Kolding, Denmark, March 2026.

For decades, agitation has been known as an energy-intensive and maintenance-heavy processes in hygienic production. The new EnSaLine agitator platform from Alfa Laval is about to change that, allowing food, dairy, beverage, pharmaceutical and home & personal care manufacturers to save time and operating costs from day one.  “The current fleet of hygienic agitators is ageing in many industries, and we wanted to offer a truly new and ground-breaking design that answers the need for effortless and efficient operation and maintenance”, says Christian Jørgensen, Global Portfolio Manager, Mixing, at Alfa Laval. “By listening to feedback from our customers we rethought agitator design from the ground up and created the new EnSaLine range that sets a new and future-proof benchmark in hygienic production, maintaining high efficiency, while adding new benefits.”

30 minutes service time – safe and easy

Fast and safe maintenance were focal points in the new agitator design. “Difficult and time-consuming maintenance procedures with heavy lifting and safety concerns were common issues in the customer feedback we received. Therefore, we designed EnSaLine agitators for effortless maintenance that can be carried out by one technician in less than 30 minutes. There is no longer any need to enter the tank, which greatly improves safety during maintenance”, said Christian Jørgensen.

He explains that all EnSaLine seals and bearings are contained in one, replaceable cartridge to enable safe and easy maintenance. In addition, the unique EnSaLine shaft seal assembly reduces complexity and requires a minimal number of spare parts. Several of the innovative maintenance solutions have achieved patent protection.

Energy savings of up to 80%
The EnSaLine agitators feature the unique EnSaFoil impellers that deliver higher efficiency than comparable technologies. The exceptional efficiency cuts mixing time and reduces energy consumption by up to 80%, increasing productivity and providing a typical pay-back time of less than two years.

The EnSaFoil impeller design ensures gentle product treatment for high product quality and high yield. Inside the tank, the fully flushable design and the seal housing offer excellent cleanability and raise the bar for hygienic processing and product safety.

Future-proof connectivity
The new range of EnSaLine agitators offers connectivity functionality for predictive maintenance. Sensors continuously monitor operating conditions to help avoid unplanned downtime, optimize service intervals and ultimately extend service life of equipment.

Designed for fast configuration and installation
The EnSaLine platform is designed for simplified configuration and fast installation. The new design allows for competitive pricing, while high daily efficiency and easy maintenance lower operating costs. EnSaLine S Side Mounted agitator and EnSaLine B Bottom Mounted agitator are available now.

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, and today announce the development of a Dry Molded Fiber snus can for Yoik’s Helwit brand, marking a significant step into the smokeless tobacco segment, a high-volume packaging category traditionally dominated by plastic.Future Materials has also signed a license agreement with PulPac to commercialize Dry Molded Fiber products.

, PulPac and Future Materials Sweden have explored this new market segment for Dry Molded Fiber packaging. Together with Yoik, the partners have developed a fiber-based snus can concept designed to meet the demanding functional and commercial requirements of the category.Under the newly signed license agreement, Future Materials is licensed to industrialize and produce products based on PulPac’s Dry Molded Fiber technology.

Snus cans are handled frequently throughout the day and must combine dimensional accuracy, consistent fit and a premium feel. The concept has been engineered to withstand repeated opening and closing, protect the product and meet expectations on surface finish and tolerances, making it a strong proof point for fiber-based packaging in a new segment.

High-volume, rigid packaging formats with tight dimensional tolerances require consistent structural performance, characteristics aligned with the capabilities of Dry Molded Fiber technology.

The project is currently in a structured product validation phase. Performance testing and trials in Yoik’s filling line environment form part of the next development steps. As with any new packaging format entering a high-volume category, further iterations and refinements are expected to ensure robustness, consistency and readiness for scale.

In parallel with product validation, the partners are actively planning the industrialization and scale-up strategy, including production planning and tooling optimization to secure a smooth transition from validated concept to scalable manufacturing once testing milestones are achieved.

“We have presented the concept to selected customers, and the response confirms clear market demand,” says Morgan Svensson, Founder of Future Materials Sweden. “Interest from both Swedish and U.S. actors shows that the volume potential is substantial. From the outset, we have focused on building a commercially viable solution, and the cost position supports industrial adoption. Together with PulPac, our ambition is to scale this concept globally.”

