Business Management - Industry Trends

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)

NAPERVILLE, Ill.—Tag and Label Manufacturers Institute (TLMI) announced that seven of the association’s label-converter members have won first place awards in the World Label Association Awards Competition. The awards were formally presented at the recent TLMI Converter Meeting in Naples, Fla. In its 17th year, the winners of the World Label Association Awards Competition are chosen from a group comprised of first place winners from association label competitions around the globe including TLMI, the Japanese Label Foundation (JFLP), FINAT, and the Australian Label Association (LATMA). Label samples from companies are judged against each other in a variety of categories to determine the “World’s Best

NAPERVILLE, Ill.—Tag and Label Manufacturers Institute (TLMI) announces seven of the association’s label-converter members have won first-place awards in the World Label Association Awards Competition. The awards were formally presented at the recent TLMI Converter Meeting in Naples, Florida. In its seventeenth year, the winners of the World Label Association Awards Competition are chosen from a group comprised of first-place winners from association label competitions around the globe including TLMI, the Japanese Label Foundation (JFLP), FINAT, and the Australian Label Association (LATMA). Label samples from companies are judged against each other in a variety of categories to determine the “World’s Best Labels.” TLMI converter

PALO ALTO, Calif.—HP announced that it set new records in digital printing in calendar year 2006, surpassing several milestones that signify an acceleration in its Indigo digital press business, including: number of annual impressions printed on HP Indigo surpassed 10 billion; single-month record with more than 1 billion impressions printed in November; and HP Indigo year-over-year impressions grew by 40 percent. According to industry analyst firm InfoTrends, overall U.S. revenues for digital presses in the high-volume, “1M+ average monthly impressions” category is expected to grow from $3.5 billion in 2006 to $13.5 billion by 2010. “HP is addressing industry market growth by continuing to

The tag and label industry continues on a steady path of change. It wasn’t too long ago that primary product labeling meant one of two decoration formats—pressure-sensitive or glue-applied paper labels. But with major inroads being made by film materials and competition from other product decoration methods, tag and label printers find themselves dealing with a multitude of challenges and opportunities. Corey Reardon, president and CEO of AWA Alexander Watson Associates, acknowledges the changing landscape of the tag and label industry. “Product decoration and identification has become a much broader platform in recent years, with the two macro technologies—pressure-sensitive and wet glue labels—now

There’s a lot of the action in the package-printing industry coming from the flexible packaging sector. You can’t go into a supermarket these days and not see some new packaging configuration for products that previously had been packaged in a different form—tuna fish in a flat pouch, drinks in stand-up pouches, frozen foods in plastic bags—just to mention a few. From a printing and converting standpoint, even some of the more trendy labeling applications require press and converting capabilities geared toward the processing of flexible, unsupported materials. These include shrink sleeve labeling, in-mold labeling, and even pressure-sensitive film labels. It is not surprising