Page 42 - Packaging News Magazine Sep-Oct 2021

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LABELS & LABELLING | www.packagingnews.com.au | September-October 2021
Ravenwood’s linerless tech surges in APAC
A global leader in linerless labelling, label verification, and pack inspection systems, Ravenwood Packaging is expanding its footprint in Asia Pacific. The opening of a new office in Australia has boosted its local presence and ability to service FMCG end-users, including major retailers.
FOUNDED in 2004, the privately owned Ravenwood, with head- quarters based in the UK, contin- ues to expand across the globe. Mostly notable is the significant growth across the Asia Pacific Region. This surge has not come
without its challenges though.
Let’s look at Ravenwood’s linerless success story and how the company
has conquered against all odds.
It was back in the early 2000s, when Ravenwood attempted to pen- trate the APAC region by appointing its very first Australian linerless label converter and machinery dis- tributor. The partnership proved to be a slow burner with only two liner- less applicators being sold on average per annum. Moreover, as the com- pany explains, complications and setbacks were constantly encoun- tered in the factory environment, due to the previous distributor refusing to supply linerless labels to specifica- tion. (Ravenwood refers to this pro- cess as the ‘Circle of Linerless’ – more
on this later.)
As a result, substandard and
cheaper material alternatives were sourced by this distributor while operating under the name of ‘Ravenwood’. Subsequently, these inferior labels were the cause of pro- longed periods of factory downtime, and poorly labelled packs on super- market shelves. And worst of all, Ravenwood was being blamed for these failures.
Fast forward to 2018, and Ravenwood dissolved its distributor- ship and went in search of new
partners. Since this time, Ravenwood has secured partnerships with the supply of Com500 Coaters to four new linerless printers. The current line- up includes Hally Labels in Brisbane, TMA in Melbourne, TMA in New Zealand and Label Force in Western Australia. In addition to its printer partners, three new machinery dis- tributors have been appointed for the supply of its Nobac 5000 applicators and VXR / Vision Pack Inspection Systems. Ravenwood welcomed Linco, based in New South Wales and Result Group in Victoria, with SPM NZ Ltd, located in New Zealand being the latest to join the team.
NEW APAC OFFICE ESTABLISHED
IN SYDNEY
In 2020, Ravenwood felt it was a pivotal time to set up a dedicated Asia Pacific office in Sydney, due to increased sup- ply and demand. During the same year, Sam Aloschi was appointed Asia Pacific managing director. Previously, he was head of site for Retail Ready Operations in the Coles Group.
Since Aloschi’s appointment, busi- ness operations have continued to
flourish, most notably in the chilled protein and ready meal markets.
T3 Engineering has also been brought on board to offer servicing, parts supply and machinery support to the APAC distributor and printer network
In summary, within the space of just four years, Ravenwood has appointed four new linerless print- ers and three new machinery dis- tributors across the APAC region. Moreover, the company says faith in the Ravenwood brand has been restored, including the confidence of its customer base.
WHAT IS THE CIRCLE OF LINERLESS?
Ravenwood has been providing retailers and packers with linerless labels since 2004. The company says the tried and tested formula provides a fail-safe process to produce
GLOBAL MACHINERY & PRINTER NETWORK
Ravenwood’s distributor and printer network operates across 24 countries. Most recently, it has expanded into many new territories including Canada, Chile, Russia, New Zealand, South Korea and of course, Asia Pacific. To date, a total of 38 coaters are in place around the world with close to 2000 Nobac 5000 applicators and over 50 VXR Vision Pack Inspection systems.