• Login
    • Join
  • Subscribe Free
    • Magazine
    • eNewsletter
    Checkout
    • Magazine
    • News
    • Exclusives
    • Labels & Packaging
    • Markets
    • Technology
    • Equipment
    • Supplies
    • Buyers' Guide
    • Events
    • Jobs
    • More
  • Magazine
  • News
  • Exclusives
  • Labels & Packaging
  • Markets
  • Technology
  • Equipment
  • Supplies
  • Buyers' Guide
  • Events
  • Jobs
  • Current / Back Issues
    Features
    Editorial
    Columns
    Digital Edition
    eNewsletter Archive
    Our Team
    Subscribe Now
    Advertise Now
    Top Features
    Pouch Converting

    Metallic Inks

    A COMMON $ENSE APPROACH TO COATING APPLICATIONS

    Print Management Systems

    Narrow Web Profile: Pacific Barcode, Inc.
    Breaking News
    Converter News
    European Label News
    Industry News
    Industry People
    M&A News
    New Products
    Expert's Opinion
    Live From Shows
    Top News
    TMI introduces enhanced coefficient of friction tester

    Sato America appoints Tim Cook president

    Flint Group will showcase latest products at Labelexpo Southeast Asia

    Ritrama materials help olive oil label win Bronze Award

    Primoreels acquires new Nilpeter FA flexo press
    Beauty & Personal Care Labels
    Beer Labels
    Beverage Labels
    Flexible Packaging
    Folding Carton
    Food Labels
    Glue-Applied
    In-Mold
    Industrial Labels
    Medical Labels
    Pharmaceutical Labels
    Pressure Sensitive
    Prime Labels
    Promotional Labels
    Security Labels
    Shrink
    Smart Labels
    Specialty Labels
    Spirits Labels
    Wine Labels

    Ritrama materials help olive oil label win Bronze Award

    AWA explores growing sleeve labels market

    AWA hosts International Sleeve Label Conference in Atlanta

    Primera announces on-demand RFID label printer

    TLMI's L9 World Label Award winners
    Africa
    Asia
    Australia
    China
    Europe
    India
    Latin America
    Middle East
    North America

    TMI introduces enhanced coefficient of friction tester

    Sato America appoints Tim Cook president

    Flint Group will showcase latest products at Labelexpo Southeast Asia

    Ritrama materials help olive oil label win Bronze Award

    Primoreels acquires new Nilpeter FA flexo press
    Flexography
    Digital Printing
    Prepress
    Finishing
    Sustainability

    Flint Group will showcase latest products at Labelexpo Southeast Asia

    Primoreels acquires new Nilpeter FA flexo press

    Codimag appoints DewaFlex to strengthen Benelux support

    EDNN installs first MPS EF SymJet hybrid press in the Netherlands

    Flint Group prepares for expansive INFOFLEX display
    Digital Printers & Presses
    Flexo Presses
    Label Converting Equipment
    Label Finishing Equipment
    Prepress Equipment

    Primoreels acquires new Nilpeter FA flexo press

    Codimag appoints DewaFlex to strengthen Benelux support

    Uteco Group and Kodak announce availability of Sapphire EVO digital press

    Meech adds new Pulsed DC Controller to Hyperion range

    Primera announces on-demand RFID label printer
    Dies And Tooling
    Flexo Supplies
    Ink & Coatings
    Prepress Supplies
    Pressrooom Supplies
    Substrates

    Flint Group will showcase latest products at Labelexpo Southeast Asia

    Ritrama materials help olive oil label win Bronze Award

    Flint Group prepares for expansive INFOFLEX display

    'CupCycling' with James Cropper

    CRON-ECRM to feature HDI Flexo CTP at INFOFLEX
    All Companies
    Categories
    Company Profiles
    Label Converters
    Trade Associations
    Add New Company
    International Buyers Guide Companies
    Chase Machine & Engineering Inc.

    Andantex USA Inc.

