WineCab

Alcohol sales can equal as much as 75 percent of a restaurant's revenue and having wine on display, where customers can see it could likely boost sales. WineCab is a revolutionary and innovative solution, marrying the latest AI technology with custom luxe materials designed to store, protect and showcase wine. Created by Mark Chaney, chief executive officer and founder of Calvary Robotics, WineCab is a robotically powered system for wine collections featuring a wine management system, an AI “virtual” sommelier, temperature control, security settings, and most notably — a 7-axis industrial high speed robotic arm, the company says. WineCab also partnered with Delectable, a premier wine management system with a collection of more than 600,000 labels. The system provides real-time data of recent history of bottles moved, dispensed or stored, and users can access relevant information on the wine on command, including name, producer, varietals and region. Each WineCab also has an integrated AI system to assist with pairing meals with wine selections, as well as the ability to make personalized suggestions based on a question-and-answer format. The tech-forward design reinvents the need for a traditional wine cellar, allowing clients to safely store 250-600 bottles in a restaurant, hotel or custom kitchen. WineCab is a tech-forward solution to a wine cellar and WineCab’s artisan craftsmen will build each model to one’s exacting specifications to ensure the uniqueness of every unit. Custom finishing options include exotic wood species, metal trims, interior wallpaper and personalized engraving. The WineCab WineWall currently is available in 6-, 11- and 15-foot models.

Aisle Master Order Picker

Combilift USA recently unveiled the latest addition to its product portfolio, the new Aisle Master-OP (AME-OP). The stand-on electric powered model combines the advantages of a narrow aisle articulated forklift and an order picker for versatile operation in warehousing applications, the company says. Beverage plants already had been using the earlier iteration of the Aisle Master for space saving, storage and efficiency in their warehouse. The AME-OP was redeveloped based on customer feedback to meet the ever-growing demand for order picking customized orders. The main feature of the new unit is the patented step-through operator compartment. At just 11 inches, the low floor height enables convenient, single step access from both sides of the truck, which speeds up order picking compared with the operator having to get on and off from a seated position. The AME-OP truck has all the key advantages of the conventional Aisle Master such as use in an indoor/outdoor setting for loading/offloading and for stock replenishment at other times during shifts when order picking is complete. The forklift is available in a number of variants, with lift capacities of as much as 3,300-6,000 pounds, lift heights as high as 39 feet and can operate in aisles as narrow as 72 inches. The versatile AME-OP can be used in multiple applications, including narrow aisle operation, truck to rack handling, bulk picking and item order picking.

Oktober Can Seamers

As entities like the Distilled Spirits Council alongside state governors and senators advocate for permanent to-go alcohol sales to support their local restaurants and bars, Oktober Can Seamers offers businesses the equipment to facilitate to-go alcohol packaging. Designed by former aerospace engineers and lauded by breweries and mixologists across the country, Oktober provides durable can seaming machines with a conveniently sized footprint ideal for behind the counter operations and customizable cans achieved by submitting an artwork file through email to their in-house design team. This enables restaurants, bars and similar business owners to expand their to-go beverage options and offer customers sleek 8-ounce cans to 32-ounce Crowlers of their favorite cocktails, beers and wine.

Digital Enamel Rater III

Wilkens-Anderson Co. offers its new Digital Enamel Rater III for fast, accurate quality inspection measurements of the enamel coating on the inside of food and beverage cans. The device displays an index of the metal exposure due to incomplete enamel coverage on a digital LED display. Among the features are a new LCD screen for easy menu selection, adjustment and settings; a 5-digit digital LED display for milliamp readings; and a 2-digit LED timer display, the company says. Voltage is set at 6.3 VDC, which is adjustable from 4-9 VDC. Operating range is 0-500 ma with an improved accuracy resolution of 0.01 ma. Preset to an industry standard four-second mode, the rater also can be put into continuous or programmable modes. In programmable mode, the operator can select customized time settings. Both RS232 and USB ports allow for easy transfer of data to computers, printers or data collection systems, the company says.

HP PageWide T1190 Corrugated Press

Georgia-Pacific announced the expansion of its Hummingbird digital print solutions with the purchase of an HP PageWide T1190 Press, a digital corrugated packaging solution, the company says. Designed to extend the reach of digital services across the United States, the new 110-inch wide web press for pre-print corrugated production will be installed later this year at a new Hummingbird site opening in Arizona. The HP T1190 will be the converter’s third inkjet web press installed since 2015 when it launched digital print services with the HP T400S press and subsequently deployed a T1100 110-inch press. The Hummingbird provides a range of digitally printed corrugated packaging solutions for consumer packaged goods, and food and beverage brands across North America. The digital offerings include corrugated shelf-ready packaging (SRP), food trays, large-format boxes, eCommerce solutions and volume displays (POP). It enables companies to reduce their printed packaging inventory levels, shorten turnaround time, make frequent design changes and offer more graphics. The high-productivity HP PageWide T1190 digital pre-print press is a six-color (CMYKOV) inkjet press with a 110-inch (2.8 meter) web width that efficiently aligns with corrugator capacity and provides offset print quality, unmatched digital speed, economy and flexibility. With a throughput of as much as 305 meters (1,000 feet) of corrugated liner a minute, as many as 100 million corrugated boxes a year can be delivered, the company says.

