Manfred Bonetsmuller, the founder and managing director of the Somic Group for decades, passed away Oct. 10, 2024, at the age of 83. His inventive spirit and personality shaped the company from Amerang in Upper Bavaria for more than 40 years.

Bonetsmuller recognized the opportunities of automation for food production when he founded the company in 1974. He continuously developed new technical innovations, and was quick to win customers from Germany and France with automated stacking, portioning and wrapping packaging machines for the cheese industry. His willingness and know-how in response to individual customer requirements contributed enormously to the company’s further growth.

In the early 1980s, Bonetsmuller formed the decisive foundation for Somic's continued success by developing the first carton erector. Somic later offered complete packaging lines for dairies.

He opened new market segments when Somic developed a compact cartoning machine that combined two systems. This meant that for the first time, products could be collected, grouped and packaged in one machine. With this innovative technology, more product shapes such as cups, tins, bags, folding cartons and others could be processed, which enabled the company to expand into more sectors and countries.

The basic modular principle of Somic's end-of-line packaging machines he developed are still one of the keys to the company’s success today. It allows maximum output on the smallest footprint and can be individually adapted to any packaging task.

From simple tray packers and lid tray packers to complex wraparound packers, Somic machines are now used in food, nonfood and health care sectors. These are collected, grouped and positioned on a carton blank according to the requirements of the respective product. Once closed, these shelf-ready cartons offer optimal protection of the product during transportation.

With his inventive spirit and passion for always offering customers the best packaging solution, Bonetsmuller grew Somic from a four-person business to a globally active mechanical engineering company. The company expanded to North America with Somic Packaging Inc. in 2014, and another production facility was added when Somic Haag was acquired in 2019. Last December, subsidiary Somic Packaging Asia Pacific Co. Ltd. opened in Thailand.

The Somic team intends to honor Bonetsmuller's life’s work and spirit by continuing to develop packaging solutions that are “engineered to perform.”

Source: Somic Packaging Inc.