During last month's Chinaplas 2003 exhibition in Beijing, Yiwu East Sanxing Plastic Industrial Co. Ltd. purchased a new 7-meter-wide Atlas primary slitter/rewinder from Valmet Converting. The converter manufactures biaxially-oriented PET (BOPET) film. Located in Zhejiang Province about 200 miles southeast of Shanghai, Yuwi East Sanxing is a joint venture created by three separate investors, all entering the BOPET-film business for the first time.

Paperboard-packaging printer Cascades Boxboard, Inc., purchases a new Fischer & Krecke CI-flexo press for its folding-carton converting plant in Cobourg, Ontario, Canada. Scheduled for startup this month, the 9-station press is a totally computerized, flexo-print system with inline embossing and inline diecutting capabilities to greatly reduce leadtimes. "The new press will double the Cobourg facility's present capacity and offer customers enhanced quality and speed, particularly for short and medium runs," says Yves Menard, vp of mfg. at Cobourg.

Sacramento, CA-based Absolutely Micro*Clean International donates a new 72A anilox-roll cleaning system to Fox Valley Technical College, Appleton, WI. The 72A is a much larger system than was previously donated back in 1997. It has the capability of cleaning all of Fox Valley's smaller aniloxes, as well as the larger sleeved aniloxes currently used in the school's new PCMC Avanti™ CI-flexo press.