THE DATA FRONT

74 | l&l
A vision for 2020
During a recent Board event in London, a series of FINAT experts were brought together to discuss
their vision for the self-adhesive label industry over the next decade. Andy Thomas reports
FINAT recently invited twenty key members, along with some
special guests, to give their personal opinions on the future of the
self-adhesive label industry. The Visions 2020 panel interviews
covered market and management challenges, then technological
and materials innovations and standards as well as issues related
to corporate social responsibility.
The first panel brought together Roger Pellow (Tarsus), Bibiana
Rodriguez (Rotatek, FINAT YMC), Jan Frederik Vink (Kolibri
Labels, FINAT president) and Frank Neumann (Logo Etiketten,
marketing committee). Later during the sessions, the conclusions
of this panel were validated by another board member,
Frédéric Leyval of JPL Etiquette. The panel recognized that the
self-adhesive industry almost doubled its market in Europe over
the past decade – an achievement that will be hard to repeat in
today’s mature markets.
Globalization or relocalization?
For future growth it will be crucial, however, to expand activities
towards new, emerging markets, both geographically and by
segment. That does not necessarily mean that the companies
themselves should move their production or expand by
acquisition; entering into partnerships or sourcing part of the
production via other countries are also interesting options. FINAT
should contribute to this development by offering a platform to
members to find international partners.
There are still opportunities to be explored in Europe, but
customers are globalizing and may relocate and take their
business and supplier base elsewhere. This threat can be turned
into an opportunity by embracing markets like India and China,
which in turn are looking to the mature markets for knowledge,
Labels&Labeling
standards, education and capital.
Alongside this globalization of brands, there is a counter-trend
called ‘small & local’. To stand out in the enormous offer of big
brands, smaller local producers more often tend to invest in
exclusive, high-quality labels. This is a great opportunity for the
smaller companies in the self-adhesive label industry: building
up a solid position in local or market niches can be an effective
alternative to globalization.
Upgrading managerial and operational skills
The main bottleneck for this industry in the future will be finding
qualified people to operate increasingly complex machinery.
In the managerial field we need better skilled people as well.
In the past, the manager used to be production focused and
needed good planning skills. Still today, the profile of many label
companies is determined by their manufacturing capabilities. Our
industry is however gradually evolving from a label manufacturing
into a labeling solutions industry, and this requires managers
with a clear understanding of their own value proposition and
the service offered to customers. For the smaller, family owned
businesses this transformation could be a serious challenge.
Dream and nightmare scenarios
The second panel had Paul Jarvis (4impression), Riki Tzirin (HP
Indigo, marketing committee), Kurt Walker (tesa Bandfix, board)
and Jakob Landberg (Nilpeter, board and chairman marketing
committee) around the table. Asked about their worst nightmare
for the coming decade, the panel was united in its concerns
about the disappearance of true entrepreneurship as a result of
on-going price pressures. On the one hand, the market is asking