Pearson Packaging Systems, a West Plains maker of packaging equipment, says it has signed an exclusive co-marketing agreement with Italian manufacturer CT Pack under which it will begin selling specialized equipment made by that company.

Pearson says it will be the North American supplier of CT Pack's Vortex Systems multipacking equipment and will sell that product line as part of a complete, end-of-line product packaging setup that also includes Pearson's own equipment.

Unlike standard case packing, "multipacking" is a process, whether partly or fully automated, in which a product is packed into a container that is then packed into another container before being placed on pallets and distributed.

"This agreement represents the first step in developing a long-term relationship with CT Pack's Vortex Systems division," says Pearson President and CEO Michael A. Senske.

That relationship brings Pearson a step closer to becoming a single-source provider for all of a customer's end-of-line packaging needs, Senske says.

CT Pack CEO Stefano Cavallari says the two companies are "perfectly complementary since together we can offer a complete line starting after the primary packaging up to the final 'palletizing' stage."

As a result of the agreement, CT Pack, which is based near Bologna, will have personnel based at Pearson's Chicago office, and an area will be set up at Pearson's plant here for the design and testing of new multipacking equipment. A Pearson spokeswoman says the two companies might establish joint ventures in North America and Europe in the future if the distribution and co-brand agreement proves successful.

Pearson added a Chicago presence in late 2008 when it acquired Goodman Packaging Equipment, a longtime producer there of top-loading case packers. It moved Goodman Packaging's manufacturing and assembly operations to its facility here, but decided to keep open an engineering, service, and sales support office there.

Pearson currently employs the full-time equivalent of 142 people and has slightly increased its employment over the last several years. Its 110,000-square-foot facility here is located about two miles east of Airway Heights along U.S. 2. The company says it has grown over the last two years, despite the recession, and is projecting 2010 revenues of $35 million to $37 million.

The company designs and manufactures packaging equipment for big-name companies in the beverage, food, chemical, personal care, and general manufacturing and distribution industries. Nearly all of its machinery is designed to erect, pack, and seal product cases made of corrugated fiberboard, which the company's machinery typically makes from cut, flat sheets of the material. Its customers include, or have included, such food and beverage heavyweights as Tyson Foods, Frito-Lay, Coors, Coca-Cola, Anheuser-Busch, Kraft, Sara Lee, Procter & Gamble, and Pepsi.

Senske said in an interview with the Journal two years ago that customers recently had become much more interested in buying complete end-of-line packaging systems. Previously, they were satisfied with buying equipment such as case erectors and case sealers from different vendors, but many didn't have the time or resources to deal with multiple vendors, he said. Pearson was taking advantage of that trend by providing total systems, even if it has to acquire some of the equipment from other manufacturers, he said.