Like many of you, I have been spending an inordinate amount of time checking my inbox and hopping on and off Zoom conference calls. We have often talked about the digitalization of the label and package printing industry, but most of us likely never thought it would overtake our communication methods – or at least not this soon.

There is a certain convenience to communicating digitally, where we can make ourselves available at the drop of a hat. I can conduct an interview with HP Indigo’s Alon Bar-Shany in Israel (read about HP’s new press in Industry News), before talking to Label King’s Robert Parker, who is based in San Diego, CA, USA, and contributed to our Workforce Challenges feature (See page 60). And this is all before lunch.

This level of immediacy has its benefits. The industry has converted many of its shuttered events – and quite adeptly too – into virtual conferences. Label converters from around the world can join FTA’s Virtual Forum, Esko’s EskoWorld, or even tune in for a L&NW webinar focusing on supply chain challenges from “virtually” anywhere.

But is this the future of our industry, and society at large? Will this become our new normal? It’s impossible to say, as it has become all the more difficult to predict the future. While the COVID-19 pandemic dissipates in some parts of the USA and around the globe, it grows in others. Scientists also warn of a second wave that could occur in the late fall as we approach flu season. Therefore, we may not go back to what was once considered “normal,” but we’ll move forward and into another semblance of normalcy.

Although we can communicate from our couches with anyone across the globe, labels can’t be printed that way. This is an essential industry, and to steal a phrase from Esko, we rely on “packaging heroes” every day. Every product – be it food, drinks, household cleaners, hand sanitizers, etc. – resides in a package with a label. We need label converters and suppliers to continue to operate on the front lines to get these products to their destinations.

As I’ve said before, the people are what make this industry great, and we’re meant to see and interact with them. There’s a benefit to going to Labelexpo – postponed to March 23-25, 2021 – and witnessing a live demo in person. We get to experience the nuts and bolts of the machine, and receive our own tour around a booth. Looking at product descriptions and pre-recorded videos on a website can suffice for now, but this is a hands-on industry.

We may need to socially distance for the time-being, but hopefully that doesn’t mean we’re physically distancing indefinitely. I’m looking forward to hitting the road again and visiting any number of trade shows, conferences or open houses. And I’m hoping for sooner rather than later. I hope to see you there.


Greg Hrinya, Editor
[email protected]