PACK EXPO Exhibitors Are Selling More Output From the Same Floor
A packaging line does not get a new building because the brand wants a recyclable cup or a different ink. It gets a tighter pallet, one fewer component, a machine that has to bag more in the space it already has, and a curing unit that may have to change chemistry before the line is depreciated. That is the pressure on the floor at PACK EXPO International 2026, October 18-21 at McCormick Place in Chicago. The exhibits answering it are a change in geometry, material, sealing and end-of-line flow.
The Cup Is Being Asked to Sort Itself
Greiner Packaging, in a 16 September company article by Jonas Kristensson, said it will show packaging that changes shelf visibility, logistics handling and material use, under the claim "Show the World Your Good Side." The first U.S. showing is K3 r100, a cardboard-plastic pack already established in Europe and planned for a U.S. launch in 2027. The cardboard wrap and polypropylene cup are designed to separate automatically in disposal, with no human intervention, so the cup can be identified earlier in the waste stream. The company said it is designed to take up to 30% post-consumer recycled material and is APR-certified. Recovery, it said, still depends on local recycling infrastructure.
The Click In sealing lid replaces a snap-on lid plus aluminum foil with one component. If the cup and lid are the same material, Greiner said, it is a mono-material pack designed for recycling systems where collection exists, while keeping protection and reclosability. CUBO drops the round cup for a square format, to cut unused space in transport and palletization and to support lower transport-related emissions. It can take the same lid. The combination is a finalist in the Food & Beverage category of the 2026 Technology Excellence Awards. Winners are due on 20 October. The booth, West Hall W-46052, will run a live ultrasonic seal on a snack cup. Greiner did not provide a named executive comment to The Supply Chainer.
The Footprint Is the Constraint
Greg Berguig, president of PAC Machinery, said: "Packaging automation demand continues to remain strong. One of the primary drivers we see is increasing output within the same facility footprint. Companies are trying to be more efficient with the space they currently have."
Shannon Winans, marketing director, said the supply-chain focus at the show is automatic baggers and compatible materials. The newest machines can bag in poly, which can be made with up to 100% recycled content, and in Fiberflex curbside-recyclable paper. The company did not share a named customer case.
The End of the Line Is Still a Hand-off
Signode said it will show case handling, palletizing, strapping, load containment and material handling at booth S-3100 in the South Building. The live set pairs the Octopus Prestige automatic stretch wrapper with TP-12 strappers, and an autonomous mobile robot forklift moving pallets. The company said visitors can see how that robot connects to its StorFast automated storage and retrieval system. RollCycler, for the Prestige wrapper, reloads up to eight film rolls in a compact footprint. A separate cell pairs a Simplimatic collaborative palletizer with a Little David LDX-RC random case opener, an LDX-RTB semi-automatic random case sealer and Simpli-flex conveyors.
Rick Hantke, senior director of marketing and product management at Signode, said: "PACK EXPO gives us an opportunity to show how packaging equipment, robotics, and material handling technologies can work together across the complete end-of-line process. By integrating how cases, pallets, and packaging materials move across the complete end-of-line workflow, manufacturers can improve consistency, productivity, and reliability while establishing a scalable foundation for future automation."
The company also listed the BXT Go battery strapping tool, dunnage, edge protection and void fill, and design services under Multi-Wall, PDM and Reddi-Pac. It described itself as having more than $2 billion in revenue, 80-plus manufacturing facilities and more than 6,000 employees. It did not give a throughput figure for the Chicago cell.
The Cure Has to Change Without a New Line
IST America, the North American division of IST METZ, will show swap4cure at booth W-38060, co-exhibiting with IST InTech. The platform uses a common housing, power supply, cable and control architecture, with interchangeable cassettes for conventional UV, LED UV, and thermal drying by infrared and warm air, and a stated path to FREEcure.
Errol Moebius, president and chief executive of IST America, said: "Packaging producers are being asked to adapt to new materials, chemistries, sustainability requirements and customer demands, often without knowing exactly what their production environment will look like several years from now. swap4cure gives them the flexibility to select the curing technology that makes sense today while maintaining a platform designed to adapt as those requirements change."
The Grain Line Is on the Floor. The Case Is Not
Kevin Lee, sales manager at Ewinall Packaging Machine Co., said the company will exhibit at booth LL-10602 and manufactures weighing, bagging, bag-closing and palletizing equipment for rice, grain, seed and feed. He did not answer the questions on demand trends or a customer case. He said permission would be needed before sharing a named customer or site photos.
A square cup, a bagger in the existing aisle, a pallet that moves without a hand-off, and a curing cassette that can be swapped are the same operational bet. The building stays put. The show will demonstrate the seal, the geometry, the wrapper and the cassette. It will not show whether a U.S. materials recovery facility separates the cardboard wrap, or whether a grain packer got more throughput from the line Lee is bringing to Chicago. That result is still outside the booth.
