• Madison Dearborn Partners of Chicago agrees June 19 to acquire Ireland's paper and packaging conglomerate Jefferson Smurfit Group for about $3.7 billion. The deal would give shareholders a portion of JSG's 29.3% stake in packaging subsidiary Smurfit Stone Container, which Madison Dearborn did not want to buy.
• 3M Co. to acquire Emtech Emulsion Technologies: St. Paul-based 3M will combine Emtech, Medina, OH, and its 3M label business into a single operating unit. Emtech provides emulsion-adhesive technology and is recognized for its film-label materials in the automotive, security and consumer products markets. The acquisition is expected to close this month.
• Flex-pack converter Pliant Corp., Schaumburg, IL, wins a $2.1 million defense contract on June 14 for its Chippewa Falls, WI plant, to develop and produce flexible packaging for rechargeable and primary throwaway batteries. According to Pliant, the U.S. Army is interested in low-cost, high-energy, reduced-weight batteries for use in man-portable communications equipment and land-warrior systems.
• New consumer packaging JV in Moscow: Stamford, CT-based MeadWestvaco Corp. and EastPrint Ltd. create WestvacoEastPrint, a new consumer packaging converter in Russia. WestvacoEastPrint will begin operations in the fall, supplying printed paperboard for global and Russian-based tobacco companies.
• Specialty packaging converter Chesapeake Corp., Richmond, VA, completes its multimillion-dollar expansion of the Field Boxmore plant in Westport, Ireland. The project, to install new cutting, folding and bindery equipment for high-volume production of informational mini-booklets for the pharmaceutical and healthcare markets, began in October 2001. Unlike traditional drug-pack booklets with multiple, awkward folds, the new Chesapeake mini-booklet is perfect-bound, the size of a credit card and can hold up to 150 pages.

Packaging materials that sense environmental changes and respond by changing their properties, on their own, to improve product quality, safety, shelf life and usability will see significant growth through 2006, says a new study by Packaging Strategies, West Chester, PA. A major driving force behind the growth is consumer demand for convenient, nearer-to-fresh foods whose safety and quality are not compromised.

Arobot spells the end to WIP: Smurfit-Stone Container Corp.'s Solon, OH plant has eliminated the traditional "work-in-process" bottleneck between its folding-carton printing presses and downstream folder/gluers with four new robotic palletizing cells from supplier Sage Automation, Beaumont, TX.

Sage designed a single press and gluer-feeding system that ends WIP and the associated handling costs and balances the short-term run rate differences between the press and gluer. Sage employed a FANUC Model 410i articulating-arm robot for its speed and flexibility. A custom end-of-arm tool accommodates all variations of product size. Automatic folding racks were used for accumulation of materials, allowing maximum storage in minimal space.

The production line ran continuously with the internal buffer compensating for press and gluer run-time differences, says Sage. All WIP storage was real-time; no product sat idle in a warehouse.