This year’s Pack Expo International will have special meaning with the SOMIC Packaging, Inc. team. The main reason will be the live demonstrations of the unique and adaptable next generation SOMIC 434 automated packaging system in booth N-6148 throughout the four day event, which is being held November 3-6 at McCormick Place in Chicago.
Pack Expo also represents an important turning point. Ten years ago and 25 miles from the event venue on the shores of Lake Michigan, Peter Fox opened the U.S. subsidiary of Germany-based SOMIC. Operating from a small office close to O’Hare International Airport, the company successfully gained a foothold in the North American packaging market and tripled its space with a transfer to the Minneapolis area in 2018. This month prior to the show, a move into new headquarters a few miles away will nearly quadruple SOMIC Packaging’s workspace to 48,000 square-feet. The assembly of all new North American purchased machines will originate at the Inver Grove Heights, Minnesota facility.
“Pack Expo offers us the opportunity to present SOMIC’s achievements over the last 50 years, as well as our rapid ascension here in the United States and Canada the past 10 years,” said Fox, acknowledging the parent company’s golden anniversary. He has served as SOMIC Packaging’s CEO since being promoted in 2021. “Exhibiting this versatile 434 next generation case packer demonstrates our continuous upwards progress in the marketplace. It also reinforces our commitment to the design and development of cutting edge, retail ready case packing solutions.”
Designed to handle up to 34 cases per minute during a single cycle, it is capable of packing flat sachets, stand-up flexible pouches, and a wide array of cans, cups, trays, jars, bottles, tubes and blister-packs. Offering single and multi-row grouping and multi-layer stacking, format adjustments are 70% faster than previous systems.
Fox said with its signature compact footprint, a standard 434 has a base carton or case packing section which incorporates custom infeed and collation. The decentralized servo technology is particularly suitable for the machine’s modular design, and functional units can be individually adapted for any customer requirements and future applications. Automated machine adjustments have been incorporated to ensure the machine will automatically adjust to the precise settings when changing from one format to the next.
“The capability to configure the collation and collection group, plus the quality of the engineering and manufacturing process, is what separates SOMIC apart from the competition,” Fox said. “While no two machines are the same, there is a significant amount of standardization which exists in the primary functionality of our case packer. It begins with a custom configured platform, but customers make it proprietary based on carton design, product positioning, packaging inserts, and the requirements necessary for on-shelf display.”
About SOMIC Packaging, Inc.
With 50 years of experience, Minnesota-based SOMIC Packaging, Inc. offers design support for cartons, retail-ready and wraparound cases. Many international packaging brands use SOMIC’s advanced mechatronic systems to collate, group, and pack open trays, wraparound cases, trays with covers or lid inserts, and paperboard cartons. The Parts & Service department is responsible for all equipment installations, training and more.
