Frank Gavrilos, Director, AC Labels
The biggest threat to our industry is “offshore”, but the real problem is here at home. The cost of manufacturing in Australia is the biggest challenge we face. When manufacturing struggles, so does the label industry. It’s not so much that people are going overseas to get labels – they are going overseas to get the whole product shipped in. Labels are increasingly going digital; an efficient logistics chain can be a competitive advantage for us competing with overseas options. Information systems will continue to improve and links to online systems will be the next big wave in our industry.
Damien Prunty, General manager, Pemara Labels
Some of the main trends are around shorter lead times and smaller volumes. Our customers see increasingly tighter demands by retailers, requiring greater flexibility from production, and the need for greater differentiation on shelf. This has led to different technology like digital printing. Digital provides the opportunity to produce smaller, more frequent runs more economically, so margin is affected less than if it was printed conventionally. It also positively impacts the growing need for environmental source reduction, and that is a positive thing for all businesses.
Terry Rowney, Director, Labelcraft
Manufacturing is moving offshore: you can’t stick a label on a product that doesn’t exist. Customers are saying they want to lower their cost base and that’s what they’re doing and they’re doing it effectively. Technology is always changing. The biggest threat is if you haven’t got a customer. Everyone will fight over a decreasing size of cake and then no one will have the money to invest in new technology. I’m going to Drupa with an open mind. I’m expecting to find lots of expensive pieces of equipment, but if I haven’t got a customer, it’s irrelevant. The most important thing is to have a customer and the second most important thing is to have a customer. You can then make choices as to how you can keep the customer happy.
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