Page 37 - FINAT Yearbook 2011

Highly commended winner Germark, Spain in the 2011 FINAT Label Competition, category B5 Digital printing for Tricograma.
digital label press suppliers has increased accordingly. Over the last 5 years, the number of POD label press suppliers has quadrupled to over 30 suppliers with around 40 different models on the market today. Even conventional analogue label presses – which will still have a major role to play for many years – are becoming increasingly digitised to compete in the new shorter-run, quick change-over, price-competitive, markets.
environment and sustainability
Over the next few years, environment and sustainability will become the biggest issue for the label industry. This issue is driven by governments, international and national standards, consumer groups, as well as global brand owners and international retail groups, such as Wal-mart and Unilever.
The key aims of the environmental and sustainability requirements now being placed on label printers are to use more sustainable materials, reduce materials usage, reduce and eventually eliminate waste to landfill, reduce energy consumption and reduce the converter carbon footprint. To further increase sustainability of the industry, there is a need for better guidelines for converters on meeting the requirements. More
Source: Private Label - Turning the Biggest Retail Brand Threat into Your Biggest Opportunity Keith Lincoln, Lars Thomassen, 2009
work will also be required to resolve end- user challenges, for example by means of standards and the rationalization of sustainability logos and schemes. In general, greater involvement by the label industry in global and national groups working on environmental and sustaina- bility issues will be needed. In the end, improving the sustainability of the industry will also improve the bottom line and profitability by reducing materials wastage, improved production times, workflow optimisation and reduction of energy usage.
what does the future hold?
Highly commended winner Schreiner Group, Germany in the 2011 FINAT Label Competition, category A8 Security for Flag Tag
Looking at the future, increased use of sophisticated pre-press software and MIS workflow systems is expected. An increasing proportion of production on
existing lines will also go into short run in-line, added-value printing for flexible packaging, cartons and cards. Brands will start looking at marketing concepts combining packaging with the use of social media. The use of smart labels, nano technology, electronic circuitry on paper is likely to be adopted more widely.
Finally, the increasing use of brand protection and anti-counterfeit solutions will provide opportunities for the label industry. Brand protection is a major problem facing the brand owners, with global annual losses due to counterfei- ting recently estimated at $600 billion. By innovative label design and use of modern technology, the label industry can help to authenticate products, reduce counterfeiting, enhance brand security and minimise theft or product tampering.
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Finat Yearbook 2011 |