UPM Raflatac at Labelexpo Americas 2006

Investing in the future

(UPM Raflatac, September 12, 2006) - UPM Raflatac is on the move. Through an expanding production capacity and industry-leading supply chain, UPM Raflatac is offering an increasingly diverse product range to the North American market.

With ‘A New Label. New Capacity. New Technology’ as its message to the market, UPM Raflatac is set to showcase its expanded range of film labelstock, newly updated Raflink Business Line and RFID product offering at Labelexpo Americas 2006.

New factory and terminal announced for the US Midwest

UPM Raflatac is forging ahead with plans to build a new pressure sensitive labelstock factory in Dixon, Illinois, 105 miles west of Chicago. The $109 million investment is a consistent step in UPM’s strategy to strengthen UPM Raflatac’s global position in the fast-growing labelstock business. The new factory will focus on serving label converters in the US Midwest marketplace and feature UPM Raflatac’s latest coating and finishing solutions. Construction is scheduled to start immediately, with completion due in the first quarter of 2008.

In the third quarter of 2006, UPM Raflatac is also opening a new terminal to provide slitting and distribution services from Rochelle, Illinois. The company’s other US terminals are located in Ontario, California and Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. Major accomplishments last year included the start-up of an additional coating machine at UPM Raflatac’s labelstock facility in Fletcher, North Carolina, and, also in Fletcher, the construction of a new state-of-the-art RFID facility for the production of HF and UHF inlays.

UPM Raflatac is also rolling ahead on other continents. In Europe the company is doubling its production capacity for film labelstock, while in China a greenfield factory is being built in Changshu, 100 km west of Shanghai.

“UPM Raflatac aims to be the number one choice of label converters. We are doing a lot of work to this end by developing our production technology, adhesives and other raw materials as well as our logistic solutions. Also, and as an industry leader in the RFID business, we are supplying HF and UHF tags and inlays from our two factories in the US and Finland. Our mission is to continuously develop our product offerings and service concepts and provide substantial benefits to our customers,” says Heikki Pikkarainen, President of UPM Raflatac.

New products from new capacity

With a new state-of-the-art coating machine in Fletcher, UPM Raflatac has expanded its U.S. range of locally made film products including polypropylenes and polyethylenes for rigid and semi- and fully squeezable containers. UPM Raflatac is also offering new hot melt and rubber resin dispersion adhesives and a number of additional liner options to boost processing speeds. Special programs include splice-free, trimless and longer rolls, available from several stock locations.

UPM Raflatac is also devoting significant resources to continue the development of RFID tags and inlays for applications in the supply chain and the retail, pharmaceutical, library/media management, transportation and security markets, among others.

Enhanced Raflink Business Line enables online ordering

Recognizing that speed-to-market and extended business hours are critical to its customers, UPM Raflatac is launching an enhanced e-business platform for the North American market. North American customers can now use the Raflink Business Line to order products online, track shipments door-to-door, access and analyze their purchasing history, monitor claims and credit adjustments and manage their accounts on a 24/7 basis.

UPM Raflatac will be present at Booth 1339.

UPM Raflatac in brief
UPM Raflatac is a world-leading supplier of pressure sensitive labelstock for a wide variety of needs in product and information labeling. In addition, the company is at the global forefront in the development and high-volume production of radio frequency identification (RFID) tags and inlays. UPM Raflatac has around 2,300 employees and annual sales of approximately EUR 860 million. The company has a global service network consisting of 11 factories on five continents and a broad network of terminals and sales offices worldwide. UPM Raflatac is part of UPM, one of the world’s leading producers of printing papers. Further information is available at www.upmraflatac.com.

For more information, please contact
UPM Raflatac
Elisa Nilsson, Vice President, Communications
P.O. Box 53, 33101 Tampere, Finland
Tel. +358 2041 6143, mobile +358 40 500 3150
upmraflatac@upmraflatac.com
www.upmraflatac.com