    Label Traxx

    Wilson Manufacturing

    Alphasonics USA Inc.
    Industry Events
    Webinars
    Live from Show Events
    • Magazine
      • Current & Past Issues
      • Features
      • Editorial
      • Columns
      • Digital Edition
      • eNewsletter Archive
      • Subscribe Now
      • Advertise Now
    • Breaking News
    • Buyers' Guide
      • All Companies
      • Categories
      • Company Profiles
      • Label Converters
      • Trade Associations
      • Add Your Company
    • Labels & Packaging
      • Beauty & Personal Care Labels
      • Beer Labels
      • Beverage Labels
      • Flexible Packaging
      • Folding Carton
      • Food Labels
      • Glue-Applied
      • In-Mold
      • Industrial Labels
      • Medical Labels
      • Pharmaceuticals Labels
      • Pressure Sensitive
      • Prime Labels
      • Promotional Labels
      • Security Labels
      • Shrink
      • Smart Labels
      • Speciality Labels
      • Spirits Labels
      • Wine Tables
    • Markets
      • Africa
      • Asia
      • Australia
      • China
      • Europe
      • India
      • Latin America
      • Middle East
      • North America
    • Equipment
      • Digital Printers & Presses
      • Flexo Presses
      • Label Converting Equipment
      • Label Fishing Equipment
    • Supplies
      • Dies And Tooling
      • Flexo Supplies
      • Ink & Coatings
      • Prepress Supplies
      • Pressrooom Supplies
      • Substrates
    • Online Exclusives
    • Slideshows
    • Experts Opinions
    • Videos
    • Podcasts
    • Infographics
    • Whitepapers
    • Events
      • Industry Events
      • Live from Show Events
      • Webinars
    • Jobs
    • Resources
      • Supplier Gallery
      • Literature Showcase
      • Homepage Showcase
    • About Us
      • About Us
      • Contact Us
      • Advertise With Us
      • Privacy Policy
      • Terms of Use
    Narrow Web Europe

    Decline and fall

    FINAT Young Managers Club brings together the industry’s future leaders.
    FINAT Young Managers Club brings together the industry’s future leaders.
    Related CONTENT
    • MPS sells press to United Arab Emirates printer
    • Associations bring clarity to self-adhesive label production
    • HP holds Open House at Century Label
    • Meyers orders North America's first MPS EF SYMJET press, powered by Domino
    • What, when, why and how should you invest in a new product?
    John Penhallow04.07.17
    It is said that the decline of the Roman Empire began when the emperor and his court started spending more time in-fighting than on running the show. Much the same thing seems to have happened, on a rather smaller scale, with the Ecocis reprocessing project. Taking over a failed paper plant near Grenoble, France, in 2015, the newly formed Ecocis looked like the answer to a recycler’s prayer. Powerful backers were Springwater Capital, a European investment fund specializing in turning around failing companies, and the publicly owned Banque Publique d’Investissement (BPI). Local authorities threw in an extra $5 million of taxpayers’ money for good measure. Ecocis, so the plan went, would be a major recycler of bottom-of-the-range used papers, including colored papers and PS liners, which it would pulp and sell worldwide. Production started in the summer of last year, with Veolia providing the transport logistics from widely scattered waste paper collection points. By the fall, rumors started leaking out that all was not well. Both the main investors started calling in their lawyers and uttering tight-lipped “no comments” to the press. In mid-October, the curtain came down on Ecocis, and the receivers went in to pick over what remained, which wasn’t much. To go from a starting capital of over $20 million to bankruptcy in a matter of months may not raise eyebrows in America, but in slower-moving Europe it makes headlines. France’s Le Monde newspaper reported that the BPI would pursue Martin Gruschka, the entrepreneur behind Springfield, “to the end of hell and back,” calling him a second Bernard Madoff. Gruschka denies all wrongdoing but admits, “We take our share of responsibility.” There had been errors, he said, but nothing illegal.

    Result: 60 employees out of a job, the company up for sale (but no takers so far), and another failed attempt to get a paper recycling plant off the ground.

    March 2017 saw the launch of another recovered paper venture, this one financed and managed by Austrian paper machinery giant Voith, in cooperation with the Boston Consulting Group. The new initiative, in California, is called MerQbiz as a nod to the Mercury, the winged messenger of the Roman gods. The innovation for this project lies in its ambition to become the eBay of the recovered paper industry, creating the world’s first digital trading platform for recovered paper. Like many other virtual marketplaces, the MerQbiz will assess and guarantee the probity of sellers and buyers and (a big plus) the quality of the merchandise. This will bring it close to the “perfect market” that economists dream about, with a high level of security for goods, logistics and payments. The trading platform is already up and running; how (if at all) it will encourage the recycling of unloved liner waste remains to be seen.

