UPM Raflatac addresses supply chain, labor stoppages

The manufacturing supply chain continues to be a hot-button issue for our industry. The difficulties over the past three years have been numerous. Most recently, another labor stoppage in Finland gave many label and package printing professionals flashbacks to 2022.

However, the current state of the supply chain is far different. In order to better understand global issues at play, L&NW sat down with Tim Kirchen, SVP Americas, UPM Raflatac, to explore these issues and more.

Many converters have overbought to ensure they are not faced with material shortages. UPM was at the heart of the Finnish Paperworkers’ Union strike last year certainly had an impact on the North American paper supply. According to Kirchen, the international supply chain will continue to play a major role in converters’ future success.

“Structurally, the North American market has been undersupplied by domestic suppliers,” explains Kirchen. “This, unfortunately, has not changed, and in recent months, we’ve seen additional removal of domestic paper liner capacity. This will put even more stress on domestic supply, particu