While the label and package printing industry continues to experience growth – 3.8% globally, according to AWA Alexander Watson Associates – challenges abound. Finding skilled employees and procuring materials can still be an arduous task for many label converters. These obstacles are set against the backdrop of growing the business.

As has been noted by many entrepreneurs, comfort can kill your business. Relying on the way “things have always been done” is a great way to stifle growth. That applies to driving efficiency and attracting new employees. In order to bump up that 3.8% growth figure, many converters will look to new technology and new markets. Automation can help converters do more with less while also redeploying employees throughout a label printing facility. Newer equipment, from printing presses to slitter-rewinders, runs faster and smarter than ever before to help deliver labels to customers in rapid fashion.

There are also new markets worth exploring. While label printers have been presented with these opportunities in the past, the technology boom has made expansion more relevant than ever. Shrink sleeves and flexible packaging – two growth areas – have been popular suggestions. While visiting Diversified Labeling Solutions (DLS) in Itasca, IL, USA, senior leadership discussed the company’s focus on RFID labeling. In fact, DLS recently installed a new Mark Andy press equipped with a Tamarack unit to specifically target “smart” labeling. The new configuration can be seen on the cover, and a deep dive into DLS is available on page 36.

RFID – and consequently, NFC – is a technology worth monitoring. While the pandemic is something we’d all like to leave in the past, there are certain aspects that have become the norm. For example, e-commerce is a trend that is here to stay. The proclivity for consumers to do their shopping online was expanding prior to 2020, and now it has boomed. Inventory management and track-and-trace solutions are required in an e-commerce world.

In order to remain efficient and deliver enhanced customer service, brands must know the location of their products throughout the supply chain. This is where smart labeling comes into play. Brands, retailers and consumers all have skin in this game, especially as counterfeiting remains a constant.

Suppliers have jumped into this pool headfirst, too. Avery Dennison and Fedrigoni acquired Smartrac and Tageos, respectively, to boost their capabilities in this growing market, while Schreiner Group and Metalcraft, to name a few, continue to deliver new solutions to various end-use markets. The possibilities in RFID labeling are endless. Cost used to be the big prohibitor for market acceptance, but that is no longer the case. And while it is true supply chain constraints have impacted this market, that should be less of a concern as we head into the future. RFID represents an avenue for growth, as this segment makes smart business sense.


Greg Hrinya, Editor
[email protected]