Page 68 - FINAT Yearbook 2019

The 2018 L9 WLA Awards
WINNERS, BEST OF THE BEST
AND HONOURABLE MENTIONS
In March 2019, the L9 group of international label associations announced the results of the 2018 L9 World Label Awards (WLA) competition judged by an international panel of judges representing each of the participating associations. The judging took place in Chicago the day before Labelexpo Americas at the exhibition venue. The L9 is an alliance of global label associations formed to jointly formulate policies and to collect strategic information of global interest to the worldwide label industry.
The current class structure encompasses all the principal printing processes and market applications.
In order to ensure that the World Label Awards competition maintains a truly international flavour, all of the L9 label associations are invited to submit entries for the competition which has been running now for 17 years. In 2018, we received entries from the following associations: FINAT (Europe), TLMI (USA), JFLP (Japan), FPLMA (Australia), SALMA (New Zealand) and PEIAC (China). Almost 70 entries were received in total which resulted in 21 Winners awards being given along with 12 HM awards (a table of awards by association can be found at the end of this release).
The basic ground rules have not changed for submitting entries in this prestigious label competition. The entries are selected by the respective L9 label association and must have won an award in their respective “local” competition. This is the only route to entry because direct entries from individual converters are not accepted. The associations are limited to entering one entry in each category. Winning an award in the WLA competition is highly respected throughout the worldwide label fraternity indicating that the label converter
THE RESULTS:
has achieved a high level of competence in label production. The awards not only reflect the achievements of the label printer but also the whole production process through from design to finishing. Many past winners have used their awards as a valuable marketing tool to promote their expertise. No wonder they are often referred to as the technical Oscars of the global label industry. The jury spends a considerable amount of time examining and debating the technical and aesthetic features of each entry including the converting and finishing techniques. “We examine each entry in great detail and make our decision based on our examination and the technical information provided. Although we expect a high standard of printing at this level and we also look for the quality of the design of the label and its final commercial application” comments Tony White, chairman of the judging panel. “Each year the quality level of the labels improves which makes selecting the winning labels all that more difficult” he continues.
The judges for the 2018 competition included Mike Buystedt (Vice Chair), Noel Mitchell (FNAT), Andrew Maxwell (FPLMA), Mr. Masaaki Yoshitake (JFLP), Ms. Jean Li (PEIAC) and Harveer Sahni visiting judge (LMAI).
CLASS 1: FLEXO LINE
Winner TLMI: McDowell Label & Screen Printing, USA for “Braising Sauce”
HM FPLMA: Labelhouse Pty. Ltd. Australia for “Daylesford and Hepburn Mineral Springs Co. Sparkling Mineral Water 750ml”
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| FINAT YEARBOOK 2019