SIC 3565 Packaging Machinery

SIC 3565

Firms in this industry manufacture machinery used in packaging, wrapping, and bottling. In 1987 the classification code was changed to combine two 1972 categories, SIC 35514: Food Packaging and Bottling Machinery and SIC 35691: Non-food Packaging and Bottling, along with parts of the two general categories: SIC 3551: Food Products Machinery and SIC 3569: General Industry Machinery. The 1972 category numbered SIC 3565: Industrial Patterns was renumbered as SIC 3543.

NAICS CODE(S)

333993

Packaging Machinery Manufacturing

According to the Annual Survey of Manufactures, this industry employed 27,923 workers in 2001, with a payroll of $1.2 billion. Nearly 15,000 employees worked in production, earning more than $508 million. Shipments for the industry were valued at $4.2 billion.

The industry found itself challenged to change and innovate in the late 1980s and early 1990s, as industry shifted to leaner production methods requiring just-in-time (JIT) inventory management and as consumers rebelled against excessive and expensive product packaging. This meant new technology to manufacture smaller, more flexible machinery, and more packaging options for manufacturers.

To meet the demand, the industry introduced programmable logic controllers, robotics, self-diagnostic systems, microprocessor controls, automated testing, vision inspection systems, and built-in fault correction devices. Hydraulic and pneumatic actuators reduced clamping time and sped line changeover rates. Modern lines could shift from producing one part to an entirely different component in minutes instead of the previously common hours.

In 2001, Riverwood International Corp. of Atlanta outpaced all other companies in this industry, with sales of $1.3 billion and 4,100 employees. In 2003, the company bought Graphic Packaging International, and the resulting company was known as Graphic Packaging Corp. In distant second place was Cincinnati, Ohio-based RA Jones and Company Inc., with $74 million in 2001 sales and 500 employees. Angelus Sanitary Can Machine Co. of Los Angeles rounded out the top three with 500 employees and $56 million in sales. The following year, Better Packages held 75 percent of the market share in this industry. According to the US Industry and Trade Outlook, there were just under 700 companies in the industry at the start of the new century, and most of them were located in California, Illinois, Minnesota, Ohio...