July, traditionally the start of the school summer holidays, should be hot and sticky but has been mostly cold and wet instead. It’s almost as if the planet is trying to tell us something.
The British electorate did send a message to the Conservative government – get lost – and have installed a new Labour government, which has immediately set about warning us that there’s no money and blaming the Conservatives. This has not stopped the government from setting up a number of new initiatives, including a new Great British Energy venture to build more renewable energy, and a plan to renationalize the railways.
The Covid-19 public inquiry issued a damning report after its first round, which investigated the UK’s response to the pandemic. The inquiry found that many of the processes of government failed to deal with the crisis adequately and made it clear that it’s only a matter of time before the next pandemic strikes.
The US presidential election, which was shaping up as a face-off between two very old white men has been turned on its head. First, Donald Trump survived an assassination attempt and then Joe Biden finally bowed to pressure and abandoned his re-election bid. The US vice-president, Kamala Harris, has stepped up as the Democratic candidate with a campaign that has re-energized the whole election.
This election has serious implications for Europe, as a Trump victory will almost certainly lead to less funding for Ukraine in its war against Russia. Latvia has introduced conscription as European nations judge that there is an increasing risk of the Ukraine conflict spreading further. Most Scandinavian countries already have some form of national service, including Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden. The Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky is campaigning for the right to use Western-supplied weapons to hit targets in Russia, which would be a dramatic escalation of the war.
UNCTAD, the UN trade and development body, provided an update on global trade figures for the first quarter of this year, showing that global trade is recovering but slowly and unevenly. Overall, trade in goods grew by around 1% and in services by roughly 1.5% in Q1 this year when compared with Q4 of 2023. Consequently, UNCTAD is now forecasting 2% growth for the first half of 2024, which equates to around US$250 billion in goods, and US$100 billion in services trade. Some market sectors have been more successful than others, especially around artificial intelligence and green energy use. Interestingly, both office equipment, including printers, and apparel have seen less global trade than expected.
The report says that since the latter part of 2022, there has been a rise in friend-shoring, that is trade between countries with similar geopolitical stances. Not surprisingly, Russia relies more on China now and less on the EU. India is trading more with China and the EU but less with Saudi Arabia, Brazil is trading less with the US and the EU and more with China, while the US is more involved with the EU and less with China. The UK on the other hand is becoming more dependent on the EU…
Perhaps aware of this, the new Labour government has talked about resetting Britain’s relationship with the EU, though it is hard to see how this can be achieved in any meaningful way since the government has also ruled out rejoining the customs union that underpins the common market area.
Miles Roberts, Chief executive officer of the British packaging company DS Smith, pointed out that being part of the customs union would lead to lower cost for businesses. He called for the UK to adopt closer regulatory alignment with the EU to have less friction when moving goods in and out of the common market. He told the BBC that the company had just built a new factory in Poland that could serve customers all across Europe, asking, “How do we make it as easy to invest in the UK so that it can trade with its neighboring markets in the UK, so that it can have the same sort of investment.” He added: “The European Union is constantly developing new legislation that is not coming to the UK so, therefore, we are getting an automatic divergence because we are not maintaining the standards at the standard of our biggest trading partner and that is a cost.”
Also in July, the UK dropped out of the top 10 ranking of manufacturing countries with Roberts asking why is it that people are making products elsewhere. He says that DS Smith is building a new £90 million biomass plant in France for converting waste to energy, and has a similar plant in Germany and the US. He added, “We are investing record sums as a company.”
DS Smith is currently in the process of being acquired by the US company International Paper as part of a £6 million deal that’s just waiting to clear the usual legal steps. Roberts pointed out that the share ratings of most US companies are “significantly higher than those in the UK,” calling it a good deal for the company’s customers and shareholders. He says that currently, only 10-12% of DS Smith’s business is in the UK, having fallen from 70-80% 15 years ago. He added, “We need to make the UK as attractive as possible so investment continues to flow.”
Ricoh and Toshiba Tec have set up a joint venture in the shape of a new company called Etria, with the aim of developing and manufacturing multi-function printers, or MFPs, for the office market. Etria will develop and manufacture MFPs and related products and supply these to both Ricoh and Toshiba Tec. Those companies will sell the products under their own brand names.
The name Etria is, apparently, a combination of Eternal, TRy, Innovation and Alliance. The company will be a consolidated subsidiary of Ricoh, with Toshiba Tec as an affiliated company and both Ricoh and Toshiba Tec as shareholders. Etria has a capital stock of ¥500 million, or around £2.45 million (US$ 3.15 million), and will be led by Katsunori Nakata as president and CEO. Neither company anticipates this arrangement affecting their forecasted financial results for the fiscal year ending March 2025.
Alexander Watson Associates published its In-Mold label market report for 2024, which includes an estimate that this market grew globally by 1.8% in 2023, and now accounts for 2% of the total global label market.
Infigo has established a program called Infigo-eco to lower its carbon footprint. This includes planting a tree for every storefront that is built and hosted on our platform, through a partnership with the More Trees initiative. To demonstrate its commitment, it has pledged to plant 1,749 trees for its existing storefronts. Managing director Alex Bowell commented: “None of us can ignore the catastrophic effect of climate change or the part we all have to play in reversing the impact we’ve had on the planet.”
He explained that Infigo is working on other partnerships as part of this plan, “To support our carbon-neutral goals, we are creating a new module that will provide reliable and certified information about the level of CO₂ emissions generated by each print job. Additionally, we offer the option for customers to acquire corresponding CO2 certificates to neutralize the emissions for each job (carbon offsetting).”
