Last year, Prent was the only US companyto receive a WorldStar Award from theWorld Packaging Organization in theMedical or Pharmaceutical packaging cat-egory. That brought to 12 the number ofWorldStars Prent has been honored within that category—more than any othercompany in the world.

Newsprent sat down with two 17-yearPrent design veterans—Product Develop-ment Directors Chris Bladl and DonHandrow—to discuss how the company isable to consistently develop some of theworld’s most compelling and innovativepackaging.

How do you come up with yourdesign concepts?

CHRIS: It all starts with the challengesour customers put in front of us. Thiscould include reducing the size of thepackaging, fitting more SKU’s into thesame package, reducing the package costor other criteria. Then we have to ask our-selves is it possible? What new feature dowe have to develop to solve the challenge?

We are fortunate to have an A list of cus-tomers as our base. They are leaders intheir industry. Typically they are pushingus hard, which drives us to stay on top ourgame.

DON: These customers also provide uswith a unique opportunity to be at theforefront of their new products. Becausewe’re working on the newest of new prod-ucts in their industry, we have the oppor-tunity to be completely unique.

Also, going down design paths—whichwe’re not really sure about to begin with—has led to some terrific Eureka moments.For one customer we replaced an injec-tion-molded part with a thermoformedpart and held the same quality. Their firstreaction was…it can’t be done. Well, youknow what? Maybe not, but we can try.We put a ton of effort into it and we actu-ally solved the problem. It was monu-mental and took close to a year. Very fewthermoformers can put those kinds of re-sources into development.

Why do companies turn toPrent’s Product Development De-partment rather than an inde-pendent package designcompany or even their own in-house designers?

CHRIS: Very simply, we know what’spossible. Independent design firms oftendon’t have the working knowledge ofthermoforming. A successful package notonly has to be functional, innovative andmeet the customer’s criteria, it also has tobe designed for manufacturability. We

have to always be pushing the envelopeon creative solutions, but without losingsight of the big picture. Prent designersreceive extensive training in thermoformmanufacturing, set-up and tooling. Theyhave to understand how their design deci-sions will not only affect the product, buthow it will affect the tool room and manu-facturing.

How do you stay on theleading edge?

DON: I think we are on the leading edgefor three reasons. #1: We are dealing withthe highest quality, leading customers inthe world. They are the ones driving ourindustry and the ones that help drive ourinnovation. Our customers have very tal-ented device engineers pushing us.

CHRIS: #2: When you look at our designgroup, we have package design expertisethat is broad and deep. We have indus-trial design engineers, engineers with con-

XXXVIII Issue No. 37, 2009

What’s the Secret Behind Prent’sDesign Success?

Don Handrow, Product Development Director

Chris Bladl, Product Development Director

PAGE 1

Continued on Page 5

After several months indevelopment, Prent recentlylaunched its new internationalWebsite. Since then we’ve hadthousands and thousands ofhits from around the world.

The site was designed to bevery clean and customerfriendly including a largegallery of high resolutionproduct photos. Site visitorscan see at-a-glance thecomprehensive array of Prent’sproducts, facilities and servicesaround the world.

The site will be updated frequently with news and changing information includingNewsprents, customer stories, job openings, department features and more. •

At the recent MD&M East trade show, Prent unveiled its new 20’ x 20’ trade showbooth. It proved to be a big hit and we had many compliments and visitors. SincePrent has been attending MD&M East for over 20 years, we get practically firstchoice for selecting our booth location on the show floor….up front andcenter….making it easy for customers to find us. •

PAGE 2

XXXVIII Issue No. 37, 2009

www.prent.com

New Website is a Hit!

New Trade ShowBooth a Show Stopper!

Prent Corporation is very proud of itseight employees currently serving inthe military as citizen soldiers. Fourare currently deployed in Iraq, onewas in Iraq in 2007, one is deployed inthe USA, one will be going toAfghanistan in several months andanother is still in training.

