Familiarly known as “ELF,” the annual European Label Forum takes place this year in Berlin from June 7-9. The event will bring together a broad spectrum of industry participants, from raw material suppliers to end users, to debate current major strategic business topics and gain in-depth wide-spectrum market knowledge from the formal speaker agenda.

“There are very few occasions in any industry when leading players across all relevant disciplines can usefully get together,” says Jules Lejeune, managing director of the international labeling association FINAT. “Our FINAT European Label Forum is certainly one such opportunity – and it represents a present-and-future business briefing that encompasses both the global environment and industry-specific topics across the many aspects of this diverse packaging business sector.”

An extensive keynote session will feature the definition and impact of “the fourth industrial revolution” on the label industry. A special agenda item will see all the session’s individual speakers come together on the podium: Andy Hobsbawm, co-founder of Internet of Things “Smart Platform” EVRYTHNG (UK/US); Stephen Lechel, partner in Porsche Consulting (DE); and Jan Denys (BE), labor market expert at employment group Randstad. FINAT ELF committee members Niklas Olsson (SE) and Marc Büttgenbach (DE) will interview them, and drill down into their combined expertise to determine their focused vision of the future for the label industry.

Equally valuable insights will be provided the next day by the FINAT business debate, featuring three international label industry leaders – Geoff Martin, president of CCL Label (CN); Adrian Tippenhauer (DE) from All4Labels, the recently-merged international label converter group; and Dan Muenzer (US), vice president, marketing, for Constantia Flexibles Labels Division.

They will debate with the audience on label industry scenarios for, specifically, 2020-2025 – led by moderators Paul de Ruijter (NL) of De Ruijter Strategy and Chris Ellison (UK), incoming FINAT president and owner/CEO of OPM Labels & Packaging. The highly-relevant focal point for the debate will also form the core of a full afternoon’s workshop, hosted by De Ruijter Strategy, on the prior day.

Major innovations, challenges and opportunities for the label industry will be addressed in the event’s full schedule of presentations, and FINAT ELF participants can also benefit from extensive networking around a supplier tabletop exhibition, a lively social program and the annual presentation of the prestigious FINAT Label Competition and Recycling Awards. Program details are available here.