It goes without saying that innovations in packaging materials and the evolution of packaging as we know it are great things.

We’re evolving with the expectations of a new breed of consumer.  We’re reducing waste, saving cost and resources as we invent, test, and improve new materials; making us leaner, meaner, and greener than before.

But did you ever consider how changes-for-the-better in package materials  can spell changes-for-the-worse when it comes time to cut that material down to size?

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Tough material or film affecting your production and wrecking your bottom line? Or just giving you a headache you don’t need?

The YSK shark tooth cut-off knife will be the topic of an upcoming post.

Stay tuned…

York Saw and Knife is now active in Google Maps’ Local Business Center.

By searching for or visiting us there, you’ll find our enhanced company listing featuring our contact info, directions, website link, general info and some photos and videos.

The YSK Google Maps business listing is a pretty cool feature, particularly for folks not familiar or previously not aware of York Saw and Knife and our high-quality products and services.

And it never hurts to drop some additional knowledge on the folks at Google.

YSK is both happy and excited to announce the week of 2/16 – 2/20 brought us more NEW yorksaw.com user registrations than any other week during the site’s existence!

We’re excited more and more people are seeing the value York Saw and Knife provides. And more and more people are becoming invested with YSK to sign up and register, submit RFQ’s through yorksaw.com and keep abreast of the latest news and notes via the York Saw Blog and our monthly *emails.

So thank you to all our customers, all the yorksaw.com website users – old and new, and the York Saw and Knife employees, who make it all happen.

* If you would like to be added to our monthly email list, email us your info and we’ll include you in our next distribution!

In the latest Food & Beverage Packaging (they’re welcome for the free pub), there’s an interesting roundtable featuring some of the heavyweights of food and beverage packaging (including one – Steve Gaeta of Unilever – who shares the same last name as this mutineer on Battlestar Galactica).

Anyway, the discussion centers on the industry outlook in 2009 and the challenges in creating an aesthetically pleasing, handy package that can be developed economically using principles of sustainability and (preferably) green materials.

Adaptability, flexibility and the openness to new ideas were common themes. The round table discussed the development and implementation of new designs, processes and materials with an eye on value and sustainability.

It’s an interesting read. The article made us consider how well-positioned YSK is to work with the packaging industry and OEM manufacturers. Want to know how? Email us!

We wanted to share the video of YSK’s free, in-house test cutting machine (ol’ Cutty) in action…

This instance is from our involvement on the University of Illinois student’s senior design project. We utilized knife (E) from the picture in the previous post. It made a clean cut with the lowest cut forces.

As you can see…

YSK offers free, in-house test cutting and perforating of flexible films utilizing a plunge cut with a straight, serrated edge blade.

If you are interested in using YSK’s test cutting capabilities, email York Saw & Knife and we’ll get you on the right track.

YSK recently assisted a University of Illinois student undertaking a senior design project at a major packaging company. The company provided the student a set of parameters and tasked her with developing the “best” blade to cut a new material the company developed. The student read about YSK’s in-house test cutting capabilities and contacted us with her project details.

The student provided YSK her design, dimensions and the company’s test material. We developed a variety of blades to test cut on her material. After a few rounds of testing and development, YSK provided the student with its results and optimum blade recommendation.

We shipped a blade set to the student to utilize with her project and company presentation. She received great marks. YSK received an order for the specific blade. It was a win-win-win resolution.

Check back next week for video of the test cut!

…YSK offers free test cutting and perforating of flexible films utilizing a plunge cut with a straight, serrated edge blade.  Our applications engineers will test cut or perforate your material on our on-site test cutting equipment. We will return the sample cuts to you, along with a quotation for a knife determined to have the optimum cutting edge for your particular application.

If you are interested in utilizing YSK’s test cutting capabilities, email York Saw & Knife and get the ball rolling.

Pack Expo 2008 is in the books and York Saw & Knife is back from the Windy City. We really enjoyed the show – and it seemed Pack Expo enjoyed the YSK booth! More attendees visited our booth than any other Pack show we’ve been involved with!* So congrats to the Pack Expo organizers and our own YSK team who coordinated our show participation and staffed the event.

York Saw & Knife blades not only deliver proven results, but they also get a lot of attention. People regularly stopped at the YSK booth to take a look at the wide variety of leading edge York Saw & Knife blades displayed. Among the favorites of the Pack crowd were the packaging knives, straight knives and circular knives.

* Maybe it was the peppermint patties!

For attendees that swiped their card at the YSK booth, we will be sending out information soon!

The Pack Expo 2008 is underway and business is brisk at the York Saw & Knife booth (E-7827). We are definitely enjoying catching up with past and present customers, and meeting many potential new customers interested in the YSK line of high quality blades.

Please enjoy a few pictures from our first days at Pack 2008:

In a little over two weeks, York Saw and Knife is hitting Chicago to take part in the 2008 Pack Expo. We’ll be there November 9 – 13. We’re currently finishing our final preparations for the show – crossing t’s and dotting i’s.

Pack is an event devoted to the packaging industry, serving suppliers and buyers of packaging machinery, materials, components and services. This year, the show is held at McCormick Place and co-located with the Process Expo and Converting & Packaging Printing (CPP) Expo.

We’re looking forward to Pack, and the opportunity to visit with past and current customers and vendors, and meet some new people. If you’re attending Pack, Process or CPP, stop by the York Saw and Knife booth (#E-7827) to say “hi” and see our full displays of leading-edge cutting tools.