Polypack Highlights Tampa Bay’s Growing Manufacturing Hub With Preventive Maintenance Panel Featuring Leaders From PepsiCo, Keurig Dr Pepper and McCormick
- 4 days ago
- 2 min read
Tampa Bay’s momentum as a manufacturing hub was on full display during the Tampa Bay Packaging Open House, a multi-day program that brought together packaging professionals, OEMs, and suppliers for facility tours, peer-to-peer learning, and regional networking.
As part of the week’s programming, Polypack hosted the Preventive Maintenance Panel and a networking reception, welcoming attendees for practical discussions focused on improving uptime, extending asset life, and reducing unplanned downtime across packaging operations.
Practical Uptime Strategies From Major Manufacturing Environments
Preventive maintenance is one of the most reliable levers manufacturers can pull to protect throughput and stabilize production schedules. Polypack’s panel was designed to move beyond theory, highlighting real-world strategies and lessons learned from high-output environments.
Polypack was joined by panelists with experience from some of the most recognized names in consumer packaged goods:
Tony Vandenoever (formerly PepsiCo)
Peter Hess (Keurig Dr Pepper)
Nathaniel Esterline (McCormick & Company)
The discussion centered on actionable maintenance practices, including planning and standardization, spare parts strategy, and the habits and systems that help teams prevent avoidable downtime. Attendees also had the opportunity to continue the conversation following the panel during Polypack’s networking reception.
The session was sponsored by Schneider Electric, with special thanks to John Partin for supporting the discussion as part of the Tampa Bay Packaging Open House program.
A Spotlight on the Tampa Bay Manufacturing Hub
The Tampa Bay Packaging Open House reflects the strength of the region’s manufacturing ecosystem, including a concentration of packaging equipment manufacturers, automation specialists, and supporting industrial partners. By connecting experienced operations leaders with local OEMs and suppliers, the program reinforced Tampa Bay’s reputation as a destination for practical manufacturing innovation.
For Polypack, hosting a panel featuring leaders connected to PepsiCo, Keurig Dr Pepper, and McCormick underscores the company’s commitment to real-world performance conversations that translate directly to the plant floor.
Industry Participation Across the Week
The Tampa Bay Packaging Open House included tours and activities hosted by a broad group of participants, including:
A-B-C Packaging Machine Corporation • Alliedflex Technologies, Inc. • Balpack Inc. • Curbell, Inc. Plastics • Film Source Packaging • Mamata Machinery Limited • Mettler-Toledo International, Inc. • New England Machinery • Norwalt Automation Group • Performance Feeders, Inc. • Pneumatic Scale Angelus (BW Filling & Closing) • PPi Technologies Group • Polypack, Inc. • Prime Automation Inc. • Osgood Industries, LLC • Universal Labeling Systems, Inc. • Zepf Solutions, Inc.
About Polypack
Polypack designs and manufactures automated packaging machinery, including shrink bundling, tray wrapping, and corrugated packaging systems. Based in Pinellas Park, Florida, Polypack supports manufacturers across a range of industries with equipment engineered to improve line efficiency and support long-term operational performance.
For additional information about Polypack visit https://www.polypack.com/
Polypack, Inc. | 3301 Gateway Centre Blvd., Pinellas Park, FL 33782 | 727.578.5000 | info@polypack.com
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