    Only Here for the Beer?
    Munich is well known for many things, including the infamous 1938 agreement, and the famous annual Oktoberfest. It is also the location for the 20–year old converting show ICE Europe, which will open its doors very shortly, bringing together 430 exhibitors from 28 countries. Label converters visiting the show will find very few press manufacturers – Bobst and ETI Converting being the honorable exceptions – but many specialists for conventional diecutting (Kocher+Beck, Wink and Spilker to name but three) and for curing systems (GEW, IST Metz and Heraeus). By the time readers get to see this issue of L&NW, the ICE Europe show will be over, but whether before, during or after the show, the Munich beer will be as good as ever and always worth the visit.

    Sorcerer’s Apprentice
    It’s strange how the same word when translated can take on a completely new flavor: in English the word “apprentice” is neutral in a business context (musically, of course, it conjures up that scene from the Disney film). Here in France nobody wants to be an apprentice, despite government efforts and tax breaks to encourage the practice. In Germany, Azubi, as they are now called, are present in every industry, labels not excepted. The Schreiner Group, for example, has around 1,000 employees and over 10% of them (including the CEO) started as Azubis. At any given time the group has around 50 young employees taking part in this tightly controlled training scheme.

    Label association FINAT is much concerned with apprenticeships and with the shortage of young women and men entering the label industry. In particular, it wants to improve the image of the print shop, too often seen as being peopled by inky fingered men wielding spanners. To counter this, FINAT’s Jules Lejeune asks, “Our challenge is to make such career opportunities an attractive proposition. In this era of social media, instant and all-embracing information, and global person-to-person contact, how can we attract young talent to the down-to-earth world of labels?” Part of the answer was given at a meeting in Berlin in January set up jointly by FINAT and the German label association. The meeting brought together young people from across Europe who have recently joined the label industry, and several experienced professionals, with a view for defining how best to promote the image of the industry. Another FINAT initiative is the Young Managers Club, which addresses the many second and third-generation managers in family-owned label businesses around Europe. The club’s regular meetings, usually held in desirable locations, attract up to 40 “under-forties” to discuss matters of mutual interest.

    Much water has flown under London Bridge since label guru Mike Fairley could qualify as a young manager, but what he lacks in athletic prowess he makes up for in his experience of every aspect of the label business. Mike has been the moving spirit behind the Label Academy, a series of books linked to tests and online learning, leading to an examination. So far, more than a dozen have been published covering various aspects of the label business. Mainly aimed at skilled technicians or middle managers, they have apparently been seized on by CEOs anxious to find out how much they have forgotten about the industry and its workings.

    Something to Celebrate
    Dutch label press manufacturer MPS is seldom out of the news in Europe. If its sales team is paid by results, the champagne must have been flowing when UK’s Reflex Labels signed for a total of five 8 to 10-color flexo presses, complete with all the bells and whistles. With six sites (all in the UK), Reflex is one of that country’s biggest label converters. Shorn of the marketing hype, it seems that Reflex liked the robust design of the MPS presses, the fast make-ready and the fact that they are suitable for printing and converting linerless labels. The presses all came with hot-foiling units from Pantec, so maybe a few champagne corks popped in Switzerland, as well. MPS has also recently reported sales of flexo presses in places as far apart as Ras el Khaimah in the UAE, Poland and Iran.

    Pharmapack Paris
    It would have been impossible to throw a brick at this show without hitting a label or packaging converter. CCL, France’s second biggest label producer, had a surprisingly modest booth, but its sales manager Paul Julia was not modest when telling your correspondent about the group’s pharma label division: “CCL has dedicated pharma label plants all over the world – 29 in all. Last year our group acquired the German company Eukerdruck, which specializes in the notices that accompany each box of medicines. Our pharma division in Europe has been significantly strengthened by this acquisition. On the equipment side, we have a lot of digital presses – all HP Indigos – because in pharma, as in other markets, the average order length is decreasing year by year. However, most of our business is focused on a ‘total supply chain’ concept. We work at several levels in the industry to ensure maximum security and robust and flexible serialization,” Julia said.

    Almost every exhibitor at the show was announcing innovations linked to serialization or other safety ideas. Schäfer Etiketten, for example, showed its multi-page booklet labels with bar codes printed not just on the label but also on the counterfoil – a simple idea apparently loved by hospitals where traceability is a life-and-death imperative.

