Schaumburg, IL-based Pliant Corp. says it will expand its production assets for printed flexible packaging in the US and Canada. The new proprietary equipment includes an eight-color flexographic press, a three-layer blown-film co-extrusion line, two slitters and a wicketed-bag machine. Startup of these assets is expected in June, Pliant says.

Flexible-packaging plant Akerlund & Rausing Kuban, a joint venture with Teich Constantia Austria, purchases a new nine-color gravure press from Cerutti SpA (www.cerutti.com). The Model R960/2 system features hot-melt coating capabilities and will be installed at the facility in Kuban, Russia, by the end of the year. A&R Kuban, which supplies flexible packaging for the food industry in Russia, has annual sales of approximately $15 million with several Western customers, including Nestlé and Philip Morris.