Lord Mayor sets tone at FPLMA conference

The flexo and label printers FPLMA Technical Forum opened with Melbourne Lord Mayor Sally Capp’s keynote emphasising the benefits of collaboration as the pathway out of Covid.

The conference has the theme of Change, Challenge, and Opportunity, and welcoming the delegates and the Lord Mayor, FPLMA president Vince Sedunary said “We have been through stormy waters over the past two years, but are now heading into smoother seas. The changes have been immense, we have faced multiple challenges, but now we must look to opportunity.”

Taking delegates through the myriad challenges that Melbourne had faced during Covid, and was still facing Lord Mayor Capp highlighted the way the council had sought to collaborate with partners, staff, and governments to find the pathway forward, as the city suffered a devasting loss in foot traffic, and said collaboration was a key for any organisation or business.

The two day FPLMA conference had to be postponed twice last year, but the Association’s secretary Anthony Dalleore says it is all systems go this time. He said, “The Technical Forum has an exciting line-up of speakers with deep industry knowledge. It will be a valuable couple of days for everyone in flexo and labels.”

The association’s prestigious Awards Dinner will take place tonight at the Palladium Room at the Crown, and will, said Sedunary, include dancing, and masks off at midnight for the 260 guests.

There are 15 speakers lined up for the Technical Forum, which also includes panel discussions, and will have companies including supplier DIC, label outfit MCC and packaging printer GPI leading on critical issues in today’s industry.

The opening sessions were on sustainability and grass roots improvements included presentations from Meredith Epp and Jayne Paramour from APCO, and Austen Ramage, Martog Group Manager.

Later in the day under the Fast Track to Digital Packaging session Michael Dosser from Result Group spoke on trends in smart packaging and brand protection, Daniel Blau from HP gave an insight into using cloud printing, for distribute and print instead of the traditional print and distribute, while Alexander Frenk, technical regional manager at W&H spoke on the digitalisation of packaging production via a live stream from Germany.

Patron of the Forum is The Collie Print Trust, platinum sponsor is DIC, with Visual Connections the gold sponsor. Corporate sponsors include Amcor, Brandpack, Currie Group, Esko, Jet Technologies, Kirk Group and MacDermid.