    Schreiner MediPharm has a history of smart inventions to increase safety and simplify procedures in hospitals and medical facilities. At Pharmapack 2017 the company put forward its range of tamper-evident closures. According to Hildegard Mock, marketing manager, Schreiner MediPharm is “an undisputed leader in specialty and smart pharmaceutical labels both in Europe and the United States.”

    Other label converters at the show included France’s number one, Autajon, UK’s Denny Bros, and US-based Multi-Color Corporation.

    The main feature on display at the Avery Dennison booth surprisingly had nothing to do with labelstock: it was the TT Sensor Plus, a smart label device about the size of a metro ticket that is designed to control and record temperature fluctuations. Attached to a carton or pallet of, for example, a temperature sensitive drug shipment, it can be “read” with a smartphone to give a minute-by-minute graph of temperature variations taken place over the period of transit. Already launched in North America, this nifty device, equally useful for food shipments, has only recently made its debut in Europe.

    The show attracted around 400 exhibitors and 5,300 visitors, but perhaps the most significant news came during the conferences of which there were no less than 35 over the two days of the show. The presentation by Michael Urso, head of packaging pharma at Atlantic Zeiser, was particularly relevant to the label business. His subject was “late stage customization” – a trend that involves pushing serialization downstream from the label or packaging converter to the contract packer, who will often be in the country of final distribution. This is in order to comply with the standards and directives in force in the country or region in question. Michael Urso’s conclusion is that, without neglecting the importance of printing, the key ingredient for tomorrow’s pharma labeling and packaging will be the end-to-end data management of the distribution chain.

    This year’s Pharmapack in Paris had plenty of French exhibitors and a good number of Italian firms. More surprising was the overwhelming number of German companies and the very few British ones.
    Another case of fog in the English Channel? Or an early symptom of Brexit?
    Related Searches
    • distribution
    • management
    • ccl
    • flexo
    Suggested For You
    Schreiner MediPharm adds to Flexi-Cap family Schreiner MediPharm adds to Flexi-Cap family
    Automation Arena to make Labelexpo Europe debut Automation Arena to make Labelexpo Europe debut
    Preview: The FINAT European Label Forum Preview: The FINAT European Label Forum
    Registration open for Labelexpo Europe 2017 Registration open for Labelexpo Europe 2017
    MPS appoints new agent in Indonesia MPS appoints new agent in Indonesia
    Entries open for Label Industry Global Awards 2017 Entries open for Label Industry Global Awards 2017
    Dscoop Post-Show Report Dscoop Post-Show Report
    South African label converter adds fourth MPS press South African label converter adds fourth MPS press
    MPS Systems North America, Inc. MPS Systems North America, Inc.
    MPS Systems North America hires Dilip Shah MPS Systems North America hires Dilip Shah
    Landa Hoy! Landa Hoy!
    Dscoop keynotes inspire imagination among attendees Dscoop keynotes inspire imagination among attendees
    How to keep labeling in the fast track How to keep labeling in the fast track
    Schreiner MediPharm to introduce new security label with digital features Schreiner MediPharm to introduce new security label with digital features
    Dion Label perfecting print quality with automated registration control from CC1 Dion Label perfecting print quality with automated registration control from CC1

    Related Narrow Web Europe

    • Viva Italia!

      Viva Italia!

      Readers who remember the Converflex and Grafitalia shows in Italy will be surprised not to find them this year. Along with the Inprinting show, they have all been amalgamated into Print4All (they say that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery,…
      John Penhallow 04.09.18

    • Roll-to-roll solar energy

      Roll-to-roll solar energy

      The name of Count Lev Perovski may not be familiar to all readers of this column, but it was he who, in 1839, discovered and named perovskite, a compound of calcium, oxygen and titanium. This remained a geological curiosity until 10 years ago when a…
      John Penhallow 03.09.18

    • Good news in unexpected corners of Europe

      Good news in unexpected corners of Europe

      The fourth quarter returns for 2017 are not in yet, but Europe’s economy is at last looking up, with 2.2% year-on-year GDP growth for the Euro area (running neck-and-neck with the US), and industrial production (a better indicator for label dem…
      John Penhallow 01.26.18