“Helwit has always been about doing things our own way,” says Tobias Björneskog, Co-founder of Yoik AB. “Packaging is a natural part of that mindset. Through Helwit Concept, we explore new formats and challenge established norms in our category. Developing a fiber-based snus can together with PulPac and Future Materials is a continuation of that journey. It requires iteration and careful validation, but that’s how meaningful progress is made.”

“What’s exciting about this project is how quickly we’ve moved from identifying a promising segment together with a brand to developing a new packaging concept,” says Sanna Fager, Chief Commercial Officer at PulPac. “At the same time, product development in a high-volume category requires thorough validation and the willingness to refine details along the way. That’s where this partnership really shows its strength. By combining technology, industrial expertise and brand insight, we can move from concept to scalable solution in a structured and efficient way.”

March 16, 2026 — Vention, creator of the world’s only full-stack software and hardware automation platform, today announced the commercial launch of Rapid Operator AI, a solution designed to automate complex, unstructured tasks, beginning with deep bin picking.

The launch marks a significant evolution from last year's GTC technical showcase debut of AI Operator as physical AI for unstructured tasks. Rapid Operator AI transforms that concept into a turnkey industrial system built on Vention’s Generalized Robotic Industrial Intelligence Pipeline (GRIIP™) and engineered for immediate deployment in production environments.

Enabling Scalable Automation for High-Variability Manufacturing

Rapid Operator AI is engineered for mid-market and enterprise manufacturers operating multi-shift facilities where labor shortages and high production variability create operational strain. These applications were previously difficult or economically impractical to automate due to part randomness, clutter, occlusions, and variability in presentation.

By combining a standardized core architecture with configurable deployment, Rapid Operator AI enables manufacturers to replicate automation across facilities while maintaining flexibility for site-specific requirements.

“Manufacturers face two persistent hidden costs: automation that cannot adapt and dependence on scarce skilled labor,” said Etienne Lacroix, Founder and CEO of Vention. “Built on GRIIP, our production-grade AI foundation, Rapid Operator AI brings adaptive intelligence to highly unstructured deep bin picking. It delivers flexible, scalable automation that deploys in days, reduces reliance on specialized labor, and provides manufacturers with a faster, more predictable path to ROI.”

Powered by GRIIP™: A Generalized AI Pipeline for Industrial Robotics

At its core, Rapid Operator AI is powered by GRIIP™, Vention’s Generalized Robotic Industrial Intelligence Pipeline. GRIIP delivers a unified pipeline from perception to motion by integrating Vention’s proprietary models with open models, specifically NVIDIA FoundationStereo for stereo matching, and NVIDIA FoundationPose for pose estimation.

The system allows robots to:

• Detect randomly oriented parts in dense clutter, estimate precise 6-DoF pose, and plan collision-free grasps.
• Execute autonomous picks with adaptive retries for reliable, multi-shift operation with minimal supervision.
• Support opaque, translucent, and transparent materials; perform in bright light, low light, or darkness; handle containers up to 24” deep.

The solution achieves up to 99% first-pick success rates depending on part geometry and bin configuration. It automatically retries failed picks and empties bins fully, supporting around the clock industrial operations.

New SKUs can be onboarded directly through CAD file configuration, eliminating model retraining cycles and enabling rapid production changeovers.

A Fully Integrated AI Stack

Rapid Operator AI is architected as a vertically integrated ecosystem where hardware, vision, motion control, and AI are engineered and deployed as a single validated system, removing the complexity of assembling fragmented components.

Operators interact with the system through the Vention platform: designing cells in MachineBuilder, deploying them in MachineLogic, and operating and optimizing performance through the proprietary pendant interface.

By combining validated pipeline reliability with Vention’s full-stack platform, Rapid Operator AI unlocks scalable deployment and represents a step-change in the economics of physical AI.

The Rapid Operator AI will be showcased this week at NVIDIA GTC 2026 in San Jose, March 16–19.

For more information, visit

Taunton, MA Mar 26, 2026– As snack-size cheese formats continue to multiply across retail shelves, packaging lines are under increasing pressure to deliver higher speeds, tighter weight accuracy, and the flexibility to run growing SKU variety. At CheeseCon 2026, Harpak‑ULMA Packaging will demonstrate an integrated weigh‑to‑bag architecture designed to stabilize filling accuracy, reduce product giveaway, and simplify snack cheese production lines.

