Manufacturing professionals—from companies large or small—know the impact packaging has on the overall success of a product. The need for a small volume of carton boxes that would support the launch of his company’s flagship product led Ken Colley, CEO of California nutraceutical company Aqua-Ra, to PACK EXPO Las Vegas in 2013.
 
“PACK EXPO provides a matchless opportunity to find packaging solutions,” said Mr. Colley. “It enabled me to meet face-to-face with representatives from prospective vendors all in one location—making the process of finding a supplier that best fit our needs simpler and more efficient.”
 
Starting Small
Aqua-Ra’s primary product, Statin-Ease, is a proprietary nutraceutical supplement that helps counteract muscle pains, leg cramps, weakness and fatigue often associated with cholesterol reducing statin medications. Consumers can easily add the product, which comes in a daily unit dose stick-pack, to water or any other beverage and take it with or without food.
 
To package Statin-Ease, Colley required a short, 2,500 custom-carton run with high-quality color and graphics that could each fit 30 individual stick-packs. The most significant hurdle for the emerging company was the small volume. Setting his sights on PACK EXPO Las Vegas, Mr. Colley began his search by compiling a list of potential vendors based on the company’s needs. After whittling it down to about a dozen candidates, he met all the potential suppliers on site and identified the best for his job.
 
Quality Service, Cost and Speed
When he met with representatives from custom folding carton manufacturer Imperial Printing & Paper Box Manufacturing Co., Mr. Colley was drawn to the firm’s customer-focused approach.
 
In addition to its capabilities with custom-printed paper boxes and cartons, Imperial has an established reputation for high-quality packaging and excellent service —serving large and small manufacturers since 1970. These customers made a variety of products, providing Imperial considerable experience manufacturing custom pharmaceutical, medical, beverage, food and cosmetic packaging boxes.
 
Mr. Colley stressed Imperial’s support in providing Aqua-Ra with timely, high-quality results as an example of the firm’s service.
 
“The devil is in the details, and it was essential that we partnered with a company that understood our needs,” Mr. Colley said. “From the outset, I was happy working with Imperial. They understood all the regulations and standards our packaging needed to meet.”
 
With a supplier in place, Aqua-Ra was off to the races. Imperial delivered the 3 in.-by 4 in.-by 5.12 in., four-color paperboard cartons in the necessary volumes. Moreover, because of vendor trust, Aqua-Ra saved time and resources that allowed it to focus on its core business—the nutraceutical product itself.
 
Moving Forward
This year’s PACK EXPO Las Vegas and the co-located Pharma EXPO (Las Vegas Convention Center; Sept. 28-30) will allow nutraceutical and pharmaceutical manufacturers to explore packaging solutions, best practices, safety, security and educational opportunities available throughout the exposition. This will be the debut of Pharma EXPO in Las Vegas.
 
Aqua-Ra needs to stay abreast of the latest solutions, so Mr. Colley has already made plans to attend. Imperial will be there, too, exhibiting in The Brand Zone (Booth S-6925), the PACK EXPO pavilion devoted to showcasing containers, materials, eye-catching designs and labeling applications.
 
PACK EXPO Las Vegas and the co-located Pharma EXPO present attendees with technologies for the entire processing and packaging supply chain within the pharmaceutical, nutraceutical, medical device and biotech sectors. Additionally, the side-by-side events provide robust educational programming and networking opportunities as well as the benefit of the cross-pollination of ideas between the pharmaceutical industries and the food, beverage and other industries served by PACK EXPO.
 
“PACK EXPO provides access to so much information and innovation, and it’s all under one roof,” said Mr. Colley. “We are looking forward to the technological innovations and networking opportunities, and to finding the newest solutions to help us advance in our markets.”