PS Film Technology focus draws crowd to Raflatac's Film Festival

11/18/2003

More than 100 attendees were present at Raflatac’s recent Film Festival held at the historic Biltmore Estate in Asheville, NC. Label converters from across the U.S. and Canada gathered to participate in a day of technical presentations given by industry experts and Raflatac personnel, discussing film trends and Raflatac’s quality and customer service commitment to the North American marketplace

Following the morning presentations, attendees visited Raflatac’s state-of-the-art manufacturing center in nearby Fletcher, NC, to tour the facility and to witness up-close, Raflatac’s production of pressure sensitive film labelstock. Highlights of the facility tour for converters included the opportunity to see Raflatac’s highly automated slitting machines, proprietary inventory automation technology, and custom-designed coating line converting 2.0 mil. Clear BOPP on PET liner at high speeds.

Kari Virtanen, Raflatac’s Business Development Manager for Films, commented on the event’s objectives. “Our goal was to bring together those North American label converters whose products are primarily made up of pressure sensitive film applications. The Film Festival was an opportunity to further reinforce our ongoing commitment to give our film customers the resources and tools to be increasingly successful in today’s competitive marketplace.”

The Festival opened with a formal welcome by Raflatac, Inc. President, Dan O’Connell, followed by technical presentations given by Raflatac personnel including Jouko Lahepelto, Senior Vice President, Americas; Kari Virtanen; and Mark Pollard, Development Director. Lahepelto presented Raflatac’s long-term North American film supply strategy, elaborating upon the company’s position as a global film supplier capable of channeling the best manufacturing practices and proven production expertise from each of Raflatac’s plants worldwide to the company’s facility in Fletcher.

Virtanen presented an overview of the North American film market, discussing general and product-related trends in the prime labeling sector in addition to Raflatac’s film labelstock range now available, including new squeezable materials.

Randy Stigall, VP of Business Unit Asset & Inventory Management for Rafsec, a subsidiary of UPM-Kymmene and sister company to Raflatac, kicked-off the afternoon presentations. Stigall offered an in-depth look at the recent Wal-Mart RFID mandate and its implications for North American label converters. Mary Ellen Reis, President of the consulting firm Packnology, Inc., delivered the keynote. Reis focused on the ways consumer trends influence end-use decisions surrounding packaging design, and ultimately, label decoration methodologies.

Additional presenters included Jennifer Dochstader, Managing Director of industry communications and research firm, LPC, Inc., discussing pressure sensitive film trends in the North American marketplace; Bob Pelletier and Kevin Frydryk of Exxon Mobil highlighting advances in OPP labeling; Michael Hague, President of Water Ink Technologies discussing
technical issues surrounding ink lay down and film substrates; and Roger Stebbings, Sales Manager at Kocher & Beck, discussing die cutting challenges in processing PS film constructions on press.