Raflatac, Inc.

FLETCHER, N.C.—UPM Raflatac has released Fast Face, a new ordering program for non-adhesive products, which enables labelstock converters to receive lower volume, custom-slit orders of select non-adhesive products in the rapid delivery time cycles that support their business requirements. These products can be used for a wide array of important industry applications such as tags, tickets, business forms, coupons, point-of-sale materials and folding cartons. While labelstock converters have traditionally waited weeks or even months for deliveries of small volume non-adhesive product orders, they will now be able to operate at the speed-of-market with Fast Face. The program offers labelstock converters access to the same

CHARLOTTE, NC.—With its annual high school event approaching, the Phoenix Challenge Foundation recognized the sponsors that will make this year’s Annual International High School Flexographic Skills Competition possible. This year’s 11 new sponsors include: Applied Laser Engineering Ltd. Bryce Corporation Design Label Systems Inc. Eastman Kodak Co. ECP, Engineered Coated Products Huggins & Company North State Flexibles LLC Nu Tech Coatings The Provident Group Van Hoy, Reutlinger, Adams & Dunn The Phoenix Challenge Foundation also recognizes the returning sponsors whose loyalty makes the high school competition bigger and better each year: 3M All Printing Resources, Inc. Anderson & Vreeland Inc. Appalachian State University BB&T

CHARLOTTE, NC.—With its annual high school event approaching, the Phoenix Challenge Foundation recognized the sponsors that will make this year’s Annual International High School Flexographic Skills Competition possible. This year’s 11 new sponsors include: Applied Laser Engineering Ltd. Bryce Corporation Design Label Systems Inc. Eastman Kodak Co. ECP, Engineered Coated Products Huggins & Company North State Flexibles LLC Nu Tech Coatings The Provident Group Van Hoy, Reutlinger, Adams & Dunn The Phoenix Challenge Foundation also recognizes the returning sponsors whose loyalty makes the high school competition bigger and better each year: 3M All Printing Resources, Inc. Anderson & Vreeland Inc. Appalachian State University BB&T

TAMPERE, Finland—NP Collection has become the first fashion company in Scandinavia to pilot an RFID-based total supply chain solution. The pilot started in June 2007 with the aim of improving the efficiency of the company’s supply chain logistics. As NP Collection is in the process of opening its own chain of stores and expanding its global purchasing network, it needs a powerful supply chain administration tool. The RFID tags are attached to NP’s garments at the manufacturing site to enable tracking and data collection throughout the supply chain. In the first phase of the pilot the garments are RFID-tagged at a manufacturing site in

RFID has been the “talk of the town” ever since Wal-Mart laid out its expectations to its largest suppliers in 2003—lots of press, lots of hype. Now, it seems as though more participants are asking that famous question posed in Wendy’s® commercials many years ago, “Where’s the beef?” It is true that the glowing light of RFID has dimmed during the last couple of years—reality has not lived up to the expectations that were created. That doesn’t mean, however, that RFID is no longer something package printers need to consider. RFID is being implemented in a wide range of applications and some of

TAMPERE, Finland—Speaking at a Labelexpo Europe 2007 seminar on “Challenging our business - today’s RFID and environmental opportunities” in Brussels, Belgium, UPM Raflatac President Heikki Pikkarainen called for industry collaboration in sustainability issues. “Tackling the key challenges of the labeling industry—ensuring that the products come from sustainable managed forests, reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, environmentally sound production and distribution, and turning waste efficiently into a resource—requires that the whole industry works together,” he said. “By combining the efforts of the entire labeling sector we can make a difference to our industry and our environment.” Environmental compliance is a matter of rising importance throughout the

TAMPERE, Finland—Speaking at Labelexpo Europe 2007 seminar on “Challenging our business - today’s RFID and environmental opportunities” in Brussels, Belgium, UPM Raflatac President Heikki Pikkarainen called for urgent industry collaboration in sustainability issues. “Tackling the key challenges of labelling industry—ensuring that the products come from sustainable managed forests, reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, environmentally sound production and distribution and turning waste efficiently into a resource—requires that the whole industry works together,” he said. “By combining the efforts of the entire labelling sector we can make a difference to our industry and our environment.” Environmental compliance is a matter of rising importance throughout the entire

TAMPERE, Finland—UPM Raflatac, a leading manufacturer of RFID tags and inlays, is supplying UHF EPC Generation 2 tags to MBA Grupo, a major European healthcare distributor headquartered in Spain. Through its network, MBA distributes medical products related to orthopaedic surgery, neurosurgery, cardiovascular surgery and anaesthesia. The RFID project is led by BC Biocon, a subsidiary of MBA Grupo. With an annual turnover of more than $140 million, MBA has implemented RFID technology to improve stock management and enable product tracking through the entire supply chain, from production in Asturias, Spain to private and public hospitals in Spain, Italy and Portugal. In the first phase

TAMPERE, Finland—UPM Raflatac celebrates today the opening of a new slitting and distribution terminal in Mumbai in India. The new terminal provides slitting facilities for UPM Raflatac’s filmic and paper labelstocks. It also strengthens the company’s delivery capabilities to customers in the region with shorter delivery times and a more diverse product range. “The investment demonstrates UPM Raflatac’s long-term commitment to the Indian labelling market. We believe our customers will appreciate our local supply of high-quality filmic labelstock range, as well as our renowned specialty range of paper laminates. Most importantly, we intend to provide a superior service experience,” says Jussi Vanhanen, senior vice

LAHTI, Finland—ADT, Salpomec and UPM Raflatac announced the opening of a unique Apparel Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) Solution Centre. This new facility demonstrates how RFID can significantly enhance supply chain management and in-store retail operations for garment manufacturers, brand owners, retailers, and logistics providers. “Optimization of the supply chain is a vital competitive factor for both apparel manufacturers and retailers alike,” says John Smith, VP of retail sales for ADT Europe, Middle East, and Africa. “Brand owners want to prevent counterfeiting, manufacturers want to save time and money by streamlining their processes, while retailers seek to improve their in-store and point of sale activities.