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Disruptive Innovation
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Only 2% of packaging spend is on intelligent packaging today, but growing rapidly amid megatrends around sustainability, automation, productivity; four in five packaging makers believe intelligent packaging will be industry’s next breakthrough: report
Globe Newswire (03/31)
Huhtamaki and Finland's VTT publish report highlighting latest technological innovations in food packaging recycling and which ones may become commercially available in next five years; groups call for more supply chain partnerships, effective use of EPR
Huhtamäki Oyj (Huhtamaki) (03/24)
L'Oreal partners with US neurotechnology company EMOTIV to help consumers make precise, personalized fragrance choices; partnership pairs Emotiv neurotech device with L'Oreal's proprietary scents, algorithms for consultations in Yves Saint Laurent stores
L'Oréal SA (03/23)
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Smart Manufacturing/Smart Factory
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Unilever's Wall's ice cream brand unveils new 'lighthouse factory' in China's Jiangsu province; the factory adopts smart manufacturing technology that can help reduce carbon emissions and energy and water consumption by 83% and 14%, respectively
China Daily: Hong Kong Edition (04/04)
Kao to transform Toyohashi skin, hair product plant in Japan into supply chain base with flexible production system using robots, AI; Kao to build new fully automated warehouse, integrate automated logistics at Logistics Center, which handles distribution
ENP Newswire (03/30)
Tissue snapshot: Kruger plans to implement AI, automation at more facilities over time based on initial success of first phase of AI project at Sherbrooke tissue mill; projects will focus on Kruger's supply chain, operational excellence, waste reduction
Industry Intelligence Inc. (03/29)
PulpEye details its Industry 5.0 project, which aims to find more efficient, safer ways for remote monitoring of pulp mills; research areas include RedEye online analysis with RISE Processum for converting biomass into bio-oil, IT security, user interface
PulpEye (03/24)
South Korean cosmetics major Cosmax eyes personalized cosmetics to achieve U$2.5B in sales in 2022; company to unveil smart factory that can fulfill custom beauty orders, will develop personalized hair-care brand with online shopping platform CJ OnStyle
CosmeticsDesign-Asia.com (03/23)
Penn State New Kensington’s Digital Foundry--previously named a Smart Manufacturing Innovation Center by US Dept. of Energy--to open spring 2022; foundry to focus on improving manufacturing through technology demonstration and assessment projects, more
Pennsylvania State University (03/22)
NVIDIA launches omniverse computing system for industrial digital twins; companies can evaluate, test complex systems to optimize, expand or create more efficient factories and warehouses, or train robots and autonomous vehicles before deploying them
GlobeNewswire (03/22)
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New Market/Market Expansion
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Solvay releases 2021 integrated report, highlighting growth strategy including investment in battery materials, thermoplastic composites and green hydrogen; company aims for carbon neutrality before 2040 for all businesses except soda ash
Solvay SA (04/04)
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Transformation - Market
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Sinopec highlights focus on ESG development, aiming to embrace 'green evolution'; goals include becoming a clean energy and chemical company
China Petroleum and Chemical Corp. (Sinopec) (04/01)
Hormel Foods CEO says--two years since start of pandemic--demand for food at home is as strong as it has been, while demand for food away from home is also strong, 'so now we are living in this double-demand world'
Hormel Foods Corp. (03/30)
UK's bounce-back from pandemic causes cleaning category to lose nearly one-fifth of its value year-over-year in 2021, though still above 2019; bleaches, bathroom cleaner sales down £123M, liquid soap down £75.3M for 52 weeks ended Dec. 26, 2021: Kantar
Grocer (03/29)
US makeup market rebounding as consumers drop mask-wearing; eye cosmetics sales jump 15.7% year-over-year to US$2.1B for 52 weeks ended Dec. 26, 2021, while facial cosmetics sales grow 8.7% to US$1.8B, lip cosmetics sales rise 11.5% to US$693M : IRI
Household & Personal Products Industry (HAPPI) (03/29)
Placer.ai data shows beauty retail making post-pandemic comeback in early 2022, with steady growth across Ulta Beauty and Bath & Body Works' entire store fleets, Sephora's four tracked locations in California, Colorado, Tennessee, Georgia
WWD (03/29)
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Transformation - Company
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IP's CEO Mark Sutton named PaperAge Executive Papermaker of the Year; Sutton is credited with leading IP's transformation into a corrugated packaging-focused company well placed to meet e-commerce driven demand for containerboard, corrugated boxes
PaperAge (03/28)
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Digital
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Artificial Intelligence/ Machine Learning/ Robotics
