PackML World Tour promotes business process improvements through industry standard

During a Nov. 1 press conference at Pack Expo Intl. 2010 in Chicago, Jack Aguero of Pro Mach announced the PackML World Tour in which PackML will be promoted to CPGs. He noted that Cincinnati-based Procter & Gamble's Beauty Care business will be the first scheduled stop on the tour in November. PackML is a software structuring methodology developed by the OMAC Packaging Workgroup. PackML, Packaging Machinery Markup Language, is a concept that standardizes key data point acquisition across different makes of packaging machinery. It reduces the learning curve for plant personnel by providing a common look and feel. PackML is independent of the control system vendor or programming language in use. PackML provides a standardized way to collect uniform data across machines, lines, shifts, plants, and business units. This uniformity is essential to productivity-enhancing initiatives such as Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) analysis and to simplify MES functions. Founding members of the PackML World Tour are ADCO Manufacturing, Pearson Packaging Systems and Pro Mach. Illapak has joined to host a European leg. The companies have all implemented PackML in their machine control platforms. All are members of the Packaging Machinery Manufacturers Institute, PMMI. The tour was conceptualized and organized by B&R Industrial Automation’s packaging group.