Guest: Pat Reynolds, Editor Emeritus, Packaging World

UnPACKed with PMMI teams up with Packaging World to add an audio option to its top-shelf written content. On this episode of UnPACKed with Packaging World, PW Editor Emeritus Pat Reynolds reviews the latest technology trends and other items of note from his observations of PACK EXPO Connects. With e-commerce exploding in 2020-2021, late-stage customization drives many packaging innovations, and companies need to remain flexible to keep up. Reynolds also comments on the increase in inspection equipment, noteworthy packaging materials and even some technologies entering the industry that even his experienced eye saw for the first time.

Guest: Keren Sookne, Director of Editorial Content, Healthcare Packaging

Keren Sookne, director of Editorial Content for Healthcare Packaging and PMMI’s in-house healthcare packaging expert, tackles the always provocative topic of cannabis and cannabis packaging on UnPACKed with Healthcare Packaging. With a new administration and Congress, will cannabis laws ease up nationally for medicinal and adult use or get tougher? How has cannabis use increased during the pandemic and what are we seeing in terms of new products, packaging and packaging materials?

Access the 2021 Packaging for the Cannabis Market Report

Guests: Adrian Lloyd, CEO, Interact Analysis and Blake Griffin, Senior Market Analyst, Interact Analysis

The term predictive maintenance has been widely used in recent years although there is no agreed industry-wide definition. The result is that some in the industry may dismiss the concept as a buzzword, thereby missing out on an emerging technology that has the potential to be disruptive. Adrian Lloyd and Blake Griffin from Interact Analysis come on the podcast to discuss their research that led to PMMI Business Intelligence’s Predictive Maintenance White Paper. The pair examine how they see implementation of predictive maintenance technologies playing out in two different parts of the plant and how these trends will merge over time.

Guest: Pete Seward, Vice President of Engineering & Technical Service, Harpak-ULMA

Packaging and processing manufacturers continue to adapt their operations as the pandemic progresses into 2021. PMMI’s Industry Relations Committee asked its Field Service Managers share group to develop best practices regarding documents and requirements for field service personnel during the pandemic to address these efforts. Peter Seward from Harpak-Ulma is a member of the group and joins the UnPACKed with PMMI podcast to discuss the methodology behind the resulting white paper, Field Service Personnel and Customer Tools to Support Safe Practices during the COVID Pandemic.

Guest: Jan Tharp, President & CEO, The Bumble Bee Seafood Company

UnPACKed with PMMI teams up with PMMI Media Group to add an audio option to the tremendous written and video content its award-winning publications provide. On this episode of UnPACKed with OEM Magazine, OEM Editor-in-Chief Stephanie Neil adds a part two to her compelling PACK EXPO Connects Jumpstart interview with Bumble Bee Seafood President and CEO Jan Tharp. Neil dives deeper into Tharp’s role as a leader through chaos at Bumble Bee while also providing insight into the current state of the global food industry. As the current co-chair of PMMI’s Packaging & Processing Women’s Leadership Network, Tharp tackles how women leaders differ from their male counterparts during troubling times, addressing a recent claim from the Harvard Business Review that women make better leaders in a crisis.

Guests: David Young, Chief Executive Officer, Cadre Credits and Bern McPheely, Director, Cadre Credits

PMMI prides itself on the willingness of its members to share their information and best practices that could assist fellow members – even if they are competitors. On this episode of UnPACKed with PMMI, former Chairman and longtime PMMI board member Bern McPheely joins the podcast along with Cadre Credits President and CEO David Young, to provide a quick overview of a lesser known government program that offers tax credits to aid businesses through the pandemic. The Employee Retention Credit Act (ERTC) rewards companies who retained employees in 2020 despite hurdles presented from an unstable economy and intermittent lockdowns. Learn how your company can benefit. 

Guest: Keren Sookne, Director of Editorial Content, Healthcare Packaging

The COVID-19 vaccine is the latest example of just how important packaging and processing are to society at large. Once developed, processed and packaged, the vaccine needed distribution along the very supply chains established and maintained by our industry players. Keren Sookne, director of editorial content, Healthcare Packaging Magazine, takes us through all of the big picture items around the ground-breaking vaccine and offers examples — good and bad — on how to get it in the hands of the front-line workers to administer to an anxious public. She also addresses distribution here in the U.S. and when more versions will hit the market for deployment.

**Since recording the podcast, news was released that the HHS changed its explanation about its confidence in vaccine supply for second doses, and acknowledged that they cannot anticipate a large supply of second doses will be ready in the expected time frame—three weeks later (for Pfizer) and four weeks (for Moderna).

Check out PMMI's resource page for business solutions addressing challenges brought on by COVID-19

Guest: Joyce Longfield, R&D – Principal of HPP applications, Good Foods Group

More and more consumers are interested in purchasing products that are free from preservatives – and High Pressure Processing (HPP) technology offers a safe way to increase shelf life. Hear from Joyce Longfield, R&D – principal of HPP applications, Good Foods Group and former Chairperson and current member of the Cold Pressure Council, who covers important food science topics such as the pitfalls of preservatives. Longfield walks us through why her company, Good Foods Group, utilizes HPP and how its benefits have supported their food safety goals. She also delves into the ways preservatives may have a harmful effect on good bacteria the body needs to thrive.

Guests: Matt Jones, Vice President of Aftermarket Sales and marketing, Dorner and Julie Hoover, Account Manager, SMC Global

With decades of trade experience between them, Dorner vice president of aftermarket sales and marketing and PMMI board member and show committee chairperson, Matt Jones and SMC Global Account Manager and PMMI board member, Julie Hoover have an affinity for trade shows and their value to the packaging and processing industry. In this episode of UnPACKed with PMMI, we discuss what has worked and what hasn't worked with this unusual year of virtual trade events, including the PMMI Media Group produced PACK EXPO Connects. Matt and Julie share how their teams handle the challenges of virtual events while eagerly looking forward to the return of in-person trade shows in the meantime. Both Dorner and SMC maintain dedicated personnel to remain engaged with virtual opportunities like packexpoconnects.com which remains active through March 31st 2021.

Guest: Dave Navin, President & CEO, Spee-Dee Packaging Machinery, Inc.

PACK EXPO Connects brought the industry together on Nov. 9-13 with nearly 18,000 attendees engaging with more than 700 exhibitors to find solutions to critical packaging challenges. Despite exhibitor preparedness, technical issues kept the live demonstrations from launching as intended – but exhibitors quickly adapted and demos returned for attendees looking to see technology in action the remainder of the event. In this episode, Dave Navin, president and CEO, Spee-Dee Packaging shares how his team prepared for their first virtual event, adapted when hurdles presented themselves, and what the company will do to remain engaged with customers who visit packexpoconnects.com through March 31, 2021.