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Finn MacDonald of Independent II discusses
‘Everyday Digital’ and Domino X630i

Independent II, located in Louisville, KY, is a privately-owned and operated corrugated manufacturer, providing total packaging solutions to their customers.  Independent II designs, manufactures, warehouses, and delivers corrugated and packaging that protect their customers’ products in-transit and sells them on shelves.

Finn MacDonald - President of Independent II

We caught up with Finn MacDonald, President of Independent II, to learn more about his business, the impact of digital printing, and the benefits realized with the Domino X630i digital aqueous inkjet corrugated press.  

Highlights of our visit were captured in this quick 2-minute VIDEO: Finn MacDonald of Independent II & Domino X630i

MacDonald begins, “We’re a third-generation company and for over 60 years we’ve had the unique challenge of taking care of our customers’ everyday problems, so that they can grow their businesses.  That is our DNA, that is what we do.  Any time, any quantity…with innovation, service, and quality included. That is what has built a multi-generational trust between our customers and our business.”

Changing Landscape

MacDonald continues, “Over the last 15 years our business philosophy has not changed, but the landscape of our business has changed dramatically. Our customers’ products spend less time in the warehouse, and more time in retail and on doorsteps.  We had to recognize and embrace this change and invest in the resources to evolve from a brown box company, to a brand & packaging company, and now to digital.”

“Digital was an opportunity for us to get there faster, and to take our customers there more quickly and successfully.  We now have the ability to bring that dynamic digital energy to our customers with the Domino X630i.  This is a single-pass four-color aqueous based press designed specifically to live and thrive in a manufacturing environment. That press is user friendly, it’s supportable, and it’s expandable.”

Domino X630i is built, serviced, and supported in the USA.  This digital press has a small footprint 10’ H x 38’ L x 21’ W with a climate-controlled environmental enclosure. X630i utilizes an automated lead-edge, servo-driven continuous bottom feeder offering a max sheet size of 63” x 118” with printable area of 53” x 118”.  Inside the press is unique vacuum sheet transport, board cleaning, and warp inspection. Print is 600 x 600 dpi utilizing 4-colors CMYK using AQ95 water-based inks with Polymer technology that are Swiss Ordinance, Nestle & EuPia compliant.

“Everyday Digital”

MacDonald concludes, “Everyday digital is what we want to bring to our customers, to our market, and to our own internal operations. “Everyday digital is an opportunity for us to take existing flexo process and find efficiencies, and consistency, and more user-friendliness in the print operation. That’s where we stand today.  The Domino X630i is supporting our everyday digital business with our customers, with our market, and certainly inside our own operation.”

Domino is a leading manufacturer and distributor of digital printing and product identification solutions.  Celebrating its 44th year in business, Domino is a global organization with world headquarters in the UK, and North America headquarters in Gurnee, IL.  Domino has 25 subsidiaries, representation in over 120 countries, and over 3,000 employees worldwide.  For more information on Domino digital printing, please visit dominodigitalprinting.com 

Rocket Industrial Joins the Green Business Bureau

We are proud to announce that Rocket Industrial is gold certified by the Green Business Bureau (GBB) through our sustainable business practices, community involvement, and office environments. Our mission is to improve sustainability in the industries we serve through process optimization, eliminating excess packaging, and sourcing sustainable products.

Rocket Industrial footer logo

Through our Million Pound Promise, we are committed to removing at least 1 million pounds of packaging materials from the waste stream annually. In 2020, we reached our goal for the first time and continue to provide innovative, sustainable solutions for our customers. Additionally, each year, we are an event partner of Ghidorzi Green and Clean, Wausau’s annual cleanup. In 2022, this event helped remove 4.31 tons of trash from the greater Wausau area. 

Rocket Industrial supports our customers with a goal to Package With Less. This results in less waste and less cost by providing product alternatives and data-backed solution recommendations. For more information on Rocket Industrial’s GBB certification, take a look at our member story and our business profile. For more information our sustainable solutions and services, contact Sustainable Product Line Manager and Packaging Engineer, Emily Sabella at esabella@rocketindustrial.com.

The Expansion of Rocket Industrial’s Appleton Building is Complete!

As Rocket Industrial celebrates its 65th year in business, the company also celebrates growth in the Fox Valley area with a new 80,000 sq ft office and warehouse building in Appleton, Wisconsin. The new space is located at 3351 S Eisenhower Dr, Appleton, WI 54915. 

Rocket Industrial building

With more space, more products will be kept on hand. Brian McLaughlin, Vice President of Operations, said, “This new larger location will allow us to reverse today’s challenges with supply chain disruptions by stocking large amounts of inventory for our clients.” With the new building, the warehouse team also grew, allowing for faster picking, shipping, and delivery to regional customers. Tim Rand, Appleton Regional Manager notes, “Right now when lead times are everything, having the supplies you need as close as possible can really make the difference for our clients and we get that.” 

