John Penhallow06.03.15
Srbija is not the easiest word to pronounce, and even in its more usual spelling of Serbia, it is a country which Narrow Web Europe News has until now overlooked. Not any longer. With its capital, Belgrade, and its population of just over seven million, Serbia was the heartland of the old Yugoslavia and is today an upper-middle-income country with a stable, democratic government. It is also a candidate for accession to the European Union (EU). To get a feel for the label business in Serbia, your correspondent spoke to Milan Nikoletic of Birografika MB, a label and packaging converter in Subotica, a town tucked away right on Serbia’s northern border with Hungary.
Birografika is a family-owned business, started when the present owners bought the assets of a previously state-owned print shop. As recently reported in L&NW, the company has just invested in a new label press. “We make a range of printed products,” said Nikoletic, “but self-adhesive labels are one of our specialties, particularly now that we have two narrow web presses. The older one is a Gallus E410 7-color, with cold foil, running mostly BOPP films, for wraparounds and flexible packaging. Then we have the recently installed 250mm UV flexo press – also with seven colors – from Mark Andy.” Surprisingly, for a company so close to two national borders (Hungary, Romania) Birografika exports very little of its production, and its biggest customers are all within Serbia. “Tire manufacturer Michelin is a good customer,” said Nikoletic. “We produce specialty labels for their tires. Their factory is 500km away but we are very competitive and have a regular contract supplying this plant. Michelin recently doubled the plant’s size and now produces around 12 million tires per year. We also supply Carlsberg.” Birografika has 40 employees, about 15 of whom work on the label side of the business.
The Serbian label market is expanding fast, according to Nikoletic, at around 7-9% per year. “But our country’s per capita label consumption is only one third that of neighboring Slovenia, he added, so there is plenty of room for growth. Several big brand owners are producing in Serbia, including major label and packaging users like Nestlé and Danone.
Will Serbia join the EU? Probably not within the next decade, reckoned Nikoletic, and that’s OK, “because we don’t want to be overrun by some of the big label converters in Poland and the Czech Republic. Why did Birografika buy a US-made machine? “Well, we did the deal in May 2014 with a price fixed in €, so the rapid rise of the dollar may have hurt them but didn’t hurt us!” Birografika’s sales today are around €1.3 million, and thanks to the new press, the company is confident it will increase sales substantially this year.
World’s second biggest press maker moves into narrow web
World markets in recent years have not been kind to KBA, but 2014 looks to be a turning point. Sales last year rose to $1.2 billion, and more importantly, the group turned in a modest profit to set against the substantial losses of previous years. KBA is mainly known for its sheet offset presses, produced at its main works in the eastern part of Germany. Now just recently came news that KBA’s daughter company KBA-MePrint has launched a semi-rotary UV offset label press, called Varius LX-TX, using waterless technology. Waterless offset uses an anilox roll to lay down a stable and predictable ink layer, with none of the hassle of getting the water-ink balance right. Worldwide, waterless offset is very much a minority taste among label converters, but its proponents maintain that it is the best thing since sliced rolls, citing less water consumption, less make-ready waste, no VOCs and higher print quality. KBA MePrint marketing manager Bertram Maus confirmed that two Varius presses have already been delivered to label converters in Italy. “This press has all the advantages of waterless offset,” he told your correspondent. “Plus complete modularity, perfect tension control and full automation, including fully automatic plate change and auto-register, There’s also an optional screen printing unit. Although this is the first foray of a KBA group company into narrow web converting, I should point out that we invented the waterless offset process many years ago, so we are fully experienced.”
Austrians out, French in, Americans everywhere
Readers of this column will know about Austria-based Constantia Flexibles. This monster of the label and packaging sector, employing over 8,000 and with 2014 sales of €1.7billion ($1.9 billion), was recently acquired by the Wendel Group. At the end of 2015, Constantia CEO Thomas Unger will be ushered out. The new chairman of the Supervisory Board will be Frédéric Lemoine, chairman of the Executive Board at Wendel Group, and he will be joined by Bernard Gautier, member of the Executive Board at Wendel Group, Roland Lienau and Patrick Tanguy. Just for the record, Wendel is an example of those highly successful French firms that choose to invest worldwide rather than in France. There must be a reason.
Some international investors, however, are watching the dollar/euro exchange rate and are not averse to buying up French companies: recent months have seen Lafarge (cement), Alstom (energy) and other fine flowers of French industry being acquired by foreign industrial groups, and French hackles are rising. The latest in the series is logistics group Norbert Dentressangle, whose bright red trucks are a regular feature on Europe’s roads. This time the wicked wolf is the American XPO Logistics. For many people even in the French business community, this was the last straw. A sober French business publication, not normally given to protectionist posturing, had this to say: “Disappointment. That is our feeling about the acquisition of Dentressangle by the American XPO Logistics. And for many reasons: first, the attitude of the (French) government which does not bat an eyelid when one of our finest transportation and logistics companies now operates under the American flag. Disappointment also with the decision of its founder to sell this wonderful company after scarcely a week of negotiations...” The sale of course went through, official eyelids remained unbatted and Monsieur Dentressangle and his co-owners, despite the blame heaped on them by the press, walked away with something approaching a cool $3.6 billion.
