Page 56 - Print 21 Magazine Sep-Oct 2018

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Wayne Robinson
The 2018 conference of the FPLMA had automation and integration as the key theme for the flexo and label printers looking to grow their businesses, reports Print21 editor Wayne Robinson
Automation and integration:
an industry develop standards soon, to make Industry 4.0 work for us.” Presenting from HP Yoav Lotan
from the labels business said, “It is clear that a focus 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 exactly where their order is up to.”
He spoke on the global trends for personalisation, 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 printers to optimise the latest developments, and measure their performance
and productivity, using global benchmarks, not just for individual machine performance but also for overall operational efficiency (OEE).
Lotan also pointed delegates
to the HP seed design software, which enabled infinite 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 automation 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 hastened beyond their current limits, while
FPLMA conference
The nation's flexo and
label printing fraternity gathered in Melbourne
for its annual conference under the auspices of
the Flexible Packaging and Label Manufacturers Association (FPLMA), and heard a succession of speakers from here and overseas urging
them to embrace automation and integration in order to drive their businesses forward.
Some 85 delegates were at the first day of the event, with another 65 attending the second day. The awards ceremony on the second night attracted some 320 label and flexo printers.
Opening the conference at the Crown Promenade, FPLMA president Mark Easton told the delegates the industry was now operating in a world where the internet was dictating the pace of change, and digital technology was enabling new opportunities and sweeping all before it.
Easton’s comments came in the same week when it was revealed that digital and hybrid label presses were now selling more than traditional analogue label presses for the first time.
Easton said, “Automation and integration are the keys to the
future. Label and flexo printing systems are already able to connect to
complementary production areas such as CRM, prepress, finishing, scheduling. We are also able to integrate directly into the end customer.
“Customer demands will increase, especially the need for speed of turnaround – automation and integration will enable label and flexo printers to meet that requirement and exploit opportunities.
First speaker was legendary AFL coach David Parkin, who spoke on leadership and strategy. He quoted the head of VicRail who on his appointment told his 800 managers that they were 10 per cent a steel business and
90 per cent a people business. Parkin highlighted the need for company leaders to focus on people, both their own staff and their customers.
Eric Hoendervangers from flexo print system supplier MPS outlined the arrival of Industry 4.0 as the fourth stage in the industrial revolution, and highlighted the key role of data in the new world. He said, “Understanding and using data will create real opportunity for packaging printers.”
Malik Sajid from BST International also focused on data, but said for the industry to use it properly standards had to be agreed that technology developers could work with. He said, ”It is crucially important that we as
Above:
Meet the FPLMA committee
(left to right)
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
56 Print21 SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2018