For Flexibles, Stable Doesn't Mean Stagnant

Flexible packagers must stay alert to hints of change, even in the face of repetitive annual growth rates.

By Susan Friedman

The numbers make it tempting, but flexible packaging converters can't afford to be lulled into a sense of predictability.

By Flexible Packaging Association (FPA) estimates, the industry grew at a rate of 3.7 percent in 1998, to a shipment level of $17.5 billion—a rate almost dead even with 1997's 3.5 percent annual growth.