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Symphony RetailAI announces rollouts of its end-to-end AI-based, data-driven solutions at regional grocers including: Hawaii-based Foodland; Wisconsin-based Festival Foods; Smart and Final
Indian Retail News (04/04)
Euromonitor: Trends that will have major impact on small appliances industry include use of AI, holistic home health/hygiene awareness, and appliances perceived as stress-relieving such as small massagers, premium beauty devices, espresso coffee machines
Euromonitor International Ltd. (04/04)
US-based trucking company NAPA Transportation to use Omnitracs' video safety solution SmartDrive SmartSense for Inattentive Driving to improve its driver, fleet safety; AI-powered solution uses sensor data to gauge driver inattention such as drowsiness
Canada Newswire (04/04)
UPS to collaborate with Google Cloud to advance its global logistics network tech and digital experience; Cloud to provide increased network, storage and compute capacity as well as new data analytics and AI tech to increase shipment visibility
Communications Today (04/01)
Roush Industries completes first phase of integration of Perrone Robotics Tony-AV autonomous EV retrofit kit to create prototype for large-scale integration of kit into any existing vehicle; phase 2 to identify efficiencies in system integration
PR Newswire (04/01)
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Augmented/Virtual Reality/Visualization
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Kite Group invests in Solidprint, 3D scanning technology that it says will slash time for creating bespoke packaging for companies predominantly in aerospace, defense, engineering, automotive sectors; the technology can be used to create virtual samples
Packaging News (04/04)
Trex earns three sustainability honors from Green Builder Media; Trex named greenest decking by Green Builder readers for 12th consecutive year, earned top score for decking, and its AR Decking Visualizer named among 2022 Sustainable Products of the Year
GlobeNewswire (04/04)
A B Graphic International has increased its number of technical advisors, service engineers globally to offer improved remote, physical support for customers; company's Remote Engineer Virtual Assistant allows engineers to see problems remotely
Féderation Internationale des Fabricants et Transformateurs d'Adhésifs et Thermocollants sur Papiers et Autres Supports (FINAT) (04/01)
Harpak-ULMA Automated Packaging, PTC, Rockwell Automation demonstrate smart, connected packaging line, power of augmented reality for human productivity, downtime avoidance, mean-time-to-repair of packaging assets at PTC's Corporate Experience Center
Business Wire (03/31)
Wendy's launches Wendyverse, a virtual metaverse world via Meta's Horizon Worlds app; world will include a basketball arena where players will see ads for Wendy’s Buck Biscuit, a promotion for US$1 breakfast biscuits that runs from April 1 to May 1
QSR Magazine (03/30)
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Remote/Virtual Experience
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Citi predicts metaverse economy could be worth up to US$13T with 5 billion users by 2030, noting surging growth in NFTs, major metaverse announcements by Big Tech players, global consumer brands and cryptocurrency projects
The Motley Fool (04/01)
Giant Eagle deploys 32,000 IoT-based remote digital temperature trackers from SmartSense by Digi to boost food freshness; technology automatically monitors critical food assets and encompasses sensors, probes, checklists, monitoring software, analytics
Supermarket News (03/24)
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Digitalization
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Thimm Group to invest €400M in automation, modernization and expansion of all sites in Germany and abroad over next few years; company is ‘resolutely accelerating’ digitalization of the business, optimizing its internal processes
Thimm Verpackung (04/01)
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Cryptocurrency
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Visa to launch Visa Creator Program for creative arts entrepreneurs to boost their businesses using NFTs, which it says is a 'powerful accelerator'; one-year immersion program aims to deepen participants' fluency in crypto commerce, traditional payments
Business Insider (04/01)
Blackrock CEO and Oaktree chair say Ukraine conflict will end globalization, which would profoundly affect global energy markets, inflation and cryptocurrency; countries that don't have their own energy sources will need to invest in wind and solar power
Business Insider (03/28)
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Cloud Computing
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Konica Minolta releases its new cloud service for remote security monitoring, management for multifunction printers; Shield Guard allows businesses to control security status of multiple MFPs from anywhere
Konica Minolta Business Solutions U.S.A. Inc. (04/01)
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Data Management/Analytics/Privacy
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US federal court dismisses litigation challenging USPS's use of facial recognition and related technologies for lack of standing; USPS monitors social media posts for threats of violence, uses facial recognition to identify potential threat actors
