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It’s no secret we’re kinda wild about packaging around here.  I mean, without it, a lot of our knives and saws would be homeless: left to sit around the warehouse, lonely collecting dust with nothing to cut.  So it’s quite natural that we chose to dedicate our first monthly round-up to the industry that surrounds our lives in every way imaginable.

The following recommendations are some of our favorite places for packaging trends, news, information, and insight.  Many of these sites offer both on- and off-line resources, and quite a few are also very active in the worldwide community via social media.

Without any further adieu, here’s our top 6 online resources for packaging industry everything: Read the rest of this entry »

We’re pleased to announce the last Friday of every month into eternity or apocalypse (whichever comes first!), we’ll be featuring a round-up of our favorite links/ tips/ resources/ etc… about our business and the industries we serve.  We’re kicking things off next week with what’s looking to be a stellar review of Packaging Industry resources, and we have some more great ideas for the months to follow.

We’d love to hear your suggestions for the round-up: are you looking for food processing resources online? Maybe you want tips for making the most out of that paper tube saw you just ordered?   Or are you new to new media and want some recommendations on the best people in your industry to follow?

Whatever it is: knives to processing, packing to community – let us know how we can help!

Post your comments on the blog or reply @yorksaw on Twitter – we can’t wait to hear from you!

Over the past month, we’ve seen various organizations publish their views and predictions for packaging and the packaging industry coming up in 2010. While everyone seems to have their own take on the subject, we discovered a number of common threads running throughout the various articles, posts, and press releases we’ve reviewed.  The following are the 5 strongest points we’ve discovered, and the effects these trends could have on the industry and consumers as a whole: Read the rest of this entry »

Happy Holidays From our Family to yours!

All us here at York Saw & Knife Company want to wish you a wonderful Holiday and a prosperous New Year.

2009 was a big year full of surprises and big successes.  While it’s sad to see the time pass so quickly,  it’s exciting to consider all the new experiences and opportunities 2010 will bring.

But besides looking to the future, now is an even better time to slow down and reflect. Between the hustle and bustle of shopping and travel, we can hopefully all take a moment to be thankful for friends and family that make each our lives so special.

So go ahead and enjoy it while you can! The new year is coming fast, and we’ll be back into the swing of daily grind before you know it.

Happy Holidays again, from our family to yours. We wish you all the best and look forward to being your source for high-quality cutting tools in the exciting new year and beyond.

Here’s to a healthy, prosperous 2010!

Samuel Miller received the first patent for a circular saw. British patent #1152 was awarded in 1777 for a sawing machine powered by a windmill.

Tabitha Babbitt, a Shaker from Harvard, Massachusetts, appears to have conceived of the idea independently here in the United States. Her circular saw was the first used in saw mills. She came up with the idea in 1810 when working at her spinning wheel. She was watching two men struggling with a pit saw that was used to rip logs into lumber and realized that half of their energy was wasted because the saw only cut on the forward stroke.  Babbitt discovered how a way to solve the problem using her spinning wheel.
She mounted a tin disk with notches along its circumference. Being pushed into the spinning disk cut the wood with much less effort than a pit saw. Her idea was enlarged and adopted for use by the local saw mill.  Use of the circular saw became a common practice here. Because of her Shaker religion, Babbitt did not apply for a patent for her invention.

…but we’re still doing our best to be responsible!

A recent article at Converting Digest uncovers that many businesses are not planning to boost their eco efforts in the near future. While 2/3 of some 1,400 CFO’s surveyed anticipate their efforts to remain the same, another 25% look forward to increased attention on the issue.  In all cases, profitability and economic stability are the driving forces behind every decision.

As a supplier serving numerous industries, we at York Saw have a chance to see multiple opinions on this hot button issue.  While more consumer-oriented businesses may be quickly motivated by popular pressure to change Read the rest of this entry »

Face it: B2B sales isn’t what it was 10 years ago.

The growth of the internet and  surge of Social Media outlets have caused a major swing in the way we do business today.  Prospects and clients alike can easily research and choose the  solutions for their needs: often before the traditional card-toting, cold-calling salesman has a chance to get his foot in the door.

Today they have more ways than ever to draw conclusions on YOUR brand before you may get a chance to say it yourself.

So what’s a company to do? Read the rest of this entry »

There’s been a lot of talk about the Pack/ Process event split and how the food industry in general needs its own killer event.

You may not be aware, but starting in 2010, Process Expo will no longer be teamed up with behemoth Pack Expo as it has for the past years.  In what looks to be a more symbiotic venture, the Food Processing Supplier’s Association will co-locate their flagship event with the Institute of Food Technologies’ (IFT) Food Expo in what IFT describes as an opportunity to  “gain a better understanding of the interrelated stages involved in the delivery of a food product.”

This new partnership could serve to benefit both parties substantially.  Food Expo has suffered dwindling participation over the past few years, and Process Expo has played what many view as consistent second fiddle in the shadow of PMMI’s towering crown jewel.

One of the best commentaries I’ve found comes from foodprocessing.com’s own Editor in Chief, Dave Fusaro.  It does a great job highlighting the potential benefits of the new partnership.  It also points out some of the PMMI-FPSA backstory that I hadn’t been aware of before.  If you have a moment, I encourage you to take a look for yourself.

Overall, the new event looks like a good opportunity for IFT and FPSA alike.  It will be interesting to see how it changes turnout and results for both the Food/Process and Pack itself for 2010.

Today we’re going to make an exception to the old rule about “what happens in Vegas” and tell you about what a great overall success this year’s Pack Expo turned out to be.  It seems that most of the post-Pack buzz focuses on strong speakers,  a high volume of new connections made, and an overall surprisingly great turnout considering  the current economy.  In fact, reported total visitor and exhibitor numbers for the co-located event indicate 2009 as the the “second-largest PACK EXPO Las Vegas since PMMI launched the show in 1995.”

It’s great to see widespread satisfaction across the board, for visitors and exhibitors alike.   Frankly,  we’ve been trying to sum up our feelings about the whole thing, and all we’ve managed to come up with is one simple word: Read the rest of this entry »

Did you know York Saw & Knife is one of the oldest active saw and knife manufacturers in the United States?

In 1906, York, PA man Louis Klunk set out to become a premier manufacturer of steel, set-tooth saw blades.  He built a business from the ground up, employing and honing the skill of a dedicated, local workforce to see it all through.  The then-titled York Saw Works soon became renowned  for its quality, reliability, and superior service to numerous industries in need of quality saw blades. Read the rest of this entry »