Kloss Distributing, Gurnee, Ill., kicked off 2021 by going solar. The beer distributor partnered with General Energy Corp. (GEC) to provide a turnkey solar solution that covered 100 percent of the company’s electric needs. The company designed and installed the 700 kilowatt solar system, managed the connection to the electric grid, and helped the distributor apply for incentives through state and federal renewable energy programs. In business since 1973, the Kloss family expects the solar installation to save the company $70,000 a year in electric costs while making its operations of moving more than 4 million cases of beer, wine and soft drinks to 1,500 locations across Lake Country much more sustainable. As President Mike Kloss put it, “It’s a good business decision and great for the environment.”

During January’s National Human Trafficking Prevention Month, San Antonio, Texas-based Silver Eagle Beverages, one of the nation’s largest Anheuser-Busch wholesalers, partnered with the National Beer Wholesalers Association for an awareness training to educate employees on recognizing and reporting the warning signs of human trafficking. Silver Eagle Beverages’ efforts are part of a nationwide campaign to help combat human trafficking in communities across the United States.

Blue Box Partners, an alliance of VPK Group, Klingele Paper and Packaging Group, Hinojosa and Cart-One, have launched ECOGRIP, a corrugated alternative to shrink wrap for the multi-packing of a wide range of bottles that builds on the growing consumer demand for sustainable packaging. Designed to replace single-use shrink-wrap plastic for bottles between 330 ml and 1.5 liters, ECOGRIP provides a recyclable and biodegradable corrugate solution for multi-packs of four, six or eight bottles. It also is adaptable to the many different bottle styles on the market regardless of diameter, giving brands, retailers and consumers a sustainable multi-packing solution for four, six or eight bottles, the company says.

Southampton, Pa.-based NewAge Industries, manufacturer of AdvantaPure, BrewSavor and Verigenics products, announced the promotions of Lawrence Morano and Sean Lynch. Responsible for growing the company’s high purity AdvantaPure products during the past six years, Morano began his tenure with NewAge as a regional sales manager and has been promoted to the newly created position of executive director of sales, marketing and product development. A five-year team member, Lynch has assumed the director of product development post. In this capacity, he will lead teams responsible for developing new stock and custom products, applications engineering, tooling design, process engineering, testing and prototyping to address customers’ challenging fluid transfer applications.

Raleigh, N.C.-based Tompkins Robotics named Mike Futch as its new chief executive officer (CEO). Since 2017, Futch served as the company’s president, and will retain that position and continue to lead the design and forward movement of Tompkins Robotics and its core system, the t-Sort autonomous mobile robot (AMR) solution. In less than four years, he has taken Tompkins Robotics from a small startup to a global contender in the robotics market, with its award-winning t-Sort system now used by some of the world’s top retailers and shippers, which together represent more than $1 trillion in annual revenue and include retail, eCommerce, 3PL and package/postal channels, the company says. The CEO also manages the company’s relationships with key integration partners to grow its overall offering with the goal of providing dock to dock robotic automation in logistics facilities.

Reusable Packaging Association (RPA), Tampa, Fla., announced its new board leadership for 2021. After serving his term as chairman of the board, Michael Wasson, chief operating officer at Tosca, passed the gavel to Ben Stoller, executive manager member and global chief executive officer of the Paxxal Group, as the new chairman of the executive committee. Kevin Mazula, chief executive officer of RM2, now is vice chairman, and Samantha Goetz, marketing communications manager of ORBIS, is secretary-treasurer. The annual RPA election also resulted in four new board members and three returning directors starting a two-year term. The following are those members: Graham Connor, senior vice president of sales and customer support at iGPS Logistics; Aubree Duncan, director of food safety at Tosca; Paul Kamholz, vice president of sales and marketing at Schoeller Allibert; Leslie LeMair, vice president of sales and marketing at Georg Utz; Andy Schumacher, vice president of packaging systems division at SSI Schaefer; Bryan Tate, vice president of product and category development at IFCO Systems; and Ben Waterman, manager of business development at Monoflo International.