Page 26 - Packaging News magazine May-June 2022

26 PEOPLE IN PACKAGING | www.packagingnews.com.au | May-June 2022
Global honours for Labelmakers’ Graeme Lang
Australian material scientist Graeme Lang, a pioneer and innovator in label technology, was honoured in Italy in May with
the Global Lifetime Achievement Award presented by the World Packaging Organisation.
GRAEME Lang, who has worked for Labemakers Group for the last 30 years and currently holds the role of group technical manager, has been a signifi- cant contributor to the technical side of the labels industry for four decades in the Australasian region.
He is a member of the Australian Institute of Packaging, which in turn is a member of the World Packaging Organisation (WPO).
Ever the innovator, Lang has certainly made his mark on the industry: he holds a patent for the formation of a 3D label from a flat web, and another for a removable label for returnable plastic crates used in the logistics industry (Crate Wash-Off Label).
Over two decades ago he established the pressure-sensitive label (PSL) coatings divi- sion for Labelmakers, at the time creating one of the first vertically integrated printing com- panies in the world.
Achieving backward integration into mate- rials coating meant that Labelmakers could develop adhesive technology specifically for Australia's application requirements, and delivered a competitive advantage in terms of cost, speed-to-market, end-to-end trace- ability of materials and local new product development capability.
Labelmakers has since grown to become the largest label printer in Australasia utilising its own adhesive technology to support a range of market categories. Labelmakers is also the only company in Australasia to be locally manufacturing pressure-sensitive materials.
Lang is currently engaged in commercialis- ing a range of sustainable label solutions that have been informed by Australia's recycling pathway. This range will include recycled and recyclable facestocks, de-bondable adhe- sive systems and dispersible ink systems – adapted to specific primary container types and local recycling infrastructure.
According to the WPO's citation, over the last two decades, Lang has advocated for sus- tainability to be incorporated as an aspect of new product design. He has fostered co-operation between stakeholders – raw
Label pioneer and innovator, Graeme Lang, was recently honoured with the Global Lifetime Achievement Award presented by the WPO.
My advice for future packaging professionals is to be curious... ask the five whys in any new pursuit, problem solving or product development opportunity.”
material suppliers, brand owners and recy- clers – to understand, educate and address the important role labels play in maximising the recovery of the primary containers to which they are attached.
Still reeling at the news that this recogni- tion is possible for a material scientist, Lang said: “It is just the greatest honour that some- body in my field of activity could hope to receive...to even be considered alongside the doyens of the packaging industry who have received this award in the past is a huge, huge personal thrill. It still feels like we are talking about someone else.”
Lang said he believes the most important element in any job, or any career, is to have the sense that what you do makes a difference.
“In a big way receiving the WPO Lifetime Achievement Award gives validation to the effort that I have put in over the last 40+ years,” he said.
“My advice for future packaging profes- sionals is to be curious. To borrow from the Kaizen philosophy, ask the five whys in any new pursuit, problem solving or product development opportunity.
“Don’t limit focus to just what you need to know to complete your immediate task. Try to build a knowledge and an understand- ing of your suppliers’ technology and their
suppliers’ technology for that matter. Do the same with the customer and the end user.”
Lang said it’s also important to look out- side your direct industry for new solutions and new innovations.
“We are in quite a mature industry today – the probability is that if there was solution it would already have been created or imple- mented. For me, the most significant product developments I have been associated with involved drawing from allied industries or other branches of the packaging industry I had been exposed to.”
Lang received his award at the 2022 WorldStar Packaging Awards gala dinner held during Ipack-Ima in Milan on 4 May. PKN was in attendance, along with the AIP and other Australian packaging companies receiving WorldStar awards on the night. ■
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