Earlier this year, Ron Steurer, PrentJanesville Director of Manufacturing,

had the opportunity to spend a longweekend with three of our PrentJanesville soldiers during training atFt. Bliss in El Paso, Texas, before theirdeployment to Iraq.

The three were training in securityenforcement as detainee guards.However, after arriving in Iraq somewere “remissioned” as a Base SupportCompany. They are expected to returnin January 2010.

Ron’s trip to Ft. Bliss was part of “BossLift,” the military’s “Employer Supportof the Guard and Reserves” program.It’s designed to give employers a first-hand look at the type of work theiremployees will be doing while onactive duty in Iraq. “Havingemployees in the military is a sacrificeemployers are making and the vastmajority are making that sacrificewillingly,” according to theDepartment of Defense.

Ron—along with approximately 150

other Wisconsin business owners andmanagers—plus a host of reporters,colonels, generals and others—flew toTexas from Madison, Wisconsin on twoKC135 air refueling planes.

Reporting on his visit, Ron says, “Wewere shown various training activitiesincluding hand-to-hand combat, thefiring range exercises, simulations ofentering into a village and meeting

resistance, actual set-up of detentionfacilities, simulations of entering adetainees cell, examining vehicles forbombs and weapons, simulation ofwhat soldiers should do when theirvehicle hits a land mine and more.

“It was a very eye-opening andemotional experience for me. I wasimpressed with the intensity of thetraining and the necessity of repeatingthe training over and over again—justas it’s done in combat. The soldiersare very serious about what they aredoing. Actually seeing it first hand, itreally hit home about what they mayexperience and go through just to existin Iraq. The dedication of our Prentsoldiers is amazing. They werefocused on their jobs and they hadrespect for everybody. The NationalGuard makes good Prent employeesand good potential leaders. All ourGuard employees are polite, hard-working, respectful and focused.” •

Operation Boss Lift

Prent is Proud ofIts Citizen Soldiers

VISIT US AT THESE INTERNATIONAL TRADE SHOWS!

MEDTEC CHINASeptember 8-10, 2009

Intex Shanghai,Booth 715

Shanghai, China

MD&M MIDWESTSeptember 22-24, 2009

Donald StephensConvention Center,

Booth 3019Rosemont, IL

MD&MMINNEAPOLIS

October 21-22, 2009Minneapolis Convention

Center,Booth 1219

Minneapolis, MN

China InternationalMedical

Equipment FairOctober 28-31, 2009New International

Convention & ExpositionCenter - Chengdu

Century City, China

COMPAMED 2009November 18-20, 2009Dusseldorf, Germany

BIOMEDEVICEDecember 9-10, 2009

San Jose McEneryConvention Center,

Booth 720San Jose, CA

Inside this Humvee land mine simulator is Carl Petrick, whovolunteered to demonstrate how the army is training soldiers to reactin a roadside bombing incident.

BOSS LIFTSCRAPBOOK

PAGE 3

A Salute to OurMilitary EmployeesPRENT JANESVILLE

Bradley Everhardt

• Sergeant, Deployed in the USA

• Machine Operator, 1 year with Prent

Tim Hansen

• Staff Sergeant, Not currently deployed

• In 2007, Hansen, a former gun truckcommander in Iraq, was awarded aPurple Heart and Medal for Valor forhis bravery and actions.

• MO/Mechanic, 9 years with Prent

Cassandra Salt

• Movement NCO, Her next tour ofduty is expected in November 2009when she will be deployed toAfghanistan for one year

• Mini Shift employee, 1 year with Prent

Luis Frontera

• Specialist E4, Army Reserves, Notcurrently deployed

• Technician 3, 4 months with Prent

Craig Ford

• National Guard, Stationed in Georgiafor several weeks of annual training

• Quality Assurance Inspector, 1 yearwith Prent.

Dustin Lund

• Specialist, On second tour of dutyin Iraq

• Tool Storage/Utility, 1 year with Prent

Gregg Peckham

• Staff Sergeant, Deployed three times,now on second tour of Iraq.

