How Packaging Operations Can Profit from Sustainability and AI

Production operations in packaging must be run as efficiently as possible and sustainably. Machine learning and artificial intelligent (AI) can be helpful.

Sure, we’ve heard that. But What is the best way to learn about??

PackEx Toronto promises to offer a number of free educational sessions where advice, success stories, and tips will be shared. The event is held November 7-9 in Toronto Congress Centre, Ontario.

Owned by Packaging Digest’s PackEx Toronto is not only one event, but also the parent company Informa. Five co-located engineering shows share the expo floor with PackEx as part of Advanced Design & Manufacturing (ADM) Toronto. Through free educational sessions and leading exhibitors, ADM Toronto delivers solutions for each stage of manufacturing — design, materials, manufacturing, automation, and packaging — across top markets such as food and beverage, electronics, and automotive.

I’ve hand-picked sessions below that deal with sustainability and AI. All of these sessions are free and will take place at Centre Stage at the back (Booth 930). But view the entire educational program here, which includes all presentations at Centre Stage and demos at the Tech Theatre, to see if there are more you’d like to attend.

Tuesday, November 7

“Keynote: The Future of Advanced Manufacturing in Canada”

11:00 AM – 11:30 PM

Speaker: John Laughlin is Chief Technology Officer at NGen

This report provides an overview of advanced manufacturing in Canada and a look at the future. It also includes a brief snapshot of market trends within the Automotive Electric Vehicles industry.

“Panel: AI in Manufacturing”

11:40 a.m. – 12:25 p.m.

Panelists: Hugues Folz is the Executive Vice President of Vooban. Adithya Raio is CEO at Scale AI.

As Canada’s AI Global Innovation Cluster, Scale AI has funded more than 90 industrial projects across Canada, representing a total investment of $440M directly supporting the optimization of supply chains with AI-powered solutions. During this panel, Scale AI’s CEO Julien Billot will host a discussion on the opportunities, challenges and impacts of AI implementation in the manufacturing industry. You can learn from the experiences of those who have been directly involved in AI projects. This will help you better understand AI’s potential to support your business goals.

“Panel: Packaging Innovation Pathway to Circularity, the PIP360 Way”

12:35 – 1:50 p.m.

Panelists: Derek Dlugosh-Ostap, Executive Director, PACK-Smart; Jim Downham, CEO & President, PAC Global; Leonardo Giglio, Optimist & CEO, Tempo Flexible Packaging; Dan Lantz, PAC NEXT Director at PAC Global; Louis Lemaire, Director of Sales, Food Service at Graphic Packaging International; Ali Zolfagharian, Business Manager at HP.

Hear the latest developments in Smart and Connected Packaging. Digital Printing. Flexible and Paper Packaging. Demonstrate a Sustainable Benchmarking Tool measuring package circularity and carbon emissions. Also, learn about Canadian Extended Producer Responsibilities (EPR), Golden Design Rules, and other solutions.

Wednesday, November 8

“Panel: Enabling Sustainable Manufacturing in Ontario Today”

11:40 a.m. – 12:25 p.m.

Panelists: Shirook Ali, P.Eng., Ph.D., CEO & Founder, Ecosystem Informatics Inc.; and Hernan Miguel,

VP, Hardware Engineering and Production, P&P Optica

Moderator: Richard Bolton, Centricity360/Informa Markets

Discover the challenges and influences of sustainability in manufacturing. What is the link between profitability and sustainability? How can you implement sustainable strategies to achieve efficiencies? Hear about success stories and get ideas on how to fund sustainable technology development.

“Panel: How Foodtech Companies are Solving Manufacturing’s Biggest Challenges”

12:35 – 1:20 p.m.

Panelists: Jonathan Binas Co-Founder & CTO of Vivid machines; Hugo Fuentes Co-Founder & CEO The Owl Solutions Tharshi Srikannathasan Co-Founder Jitto

Moderator: Linda Fox, Regional Innovation Director, Ontario at CFIN

Join Linda Fox, CFIN’s Regional Innovation Director, as she sits down with foodtech executives from Vivid Machines, Owl Solution, and Jitto to discuss how they’re using tech and innovation to solve key manufacturing challenges around packaging, processes, sustainability, and supply chains.

Thursday, November 9, 2018

“Investing in Advanced Technologies”

11:40 a.m. – 12:05 p.m.

Speaker: Hugues Folz, Executive Vice President, Vooban

Artificial intelligence is more important than ever. What are the concrete ways to apply artificial intelligence in your business. Five local company cases that used AI to optimize processes are presented. Learn how AI can be used to predict sales, artificial vision systems for quality control, how to quickly implement AI in a production line to achieve quick gains, how to reduce costs through predictive maintenance and how to use image recognition to improve your business.

Lisa McTigue Pierce, Executive Editor at Packaging Digest. She’s been a packaging media journalist since 1982 and tracks emerging trends, new technologies, and best practices across a spectrum of markets for the publication’s global community. You can reach her at [email protected] Or 630-272-1774.