THE PPMA AWARDS 2002
Winners of the PPMA Awards of Excellence 2002 were announced on 24 September during the Annual PPMA Dinner, held at the National Exhibition Centre, Birmingham, following the opening day of this year’s PPMA Show. This was the eighth presentation of the Awards, which were launched in 1995.
“Once again the quality and variety of entries demonstrates a healthy level of technical innovation and commitment to service in the supply of processing and packaging machinery,” said PPMA general secretary Andrew Manly. “Numbers are nearly 30 per cent up on last year, as a result of many more overseas and UK companies competing for the design and manufacture categories, which is most encouraging.”
He continued: “This confirms that eight years after their inception, the Awards continue to gain increasing stature as the premier means of recognising engineering and related excellence in the supply of both processing and packaging machinery.”
Four Medals and three Certificates of Merit were awarded.
This year the PPMA Awards were again sponsored by automation equipment specialist Festo whose deputy managing director Mike Gaffney presented the awards in Category 2 and Category 4. All other presentations were made by PPMA President Barry Tucker.
Category 1: Design and Manufacture (Overseas Supplier)
The Denis Pearce Memorial Medal
Winner: Alpma, Germany
The Medal for Design and Manufacture by an Overseas Supplier is named in memory of the late Denis Pearce, one of the PPMA’s founding members, and awarded in recognition of innovative design or application of machinery built outside the UK.
This year it was awarded to Alpma, Germany, for its Cut 25W cheese portion cutting machine, which allows fixed weight cheese wedges to be cut accurately from random weight cheese blocks, reducing give-away from typically 3-5 per cent to less than 1 per cent. Ten machines are currently in production on Cheddar cheese, two on Stilton.
The machine is fed with bars of cheese, cut from the primary block to the appropriate section for cheese portions to be produced. The bars are then weighed, their length measured by laser and the cutting interval calculated by the machine to achieve the required weight in each portion. Excess can be removed as a balance cut or added to the last good portion as a random overweight.
The cutting blade rotates with each stroke to give the required wedge angle.
Further operating modes for the Cut 25W include division of the bar into a pre-determined number of portions, and cutting to a minimum thickness. Speed is up to 100 a minute for 200 and 250g portions cut from a standard 20kg block.
The judges commended the machine for the way in which a number of technologies had been brought neatly together for this application, providing high accuracy and hence considerable cost savings in terms of reduced product give-away.
The nomination was supported by Dairy Crest, Wrexham; Glambia Foods, Oswestry; and Scottish Milk Products, Mauchline.
Certificate of Merit: Krones AG
In the category for Design and Manufacture (Overseas Supplier) a Certificate of Merit was awarded to Krones for the new Modul range of modular rotary labelling machines. These employ floor-standing ‘plug-and-play’ wet glue and pressure sensitive labelling stations that can be wheeled in and out of position to provide maximum flexibility in meeting current demand for greater variety in bottle dress.
In addition, the conventional main carousel assembly and cam drive has been replaced with a ring of servo motors, each carrying a container platform. This removes the restrictions imposed by mechanical drive and allows container rotation to be infinitely variable, to suit the container shape and labelling requirement more precisely.
The judges were impressed by the way in which the machine could be changed over quickly, with cleaning carried out off line, and also by the improved access and safety provided by the design.
Supporting the nomination, Bedford-based brewer Charles Wells said: “This is the first major innovation in labelling technology for some years. To be able to have the flexibility of two methods of label application on the one machine simplifies line layouts, line control philosophy, and is obviously space saving.”
Also supporting the nomination were Diageo Global Supply (formerly Guinness UDV) and Fuller Smith & Turner.
Category 2: Design and Manufacture (UK Supplier)
The Bob Newman Medal
Winner: Molins ITCM
The Medal for Design and Manufacture (UK Supplier) is named in memory of the late Bob Newman who, as the founder of Newman Labelling Machines, was also one of the founders of today’s UK packaging machinery industry.
It goes to recognise innovative design or application of machinery built within the UK and this year was awarded to Molins ITCM for the 3D Pyramid tea bag machine developed in the late 1990s for Unilever’s Brooke Bond Tea Company, which made the nomination.
The tetrahedral bags, said to allow room for the tea leaves to move around and provide a fuller flavour, returned PG Tips to brand leadership within a year of their launch.
Unilever points out that unlike previous machinery available on the market, which required expensive materials and could produce only 60 of the 3D bags a minute, the Molins Pyramid machine is capable of some 2000 bags a minute, and runs with conventional tea bag tissue.
This is achieved with a patented dosing system and a series of continuous motion cross-sealing units that operate alternatively in two perpendicular planes to produce the pyramid shape.
“This is a project that literally reshaped the tea bag market, but required innovative machine design to provide the necessary commercial viability,” said the judges.
Category 3: Environmental Responsibility
Winner: GEA Buck Valve
The Award for Environmental Responsibility is awarded to recognise the design and/or use of a machine which contributes to environmental improvement, best practice or protection.
The award this year was made to GEA Buck Valve, Germany, for its Total Containment split butterfly valve, developed to provide safe transfer of highly toxic powders from reactor vessels, eliminating problems associated with the use of glove boxes.
In fact, dust emission during all docking procedures has been shown to reach low nanogram/m3 exposure levels which until now has only been achieved with space consuming isolator technology and glove boxes, points out UK representative Niro Pharma Systems.
In operation, the two halves of the valve are brought together in a two-position procedure, the first to clean surfaces exposed to the environment, the second for powder to flow.
In the first position the two halves are engaged and sealed off from the outer atmosphere, but separated by an area through which liquid or gaseous cleaning media can pass. This takes place under negative pressure, preventing any leakage of particles or cleaning media in the event of seal failure.
