july2017

38 39 PMMI members had catalogs of their equip- ment on file at the Institute’s New York office, which became a clearing house for inquiries. In 1956, responding to a rising need for pack- aging machinery by CPG (Consumer Product Goods) companies, the Association began pro- ducing the PMMI Packaging Machinery Show. Today, PMMI sponsors a family of trade exhibi- tions, including: PACK EXPO International, PACK EXPO Las Vegas, PACK EXPO East, PROFOOD TECH, Healthcare Packaging EXPO, EXPO PACK Mexico, and EXPO PACK Guadalajara. PACK EXPO International, held in Chicago, has be- come one of the largest tradeshows in the country. “Our core value is we connect users and suppliers of packaging and processing technol- ogies via our trade shows, and online and print publications” says Jorge Izquierdo, Vice Presi- dent for Market Development. This year’s PACK EXPO Las Vegas, North America’s largest display of packaging technologies in 2017, takes place Sept. 25-27 at the Las Vegas Convention Center. “All of our members are companies that pro- vide processing or packaging solutions to the world’s consumer packaged goods firms - those companies that manufacture equipment to fill, close, label, case-pack, and palletize prod- ucts,” says Tom Egan, Vice President for Indus- try Service. “The majority of the members are equipment solutions suppliers with some of them being material suppliers, and others being what we call components suppliers that make components that go on to these machines. Most every product in a store in some way, shape, or THE ASSOCIATION FOR PACKAGING AND PROCESSING TECHNOLOGIES form has been packaged, and in many cases, if it’s other than completely manual, it involves equipment and material solutions from the PMMI members.” Egan adds that more than 40 percent of PM- MI’s members are relatively small businesses, with annual sales under $20 million. “We have some very big companies – in the $100 million range, and, in a few cases, over a billion dollars in total global sales,” he reports. In 2014, PMMI acquired the Summit Media Group, which is now called the PMMI Media Group. This unit of the Association publishes print and digital publications that function as a knowledge exchange for the entire supply chain from manufacturer to end user. They include: Packaging World, Automation World, Healthcare Packaging, Contract Packaging, Packaging + Pro- cessing OEM, and ProFood World. A third PMMI unit, Egan calls its “Business Drivers.”“It comprises the elements that are involved more directly with the business op- erations of our members, including education, research that we do, industry services, the inter- face between members and the CPG firms, and our global marketing efforts,” he explains. “We offer a range of training programs. The major- ity of them are for our members, with some of them available to the industry at large.We have specific education initiatives for some technical