New factory in Poland – high quality service for the ... - UPM Raflatac

In the heartof EuropeUPM Rafl atac has a long history of operations in Poland,first as a sales office and later as a slitting and distributionterminal. The next step was taken in 2007 with theannouncement of a new labelstock factory.“We wanted to set our state-of-the-art greenfield factoryin a central location with the best possibilities toserve both Central Europe and the fast-growing labellingmarkets in Eastern Europe,” explains Tapio Kolunsarka,Senior Vice President of UPM Raflatac’s labelstock businessin Europe.“Poland also has a growingdomestic market for self-adhesivelabelstock and the locallabelling industry is developingrapidly. Our customers andmultinational brand owners aremaking major investments inPoland,” Kolunsarka adds.Tapio KolunsarkaSenior Vice President,UPM Rafl atac EuropeCutting-edge technolog“Planning for the new factory started from the best product quality achievable,”says Jon Lenck, General Manager for UPM Rafl atac Poland.In Wroclaw, labelstock is manufactured using the most innovativesolutions in the industry. “The entire production process is automated,from receiving the raw materials all the way through the coating lines,slitting, packing and despatch. The factory is also equipped with laboratorieswhere the quality of our products is carefully monitored,” confirmsOperations Director Jani Konkarikoski.UPM Raflatac’s cutting-edge technology for coating and dryingsilicones and adhesives guarantees optimal product characteristics thatGlobal ISO 14001 certificationfor environmental performanceUPM Rafl atac has one set of environmental rules which are referencedglobally to ensure worldwide compliance in all aspects of legislationand also in the implementation of continual improvements to reduce theimpact on the environment.UPM Raflatac is aiming to achieve a single ISO 14001:2004 EnvironmentalManagement System certification covering all the factoriesglobally. The global certificate already covers all UPM Raflatac’s factoriesin Europe, the Changshu factory in China and a labelstock facilityin North Carolina, USA.UPM Raflatac’s recently opened factory in Wroclaw, Poland is workingfor certification to both ISO 14001 and ISO 9001 certificationsduring 2009. Factories in Malaysia, Australia and Durban have ongoingprojects to achieve certification to ISO 14001 in 2010.“ISO 14001 certification is a very public way of demonstrating thecompany’s commitment to the environment and continual improvementin our environmental performance. UPM Raflatac is an industry leaderin environmental issues, shown for example by the innovative waste solutioncreated in the UPM ProFi project,” says Environment and QualitySystems Manager Lesley Crookes.RH 9 optimized for ‘0 to 10 C’food applicationsUPM Rafl atac has developed a cost-effi -cient adhesive – RH 9 – which covers themajority of food applications in the 0 to10 C temperature range.Hotmelt adhesives are ideal for coldand chilled food applications involvingexposure to moisture, provided they followthe maxim ‘less bleed means morespeed’. This is exactly where RH 9 provesits worth, as it’s less susceptible to bleedingat a temperature range broad enoughto cover the majority of cold food labellingapplications. Less bleed reduces thetime spent cleaning die-tools and enablesfaster conversion speeds.RH 9 offers versatility and cost-efficiencyin a single adhesive available across awide range of labelstock combinations.2RAFLATALK EXPRESS