FINAT is staging its second European Label Forum at the Moevenpick Hotel in Amsterdam from June 16-18. The program is designed to address current and potential challenges and opportunities in the label industry with expert speakers and highly interactive sessions, as well as plenty of networking opportunities.

“The European Label Forum offers a unique source of knowledge, experience and networking key to the strategic success of label businesses in an international environment,” explains Jules Lejeune, managing director of FINAT. “We have excellent speakers on tap and expect that every attendee will leave the Forum with many new ideas to immediately implement as they look to the future of their businesses. We are especially pleased to be kicking off the session with a talk by Swedish Futurologist Magnus Lindkvist, who will talk about the disruptive trends that will change the label and package printing market over the next 10 years. It will be a great way to get our creative juices going and frame the work we will be doing during the remainder of the event.”

The first morning session of ELF 2016 will be made interactive through the use of Buzzmaster, allowing attendees to interact with the program in real time using their smartphones. Rens de Jong, Business News Radio talk show host and moderator of the year in the Netherlands, will conduct interview stakeholders from different corners of the European label business about pending business questions.

The ELF program will build on the key learnings of the 2015 Forum and will zoom in on two essential conditions of success for a profitable business: value creation and innovation. “Both topics are two sides of the same coin,” explains Lejeune. “On the one hand, label printers are servicing mature, competitive markets and are facing the challenge to differentiate their existing product and solutions and avoid commoditization. On the other, the European Label Forum 2015 learned us that end users are more and more open to work with their strategic labels and packaging suppliers on the joint development of new solutions.”

To accommodate both aspects of healthy business development, the ELF 2016 program is offering interactive parallel workshops on the respective topics, hosted by experts Phil Allen and Gordon Crichton. That will enable participants to gain new insights, tools, tips and skills that will help them and their business to enhance profitability.

To conclude this year’s event, former Formula One racing executive Mark Gallagher (UK) will present an “outside in” perspective of a winning and innovative future for the label industry. Gallagher worked directly with the world’s top drivers and team owners including, Senna, Mansell, Schumacher and Coulthard, giving him a understanding of what it takes to be a world class competitor.

The European Label Forum provides a platform for owners, CEOs, sales and marketing managers, future leaders, vendor partners, knowledge providers and media editors to learn about and discuss the business challenges of today and tomorrow, be inspired by success stories, learn from experts in different areas of expertise, share views and opinions and enter into dialogues that will shape the future, gain experience through exercise and engagement, and network with international colleagues.