Columns
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Make labels do more to inform, inspire customers
With the evolution of technology and transparency, labels are becoming ever-more robust and informative. Amid all this excitement, however, is the day-to-day routine that can stifle creativity and initiative. When you’re seeking ways to superc…Mark Lusky 04.05.19
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Flexible packaging design winners
The Flexible Packaging Association (FPA) has announced the winners of the FPA 2019 Student Flexible Design Challenge. This year’s first place winners were a team of students from the University of Wisconsin – Stout, and a student from San…04.05.19
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Your character counts with banks and lenders
I was asked through a mutual friend to help a company that was sinking in debt. The mutual friend was concerned because the business owner was assigned to a work out specialist at the bank. In addition, the owner was behind in payments to other cr…Rock LaManna 04.05.19
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The value of research in label design
Analyze and capitalize on the customer’s proclivities.Jack Kenny 04.05.19
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Garbage patch gyres
My wife invited me to join her to watch a movie at a recent Garden Club meeting. The movie, “Bag It,” was about plastic contamination in oceans. (What else at a garden club meeting, right!?) It was very graphic and had me thinking a…Calvin Frost 04.05.19
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Norway looking up
When was the last time you read an article about Norway in the label trade press? Could be some time ago, so here is a quick briefing on one of Europe’s most discreet – and most successful – countries. A mere thousand years ago this…John Penhallow 04.05.19
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Peel and reseal
Based in Franklin Park, IL, Prairie State Group, or PSG, is a well-known label and flexible packaging supplier. From custom printed labels to custom packaging needs, PSG has a reputation for partnering with its customers to provide solutions that ans…03.14.19
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One bad contract can spoil your happy ending
Instead of enjoying retirement on a sunny beach with a piña colada, you could end up spending your days running a piece of outdated production equipment in a rented space. It’s a sad ending to a brilliant career, and it happens in secret…Rock LaManna 03.14.19
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Taking responsibility
If we’re committed to a world, a planet in balance, how in the world do we do it? Well, certainly it takes a “pure” committed Huawei, not the one that we’ve recently come to know in the US. The Huawei I wrote about earli…Calvin Frost 03.14.19
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A royal flush for recycling
This month’s article contains subject matter you may find hard to stomach, so if you’re reading this over lunch, better put it aside until later. Still there? OK, what is the least savory type of paper you would expect to see recycled?…John Penhallow 03.14.19
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Ice cream packaging that’s a sweet success
Ever since Mondi scooped up Turkish flexible packaging manufacturer Kalenobel via a July 2016 acquisition, it has eyed the ice cream sector as a cool growth opportunity. Now known as Mondi Kalenobel, the Istanbul-based business, with its pair of pro…02.01.19
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Avoid the nine stages of business failure
In my coaching and advising work, I help owners improve the bottom line, increase sales, and solve problems that affect the success and morale of the business. Sometimes, however, by the time an owner or family member consults with me, the business m…Rock LaManna 02.01.19
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The sword and the substrate
China’s restrictions on recyclable waste are bad and good for business.Jack Kenny 02.01.19
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This is not about China
Wow, a flurry of emails from you regarding my last column on Chinese domination of the solar industry. And, most recently, the controversy surrounding the arrest of Chief Financial Officer, Meng Wanzhou, of Huawei. Lots of spirited comments, but at l…Calvin Frost 02.01.19
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Recycling dilemmas
In India, Egypt and other developing countries, the very poor can earn a small pittance by collecting and helping to recycle the used cans and plastic bottles that richer folk have thrown away. Not so in Germany, where the returnable PET bottle is…John Penhallow 02.01.19
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Give your company a New Year customer service audit
“Customer service” is a term that for most conjures an image of a company rep talking with a customer about a challenge, problem or question. In today’s world where everything about company performance is subject to scrutiny, the Ne…Mark Lusky 02.01.19
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Customer service means preventing counterfeiting, too
One not-so-obvious customer service function is thwarting the purchase of counterfeit goods, a massive and growing problem. Innovative technology that identifies counterfeiting also helps engage customers one-on-one. Labels with individual, unique di…Mark Lusky 11.16.18
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QTL’s ‘King of Pops’ packaging
King of Pops, maker of natural frozen treats, recently used HP SmartStream Collage, HP Indigo’s new automated variable design software, to produce tens of thousands of unique, playfully designed wrappers for its Halloween edition. The world&rsq…11.16.18
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What most successful people do exceptionally well
Life is one big transition, isn’t it? You transition into this world from the womb. Then you go through multiple transitions throughout your life: youth, adolescence, adulthood, school, relationships, marriage, family, career. An…Rock LaManna 11.16.18
