ABB Control Oy's new range of plastic enclosed safety switches won a prestigious design award at the 1997 Hannover Fair. The SafeLine safety switch range was awarded the highly respected iF (Industrie Forum Design Hannover) Industry Design Award, which recognises industrial products that are distinguished by user friendly qualities.

Packaging frozen food is now facilitated by an extrusion coated lightweightpaperboard. Unlike aluminium containers, the material can be heated in microwave, hot air and conventional ovens. In addition, it is reported to be more environmentally-friendly thanalternative plastic solutions. The material is called Ensoven Performa and has been developed by Finnish Enso Paperboards in Imatra.The packaging is said to be suitable for, for example, ready-cooked dishes, vegetables, fish and ice-cream.

When American astronaut Neil Armstrong announced from the moon that he had taken "one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind," he was speaking into a headset manufactured by Plantronics, Inc. Today, nearly 30 years later, the same company continues to improve the performance and reliability of its communications headsets. Most recently, Plantronics has introduced the SES Sound Enhancement System, a tone control that allows individual users to select the sound quality they prefer.

Around 25 per cent of the electrical energy consumed by the process industry are used for powering pumps and fans. By optimizing flow control, the consumption of electricity and operating costs can be reduced substantially, as can the environmental loading. This is the claim of Control Drive Sweden AB in Karlstad, Sweden. The Swedish company has developed a variable speed drive for equipment such as pumps and fans that reduces the energy requirement by 30-60 per cent, according to the manufacturer. The pay-off time for the investment is estimated to be 6-24 months.

Reductions in costs and the environmental burden are the cornerstones of MicroLiners, Stora Gruvön's new raw material for the packaging industry. Amongother things, this means the product has low grammage, reducing packaging weight,and is optimised. Characteristics suchas printability and strength are important overall cost factors. "We have achieved this by combiningour own competence and close co-operation with our clients, machinerymanufacturers and others," says Johan Seevers, Sales Director. Suitable application areas for the new product include for example food productand gift packaging, and display stands.

According to Swedish company Vänerply, plywood in large sheets brings functional and financial benefits compared with the usual, smaller standard formats. By way of example they mention flexibility, efficient handling, greater strength, lower energy losses and reduced or zero material wastage. This is of particular interest when using large components in the building industry, for roofs, walls and floors, but also for the production of export packaging. The company claims to be the only one in the world producing structural-grade plywood of spruce in a press which allows lengths of up until 12.5 metres.

More and more stores request that their coffee orders be shipped with four different roasts on one pallet. In order to meet this demand Löfbergs Lila (the second largest roasting house in Sweden, with an annual production of more than 15,000 metric tons) have installed a robot in its packaging department. The robot has made it possible to rapidly palletize different types of coffee according to customer orders. Additional benefits have been an improved working environment and a reduction in the amount of investment tied up in storage.

As the characteristics of electronic equipment continue to evolve towardhigher current requirements, design engineers are facing power handling issues similar to those in the electrical industry.Anderson Power Products, a U. S. company which has been manufacturing electrical connectors for over 100 years, is responding to this need with an expanding line of products for use in electronic equipment. The newest offering is a 60-amp genderless power connector for normal and hot-plug use.

RFSU Rehab is launching Beauty, a range of body-care products developed specially for functionally impaired people and others who have difficulty reaching. The aids are simple to use and attractively designed.