FPLMA KICKS OFF CREATION TO CONSUMER FORUM
The Flexible Packaging and Label Manufacturers Association (FPLMA) conference is underway, with delegates treated to the biggest line-up of overseas speakers this event has ever hosted.
The two-day event, being held at Crowne in Melbourne, culminates tonight in the Awards Dinner, which will see the best label and packaging jobs acclaimed in front of several hundred guests.
Anthony Dalleore, secretary of the FPLMA, said, “Our overseas speaker contingent has never been so strong, and this is complemented by having industry leaders and FMCGs speak at the conference.”
The focus for the two day conference is ‘Creation to Consumer’. Speakers are covering topics ranging from developing standards relating to material design for recyclability, through to printing concepts, and how they fit into sustainability.
A touch of realism was brought by opening day keynote speaker Taylor Nugent, an economist from NAB, who said he expected interest rates to hit 4.5 per cent before they stabilised and could go back down. Cath Cornaggia, commercial director at Avery Dennison, highlighted need for the industry to embrace the digital with the physical, saying extensive research was revealing that connected packaging would become the norm in the future. David Correzzola, operational excellence manager at Amcor, gave an in-depth presentation on achieving successful transformation.
APCO (the Australian Packaging Covenant Organisation) gave two presentations, the first from Ian Hayes, who outlined the challenges packaging faces in meeting the myriad demands it now faces, from its primary purposes of product protection and consumer safety through to the recycle imperatives the public demands. He said APCO has just created five Material Stewardship Committees to cover rigid plastics, flexible plastics, glass, fibre and metal. He said, “The challenge is complex but not insurmountable.”
Chris Foley, the new CEO of APCO, told delegates that, “We are at a pivotal point” and said this year would see a huge focus on sustainability and packaging. Foley said the recycling rates for plastic in packaging were lagging well behind the 70 per cent target set for 2025, and pointed out that plastic usage was increasing per head of population. He said resetting community confidence in recycling in light of the REDcycle collapse was going to be a major challenge for the industry.
Gavin Rittmayer from Martin Automatic in the US spelled out the challenge of ‘making money for our shareholders while meeting government and consumer needs’. He gave a detailed presentation on waste reduction. Tim Klappe from label and packaging press manufacturer MPS Systems, outlined why he believed run lengths of between 1000sqm and 25,000sqm were ideally suited to narrow web printing. He then presented on IoT (the internet of things) and said that print businesses which embrace smart manufacturing will have an inevitable lead in the market.
Next up was the team that presented at the Print21+PKN LIVE event on the Hungry Jack’s integrated Uno campaign, led by Michael Dossor from Result Group, and the day ended with a presentation on the ePac operation in Melbourne, led by its CEO Jason Brown, and Craig Walmsley, country manager ANZ for HP Industrial.
Looking forward to the annual awards dinner dance at Crown Palladium tonight, Dalleore said, “Our awards dinner is incredible, and has become the icon for the packaging industry, with 350 people expected to attended."