Herma
German labelstock manufacturer Herma turned in an 8% rise in sales in 2014, bringing it to €282 million ($315 million), which makes it around 20 times smaller than Avery Dennison – who, however, posted a sales increase in 2014 of just 3%. Herma achieved this result despite a sluggish economy in the Eurozone and the politic-economic problems in Russia and Ukraine (which also hurt Avery’s sales). Herma’s managing director Thomas Baumgärtner said he was “cautiously optimistic” about the prospects for 2015, for which Herma is budgeting on a 2015 sales increase of 3.5% and was on target in the first quarter of this year. As for Raflatac, its 2014 results showed world sales of €1.25 billion and an operating profit of $80 million. Both figures are up on the previous year.
Schreiner in China
What is the connection between a German label converter and reduced pollution from auto engines in China? The answer to the enigma comes from Schreiner ProTech, whose Shanghai office is supplying Pressure Compensation Seals (PCSs) to the Chinese auto industry. For those readers who, like your correspondent, could not tell a PCS from a hole in the ground, they are pressure equalizing devices that take the form of waterproof, air-permeable membranes, which act like valves to compensate pressure differences in engine gearboxes, catalytic converters and other useful widgets that need to breathe while being kept free of dirt, oil and other nasties. And needless to say, the seals are made of pressure sensitive materials. Schreiner ProTech is currently increasing its activities in China and plans to build a production facility in Shanghai during the course of 2015. This step will enable this division of Schreiner Group to supply its automotive customers in China with products and solutions produced locally.
Hard cheese
“How can anyone govern a nation,” said General de Gaulle, “which has 365 different cheeses?” It’s not just the variety (actually France produces over 500 varieties), it’s the vast number of small producers that gets label printers salivating. Although the market is dominated by big companies like Lactalis, every region, sometimes every village, has its own specialty, with names often protected by law such that the cheese must be produced within the authorized region. A lobby group called the Association Fromage du Terroir has gone on record as saying that cheese is not just food, but “...a theme of national importance.” To make its point, the association produces a wall-calendar showing lightly-clothed ladies offering cheeses “which defend the values of our Art de Vivre.” In case you feel all this is going a bit over the top, think of the number of short-run labels and packs that this agricultural sector requires, and then you realize why so many of France’s label converters are going digital. But before you run down to your local Walmart to get your bit of Art de Vivre, remember that according to the same association, true French cheeses “are being eclipsed by a bland, pasteurized industry, designed in part to suit foreign markets.” Sorry about that.
Birografika is a family-owned business, started when the present owners bought the assets of a previously state-owned print shop. As recently reported in L&NW, the company has just invested in a new label press. “We make a range of printed products,” said Nikoletic, “but self-adhesive labels are one of our specialties, particularly now that we have two narrow web presses. The older one is a Gallus E410 7-color, with cold foil, running mostly BOPP films, for wraparounds and flexible packaging. Then we have the recently installed 250mm UV flexo press – also with seven colors – from Mark Andy.” Surprisingly, for a company so close to two national borders (Hungary, Romania) Birografika exports very little of its production, and its biggest customers are all within Serbia. “Tire manufacturer Michelin is a good customer,” said Nikoletic. “We produce specialty labels for their tires. Their factory is 500km away but we are very competitive and have a regular contract supplying this plant. Michelin recently doubled the plant’s size and now produces around 12 million tires per year. We also supply Carlsberg.” Birografika has 40 employees, about 15 of whom work on the label side of the business.
The Serbian label market is expanding fast, according to Nikoletic, at around 7-9% per year. “But our country’s per capita label consumption is only one third that of neighboring Slovenia, he added, so there is plenty of room for growth. Several big brand owners are producing in Serbia, including major label and packaging users like Nestlé and Danone.
Will Serbia join the EU? Probably not within the next decade, reckoned Nikoletic, and that’s OK, “because we don’t want to be overrun by some of the big label converters in Poland and the Czech Republic. Why did Birografika buy a US-made machine? “Well, we did the deal in May 2014 with a price fixed in €, so the rapid rise of the dollar may have hurt them but didn’t hurt us!” Birografika’s sales today are around €1.3 million, and thanks to the new press, the company is confident it will increase sales substantially this year.