• Warehouse Person, 7 years with Prent

Carl Petrick

• 1ST Sergeant, Deployed to Iraq

• Lead Technician, 17 years with Prent

Luke Steurer

• Private, Deployed to Iraq onPeckham’s team

• Son of Ron Steurer and formerMaintenance employee, 2 years withPrent

An Email from Carl Petrick to Ron Steurer

The weather over here is hot. 125 the other day. Kind of like climbing into an oven beforeit cools down all the way. Rumor has it it gets to about 140 here at its worst. The base I amat is only about a mile and a half from the Persian Gulf. If you climb up the berms on theeast side you can see the big cranes at the docks.

The DFAC (dining facility) is decent. It runs 24/7 because of the night shift. My quartersare small. I share a 7x15 trailer with another guy from my unit. It has A/C and lights soit's not too bad. I bought a small TV to pass the time at night.

My unit got “remissioned.” They closed down the compound we were supposed to takeover. We became the Base Support Company. My unit controls the FET (facilityengineering team) the JDC (joint distribution center) IT/IM and several other functions thathelp the base operate. We got to tour the prison, but that's it. It doesn't look like a fun jobthat's for sure.

John McCamey is in charge of the MWR (morale, welfare and recreation) section. He dealswith all the USO shows coming in and plans activities like sports tournaments and such tohelp make the time go faster. I see him pretty much every day. He's doing good.

I better get back to work. Tell everyone I said hi. I'll write more when I can. •

Carl

...Tell Everyone I Said Hi

PRENT PUERTO RICO

PRENT FLAGSTAFF

Left to right, Ron Steurer, Prent Janesville Director of Manufacturing, meets up with son Luke Steurer, Gregg Peckhamand Carl Petrick.

Because of conflicting schedules, DustinLund visited with Ron Steurer elsewhereon the military base.

Steurer witnessed our Prent Janesville soldiers receiving intensive andextended training on entering and searching civilian villages.

Ron Steurer didn’t go to Ft. Bliss emptyhanded. He brought each Prent soldier apackage of “goodies” put together bythe Human Resources Department,along with a note signed by Prentemployees—which Gregg Peckham isholding, above.

Left to right are members of thePrent China HR Departmentdressed in Western costume forthe Annual Dinner: Panny Pan(HR Manager), Julie Lewis(Corporate HR Director), BJNielsen (President, PrentEuroAsia), Grace Chen (HRAssistant) and KH Kuan(General Manager) at the PrentChina Annual Dinner. •

China Employees of the YearPrent EuroAsia President &CEO BJ Nielsen (1st fromleft) and Prent China GeneralManager KH Kuan (1st fromright) pose with PrentChina’s “Employees of theYear” chosen for their greatcontribution to the company,their very good attitude andteam play. Congratulationsto Senior MA Leader LiuHeling (2nd from left) andMA Leader Feng Guilan (3rdfrom left). •

PRENT NEWS FROM AROUND THE GLOBE

•• PPRREENNTT JJAANNEESSVVIILLLLEE

Prent Denmark RisingConstruction is well underway in Holbaek, Denmark on the company’s Europeanthermoforming location. In early June, the contractor finished the foundation forthe walls and slab floor. The project is on track and on schedule with expectedopening in late 2009. •

•• PPRREENNTT DDEENNMMAARRKK

Puerto RicoExpandsAs business continues to ramp up atPrent Puerto Rico, new hires, newutilities and power upgrades are beingmade to accommodate the arrival ofnew P-34 thermoformers. •

•• PPRREENNTT PPUUEERRTTOO RRIICCOO

Janesville Adds New ManagerWelcome to Todd Hanson, Prent JanesvilleProduction Control Manager. He is responsible forproduction planning in Janesville. A graduate of theUniversity of Wisconsin-Whitewater inProduction/Operations Management, Toddpreviously served with Lab Safety Supply asInventory Planning Analyst. •

