packaging
operations to use the InvisiPac system.
Many of the innovative designs included in the manufacture of the
InvisiPac Tank-Free system are patent-pending.
ABOUT GRACO
Graco Inc. supplies technology and expertise for the management of
fluids and coating in both industrial and commercial applications. It
designs, manufactures and markets systems and equipment to move,
measure, control, dispense and spray fluid materials. A recognized
leader in its specialties, Minneapolis-based Graco serves customers
around the world in the manufacturing, processing, construction, and
maintenance industries. For additional information about Graco Inc.,
please visit us at www.graco.com.
ABOUT SUMMIT BREWING COMPANY
Founded in St. Paul, Minn. in 1986, Summit Brewing Company has stayed
close to its roots, serving the Upper Midwest and Great Lakes region.
Summit’s beers are currently available in 17 states including Minnesota,
Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Missouri,
Nebraska, New Jersey, North Dakota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Dakota,
Texas and Wisconsin. Summit now produces 13 varieties of premium craft
beer, including seven year-round, four seasonal beers, and the limited
release Unchained Series and Union Series. Since its inception, the
brewery has been a consistent pioneer in the craft beer movement.
ABOUT UBM CANON
UBM Canon, the leading B2B media company dedicated exclusively to the
global $3.0 trillion advanced manufacturing sector, helps support the
flow of information, commerce and innovation in sophisticated segments
as medical
devices and pharmaceutical development. UBM Canon also
addresses cutting-edge developments in broader areas of advanced
engineering design and manufacturing, and manufacturing processes and
packaging. UBM Canon is part of UBM
(UBM.L) a global provider of media and information services for
professional B2B communities and markets.
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