Top Tag & Label Converters — Keep On Truckin’

As reported in our State of the Industry Report on tags and labels, the global market grew from 4 to 4.5 percent in 2007, even in the face of a struggling economy. And, this year again, a majority of participants in packagePRINTING’s Top Tag and Label Converters survey shared that they experienced growth in their businesses.

Although the number went down from last year, about 68 percent of converters said that their businesses grew in 2007, as opposed to 75 percent in 2006. About 18 percent indicated that their tag and label business decreased, while 14 percent said their businesses stayed the same. An overwhelming 87 percent of participating converters plan to expand into new areas of package printing, including new end-use markets or new label and flexible packaging printing processes. Some converters indicated interest in expanding into additional markets, such as eco-friendly label printing processes.

As indicated by respondents, capacity utilization in 2007 was relatively low. The percentage of converters that operated at capacity levels of between 80 and 90 percent was 59 percent, while about 40 percent are operating at less than 80 percent. Only one respondent reported using more than 90 percent of its capacity.

Not surprisingly, most of the converters that participated in the survey reported using flexography printing (90 percent) in 2007. UV flexo gained some momentum; about 78 percent reported using this printing process, compared to 70 percent in 2006. But, the most significant increase was in digital printing, which seems to be living up to industry experts’ predictions. Of the participating converters, 60 percent said they are using digital compared to 47 percent in last year’s survey. pP