Taipei Pack 2009 Highlights Advanced Packaging Systems

A sluggish global economy failed to dent attendance at the 2009 Taipei International Packaging Industry Show (Taipei Pack), which attracted over a thousand industry insiders along with the jointly timed Taipei International Food Show (Taipei Food) and Taipei International Food, Pharmaceutical Machinery & Catering Equipment show (Taipei Foodtech).

The three-in-one exhibition brought 1,000 exhibitors and 2,650 booths under one roof at the Taipei World Trade Center Nangang Exhibition Hall from June 23 to 26. The three shows were organized by the Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA) in cooperation with the Taiwan Food & Pharmacy Machinery Manufacturers' Association and China (Taipei) Packaging Association.

A total of 154 exhibitors touted their products and services at 424 booths during Taipei Pack. The show highlighted advanced packaging systems and green materials, with separate areas for packing machinery and packing materials. Main exhibits at the show included packaging machinery and materials, packaging plant systems, filling/sealing/weighing machinery, printing machinery, warehousing equipment, and food and medicine packing machinery.

Industry bigwigs at the show included Jaw Feng Machinery, Tian Cherng Packing Machinery, Sinlon Package Machine, Chung Shan Machinery Works, and Y-Fang Sealing Machine. The event also drew a large turnout of foreign buyers, including a Mongolian procurement delegation that expressed keen interest in Taiwan-made dairy packaging machines.

TAITRA organized 1,143 one-on-one procurement meetings at Taipei Pack this year. The meetings were attended by 106 foreign buyers and 235 domestic firms and produced purchasing contracts worth US$42 million.

Japanese Technology

One of the local exhibitors at the show was Topak International Co., a maker of packaging machinery using Japanese technology. The company is also a sales agent for weighing machines, weight inspection machines and metal inspection machines made by Japan's Yamato Co.

The company says that it has acquired the most advanced techniques for making sophisticated food-packaging machines from Japan. It also noted that some leading Japanese producers in this field have formed joint ventures in China.

Topak claims that more than 90% of the food-processing firms in Taiwan are still using the machines they have developed over the past few years.

Topak was founded in 1958 in Taiwan. Since 1960, the company has been marketing packaging machines made by Fuji Machinery Co. and Tokyo Automatic Machinery Works Ltd. (TAM) of Japan.

The company says it has teamed up with Fuji Machinery to set up a joint venture in Kunshan. The China-based venture--Topak Machine (Kunshan) Co. in Kunshan, Jiangsu Province--makes horizontal form-fill-seal machines for export to Taiwan and Southeast Asian nations.

Topak has also cooperated with TAM to develop vertical form-fill-seal machines bearing the TAM-Topak dual brand.

TAM has been producing vertical form-fill-seal machines for 30 years. These machines can be used for bagged products of all different shapes and sizes, from powders up to granules and larger solid objects, such as snack foods, coffee, cocoa powder, powdered milk, chocolate, candies, all types of confectionaries, rice crackers, tea, grains, spices, seasonings, pasta, frozen food, rice, and health-food goods, in addition to non-food items.

Topak sales representative Sam Lu says her company's business is still booming despite the economic recession as demand for food-packaging equipment has remained strong. The company has also benefited from sales to buyers retooling plants to improve food sanitation.

Topak has overseas sales agents in Thailand, the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia and Australia. In addition to selling self-developed food-packaging machines, the company is the sales agents of Japanese brands TAM, Fuji, Yamato, Toyo, Square, and Sanko.

Automatic Filling & Sealing Machines

Ai Shin Machine Co. had one of the most-visited booths at the show. The company displayed newly developed automatic filling and sealing machines, including machines in its specialty areas of bottle/can/box/cup/bag filling, sealing and packaging machines. The company also supplies semiautomatic and fully automatic models.

Ai Shin's filling and sealing machines can be for such beverage as mineral water, milk, coffee, soymilk, jelly and more. The company makes its machine frames and bodies with sus304 stainless steel, keeping it in compliance with good manufacturing practice (GMP) standards.

Featuring "Index" transmission system to ensure precise positioning, the machine can fill materials automatically by ball valve with level control switch. Mechanism components for the machine include auto cup dropping system, auto cup pressing system, auto filling system, auto cover dropping system, first sealing station, second sealing station, cup rejecting station, cup auto alignment system and conveyor.

Green Materials

Green Pack Enterprise Co. showcased green packaging materials and packaging machines at the show. The company, established in 1993, is one of Taiwan's most professional manufacturers of environmentally friendly packaging materials and packaging machinery. Its major product lines are plastic blisters, clamshells, IC (integrated circuit) tray, food container, and packaging machinery.

The company's automated production processes extend from PS/PP (polystyrene/polypropylene) extrusion and resin sheets to finished products. The company's products can help customers effectively reduce production costs.

