Business Management - Industry Trends

Turnaround times are critical in today’s package-printing world. Couple quick turnaround with the demand for shorter runs, and your press operators will be switching tools almost constantly. Diecutting is an integral part of the entire printing process and can impact the speed at which you can fulfill print orders. Just as diecutting impacts the speed of your print job, external forces, such as consolidation, globalization, new substrates and shorter runs, affect the ­diecutting market. “The label printing industry as a whole has been changing rapidly in recent years,” says Frank Hasselberg, executive vice president, Kocher + Beck USA. “These changes also have a huge

Shrink labeling is a dynamic product decoration segment that is drawing renewed interest from consumer products companies and therefore, from package printers. Shrink labeling draws the attention of consumers with its unique ability to provide 360° product decoration and encompass today’s ergonomically shaped products. Extraordinary looking packages are incorporating shrink labels for a wide range of sizes and novel configurations. Because of the shelf appeal this labeling method can provide, shrink labeling has begun to grab attention away from other, more traditional labeling technologies. While many printers are considering or attempting entry into the shrink label market, anyone looking to get into this end

It seems every industry is affected by consolidation. In the industrial automation sector, blockbuster deals involving heavy hitters occurred almost weekly for a while with the big companies getting bigger and bigger, with fewer and fewer smaller players. The same thing occurred in the collision repair industry and fire service. Though on a more regional scale, larger collision repair facilities would purchase surrounding businesses and become the local major players. And, it’s the same with the fire service, with smaller local fire companies choosing to regionalize and become one department. And, so it goes with the paperboard market for packaging. Consolidation in the

As consumers change their shopping behaviors and refine their tastes in the selection of products, opportunities arise for tag and label converters; that is, if they keep an open mind and are willing to reinvent their businesses. It is not good enough to display products in packaging that is simply functional. People are drawn to the bells and whistles that make effective labels stand apart from the rest. Living in a world of convenience and information that is readily available at our fingertips, people also desire packaging (such as smart labels or RFID tags) that can actually communicate with end users concerned with product safety

Helsinki—UPM is continuing the strong development of its label business by building a self-adhesive label materials factory in Poland. Construction of the factory will begin in the third quarter of this year, and production is scheduled for start-up in the final quarter of 2008. The new production and logistics centre will serve the growing eastern European markets and meet increasing demand for filmic label materials European-wide. “For UPM, this will be the first industrial operation in eastern Central Europe. Label business is one of UPM’s core businesses, and a strategic growth area for the company. We have invested strongly in its development in recent

If Frank Sinatra were to look back on 2006’s flexible packaging market, he might break into “It Was a Very Good Year.” About 85 percent of the converters that responded to packagePRINTING’s Top Flexible Packaging Converters Survey reported that their businesses experienced growth in 2006, while 15 percent said business stayed the same or decreased. Overall, flexible packaging converters are using a majority of their capacity. About 61 percent of respondents are operating at capacity levels of between 80 and 90 percent, while 39 percent are operating at less than 80 percent. Nearly all of the respondents anticipate that they will expand their package

What do Star Trek and Hammer Packaging have in common? Several things, actually. They both use state-of-the-art technology to seek out and explore new territory; Star Trek is on its fifth TV generation, while Hammer Packaging is led by fourth-generation family owner Jim Hammer, president and CEO, with his son Jason part of the management team and representing the fifth generation; and probably most important—they are both very successful enterprises (pun intended) in their respective worlds. Hammer Packaging got its start in 1912 as Genesee Valley Litho, a regional supplier of labels to the growing agricultural industry in Western New York. “The company

TAMPERE, Finland—Touch Automation, an industry leader in developing automated dispensing solutions for movies, music, and video games, exclusively uses UPM Raflatac RFID tags to optimize key supply chain and consumer processes. Found in more than 1,000 grocery stores and other retailing locations across the USA, Touch Automation’s systems provide consumers with an easy, convenient means to rent or purchase entertainment CDs and DVDs, while reducing the threat of theft and shrinkage. Touch Automation’s merchandising systems also enable retailers to capitalize on the growing DVD self-service kiosk market, a segment which is expected to exceed $3 billion in annual sales by 2009. Multiple system configurations,

DALLAS, Texas—RSI ID Technologies (RSI), an RFID tag manufacturer and systems integrator, announced the release of two specialty RFID-enabled retail displays. The Pressiza Jewelry and Eyewear displays combine item-level RFID tracking and RFID-based access cards to maximize loss prevention and provide retailers with unprecedented asset visibility. For the first time, retailers can account for all items on the sales floor in real-time. Employees can access the Pressiza Jewelry and Eyewear displays by using an RFID access card. Based on the privileges set for each individual, they are either granted or denied access. When access is granted, the employee’s ID number is stored in the

CHARLOTTE, N.C.—SATO America, Inc., a global leader in barcode printing, labeling, and EPC/RFID solutions, today unveiled the new GL4e series for medium-duty industrial applications. As an RFID-ready printer, it is field-upgradeable offering flexibility and scalability to meet end users’ RFID printing requirements anytime. Only the GL4e series offers a field-upgradeable UHF RFID option; an industry-leading printer management utility; SATOnet CONNECT; standard tri-port communication protocols of RS232C serial, IEEE1284 high-speed parallel and USB 2.0 plus LAN and 802.11g Wireless LAN as options; an “automatic detection system” to conveniently switch between 203 dpi (GL408e) and 305 dpi (GL412e) print resolution; an Online Barcode Verifier (OBV)