Food and Beverage Packaging March 2012 : Page 8

Editor’s Note CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE ROBOTIC KIND ho isn’t enthralled by robots? I have long been a voracious reader of science ﬁ c-tion especially in my younger days, par-ticularly the hard-science subgenre that has included legendary names such as Asimov, Clarke and Heinlein, among others. It was Isaac Asimov who crafted the landmark short story collection, I, Robot , that spelled out the Three Laws of Robotics and was adapted recently as a movie starring Will Smith. As is inherent with these visionary writers, Asimov and his sci-ﬁ counterparts were ahead of their time. Now the times are catching up with their futuristic vision including in packaging. There are few systems that are as hypnotic to see in action at trade shows as robots, which have progressed over the years from atten-tion-getting novelties to nimble pick-and-place demonstrations sim-ulating real-world conditions done at amazing accuracy and speeds. At Pack Expo Las Vegas Robots truly epitomize a last fall, one booth displayed a mechanized production workhorse Microsoft Xbox Kinect game system sensor adapted to a ro-that can manipulate products and botic cell. The demo highlighted packages with inhuman speed, how common components can be readily and cleverly utilized precision and strength. to help bring down the potential price tag of such a system. And underscored in my mind how robots truly have game for packaging. At a previous Pack Expo, mobile robots suitable for particular packaging operations were programmed to greet and interact with booth visitors. I did a literal double take at that time as a future shock reaction at seeing how far the technology has progressed. At another event, a booth hosted an android-like “she-bot” seemingly torn from the pages of a pulp ﬁ ction sci-ﬁ novel. I was taken aback again to see such a sight in the midst of Pack Expo performing packaging functions with clockwork consistency. I have also seen robots in operation in the “real world,” most recently at a food ingredients operation in Kansas where a robot placed bags to ﬁ lling spouts. Personally, I get a kick out of robotic installations where plant personnel give them a name. In this month’s cover feature on this Robotic Revolution (page 20), one expert refers to Andy the ro-bot—undoubtedly a handy Andy—as a who rather than as an it. Robots truly epitomize a mechanized production workhorse that can manipulate products and packages with inhuman speed, precision and strength. This inhuman nature is precisely why they are here—and there—in the ﬁ rst place, a novel idea that is becom-ing a reality at more and more production operations. F&BP For subscription information or service, please contact Customer Service at: Phone: (847) 763-9534 or Fax: (847) 763-9538 E-mail: FBP@halldata.com Web: www.foodandbeveragepackaging.com W EDITORIAL RICK LINGLE Editor in Chief lingler@bnpmedia.com ELISABETH CUNEO Associate Editor cuneoe@bnpmedia.com SCOTT HILLING Senior Art Director FRANK MAYERAN Art Director ADVERTISING MIKE BARR Group Publisher (630) 499-7392 barrm@bnpmedia.com RANDY GREEN Publisher (248) 244-6498 greenr@bnpmedia.com GEORGE MISKO East Coast/Southeast Sales Manager (610) 866-6686 miskog@bnpmedia.com MARY ADEE West Coast/Midwest Sales Manager (847) 462-0026 adeem@bnpmedia.com ERHARDT EISENACHER International Sales +49-228-2499860 info@eisenacher-medien.de CATHERINE WYNN Senior Classiﬁ ed Sales Manager (847) 405-4010 wynnc@bnpmedia.com BNP CUSTOM MEDIA GROUP Christopher Wilson (248) 244-8264 wilsonc@bnpmedia.com VINCE MICONI Advertising/Production Manager miconiv@bnpmedia.com CEDRIC BROWN Marketing Coordinator brownc@bnpmedia.com AUDIENCE DEVELOPMENT KOURTNEY GENEREAUX Audience Development Manager STACEY NOOCHA Multimedia Specialist CATHERINE M. RONAN Corporate Audience Audit Coordinator LIST RENTAL Postal & email contacts: KEVIN COLLOPY Sr. Account Manager 800-223-2194 x.684 or kevin.collopy@infogroup.com SHAWN MILLER Account Manager 845-731-3828 or shawn.miller@infogroup.com ANN KALB Single Copy Sales Phone: 248-244-6499 E-mail: kalbr@bnpmedia.com CORPORATE DIRECTORS JOHN R. SCHREI Publishing RITA M. FOUMIA Corporate Strategy SCOTT KRYWKO Information Technology VINCENT M. MICONI Production LISA L. PAULUS Finance MICHAEL T. POWELL Creative NIKKI SMITH Directories MARLENE J. WITTHOFT Human Resources SCOTT WOLTORS events BETH A. SUROWIEC Clear Seas Research BNP MEDIA HELPS PEOPLE SUCCEED IN BUSINESS WITH SUPERIOR INFORMATION For Volume Reprints Contact JILL L. DEVRIES Corporate Reprint Manager Phone: 248-224-1726 Fax: 248-244-3934 E-mail: devriesj@bnpmedia.com How to contact RICK LINGLE R E Editor in Chief l lingler@bnpmedia.com FOOD & BEVERAGE PACKAGING Mail: 155 Pﬁ ngsten Rd., Suite 205 Deerﬁ eld IL 60015 Phone: (847) 405-4000 Fax: (847) 405-4100 Web: www.foodandbeveragepackaging.com 8 FOOD & BEVERA GE P A CKA GING MARCH 2012 WWW . FOOD ANDBEVERA GEP A CKA GING . COM

Editor’s Note

Rick Lingle

CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE ROBOTIC KIND Who isn’t enthralled by robots? I have long been a voracious reader of science fiction especially in my younger days, particularly the hard-science subgenre that has included legendary names such as Asimov, Clarke and Heinlein, among others. It was Isaac Asimov who crafted the landmark short story collection, I, Robot, that spelled out the Three Laws of Robotics and was adapted recently as a movie starring Will Smith. As is inherent with these visionary writers, Asimov and his sci-ficounterparts were ahead of their time. Now the times are catching up with their futuristic vision including in packaging. There are few systems that are as hypnotic to see in action at trade shows as robots, which have progressed over the years from attention- getting novelties to nimble pick-and-place demonstrations simulating real-world conditions done at amazing accuracy and speeds. At Pack Expo Las Vegas last fall, one booth displayed a Microsoft Xbox Kinect game system sensor adapted to a robotic cell. The demo highlighted how common components can be readily and cleverly utilized to help bring down the potential price tag of such a system. And underscored in my mind how robots truly have game for packaging. At a previous Pack Expo, mobile robots suitable for particular packaging operations were programmed to greet and interact with booth visitors. I did a literal double take at that time as a future shock reaction at seeing how far the technology has progressed. At another event, a booth hosted an android-like “she-bot” seemingly torn from the pages of a pulp fiction sci-fi novel. I was taken aback again to see such a sight in the midst of Pack Expo performing packaging functions with clockwork consistency. I have also seen robots in operation in the “real world,” most recently at a food ingredients operation in Kansas where a robot placed bags to filling spouts. Personally, I get a kick out of robotic installations where plant personnel give them a name. In this month’s cover feature on this Robotic Revolution (page 20), one expert refers to Andy the robot— undoubtedly a handy Andy—as a who rather than as an it. Robots truly epitomize a mechanized production workhorse that can manipulate products and packages with inhuman speed, precision and strength. This inhuman nature is precisely why they are here—and there—in the first place, a novel idea that is becoming a reality at more and more production operations. RICK LINGLE Editor in Chief lingler@bnpmedia.com

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