In the second position the valve is fully docked and can be opened for powder to flow. However, a ring-shaped cleaning area outside the 0-ring seals is maintained under negative pressure, guarding against seal failure by providing a further barrier and collecting any particles that might otherwise escape.
After material transfer has taken place, the procedure is reversed, and the mating areas fully cleaned. Samples are taken automatically from the cleaning area and the valve can only be undocked after a signal confirms that safety levels have been achieved.
In making the award the judges described the development as a solid step forward with an innovative approach to maintaining seal integrity.
The nomination was supported by Janssen Pharmaceutica, Belgium and Pfizer Global Research & Development, USA.
Category 4: Customer Service
The John Downing Memorial Medal
Certificate of Merit: Conveyor Systems Limited
The Medal for Customer Service is named in memory of the late John Downing. It is awarded to recognise a machinery supplier who has provided exceptional service and technical back-up to a customer for a specific project, or has done so over a long period of continuous supply.
No main award was made this year but a Certificate of Merit was presented to Conveyor Systems, which was commended for excellent service by six of its customers and co-suppliers.
“This is a small company going that extra bit further and putting in the effort that turns acceptable service into exceptional service,” said the judges. “The common thread running through the commendations is success in making sure the customer has the right solution, installed on time.”
Among nominating companies Golden Wonder cited knowledge, experience and cost competitiveness while TDG, the logistics provider for Direct Wines, was impressed with both the time spent studying and understanding its business and the capacity to cope smoothly with changes.
Elson Automation spoke of attention to detail, Eurobuns said the company had worked hard, over and above average, while Best Diversified Products saw its equipment installed on time, within budget and with further savings that had not been anticipated. Cermex UK commended the company for its expertise not only in conveyors, but also in line control systems.
Category 5: Export Achievement
The Robert King Medal
Certificate of Merit: Euroweigh
The award for Export Achievement is named after Bob King, who retired as chairman of CE King in early 1997 after a 47-year career in packaging machinery, notable in particular for export achievement.
It is made to recognise exports of UK-built machines through a long and consistent record of sales and service; development of new markets; a project or contract of particular merit; or success by a company new to exporting.
No main award was made this year but a Certificate of Merit was given to Euroweigh for developing a new market in weighing equipment for fresh fruit in Spain and the Far East.
Initially, Euroweigh developed a new four headed vibratory feed weighing machine for one of the world’s largest fruit processing and packaging companies. This overcame previous problems of damage to fruit segments and diced pieces weighed out on multihead machines, by offering a maximum drop height of just 100mm. Self-cleaning weighpans were also developed to prevent the wet and sticky products adhering to the weigh head contact parts.
Three of these machines were then sold for installation in Spain, each handling 70g plastic cups of fruit at 210 a minute.
Success brought inquiries from other fruit packing companies in the group and, following a visit to Thailand, Euroweigh secured an order for a further line, which was promptly backed up by an order for seven more. Now Euroweigh has its sights on the Philippines, where a re-equipment programme offers potential for several more lines.
So far, more than £1 million worth of export orders have been received for the new fruit weighing lines over an 18 month period.
“This is a small company, with a staff of just seven, which makes export sales a relatively expensive operation,” the judges noted. “But Euroweigh has developed a machine that fits the market’s needs and is reaping the rewards.”
Category 6: Lifetime Achievement Award
(Machinery Supplier)
Winner: Tony Little, Chairman, Jenton International
The Lifetime Achievement Award for a Machinery Supplier is made to individuals, rather than organisations, to recognise their work in pioneering a particular design or application of machinery or in making an outstanding contribution to the development of the industry, as a supplier, over a considerable period of time.
This year the award was made to Tony Little, chairman of Jenton International, to recognise his personal contribution to the industry on two principal fronts: as a tireless champion of innovation in packaging methods and one of the founding directors of the PPMA who helped guide the fledgling organisation through its formative years.
Tony Little sold his first packaging machine in 1956 when he started working for the Charles Douglas company.
Always an enthusiastic salesman and innovator, his early years in the industry were spent alerting the market to the advantages of what was then a completely new concept: wrapping in plastic film.
Indeed, the nomination recalls how that, in the early 1960s, Tony was roundly criticised at the annual conference of the Union of British Bakers for making the “ridiculous suggestion” that plastic bags would replace greaseproof paper for wrapping bread in the UK market.
Since then, Tony Little has been the force behind the introduction of several new packaging technologies, from banding cigarette carton blanks ready for palletising by robot - which needed a new machine designed from scratch - to the first 'glue on' poly bag patch handle machine and automatic digital control of ink flow to two piece can lines, with Tony selling this new technology in the USA, South Africa, Malaysia and Europe.
During the 1960s, Tony built up machinery agencies with a number of overseas principals and in 1973 started Jenton International which, today, in many cases still represents the same companies as it did in 1973 and now deals with the sons and even granddaughter of the men that Tony first shook hands with in the beginning.
Commenting on behalf of the judges, PPMA general secretary Andrew Manly said:
“Tony Little’s contribution to the UK packaging industry is very much the result of a continuous voyage of discovery, looking out for new ideas from all over the world that can help UK companies improve a pack or packaging operation.
“He may now be in his 70s, but Tony continues to demonstrate the energy, enthusiasm and inquisitiveness usually reserved for much younger men.”
Judges for the PPMA Awards of Excellence 2002 were Terry Davies of Unilever Research, Eric Hirst of AstraZeneca R&D, Martin Keay of the PPMA, Sandy Paton of Bacardi-Martini, and Barry Richmond of Nestlé UK.
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Note to Editors:
For further information and photographs of the award ceremony contact: Lisa Edgington at the PPMA on +44 (0)20 8773 8111.