Pack Expo: Sustainability and Safety

PMMI, the trade association for packaging and converting machinery, has announced its educational program for this year's Pack Expo at the Las Vegas Convention Center Oct. 15-17. Designed to help professionals understand and respond to strategic business issues, the conference will include sessions on brand protection, converting technology, e-machinery, material advances, processing, safety, sustainability, track and trace technology, and the upgrading of operations.

Keynote presenters include Cal Dooley, president and CEO of the Grocery Manufacturers/Food Products Association, and John A. Luke Jr., chairman and CEO of MeadWestvaco Corp. Dooley will give the conference's opening keynote address with a presentation titled "Consumer Confidence: A Shared Objective of the Consumer Packaged Goods Industry and Policymakers." The next day, Luke will discuss the growing importance of sustainability to the packaging industry, its customers, and consumers. His presentation will be "Coming Full-Circle: Sustainability throughout the Packaging Lifecycle." A third keynote speaker, Dr. David Acheson, assistant commissioner of food protection at the FDA, will deliver the closing address. His presentation, titled "Assuring Safety in the Global Food Market: Our Shared Responsibilities," will highlight the challenges the FDA is facing to make sure the U.S. food supply continues to be among the safest in the world.

The conference at Pack Expo is divided into multiple time periods each day, with several concurrent sessions planned for each time slot. Attendees can choose presentations on sustainability enhancement, anti-counterfeiting, Six Sigma, lean changeover, traceability, RFID technology, and many more. To help select sessions most suited to individual business goals, attendees can use a pre-show planning tool called My Pack Expo. To access this free service, attendees must complete a show registration form and profile. Based on the data given, the My Pack Expo tool will mine the show's database of conference sessions and then generate a report customized to meet individual needs. The report is hosted on a personalized, password-protected web portal that can be accessed around the clock.

Pack Expo also features more than 1,200 companies — utilizing more than 500,000 square feet of exhibit space. The expo this year will focus on the latest developments in packaging technology and will showcase state-of-the-art advances in packaging machinery, converting machinery, materials, packages and containers, and components.Registration: www.packexpo.com