Sealed Air (Saddle Brook, NJ) expands its investment in China with the planned construction of a new facility in Shanghai. The plant, which is expected to begin production in 2007, will specialize in Cryovacw food packaging and polyolefin blister sheet. Sealed Air's investment totals $100 million, the company says, and the site reserves enough expansion space to allow conversion of other products in the future. Cryovac materials have been applied by several important meat producers in China, including Changchun Haoyue Islamic Meat-Processing Co., Ltd. In addition, the converter's non-PVC and high oxygen-barrier packaging materials have a considerable market share in China.

The Fasson Roll North America division of Avery Dennison Corp. (Painesville, OH) says it will invest more than $20 million in additional coating and finishing capacity at its Quakertown, PA, facility. New proprietary capital equipment will be installed at the site to assist Fasson's support of the high-growth film materials market and the expanding needs of the food, beverage, household and personal-care product segments, the converter says.

Aurora, IL-based The Label Printers expands its manufacturing capabilities into color plateless technology with the installation of a new 7-color HP Indigo ws4050 digital press. "Our customers' requirements for small-to-medium volume, variable images continues to grow," says Bill Kane, chief executive officer of the privately held company. "We added single-color, black digital four years ago. We feel now that the combination of customer demand and improvements in the technology dictate that we move forward with this expansion." Founded in 1967, The Label Printers now has more than 75,000 sq ft of production space in two facilities, including state-of-the-art printing and platemaking. It is a registered ISO 9001 manufacturer operating in a Six Sigma environment.

College Park, GA-based package printer Star Packaging purchases a new 52-in, 8-color PRIMAFLEX CM press from Windmoeller & Hoelscher Corp. (Lincoln, RI). The CI-flexo press will be shipped to Star's headquarters facility in early June for installation this summer. The equipment, Star's first purchase from W&H, lets the converter decommission two of its existing presses while simultaneously increasing capacity due to the new equipment's advanced features, Star says. "The Easy-Set, TURBOCLEAN, and auto-viscosity units make job changeovers quick, simple, efficient and with minimum waste," says Star Packaging president Mike Wilson.