He detailed other plans, “Through an Integration with BVDM, customers input their production information, including raw materials, machinery, and processes, into their BVDM database.” Then a dedicated API queries the database to obtain CO2 emissions calculations and the emissions information is then displayed on the product landing page with the option to purchase carbon offsets. He added, “A Scope 3 acknowledgment then provides customers with acknowledgment of their carbon emissions.”
Fespa has achieved ISO 20121:2012 certification for Sustainable Event Management and claims that next year’s Fespa show in Berlin will be the first in the specialty print sector to be run under the certification. The certification covers things such as waste reduction, energy efficiency, carbon emissions reduction, and stakeholder engagement, all of which were independently audited.
Neil Felton, Fespa CEO, commented, “We are thrilled to have achieved the ISO 20121:2012 certification, which proves our dedication to delivering environmentally responsible events and championing the need for the sectors we represent to make continued progress on sustainability. Our team recognizes the importance of operating our events in a manner that delivers exceptional value to our attendees and exhibitors, while also prioritizing environmental responsibility and community engagement. We look forward to delivering our 2025 events in accordance with the certified sustainable events management system, and we hope our example inspires our community to look at ways of optimizing their sustainability performance.”
Apex International, which makes anilox and embossing rolls, has invested in a DigiLas5000 laser engraving system from Schepers for its Hapert facility in the Netherlands. This system can handle rolls up to 600mm in diameter and will be used to engrave rollers for embossing material up to 3.4m in length.
The market for embossing is growing due to increased demand for tactile textured materials in various areas from household and automotive to packaging and display. Ruud Van Cuijk, CEO of Apex, explained, “Embossing delivers a totally uniform pattern and with the incredible throughput speed afforded by such a large diameter roller it delivers huge efficiency gains to our customers.”
He added, “With this investment in the latest laser technology, we are able to drive our penetration in those new markets and meet the evolving needs of our customers around the world.”
Installations
Graphic Packaging International, which produces packaging for consumer brands mainly from renewable or recycled materials, has installed a Scodix Ultra 6000 SHD B1 embellishing machine at its Munich plant. It will be used to shorten lead times whilst offering packaging enhancements. The company, which is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, USA, has many manufacturing facilities dotted around the world, including over 30 in Europe.
Florian Guggenbichler, GPI Munich Managing Director, explained, “Our approach to packaging integrates optimum consumer experience, brand elevation and operational efficiency whilst minimizing environmental impact. Selecting Scodix complements our objectives and values. As one of the world’s leading consumer packaging companies, we recognize the social responsibility that accompanies our scale. Scodix stood out in its exceptional commitment to sustainability, whilst hitting our premium quality requirements. The Scodix Ultra 6000 emerged as the sole press capable of fulfilling all our requirements and strengthening our position in the market.”
The Swedish packaging company Kartongbolaget ordered a Fujifilm Jet Press 750S B2 sheetfed inkjet press at Drupa. Joakim Johansson, CEO, Kartongbolaget, explained, “Kartongbolaget’s decision to invest in the Fujifilm Jet Press 750S follows extensive evaluation and testing at various tradeshows. We were impressed by the machine’s exceptional performance, quality and environmental credentials. The Jet Press 750S features water-based inks, a significant shift from traditional methods, ensuring safer and more eco-friendly production processes, especially crucial for foodstuff, cosmetics, and perfume packaging.”
Label Express, based in Croydon, south London, has invested in a Durst RSC-E LED press, the first of these presses in the UK. The company mainly serves the food & beverage, personal care, health and beauty and retail markets. Simon Williams, managing director of Label Express, said,“The need to respond to customer orders quickly is a main focus for Label Express and the LED digital technology enhances our commitment to our sustainability credentials. Along with the great quality, our speed of turnaround and our focus on providing excellent customer service, this is a great addition to our overall product offering and is a key factor in driving in new business to the company.”
Appointments
Infigo, which develops web-to-print software, has promoted Alex Bowell from technical operations director to managing director. He joined the company when it was still in its start-up phase. Founder and CEO Douglas Gibson explained that the company needed someone for day-to-day management but that he preferred to meet with customers, “This is where Alex comes in: he’s focused, he’s driven and he has been at the heart of Infigo for a decade, so he knows the business inside out. Not only this, but he’s also passionately driven forward several of our business changes in the last few years (including the four-day working week) which has seen us win several Best Workplaces awards as well as leading the implementation of Entrepreneurial Operating System.”
Polar, which mostly makes guillotines and postpress devices, has a new managing director. Christoph Brünner has replaced Thomas Raab, who has left to pursue other interests.
Brünner studied mechanical engineering and has worked in the automotive and mechanical engineering industries both nationally and internationally. He has managed a number of companies and is said to have over 20 years of experience in the transformation and organization of growth of medium-sized companies.
He will work alongside Haiko Stüting, who is a senior partner at SOL Capital Management, which is Polar’s major shareholder. Brünner commented, “I am looking forward to the new challenge that awaits me at a traditional global market leader. Driving forward the transformation of Polar, further developing its competitiveness and generating growth is an exciting task.”
Mimaki’s UK distributor, Hybrid Services, has taken on Andrew Edwards as partner sales manager for Sign & Graphics. Andy Gregory, sales director for Hybrid Services, commented, “Andrew has been selling, promoting and supporting wide format inkjet printers, flatbed cutters and workflow software to end-users and resellers for over 20 years, and brings valuable knowledge and experience to our business.”
Tune in next month for a summary of events in August. In the meantime, you can find a longer version of the first part of this story on the main geopolitical news at nessancleary.com.
(First published on https://www.nessancleary.co.uk/)