Rocket Industrial is a nationwide distributor focused on mutual success for our customers by providing a full suite of quality products, innovative solutions, exceptional customer service, and a knowledgeable team of equipment specialists and packaging engineers. Rocket Industrial helps clients in a variety of industries including food, beverage, manufacturing, logistics, e-commerce, and agriculture Package With Less. This means providing solutions and services that allow clients to package in less time, with less waste, and for less cost. Visit rocketindustrial.com to learn more.

PPC Flexible Packing LLC, A Leading Provider of Custom Flexible Packaging

PPC Flexible Packing LLC, a leading provider of custom flexible packaging, is celebrating the one-year anniversary of acquiring Hartland, WI-based PPC Prototype (formerly Consumer Packaging Group).

PPC Prototyping Packaging

The PPC Flexible Packaging “One PPC” enterprise has grown by leaps and bounds through the acquisition which has given them the ability to differentiate PPC over competitors by providing life-like packaging prototypes, even deeper speed to market for the growth of new and unique brands, and an increase in networking connections within the consumer packaging markets. These have provided huge wins for both the company and its customers. 

PPC prototype is driven to continue being the leader in high-quality prototype solutions for consumer packaging goods markets. The company is striving to improve upon its already impeccable reputation in meeting unique requests with challenging lead times for a variety of prototype finished packages. Its services include pre-press, digital printing, lamination, handwork, and assembly through fulfillment and shipping anywhere in the world. Their products include finished bags and pouches, labels, shrink sleeves, and rigid structures and have been used for many national brand product launches, promotional events, and sales samples. Their customers include mid to large-scale CPGs on a global basis. 

Headquartered in Buffalo Grove, Illinois, PPC Flexible Packaging has steadily grown and evolved, both organically and through acquisition, into a premier top 20 high-quality flexible packaging manufacturer. They are a dynamic team of design and packaging professionals dedicated to providing creative packaging solutions. PPC’s capabilities and speed to market have always been its greatest strengths– establishing them as a trusted leader within the consumer and cleanroom markets.

High-speed CNC Machining Capabilities Generate Lower Costs

Titletown Manufacturing provides quality CNC machining in Green Bay

The speed with which Titletown Manufacturing can complete CNC machining services for original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and other customers creates cost savings opportunities without sacrificing quality. Our Wisconsin workforce is dedicated to delivering the consistency our customers expect from their CNC machining partner.

CNC Machinery in Titletown Manufacturing

“The advantages of high-efficiency CNC machining apply to both high-quantity and low-quantity orders,” explains Chris Fuss, co-owner of Titletown Manufacturing. “We can make parts fast using CNC equipment, which results in reduced cost to our customers.”

Titletown Manufacturing’s CNC machining expertise serves as the foundation to its array of capabilities, including custom metal milling and machine assembly services. Paper converting, pulp, tissue and defense contractors comprise the majority of our customer base. We also serve as a supply partner for manufacturers of food production systems, material handling equipment and machinery, and energy industry machines.

Equipment upgrades enhance CNC machining capabilities

Titletown Manufacturing makes continuous investments in machinery that enhance our ability to provide high-quality CNC machining services at rapid rates. Case in point is our horizontal machine center (HMC), which greatly reduces the delay between machining cycles.

“Our workers can set up materials on one side of the HMC while the other side performs the CNC machining operations,” notes Titletown Manufacturing co-owner Dan Hilliard. “The table rotates 180 degrees, so there is no downtime in doing either function.”

The HMC can achieve tolerances down to .0002 of an inch, providing OEMs with the quality they require in completing multiple builds at a time. The HMC is one of several machines in our shop that support our commitment to delivering exceptional value from CNC machining operations.

About Titletown Manufacturing, LLC

Titletown Manufacturing, LLC, is a trusted metal machining and fabrication shop with over 60 years of experience in CNC machining, welding, grinding, assembly and reverse engineering for a wide range of industrial customers throughout the region. The company employs more than 30 people at its facility at 817 Marquis Way in Green Bay, Wisconsin.

For more information on Titletown Manufacturing or to request a quote, please go to https://titletownmfg.com/ or call 920-435-9074



George Huber – Center on Chemical Upcycling of Waste Plastics

George Huber

An innovative College of Engineering sustainability research program on plastics received a $5 million gift commitment from alumni Ross and Michele Annable.  The gift is the largest single contribution to the Strategic Targeted Achievers Recognition (STAR) Scholarship Fund recruiting and retaining the brightest undergraduates, and a significant step forward for a new plastic recycling technology.

