Page 53 - Packaging News Magazine Sep-Oct 2018

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AWARD WINNERS 2018
Hall of Fame: Graham Kirk (left) with Mark Easton, FPLMA president
Graham Kirk, founder and owner of Australasia’s largest flexo platemaking business was sole recipient of the 2018 Hall of Fame at the FPLMA awards ceremony.
Kirk established his business in 1972 in Minto NSW to produce digitally engraved gravure cylinders, at one point exporting them to China, then opened a second site in Melbourne shortly after. In 1983 he recognised the potential of digital flexo, and went on to become the nation’s biggest flexo platemaker.
Kirk Group today has 120 people across four production sites, Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, and Auckland, servicing both print converters and major FMCG brands with a variety of products and advanced technology solutions.
Paying tribute to his wife on receiving his Hall of Fame award Kirk said, “It has been a wonderful journey. I am honoured and humbled to receive this award from my peers, and grateful to have been able to make a contribution to the industry.”
September-October 2018 www.packagingnews.com.au FPLMA CONFERENCE
future growth
With increased short run quick turnaround and versioning overseas printers will be at an increasing disadvantage.”
– Jason Goode, Simplot
on customers is key to the growth of any business. Amazon is a great example of that, its communication to customers is clear and constant, they always know ex- actly where their order is up to.”
He spoke on the global trends for personali- sation, limited editions, variety, shortening life cycles, multiple versions and shorter lead times as the drivers that will see widespread uptake of automation and integration. He said, “Driven by data, companies will streamline production, manufacture with predictability and develop new products and solutions.”
According to Lotan the use of cloud based platforms will enable flexo and label print- ers to optimise the latest developments, and measure performance and productivity, using global benchmarks, not just for indi- vidual machine performance but also for overall operational efficiency (OEE).
Lotan also pointed delegates to the HP seed design software, which enabled infi- nite numbers of designs from the same fixed number of elements as an example of new opportunities for printers to take to their customers.
The conference debated whether auto- mation would bring packaging production back to Australia from overseas, with the view expressed that it ought to, as supply lines from Asia and Europe cannot be has- tened beyond their current limits, while automation and integration will certainly reduce turnaround times.
One delegate gave an example of 400,000 labels that need to be delivered in two days, an impossible task for an overseas supplier, and with the rise of multiple SKUs, and ri- valry between major supermarkets needing quick responses to opposition campaigns, the clear conclusion was that domestic packaging suppliers will reap the rewards of increased marketing activity for brands made possible by technology.
Jason Goode, group packaging and pro- cess manager for Simplot Australia - owner of brands such as Birds Eye, John West and Leggo's - said, “Offshore printing is always a risk. For example I requested 1000 differ-
ent labels for a job recently, there is no way we are going to proof each sheet, but we need to be in close contact with the printer, and we can't do that if they are overseas. And with increased short run quick turn- around and versioning overseas printers will be at an increasing disadvantage.”
Andy Thomas, strategic director at Label- expo host Tarsus revealed that a working party had been established with the aim of developing an accepted certification for narrow web flexo printing for food and beverage products. Called UVFoodSafe the working group comprises press, inks, and materials developers.
Thomas says, “The issue with narrow web printing is UV, at present it is not deemed as safe, the food and drink brands will not go near it due to ink migration.
“The opportunity for label, or narrow web, printers is huge, especially with short run, which means that there is space for narrow web printers now, the economics stack up. So the suppliers are working towards developing an authorisation that guarantees UV printing is food safe.”
Meet the FPLMA committee (l-r): Vince Sedunary, DIC; Andrew Maxwell, Maxteq; Tiana James, Hally Labels; Mark Easton (president), Ecolean; Michelle Lees, HP; David Feenan, Amcor; Lindsey Boyd, AldusTronics; and Anthony Dalleore, Macdermid