PlastiVan WOW’s Students withthe Science of Plastic

PAGE 4

Todd HansonProduction Control Manager

Fashion Jean Show

Maxwell Handrow (left), a 7th grader at St. John Vianney School in Janesville andson of Prent Director of Product Development Don Handrow, intently watches aplastics scientist from the PlastiVan™. The Van is an internationally acclaimedscience education program from the National Plastics Center and Museum. Itsmission is to preserve the past, address the present and promote the future ofplastics through public awareness and education. The Van recently spent anentire week in the area thanks to the sponsorship of Prent and GOEX. • Cross Training in Malaysia

Recently, Prent Malaysia Design &Tooling Manager, Siek Say Wee(right) shared key designknowledge with Prent ProductionEngineers, QA Engineer, ProcessEngineer and Sales Personnel aspart of the company’s intensivecross-training program. •

Bullfight Dancing

Wild West Party in Shanghai

More than 200 Prent Chinaemployees recentlyenjoyed their 2nd AnnualDinner and Dance. It wasa “Crazy Cowboy” eveningwith games, lucky draws,dancing and more. Some ofthe staff practiced formonths to present theBullfight Dancing andFashion Jeans Show. •

•• PPRREENNTT AASSIIAA

HR Training in Asia

Julie Lewis, Prent Corporate Human Resources Director and Equal EmploymentOpportunity Counsel, recently visited both Prent Malaysia and Prent China tolearn about our Human Resources operations in Asia.

Left to right are membersof the Prent Malaysia HRTeam: James Lai (GeneralManager), Maisarah (HRAssistant), Julie Lewis(Corporate HR Director),Nicole Lee (HR Manager),Kelly Soh (HR Officer). •

Malaysia

China

PAGE 5

Corporation2225 Kennedy Rd.P.O. Box 471Janesville, WI 53547-0471

PRE-SRT STDU.S. Postage Paid

PAIDJanesville, WI

Permit No. 914

Continued from Page 1What’s the Secret

industrial design engineers, engineers with conceptual back-grounds, packaging backgrounds and mechanical engineers.

DON: #3: We are committed to staying on the leading edge oftechnology. That comes from our President Joe Pregont and hiseagerness to continually invest in the company. He has thatcommitment for all our worldwide facilities. He builds for thefuture, not the status quo. There’s no thermoforming companythat is more up-to-date with its equipment and technology thanPrent. And that’s at our facilities all over the world. We havecomprehensive design teams with the latest technology and themost innovative designers not only in the USA, but in China andMalaysia. We’ll also have a Design Team at Prent Denmark.

If you could leave Newsprent readers with onethought, what would that be?

CHRIS: A lot of our customers are operating very lean rightnow. They don’t have a lot of extra staff or support. So Prent isan extension of their packaging group. Prent’s worldwide Prod-uct Development Teams bring decades of talent and expertise tocustomer projects, and at no extra cost.

DON: We don’t charge for development costs. We want cus-tomers to understand that we are with them for the long haul,not just for one project. We want to solve all their thermoform-ing needs from design through production.

CHRIS: I don’t think we ever rest on our laurels. As busy as weare, we understand we have to bring our “AGame” to everyproject. And we do.

DON: Bottom line, if we don’t do it someone else will. Ourbiggest compliment is when a customer comes back. •

•• SSEERRVVIICCEE AAWWAARRDDSS

PRENT JANESVILLE

35 Years: Katherine Hermanson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Mini-Shift Inspector Packer

30 Years: John Melgard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Maintenance Manager

25 Years: Julie Isferding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Senior Designer

20 Years: Gary Nishiura . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Senior Tool Design Engineer

10 Years: Bernard Bray . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Set-up Mechanic/TechnicianJulie Buggs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Mini-Shift Inspector Packer

5 Years: Jennifer Duarte . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .HR Generalist

PRENT ARIZONA

10 Years: Bernice Begay . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Quality Associate

5 Years: Maisie Tabaha . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Mini-ShiftDaniel Fierro . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Mini-Shift

PRENT CHINA

5 Years: Frank Che . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Sales Manager