World’s second biggest press maker moves into narrow web
World markets in recent years have not been kind to KBA, but 2014 looks to be a turning point. Sales last year rose to $1.2 billion, and more importantly, the group turned in a modest profit to set against the substantial losses of previous years. KBA is mainly known for its sheet offset presses, produced at its main works in the eastern part of Germany. Now just recently came news that KBA’s daughter company KBA-MePrint has launched a semi-rotary UV offset label press, called Varius LX-TX, using waterless technology. Waterless offset uses an anilox roll to lay down a stable and predictable ink layer, with none of the hassle of getting the water-ink balance right. Worldwide, waterless offset is very much a minority taste among label converters, but its proponents maintain that it is the best thing since sliced rolls, citing less water consumption, less make-ready waste, no VOCs and higher print quality. KBA MePrint marketing manager Bertram Maus confirmed that two Varius presses have already been delivered to label converters in Italy. “This press has all the advantages of waterless offset,” he told your correspondent. “Plus complete modularity, perfect tension control and full automation, including fully automatic plate change and auto-register, There’s also an optional screen printing unit. Although this is the first foray of a KBA group company into narrow web converting, I should point out that we invented the waterless offset process many years ago, so we are fully experienced.”
Austrians out, French in, Americans everywhere
Readers of this column will know about Austria-based Constantia Flexibles. This monster of the label and packaging sector, employing over 8,000 and with 2014 sales of €1.7billion ($1.9 billion), was recently acquired by the Wendel Group. At the end of 2015, Constantia CEO Thomas Unger will be ushered out. The new chairman of the Supervisory Board will be Frédéric Lemoine, chairman of the Executive Board at Wendel Group, and he will be joined by Bernard Gautier, member of the Executive Board at Wendel Group, Roland Lienau and Patrick Tanguy. Just for the record, Wendel is an example of those highly successful French firms that choose to invest worldwide rather than in France. There must be a reason.
Some international investors, however, are watching the dollar/euro exchange rate and are not averse to buying up French companies: recent months have seen Lafarge (cement), Alstom (energy) and other fine flowers of French industry being acquired by foreign industrial groups, and French hackles are rising. The latest in the series is logistics group Norbert Dentressangle, whose bright red trucks are a regular feature on Europe’s roads. This time the wicked wolf is the American XPO Logistics. For many people even in the French business community, this was the last straw. A sober French business publication, not normally given to protectionist posturing, had this to say: “Disappointment. That is our feeling about the acquisition of Dentressangle by the American XPO Logistics. And for many reasons: first, the attitude of the (French) government which does not bat an eyelid when one of our finest transportation and logistics companies now operates under the American flag. Disappointment also with the decision of its founder to sell this wonderful company after scarcely a week of negotiations...” The sale of course went through, official eyelids remained unbatted and Monsieur Dentressangle and his co-owners, despite the blame heaped on them by the press, walked away with something approaching a cool $3.6 billion.
Herma
German labelstock manufacturer Herma turned in an 8% rise in sales in 2014, bringing it to €282 million ($315 million), which makes it around 20 times smaller than Avery Dennison – who, however, posted a sales increase in 2014 of just 3%. Herma achieved this result despite a sluggish economy in the Eurozone and the politic-economic problems in Russia and Ukraine (which also hurt Avery’s sales). Herma’s managing director Thomas Baumgärtner said he was “cautiously optimistic” about the prospects for 2015, for which Herma is budgeting on a 2015 sales increase of 3.5% and was on target in the first quarter of this year. As for Raflatac, its 2014 results showed world sales of €1.25 billion and an operating profit of $80 million. Both figures are up on the previous year.
Schreiner in China
What is the connection between a German label converter and reduced pollution from auto engines in China? The answer to the enigma comes from Schreiner ProTech, whose Shanghai office is supplying Pressure Compensation Seals (PCSs) to the Chinese auto industry. For those readers who, like your correspondent, could not tell a PCS from a hole in the ground, they are pressure equalizing devices that take the form of waterproof, air-permeable membranes, which act like valves to compensate pressure differences in engine gearboxes, catalytic converters and other useful widgets that need to breathe while being kept free of dirt, oil and other nasties. And needless to say, the seals are made of pressure sensitive materials. Schreiner ProTech is currently increasing its activities in China and plans to build a production facility in Shanghai during the course of 2015. This step will enable this division of Schreiner Group to supply its automotive customers in China with products and solutions produced locally.
Hard cheese
“How can anyone govern a nation,” said General de Gaulle, “which has 365 different cheeses?” It’s not just the variety (actually France produces over 500 varieties), it’s the vast number of small producers that gets label printers salivating. Although the market is dominated by big companies like Lactalis, every region, sometimes every village, has its own specialty, with names often protected by law such that the cheese must be produced within the authorized region. A lobby group called the Association Fromage du Terroir has gone on record as saying that cheese is not just food, but “...a theme of national importance.” To make its point, the association produces a wall-calendar showing lightly-clothed ladies offering cheeses “which defend the values of our Art de Vivre.” In case you feel all this is going a bit over the top, think of the number of short-run labels and packs that this agricultural sector requires, and then you realize why so many of France’s label converters are going digital. But before you run down to your local Walmart to get your bit of Art de Vivre, remember that according to the same association, true French cheeses “are being eclipsed by a bland, pasteurized industry, designed in part to suit foreign markets.” Sorry about that.