This year’s calendar of events and supporting
activities offered by the international association for the label and sleeve
markets, Finat, is a full one. It reflects, and addresses, the complex and
ever-changing opportunities and challenges in the overall world of packaging
today for the benefit of the Finat membership which, in itself, is a diverse web
of companies, from raw material suppliers through inks, printing and
application machinery, to converters and contract packers.
Tackling the technical challenges
First on this year’s agenda of international events
is the Finat Technical Seminar – a two-yearly event which attracts high
attendances for its astute combination of all the key elements of commercial
label production today. Taking place in Barcelona on 7-9 March, this year’s
seminar addresses a broad range of topics for printers and converters. Setting
the context, keynote speaker Andy Hobsbawm, founder of smart products platform
Evrythng, will provide a leading-edge insight into the IoT, and how ‘smart’
products transform brand relationships, business operations, and service
experiences.
The programme will go on to address choosing an MIS
supplier; the digital print technologies – both stand-alone and in combination
with flexo; workflow automation; inks and decoration techniques; and facestocks
and finishing. As well as the formal presentations, the seminar will feature
parallel troubleshooting workshops where participants can address two arenas of
current technical focus and relevance: the flexible packaging and sleeving
technologies, and multi-layer, peel-and-reveal label constructions. The event’s
accompanying tabletop exhibition and social programme also, of course, offer
exceptional opportunities for networking across the extended label industry
value chain.
European Label Forum
Finat’s annual industry event, the European Label
Forum, travels this year to Dublin, Ireland, 6-8 June. As in previous years,
the program covers a range of issues relevant to the European labels and narrow
web packaging industry. Topics on this year’s agenda include the European label
industry after Brexit, diversification of the labels and narrow web industry,
intelligent packaging, talent development, total cost of ownership of the
different printing technologies, the state of affairs in digital label
printing, the latest innovations in brand protection, online marketing of your
company, as well as the impact of upcoming legislation in food compliant
packaging as well as serialization and tamper evidence. Keynote speakers
confirmed include TV commentator and spokesman of former British PM Tony Blair,
Alastair Campbell, founder of XYZ University, author and expert on
inter-generational issues in companies Sarah Sladek, and Professor Noreena
Hertz, author, visionary economist, decision-making guru and author with an
impressive track record in predicting global trends.
Finat International Label Competition
The ELF also provides the platform for the prize
presentations in the 2018 Finat International Label Competition. This
long-established and prestigious competition – now accepting entries, but
closing 23 March features a number of technical and marketing/end use
categories. For the first time this year, it includes flexible packaging –
since it is now an additional option offered by many label converters. The competition creates a ‘shop window’ of the
label industry, and brings recognition and international press coverage for
winning companies.
Succession planning
A third live event on the Finat calendar takes
place on 5-7 September in Bucharest, Romania: the Finat Global Young Managers’
Congress 2018. This creative Finat initiative represents an opportunity for
younger-generation print managers across the globe – whether Finat members or
not – to come together to focus on management skills development in the
fast-moving packaging print arena, where a continuing flow of new-generation
expertise is essential for the industry’s future.
Technical webinars
Throughout the year, Finat will host a programme of
free-to-attend webinars for members, focussed on technical and recycling
matters. Scheduled subjects include intelligent packaging, self-adhesive label
dispensing, and RecyClass – the recyclability tool for plastic packaging
offered by Plastic Recyclers Europe. One of the subjects covered is the
circular economy strategy for plastics, being one of the major substrates for
labels, with a webinar dedicated to the general recycling strategy, followed by
more detailed webinars on best practices for packaging and label design, and
new label marker technologies for better polymer sorint at the recyclers.
On the Finat Radar
The association’s website is also home to in-depth
market research, published twice a year for the benefit of members in the Finat
Radar. The summer 2018 edition will feature detailed statistics on the European
labelling industry, and the year-end edition will focus on brand owners.
Celebrations!
Confirmation of the high levels of service Finat
has provided to its members is the fact that the association will be
celebrating its 60th anniversary in November 2018. Officially established in
1958, Finat represents unique historical documentation of the self-adhesive
label industry from its inception, and is now supporting, and promoting that
industry’s ever-widening profile in the world of packaging.
