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Rennco's PACK EXPO Success: Sealing the Sale
Running real product on the show floor gave Ankerpak the confidence to scale automation quickly, turning a single demo at Rennco into repeat machinery orders.
By Sean Riley | OEM Magazine
For exhibitors, the goal of any PACK EXPO is an event where real projects take shape. At PACK EXPO International 2024, Rennco, a flexible bagging and sealing solution ProMach brand, experienced that firsthand when a booth demonstration turned into a multi-machine deployment for Ankerpak, the contract packaging partner for Uniball.
What began as a hands-on demo on the show floor quickly evolved into a long-term customer relationship, highlighting how live demonstrations, distributor collaboration, and face-to-face engagement continue to drive measurable ROI for exhibitors.
This reinforces research from the PMMI Media Group 2025 Buying Cycle and Supplier Studies, which found that suppliers identified trade shows as their primary source of lead generation, and end users identified trade shows as their go-to source of information when exploring equipment options.
A targeted visit with a real project in mind
Ankerpak is a Georgia-based contract packaging company that supports national brands with retail-ready and e-commerce packaging, serving customers with high SKU counts and variable packaging formats. When Ankerpak secured a new Uniball program, the requirements were clear: flexible inner-pack bagging, fast changeovers, and equipment that could be deployed quickly without introducing production risk.
“I’ve grown up going to PACK EXPOs,” says John Anker, owner of Ankerpak. “For a long time, I was looking at these shiny, well-engineered machines and thinking about how to apply them in our small business environment. As we grew, we had to be very deliberate about where we put our money.”
Rather than browsing aimlessly, Ankerpak leaned on a trusted distributor relationship. Atlantic Tape & Packaging, a long-time supplier and packaging advisor, recommended Rennco and coordinated a visit to the Rennco booth, ensuring the OEM team was prepared for a meaningful, product-specific demonstration.
“Mike Benton [from Atlantic Tape] knew we weren’t looking for a big gamble,” Anker says. “We were looking for small wins that would work every day.”
Live demos using actual product
At the Rennco booth, the Ankerpak team didn’t watch a generic demo, Director of Distribution and Technical Sales Mike George ran actual blister-packed pens on the EZ20 Vertical Bagger, allowing Anker to test different bag sizes, orientations, and programming presets.
“I wanted to see it, touch it, feel it,” Anker explains. “You can look at drawings and specs, but you don’t know how a machine behaves until you’re standing there making changes and watching it run.”
Rennco’s team anticipated the visit and prepared accordingly.
“We knew John was coming,” says George. “That’s what we try to do at PACK EXPO—be ready to demonstrate equipment in the way the customer actually needs it demonstrated.”
During the demo, Anker asked for adjustments on the fly.
“I said, ‘Change that. Stack the product this way. Let’s see it run like this,’” he recalls. “And the machine just kept running.”
The ability to test real-world variability—rather than idealized test conditions—gave Ankerpak confidence not only in the equipment, but also in the people behind it.
“I’m not a mechanic,” Anker says. “I’m a business owner. I needed to know my team could understand it, fix it, and get help quickly if something went wrong.
One sale becomes three
Shortly after PACK EXPO International, Ankerpak placed its first machine order. Within months, as the Uniball program ramped up, the company added a second machine—followed quickly by a third.
“All of that happened over about three months,” Anker says. “But only after we confirmed the first machine delivered what we needed.”
Rennco’s equipment was deployed in a newly built Ankerpak facility dedicated to Uniball, supporting both retail and e-commerce distribution. Though the operation has been in production less than a year, it continues to deliver steady improvements in productivity and labor efficiency.
Material efficiency adds value
In addition to equipment performance, material optimization played a key role. By transitioning from pre-made bags to rollstock material, Ankerpak reduced packaging costs and material waste, an advantage that became clear during the live demonstrations.
“With roll material, you can size the bag to the product,” says George. “That flexibility lowers cost and reduces waste compared to pre-made bags.”
Why PACK EXPO matters for exhibitors
For Rennco, the experience reinforces the value of exhibiting at PACK EXPO, not just as a lead generator but to accelerate real projects. By partnering closely with distributors and staffing booths with experienced technical personnel, Rennco turned a show-floor interaction into repeat business.