FINAT, the international association for the self-adhesive label industry, has reshaped and rebranded its annual congress to reflect greater industry collaboration and cooperation. Under its new name, the European Label Forum (ELF) will take place June 11-13 2015, in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.

“The annual congress has historically presented key industry updates and insight,” explains Kurt Walker, FINAT President. “However, we want to enhance the value of our annual event for business and opinion leaders from around Europe and beyond. This is why we have chosen to ‘re-brand’ the conference as The European Label Forum. The new format will provide insights to attendees on items of relevance for strategic decision making, by connecting different areas of interest and expertise through dialogue and interaction. Sessions will also map the key transformations reshaping the industry, and in doing should help them to identify the opportunities and challenges. In other words, the ELF will offer a unique source of knowledge, experience and networks key to the strategic success of label businesses in an international business environment.”

The panel of keynote presenters will include:
• Herman van Rompuy, former EU President and Belgian Prime Minister;
• Rasmus Ankersen, entrepreneur and bestselling management author;
• Ramses Dingenouts, Senior Packaging & Identity Design Manager at Heineken;
• Gordon Crichton, Director of the French Procurement Management Institute (MAI).

There will also be a first-hand preview of the 3rd edition of the FINAT Radar, the association’s half-yearly market overview to be published after the ELF.

Parallel Business Streams
One of the ELF highlights will be the series of three parallel program streams on the first day of the conference, offering a choice of top level expert speakers on three areas of expertise: sales and marketing, technology and manufacturing, and management and corporate affairs. Also new will be a workshop that will take the shape of a Lean Manufacturing game and exercise during the closing session of the event.

“Presenting trends and underscoring market influences is the key role of this event, but the value is in truly understanding how they will impact day-to-day business and shape the future. With topics like ‘the new reality of retailing’, ‘label design that makes products sell more’, ‘competing product decoration technologies’, ‘3D printing business models’, ‘succession planning’ and ‘how to sell your business?’ we are aiming to offer direct business value to a variety of label industry audiences and we are therefore encouraging label printers to consider participating with multiple members of staff to take advantage of this opportunity, adds Walker.

“There will be ample opportunity to network so that delegates can share ideas amongst themselves and leave with a clearer idea of how they can make a difference when they return to their operations. We also believe the ELF will help attendees build new relationships that will enable them to interact with like-minded business leaders beyond the conference, collaborating on new ways of working to ensure a long-term profitable future.”

The forum will also be the setting for FINAT’s annual awards presentation, including the FINAT Label Awards and Recycling Award.

Complete details about the awards, the ELF program, registration and other arrangements can be downloaded from www.EuropeanLabelForum.com.