Green Pack is headquartered in Sulin of Taipei County, northern Taiwan and has a 7,000-square-meter plant in Tainan County, southern Taiwan. The company can develop a wide variety of packaging solutions utilizing the most efficient and advanced packaging materials.

Green Pack specializes in developing environmentally friendly packaging designs and biodegradable packaging materials that can completely decompose into water and carbon dioxide within six weeks.

Some of the company's products are patented in Taiwan and China. The company has obtained certificates from the Taiwan-based Plastics Industry Development Center, proving its non-toxic PP, PS and PET (polyethylene terephthalate) packaging materials. It has obtained RoHS (restriction of the use of certain hazardous substances) certification from SGS Taiwan for its double-coated tapes.

Boosting Automation

Chyun Jye Machinery Co., Ltd., established in 1986, sells self-designed, innovative filling, capping, labeling and cartooning machines and keeps doing R&D. Since its inception, the company has followed the worldwide market trend in order to improve and upgrade the quality of machines.

Over the past several years, the company has been increasing the automation level of its products to improve operation efficiency. Such efforts have made the company a leader in the automatic filling, capping, labeling and cartooning machine market.

Arthur Wang, general manager of Chyun Jye, says his company's automated machines attracted wide attention at the exhibition. Wang says that Chyun Jye is committed to developing new automated models to help customers boost production efficiency.

Chyun Jye specializes in manufacturing automatic cartoning machines, automatic over-capping and plugging machines, and auto powder filling plugging capping machines, all of which have received ISO, CE and cGMP certifications. The company claims that these machines provide customers with high-quality, safe and hygienic products. Moreover, all the machines produced by Chyun Jye are custom-made to ensure highly reliable operation.

Chyun Jye's AFC-100 series of auto filling cap-sealing machines for liquid adopts a single axis adjusting piston to quickly and precisely meet the desired liquid-filling capacity. The parts of the piston that come into contact with the liquid are made of stainless steel with hard chrome treatment to surface hardness. The machine is widely used for cosmetics, pharmaceutical, beverage, and soy sauce packaging.

In addition to domestic sales, Chyun Jye also exports products to the U.S., European nations, Japan, Russia, the Middle East, Southeast Asian nations, India, Africa, and other markets.

Solid-products Wrappers

Sinlon Package Machine Co., Ltd., one of Taiwan's most prominent manufacturers of horizontal flow wrappers for packaging solid products, showcased a mechanical versatile wrapper machine and three high-tech servo wrapper machines at the show.

With over 40 years of manufacturing experience, Sinlon specializes in producing made-to-order automatic horizontal flow wrappers to handle a wide range of solid products. The company has exported products to more than 20 nations around the world, mainly to the U.S. and European markets.

At present, the company's main output is automatic form-fill-seal-cut horizontal packaging machines with either rotary sealing systems or box motion sealing systems. The company claims that all small-to-medium sized solid products (food and non-food items) can be readily packed by its flexible standard wrappers. Custom sizes are also readily available upon request.

Sinlon has supplied over 3,300 horizontal wrappers/systems over the years. "We are constantly developing new designs and adding features to make our machines more capable and intelligent. To date, we have obtained more than 35 patents for horizontal wrapper designs and various unique automatic feeding/handling systems," notes Sinlon's sales representative Joanna Wang.

Wang says that her company is in talks with a Japanese rival about cooperative production as Japanese producers have lost a competitive edge in developing such machines in their home market.

To ensure the high quality of its products, Sinlon makes its machines with the best parts available, including parts from Germany, Japan and Switzerland.

Sinlon's horizontal flow wrappers can be used for bakery, bread, cake, biscuit, cookies, waffle, chocolate, nougat, ice cream, instant noodle, tape, book, and other square, rectangular, or cylindrical solid products, tray-loaded, cardboard-loaded, or boxed products.

Soybean Processing Machines

Ta Ti Hsing Machinery Co., established in 1961, displayed a wide range of soybean processing machinery at the show. The company specializes in the development and production of soymilk, soy beverages, and tofu making machines.

"Soybeans are among the healthiest foods in the world, containing a high level of protein and low unsaturated fat," says C.W. Cho, general manager of Ta Ti Hsing. "As a result, our tofu making machines have been selling well in the global marketplace over the past several years."

Ta Ti Hsing is dedicated to designing automated machinery to help end-users boost production efficiency. For instance, the company recently remodeled its cone-type filtration liquid separator into the advanced press-type separator to increase processing speed.

Cho says his company's machinery products are more accurate and functional than those made in China. For instance, the company's BSF-300 soymilk making machine is capable of processing 300 up to 360kgs of soybeans per hour, making it the fastest machine in its class.