Page 36 - Print21 magazine Mar-Apr 2023

Conferences | FPLMA
From creation to consumer
The Flexible Packaging and Label Manufacturers Association conference saw a host of industry leaders present key insights, as the industry wrestles with sustainability. Wayne Robinson reports.
digital Nike runners, packaging is in a position to provide brand owners with a connection to their customers that they have never had before.
She said that an Avery Dennison global survey of thousands of people had revealed that the customer
of the future wants to engage
with packaging that has a holistic environmental impact, that provides maximum consumer experience, and that provides value. According to Cornaggia, augmented connected packaging that connects shopping with social media will be where brands achieve growth, and so packaging providers that can meet the requirements of brands will be the ones that have the advantage.
Contactless connection, lightweighting, and the merger of primary and secondary packaging are certainties, according to Avery Dennison. Cornaggia said the ascendency of the metaverse means physical packaging needs to respond with digital triggers. She said, “The future is now, the future is wow.”
David Correzzola, operational excellence manager at Amcor,
gave an in-depth presentation on achieving successful transformation. He has worked in the corporate giants and start-ups, and essentially said that change has to come from the top down, and transformation
has to engage all employees, with information going down from the boardroom, through management, the team leaders, to the shop floor, with actions then going back up the chain.
APCO (the Australian Packaging Covenant Organisation) gave
two presentations, the first from
its technical consultant Ian Hayes, who outlined the challenges packaging faces in meeting the myriad demands it now confronts, from its primary purposes of product protection and consumer safety, through to the recycle imperatives the public demands. He focused on packaging fundamentals, the APCO national packaging targets, and next generational packaging.
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The delegates to the annual two-day flexible packaging and label manufacturers conference were treated
to the biggest line-up of overseas speakers the event has
ever hosted, as they heard a series of excellent, thoughtful and inspiring presentations over two days.
Under the strapline ‘consumer
to creation’ some 17 presentations were grouped in seven separate sessions, with virtually all of them suggesting approaches to tackle the public’s increasingly antagonistic, and some may say, uneducated, view on packaging, particularly plastic packaging, which is so necessary to our modern lives. As one speaker said, “It is not plastic that is the problem, it has myriad benefits, it is what we do with it post- consumer that needs serious action.”
The two-day event, held at Crowne in Melbourne, culminated in the Awards Dinner, which saw the best label and packaging jobs acclaimed in front of several hundred guests.
Speaking as the event opened, 36 MARCH/APRIL 2023
Anthony Dalleore, secretary of the FPLMA, said, “Our overseas speaker contingent has never been so strong, and this is complemented by having industry leaders and FMCGs speak at the conference.”
Speakers covered topics ranging from developing standards relating to material design for recyclability, through to printing concepts, and how they fit into sustainability.
A touch of realism was brought by opening day keynote speaker Taylor Nugent, an economist from NAB, who said he expected interest rates to hit 4.5 per cent before they stabilised and could go back down.
SMART SYSTEMS
The first session was Smart Systems for Smart People. Cath Cornaggia, commercial director at Avery Dennison, opened, and highlighted need for the industry to embrace
the digital with the physical, saying extensive research was revealing that connected packaging would become the norm in the future. She said in a world where plenty of people were prepared to pay $400 for a pair of
ABOVE International event: Anthony Dalleore, (centre) secretary FPLMA, with
Koki Noritake (left) and
Sante Conselvan
BELOW Presenting: (l-r) David Correzzola, Amcor; with
Ian Hayes, APCO; and Chiara Prati, Prati