George Huber Professor of Chemical Engineering at UW Madison will be speaking at Amcor at the Neenah Innovation Center 2301 Industrial Dr. Neenah, WI on October 25, 2022 from 2:00 p.m. to 4 p.m.  RESERVATIONS are required and you can sign up by going to: www.greenbayinnovationgroup.com EVENTS – Amcor Seminar with Prof. George Huber.  The EVENT is FREE for our Members and $30.00 for guests.  We require you to sign up or email Marty Ochs a confirmation that you will be attending for security reasons!  The $44 billion plastics industry employees more than 43,000 people in Wisconsin! Wisconsin is the 8th largest state in the plastics industry in the United States. In addition, Wisconsin leads the nation in the flexible packaging industry with major international, USA and Wisconsin based companies supplying products worldwide. 

Manufacturing First Returns to Green Bay Oct. 26

New Manufacturing Alliance logo

NEW North, Wis. (Sept. 20, 2022) – Less than one month remains to register for the 2022 Manufacturing First Expo & Conference — Wisconsin’s largest annual manufacturing conference. Registration closes Oct. 18 for the event, which will be held Wednesday, Oct. 26 from 7 a.m.-4 p.m. in Green Bay. 

With a record number of exhibitors, this year’s conference is the largest in event history and has moved to its largest host venue ever: the sprawling, 125,000-square-foot Resch Expo, which opened in 2020 at 840 Armed Forces Drive in Ashwaubenon.

Manufacturing First caps National Manufacturing Month by providing Wisconsin manufacturers with hands-on opportunities to grow their businesses through education and networking. The expo hall opens at 9:30 a.m. and will feature more than 230 exhibitors. The day also includes a keynote address, lunch speakers and 12 breakout sessions covering some of the most pressing issues facing the manufacturing industry, including talent attraction and retention, security, technology and marketing. The event concludes with Power Hour, where attendees can win prizes. A cocktail reception will also be held on the expo floor.

This year’s keynote speaker will be The Sileo Group CEO John Sileo, an international cybersecurity expert and the author of four books who has learned from the painful experience of losing his multi-million-dollar software company over cybercrimes he didn’t commit. He will share what he has learned using humor, personal stories and blockbuster films.

“No matter who’s in the audience, I’ll shift their perspective on how to think about [cybersecurity] in a very proactive, action-oriented, optimistic way, rather than just driving fear,” Sileo says. “It’s really important to me that I present it in a non-technical, friendly way. There’s so much that’s dry and technical about cybersecurity, and yet in the end it’s really about human beings, about us as employees or individuals making decisions.”

Manufacturing First is presented by First Business Bank in partnership with Insight Publications and the NEW Manufacturing Alliance.

General registration is $165 per person and is currently open at www.manufacturingfirst.com. For any additional questions about the event, please contact Ann Franz, NEWMA executive director, at (920) 498-5587 or Ann.Franz@nwtc.edu.

Amcor Event

GBIG will sponsor an AMCOR EVENT on October 25 starting at 2pm at the Amcor Neenah Innovation Center, 2301 Industrial Drive Neenah. The in-person event features Kevin Nelson of Amcor and George W. Huber, professor of Chemical Engineering at UW-Madison and director for Chemical Upcycling of Waste Plastics.

Kevin Nelson

Kevin Nelson (Amcor) is a Senior Fellow in Amcor’s Global Core R&D Group.  He received a B.S. degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1979 and joined The Bemis Company immediately thereafter.  Throughout his career, Kevin has continued to broaden his experience with respect to the creation of high barrier flexible packaging structures. His current research focuses on understanding process/material and product/package interactions.  Kevin has been awarded four Bemis President’s Awards for Outstanding Technical Achievement and is an inventor of 25 U.S. patents.

CUWP logo
George Huber

George W. Huber is the Harvey Spangler Professor of Chemical Engineering at UW-Madison. His research focus is developing new catalytic processes for the production of renewable liquid fuels and chemicals. He is the Director for Chemical Upcycling of Waste Products (www.cuwp.com) and the co-founder of Anellotech (www.anellotech) and Pyran (www.pryanco.com). In 2007, he served as the chair of the NSF and DOE workshop, Breaking the Chemical and Engineering Barriers to Cellulosic Biofuels. We would like to welcome you for the upcoming event at Amcor Innovation Center, 2301 Industrial Drive, Neenah, WI.  You can go to register at: www.greenbayinnovationgroup.com EVENTS – Amcor.  The cost is $30.00 for guests, and FREE for current Green Bay Innovation Group Members. Please confirm if you plan to attend due to confidentiality for Amcor. 

October 5th, 2022 Newsletter

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Read the October 5th, 2022 Green Bay Innovation Group Newsletter here.

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GBIG NEWS | 66 Stories and Links on the Internet 10/5/2022

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