The company will exhibit in a 30 × 50 booth—an expansion from its previous 30 × 30 footprint—allowing additional equipment demonstrations and a broader look at integrated automation technologies built specifically for cheese processors. The expanded presence reflects continued growth in cheese consumption and snacking behavior. U.S. per‑capita cheese consumption reached a record 42.3 pounds in 2023, underscoring sustained category demand. At the same time, eating habits are shifting toward portable, protein‑rich snacks. Research shows 56% of consumers replace meals with snacks at least occasionally, while 76% report snacking as a regular eating behavior.

Integrated Multi‑Head Weigher and VFFS Architecture

A central highlight of the booth will be the first CheeseCon demonstration of a fully integrated Harpack-ULMA multi‑head weigher mounted above a vertical form‑fill‑seal (VFFS) bagger on an elevated platform. While multi‑head weighers and vertical baggers are commonly deployed independently, the configuration on display emphasizes the value of tightly integrated weighing‑to‑bagging architecture for snack cheese production.

Snackable cheese formats—such as cubes, shreds, and snack blends—introduce variability in product density, flow characteristics, and fill accuracy. When weighing and bagging operate as separate processes, variability is introduced. This can force processors to compensate by oversizing film bags or increasing product giveaway to maintain labeled weights. Integrating the multi‑head weigher directly with the VFFS bagger stabilizes the system and the entire fill‑to‑bag process -- while minimizing the need for compensatory packaging adjustments.

Operational advantages include:
• Higher weighing accuracy, reducing product giveaway
• Lower fill‑weight variability enabling tighter bag sizing
• Improved throughput stability at higher production speeds
• Compact vertical integration that simplifies line layout
• Reduced need for film oversizing caused by inconsistent fills

The vertical configuration also reduces product transfer distance, helping maintain product integrity for fragile formats such as diced or cubed cheese.

Managing Increasing SKU Complexity

As brands introduce new flavors, snack blends, and portion sizes, cheese processors are increasingly operating high‑mix production environments. Packaging systems must therefore support rapid changeovers while maintaining accuracy and throughput. At CheeseCon, Harpak‑ULMA will showcase equipment configurations designed to help processors run multiple cheese formats on shared packaging platforms, maintain consistent fill accuracy across varying product densities, and integrate weighing, bagging, and downstream automation into a streamlined production architecture.

Industry estimates place the U.S. cheese snacks market at approximately $24.3 billion, reflecting the continued expansion of portion‑controlled cheese formats. Consumer demand trends reinforce this momentum. Surveys show 61% of consumers actively seek high‑protein snacks, while 64.1% look for snacks perceived as “good for them,” fueling continued product innovation in portion‑controlled and mixed snack formats.

“Snack cheese formats are introducing new levels of variability on packaging lines,” said Mike Marchand, Sr Product Manager at Harpak‑ULMA Packaging. “Tightly integrating the multi‑head weigher with the vertical bagger helps processors stabilize fill accuracy, reduce giveaway, and run high‑mix snack formats much more efficiently. That integrated architecture is becoming essential as snack cheese continues to scale.”

Technical Presentation at CheeseCon

In addition to the expanded exhibit, Matt Tresp, Regional Sales Manager, will present the From Shreds to Snacks: Scaling Cheese Packaging Without Sacrificing Margins- detailing the operational challenges associated with scaling snack cheese packaging. The presentation will address:
• Managing fill variability in snack cheese formats
• Reducing film oversizing driven by inconsistent fills
• Improving throughput while maintaining weighing accuracy
• Packaging architectures that support increasing SKU variety

Visit Harpak‑ULMA at CheeseCon

Attendees can see these technologies firsthand at Booth 1601 during CheeseCon Expo 2026, April 15–17 in Madison, Wisconsin. For more information https://www.harpak-ulma.com/weighing-portioning-and-loading-equipment/ or call (508) 884-2500. Experience a live demonstration of packaging technologies at one of Harpak-ULMA's Customer Experience Centers in Boston, Atlanta, or Costa Mesa, Calif. Call (508) 884-2500 to make arrangements.