Felins Pack Expo 2021 Recap

For many years Felins has exhibited at Pack Expo, one of the world’s most comprehensive packaging and processing trade shows. Every year, the Pack Expo show brings together many attendees and exhibitors alike across numerous industries for a solution-driven, educational and networkable event. Through the years, Felins has been able to engage with fellow packaging professionals, shake hands with suppliers and vendors, listen to industry pain points from customers and showcase our solutions to new customers.

This year’s 2021 Pack Expo was different. In fact, it was the most important for us. In 2020, Pack Expo had to pivot their large-scale show into a virtual event and we pivoted right alongside them by publishing live demos and virtual galleries of our packaging technology including our adhesive free labeling systems, automatic sleevers, tying machines, banding machines, stretch film banders, shrink wrapping systems, and more. To be able to (safely) exhibit in the halls of the Las Vegas Convention Center again and engage once more with customers, suppliers, and the rest of the packaging world after a year off was exciting! So much has changed and the industry is buzzing in areas like e-commerce, sustainable packaging, and automation technologies. Yet we were also grateful to be able to focus on discussions with business owners, small and large, about their supply chain insights, labor shortages, and packaging compliance challenges. As a packaging solutions provider and packaging equipment manufacturer, these are vital conversations to be a part of for our team at Felins.

Felins Banding Sales Managers, Lisa Barrieau (Food Industry) and Gina Barrieau (E-Commerce Industry) headlined Innovation Stage presentations. Lisa Barrieau not only has experience in the food industry but a passion for food as well, giving her - as well as her customers - a competitive edge. Her presentation, Sustainable Adhesive Free Labeling, was very well attended and covered how the common methods of labeling and sleeving compared to ultrasonic adhesive free labeling and automatic sleeving. An online version of Lisa’s presentation can be viewed here.

At Gina’s Innovation Stage presentation, Sustainable Packaging for E-Commerce, she provided a multitude of solutions backed by her extensive research in the booming e-commerce industry’s current and future trends. Gina's data-driven insights and knowledge are the ultimate key to any company looking for solutions in order to keep up with this fast-paced sector. Her presentation covered the current packaging methods used in the industry as well as upcoming trends, such as auto-box systems, for e-commerce applications. She also discussed the importance of the unboxing experience for customers along with the challenges in the returns and exchanges process and how they affect both the end-user experience and e-commerce retailers. An online version of Gina’s presentation can be viewed here.

On the final morning of Pack Expo, Felins was excited to be involved in one final PMMI presentation. The session covered the many branches of The Association for Packaging and Processing Technologies (PMMI) as an organization and how its members can benefit greatly from the different programs and resources. Our team was able to share our first-hand experiences, and how we evolved from being a non-participating association member to a fully engaged organization. The change allowed us to develop a highly-engaging, mutually benefiting relationship with PMMI. PMMI is constantly finding new ways to help its members thrive with a wide range of business drivers, which are tools designed to provide companies with the information, training and connections needed to grow. PMMI Media Group is the marketing arm of the organization with numerous magazines and publications under its branch. The association also has an Emerging Leaders network dedicated to advancing the next generation of industry leaders. Lisa Barrieau is a current member of the Emerging Leaders Committee. Ben Vlieger, our Marketing Director, is a member of the Show Committee. Andrew Barrieau, CEO & President, is currently a board member and a member of the Workforce Development committee. The presentation also covered many other resources and tools available to PMMI members. 

At the Felins booth, visitors were able to view and see demonstrations of a wide range of our semi-automatic and automatic packaging equipment. Felins showcased a number of our product lines and sample applications. We encourage attendees to bring their own product samples to our booth, or any photos and ideas, so that our team of packaging experts could review solutions with you on the spot. Whether they were new products or original products that needed to be revamped, our team was readily available to help test products right away. The Felins booth has become a must-visit for many other business owners, purchasers, marketers, production teams, and R&D teams for this reason; we do more than just talk about what we do – we’d love the opportunity to be able to show you what we can do for you!

Overall, the Felins booth at Pack Expo 2021 in Las Vegas was a success. Attendance for the show was great despite it being the first in-person, post-pandemic Pack Expo. As always, PMMI does a fantastic job organizing such a large show by providing so much value to both attendees and exhibitors. There was much to do and see with all of the educational sessions, different sections of the show such as the PACK TO THE FUTURE exhibit, guest speakers, and more. If you took the time to visit our booth, our team would like to thank you and we are already looking to connect with you for Pack Expo 2022 at McCormick Place in Chicago next year! 

If you missed us at this show, there are many ways to still get in on the action:

1. Follow us on social media below or check our News and Events page for event updates. 

2. Check out our Gallery or YouTube channel for photos and videos of product samples we’ve tested in the past.

3. Reach out to us with your ideas, questions or to coordinate sending in your samples to our team. We can work with you to find bundling solutions for your products whether they are multipacks, skin packs, trays, clamshells, stacks, bundles, odd shaped products, twin packs, retail-ready packaging, and more.