WestPack to kick off 2004 trade show season: the first of Canon's regional packaging shows will start on a once-a-year schedule - Westpack Show Preview

Food & Drug Packaging, Dec, 2003

Attendees at WestPack, the first packaging trade show of 2004, will have opportunities to learn about everything from trade dress issues to medical device design and manufacturing.

WestPack, to be held Jan. 6-8 at the Anaheim (Calif.) Convention Center, is the first in a series of regional packaging shows held by Canon Communications. The shows, which Canon bought from Reed Exhibition Companies in 2001, proved so successful that Canon decided late last year to go from a biennial to an annual schedule.

WestPack will be co-located with four other shows: PLASTEC West; the Pacific Design and Manufacturing show; Electronics West; and the Medical Design & Manufacturing West show. Collectively, the shows offered more than 2,000 exhibits last year.

WestPack will feature several specialty pavilions, to group together exhibitors who are offering certain categories of products and services. These include:

* The Enterprise Software Pavilion, featuring the leading information technology for effective supply chain management. Exhibitors will present a comprehensive range of software for the small and medium business enterprise, including the latest in Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), Advanced Planning Scheduling (APS), Customer Relationship Management (CRM), warehouse management and e-commerce.

* The Material Handling Pavilion, which will feature a full array of products, equipment, and services for material handling and logistics. Attendees will be able to find a complete range of controlling devices, integrated systems, automated storage and retrieval systems, automatic ID systems and data collection devices.

* The Pharmaceutical and Nutraceuticals Packaging Pavilion will allow attendees to source specialty equipment; pharmaceutical-grade materials and supplies; disposables packaging; trays and kits; blister packs; tamper resistant/evident containers; labeling and bar coding; QA/QC; and testing, inspection and sterilization services. Also available will be everything needed for packaging vitamins and nutritional supplements: processing equipment, packaging, labelers, contract manufacturing services, quality control instruments and more.

* The Cosmetic and Personal Care Packaging Pavilion will offer a full spectrum of services and supplies for the cosmetic, fragrance, and personal care packaging industries.

Canon Communications

800-827-8323; www.westpackshow.com

WestPack educational sessions

WestPack will include a full schedule of educational sessions on a variety of packaging-related topics. The concurrent sessions include:

Tuesday, Jan. 6

Morning (9 a.m.-noon)

Protecting Your Product's Image with Packaging Trade Dress. Chair: Dennis Young, Dennis Young and Associates. Topics include: What is Trade Dress?; Defining Packaging and Product Trade Dress; The Strategic Use of Trade Dress; Specifying Graphics for Packaging Trade Dress; International Aspects of Packaging Trade Dress.

Food and Beverage Packaging Update. Chair: Robert Esse, Humidipak Inc. Topics include: X-Ray Examination of Food Packages to Ensure Top Quality; Supply Chain Management of Beverage Products; Two-way Humidity Control for Optimizing Shelf-life; and Case Histories in Reducing Costs within the Logistics Management Systems.

Afternoon (1-4 p.m.)

Protecting Your Product's Image with Packaging Trade Dress, cont. Topics include: Specifying Graphics for Packaging Trade Dress; International Aspects of Packaging of Trade Dress; and Trade Dress Workshop and Roundtable.

Food and Beverage Packaging Update, cont. Topics include: Digital Asset Management as a Tool to Manage Packaging Specifications; Technical Advancements in Cold Seal Adhesives; Flexible Packaging Options for Oxygen-Sensitive Foods; and Retortable Pouches for Food are Finally Seeing Commercial Success.

Wednesday, Jan. 7

Morning (9 a.m.-noon)

Package Design and Branding. Instructor: Robert Wilkes, Monaghan & Co. Topics include: The Most Difficult Job of All--How to Think Like your Consumer; Finding your Niche--the Key to Successful New Products; Keeping the Designer on Track--How You Can Ensure your Designer is Providing You With Design That Will Sell; Understanding Positioning and Putting it to Work; the Marketing Communications Enigma--Say Less and Get Them to Pay Attention More; and Understanding the Merchandising Environment.

Controlled Temperature and Cold Chain Packaging for Food and Pharmaceutical Products. Chair: Dennis Young, Dennis Young and Associates. Topics include: Cold Chain Technology Overview and Case Study; Cold Chain Validation Protocol and Documentation. Workshop topics include: Considerations for Passive Temperature Control Packaging; and Transportation Dynamics and Temperature Performance.

Afternoon (1-4 p.m.)

Innovating New Packages and Products. Chair: Doug Slomski, Multivac Inc. Topics include: Define Your Business and Packaging Goals to Enhance Your Brand; Diversify Your Product Line with New, Product-Enhancing Packaging Concept; How to Streamline Costs and Increase Your Bottom Line with an In-House Packaging System; Meet Medical Packaging Regulations with Advanced Technology (sterilization/printing); and case histories on How to Create One-Time-Use, Safe Medical Packaging and How to Enhance Your Cosmetic Brand With High-End Sample Packaging.