    •  A toast to Champagne and Labelexpo

      A toast to Champagne and Labelexpo

      There will be just two topics in this edition of Narrow Web Europe: Labelexpo (which will not surprise you), and champagne (which will probably not surprise you either). With 600+ exhibitors at Labelexpo Europe, not all of them could get the press…
      John Penhallow 11.17.17

    • Heavy Levy

      The United Kingdom has particularly draconian packaging regulations. All UK companies with a turnover of more than $2.7 million must assess how much packaging they have placed onto the UK Market. If the volume exceeds 50 metric tons per year, then th…
      John Penhallow 10.06.17

    • ...and brew it mein way

      Many readers of L&NW may have forgotten the Great Beer Battle, which inflamed the drinking classes of Europe in the 1960s. An ancient German law called the Reinheitsgebot, dating back to the 16th century, laid down the only ingredients allowed fo…
      John Penhallow 09.11.17


    • Rule the data, rock the world

      Rule the data, rock the world

      The Internet of Things has become a buzzword, but not everyone can explain it as well as Andy Hobsbawm, co-founder of the organization EVRYTHNG (this is not a misprint). He foresees that the Amazons of this world will make serious inroads into retail…
      John Penhallow 07.14.17

    • English eccentrics

      English eccentrics

      Your correspondent was visiting central London a few years back, when round the corner came two cyclists. What’s so special, you say? What was special is that they were both totally naked. They were followed by some 50 other cyclists, also as n…
      John Penhallow 05.30.17

    • Landa Hoy!

      Landa Hoy!

      The business press is generally loud in its praise and soft in its criticism. If a product fails to live up to the bleeding edge quantum-leap technological breakthrough promised by its PR people, the business press will say it “needs time to fu…
      John Penhallow 03.13.17


    • Why Belgium?

      Why Belgium?

      Readers of L&NW, who are mostly a well-traveled lot, will not need to be told about Belgium. It is that small, flat, triangular shaped country awkwardly placed between France, Germany and Holland. Because it is so flat it gets invaded regularly a…
      John Penhallow 01.20.17

    • The pound takes a pounding –  collateral damage to Marmite

      The pound takes a pounding – collateral damage to Marmite

      With all eyes on the outcome of the US presidential election, few Americans will have noticed the dramatic slide in the value of the UK pound. A 15% drop since June 2016 is starting to make consumers sit up and take notice in a country that imports m…
      John Pennhallow 11.14.16

    • French labels rising gently

      French labels rising gently

      Every summer, the French label magazine Etiq & Pack publishes a detailed analysis of the health, or otherwise, of the country’s leading 100 label converters. This year’s statistics reveal much “business as usual” but also…
      John Penhallow 09.07.16

    • Did drupa droop?

      Did drupa droop?

      The weather in Düsseldorf was hot and sultry, there was a major fire in an outlying hall being used to house refugees, police detained three men allegedly planning a terrorist attack in the city – and despite this, nearly all the exhibitor…
      John Penhallow 07.15.16

    • Landa lands back at drupa

      Landa lands back at drupa

      Readers of L&NW will remember reports of Benny Landa’s very considerable media splash at the drupa 2012 show in Dusseldorf. The Nanographic digital press was about to take the printing world by storm – and it may yet do so. But as one…
      John Penhallow 05.20.16

    • A tale of two converters: in Germany…

      A tale of two converters: in Germany…

      France is the home of many good wines, but your (Versailles-based) correspondent is not averse to visiting the beer-drinking regions of Europe. Since the last issue of L&NW he has been traveling to Britain and Germany, and in particular visited t…
      John Penhallow 04.08.16


    Breaking News
    • InPrint’s Industrial Inkjet Conference to focus on creative applications
    • TMI introduces enhanced coefficient of friction tester
    • Sato America appoints Tim Cook president
    • Flint Group will showcase latest products at Labelexpo Southeast Asia
    • Ritrama materials help olive oil label win Bronze Award
    View Breaking News >
    CURRENT ISSUE

    April 2018

    • Pouch Converting
    • Metallic Inks
    • A COMMON $ENSE APPROACH TO COATING APPLICATIONS
    • Print Management Systems
    • Narrow Web Profile: Pacific Barcode, Inc.
    • View More >

    Copyright © 2018 Rodman Media. All rights reserved. Use of this constitutes acceptance of our privacy policy The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Rodman Media.