The
future of the label industry is in good hands. That was how one delegate summed
up the first ever Global YMC Congress organised by FINAT’s Young Managers Club
(YMC). Mike Fairley of Tarsus Group went on to say that the opportunities for
the next generation of industry leaders to meet, network and discuss the
industry’s challenges and opportunities will undoubtedly provide long-term
benefit. The two-day congress, held in Berlin in close collaboration with TLMI
(US), LMAI (India) and the hosting country’s national association VskE
(Germany), covered a range of topics under the umbrella of ‘Young Managers,
let's challenge the future’. It offered the young blood of the industry
international networking opportunities and the ability to share experiences and
obtain knowledge from industry experts all over the world.
It
also covered a broad variety of topics from ‘Next Generation or New
Generation?’, ‘Developing an Environmental Management Policy that makes
Economic and Business Sense’ and ‘Decision Making’.
Next generation
thinking
The
'Next Generation or New Generation?’ presentation by Renate Kenter, strategy
consultant, facilitator, and teacher with De Ruijter Strategy (NL) said ‘being stuck in today’s thinking can be
expensive’. She described how sailing towards a desired goal, your chosen
destination, involves a combination of looking back (using the experience and
knowledge of the older generation) and looking forward. Beforehand, you must
define what your core business is, and why you are successful in it. “If you
cannot do that, you cannot look at the future,” she stated.
A
workshop followed which saw delegates consider key uncertainties and their
future vision which included globalisation, possible international alliances
and partnerships; cost pressures, and the need to find cost-saving solutions
and new technologies, developing faster than they are being adopted.
Green Labels
The
importance of an environmentally conscious approach was outlined by label
industry guru Mike Fairley, Director of Strategic Development, Labels &
Packaging Group, Tarsus Exhibitions & Publishing. He set out in detail the
options for creating and maintaining an environmental management policy
appropriate for the packaging and labelling industry that also makes economic
and business sense. It must also, crucially, partner the policies and published
environmental aspirations of the major brand owners, 70-80% of whom rate
environmental concerns ‘highly’.
An
eye-opening interactive session, ‘Managing people - leadership and decision
making’, was led by Prof Dr Isabell Welpe, chair of strategy and organisation
at the Technical University of München (DE). She explained how some wrong
decisions are unavoidable, but others are definitely avoidable, and urged
participants – as leaders in their organisations - to fine-tune their
decision-making processes to identify and eliminate any team bias, and to steer
clear of any form of ‘group think’. Strategic leadership in a company is
critical for its success, and is centred on matching company resources to
market opportunities. "Leadership is influence," Dr Welpe underlined.
"If you lead, others follow.”
There
were also presentations on Strategic Planning, India: Opportunities and
Challenges, Burnout: How to Recognize, Prevent and Deal With It and
Collaboration.
Be flexible to change
Francesc
Egea, of IPE Innovaciones Para Etiquetajes, Spain and chairman of YMC summed up
the clear messages of the event succinctly when he said: “There is a lot of
change around our industry today – changing technology, changing end user
markets, new economies, and changing customer needs. We have to be flexible, and adapt our
companies accordingly.”
But
what did the delegates think? “The content was fantastic, focusing on key
skills and unique ideas on how to drive our businesses forward,” commented
Matthew Burton, AB Graphic International. “This made it relevant to all
attendees, whether they are suppliers, converters, or press people, by focusing
on developing skill sets rather than new technologies or innovations within the
industry.”
Aside
from the opportunity for networking Brian Hurst of Yerecic Label was impressed
by the relevance of the business sessions that provided ‘take-homes’ for all
and Alex Elezaj from Whitlam Label Company stated "the discussions
surrounding global business issues with such a fine group of individuals were
really beneficial."
“Not
only were the challenges of upcoming markets discussed, but techniques of how
to solve them; and opportunities were highlighted,” commented Pawandeep Sahni,
Weldon Celloplast. While Radovan Kilarsky of
Purgina said: “The topics of the presentations were accurate, very
interesting, and motivating. I believe
the next YMC Global Congress will be as successful as this and I cannot wait to
take part!”
Evolving to meet
changing markets
The
Young Managers Club was created by FINAT - the European association for the
self-adhesive label industry - for industry manager’s under-40. Initially it
was focused on succession planning within the many industry SMEs. It has since
evolved to encompass meetings and topical workshops.
Mr
Egea explained: "With the YMC we are recognizing how important it is for
young managers to understand the global influences on the industry and how they
can align their business to these changing requirements. Essential to this is
being able to connect with their peers in the labeling industry from around the
world. There are so many interesting young global citizens and professionals
out there and collectively we are highly educated, ambitious and excited about
the future.”
“The
next generation sure looks bright with this calibre of leaders,“ concluded
congress attendee Tania Mathias of Fantastick Label Co. And Jürgen Scheiblehner
of Delfort Group said: “It is very important to develop the young generation
within FINAT to secure a successful future for the association – and the
industry.”