Mondaq Business Briefing (03/31)
Sappi and Rochester Institute of Technology establish lab where computer researchers can study digital infrastructure for improving pulp and paper production; research areas will include human-computer interactions, AI and data science
Targeted News Service (03/28)
US startup Treeswift adds US$4.8M in seed funding to build drone-based forest monitoring system that uses robotics; Molpus, Superior Pine Products, Weyerhaeuser are deploying or piloting service to estimate forest timber quantity, carbon volumes
Business Wire (03/28)
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Cybersecurity
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Commentary: A new threat known as a 'zero-click’ hack is emerging; companies can take steps to manage these threats by reevaluating use of personal devices for work purposes, ensuring any device is routinely updated pursuant to a security patch policy
Mondaq Business Briefing (03/29)
Attackers are using Log4Shell vulnerability to deliver backdoors, profiling scripts to unpatched VMware Horizon servers, paving the way for ransomware attacks; most important protective step is to upgrade all devices, applications with Log4J patch: report
GlobeNewswire (03/29)
Biden administration warns US businesses of possible Russian cyberattacks on critical infrastructure in response to economic costs imposed by US sanctions; over 100 businesses were briefed last week on evolving cyberthreats and urged to increase defenses
UPI Top News (03/23)
In a poll of 564 US IT professionals, 55% say they had a cybersecurity incident because a patch for known vulnerabilities was not applied; 56% of respondents take five weeks to one year to fix critical or high priority security vulnerabilities: TuxCare
Business Wire (03/23)
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Manufacturing
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Efficiency
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Segezha swings to 2021 profit of 15B Russian rubles from year-ago loss of 1.3B rubles on revenue up 34% to 92B rubles; growth driven by global demand, higher prices and operating efficiency
Segezha Group (04/01)
Arctic Paper orders Valmet Fiber Furnish Analyzer for its offset paper mill in Kostrzyn, Poland, for delivery in Q2; technology will improve paper quality, production efficiency by providing fast, precise online updates of key fiber and furnish properties
Valmet Corp. (03/29)
Commentary: Raising interest rates won't fix real reason behind inflation, which is price-gouging and corporate greed; when every step in supply chain prizes efficiency over durability, we'll always be one regional crisis away from total global calamity
Business Insider (03/28)
Ocado Group company Kindred launches INDUCT AI-powered robotic induction system that aims to help parcel, post, e-commerce fulfillment companies alleviate capacity shortages, increase efficiency; system identifies items, determines how to handle them
Contify Retail News (03/25)
Forest2Market: Modern lumber mills are highly efficient, but still require significant amount of raw material in the form of logs; sawmills can maximize efficiencies by buying the right log size, determining potential revenue that each log can generate
Forest2Market Inc. (03/23)
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Manufacturing/Production
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Nokian to end investment at Vsevolozhsk, Russia, tire plant and increase capacity at tire plants in Nokia, Finland, and Dayton, Ohio, as quickly as possible; Dayton plant to supply North America, with Nokia plant supplying Europe, North America
ITAR-TASS (03/23)
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Supply Chain Management
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Logistics, Shipping & Delivery
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Convoy wins Home Depot’s 2021 Digital Carrier Of The Year; company’s nationwide drop-and-hook service makes trailers accessible via the Convoy app to a fleet of over 300,000 units and machine learning models that match trailers to carriers
Business Wire (03/30)
Commentary: Autonomous trucks could one day replace over 90% of all highway trucking, which may impact 500,000 long-haul truck driver jobs, finds study; AI, automation will have enormous impact, but it could take decades for those effects to be fully felt
Axios Media Inc. (03/28)
San Francisco-, Toronto-based company Kindred announces it will bring INDUCT, an AI-powered robotic system that automates small package induction, to market; system can induct with throughput of 1,600–2,000 picks/hour and grasp items up to eight lbs.
Business Wire (03/22)
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Sustainability/Social Responsibility
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Environmental/Ecological/Carbon Footprint
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L'Oreal China unveils five-pronged strategy for its growing China business that includes encouraging more inclusive, nimble, creative beauty tech, working with local partners, employees on product, brand innovation, contributing to ecological protection
China Daily: Hong Kong Edition (03/31)
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Transformation & Innovation
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