So the idea of a zero moment of truth was lodged firmly in the back of my mind as I was cobbling together this heftier-than-usual issue of Packaging World. Being the only person on the planet that reads every story in every issue (hey, I’m a realist), I notice trends within. Those trends can become glaringly obvious in these larger 200-plus-page issues. The one that clobbered me over the head this time around was that, for so many of the packagers we write about—from Peeps to hummus, from grapes to reading glasses—one of the shows in the PACK EXPO portfolio of events served as the zero moment of truth in making a big packaging technology procurement decision.
Take Peeps producer Just Born, for example. A conversation about Soft Robotics’ end of arm tooling between Just Born owner Ross Born and JLS’s Craig Souser during PACK EXPO International 2016 was likely the tipping point that would lead to a major installation. Read the full story here.
Or take it from Simon Goh, Shipping Manager at Zenni Optical. When he was looking to raise the automation bar at his e-comm fulfillment center, he visited the last PACK EXPO Las Vegas 2017 to compare equipment, ultimately deciding on the PAC Machinery and Sharp Packaging Systems tabletop baggers he saw at the show. Read the full story here.
Table grape producers like California’s Jakov Dulcich & Sons aren’t known for high-end automation, so General Manager Jacob McCaa wasn’t awash with resources or advice when he wanted to make the jump to robotic palletization. “But, when we found the PACK EXPO Las Vegas trade show,” McCaa says, “that was the main resource because I was able to visit all of the technology companies and get information from all of them in two days.” Read the full story here.
Sabri Kundakcioglu, VP of Engineering for Pepsi Bottling Ventures, was among those attending PACK EXPO International 2016 who witnessed the unveiling of Domino’s fiber laser coder. As Pat Reynolds points out , less than two years later, his Raleigh, NC-based firm became one of the first to install a technology that allows for laser coding of aluminum cans. Read the full story here.
Finally, consider the PACK EXPO Las Vegas experience shared six years ago by Nick Scangas, COO of Cedar’s Foods, and Michael Elent, Nuspark President. Within the last 30 minutes of the show, a laid-back Scangas sauntered into the Nuspark booth, checked out the equipment, and asked, “how much?,” doing everything but cutting a check on the show floor. “It was the fastest sale in my life,” Elent recalls. Read the entire story here.
By my math, that’s five examples of a PACK EXPO show serving as the zero moment of truth, where a major CPG, co-packer, or food and beverage manufacturer passed a tipping point toward conversion and improved his or her business with an exhibitor’s innovation. There are about 20 feature articles in this issue, and not all of them involve equipment or material procurement, so that’s a pretty good batting average for the PACK EXPO portfolio of events. Whether you’re a supplier and exhibitor, or an attendee end user of equipment and materials demonstrated at the show, the hit rate is just too good to pass up. See you in Las Vegas!
