Label Industry Global Awards 2023 winners revealed

Now in its 18th edition, the Label Industry Global Awards
recognize organizations and individuals who have excelled in the label and package printing sector through innovation and personal example.

The Label Industry Global Awards 2023 judging panel consisted of Philippe Voet, president of Finat; Tim McDonough, TLMI chairman; Chelsea McDougall, editor of Labels & Labeling; Greg Hrinya, editor of Label & Narrow Web; and Jean Poncet, editor of Etiq & Pack. The judging panel was chaired by Andy Thomas-Emans, strategic director of the Informa (Tarsus) labels and packaging group.

This year, there were a total of seven awards: the Global
Achievement Award, the Global Team Achievement Award, the Innovation Award for companies with up to 300 employees, the Innovation Award for companies with more than 300 employees, the Rising Star Award, the Sustainability Award and Converter of the Year.

The Team Achievement Award was introduced and was awarded to Mercian Labels and its partners Screen, Cerm and ABG for their six-year ‘lights-out’ converting project. The award recognizes the critical importance of teamwork and is open to industry suppliers, converters and end users.

The judges were impressed with this six-year team project led by Mercian Labels which set out to achieve a fully automated ‘lights out’ workflow for converting digitally printed self-adhesive label rolls without any operator intervention. This involved Mercian Labels working closely with a team of suppliers including ABG, Cerm and Screen.

The judges noted that the fact this has been achieved, with
on-the-fly automated changeovers creating only 3 meters of waste, makes an important contribution to the future development of the labels industry.

Lintec Corporation won the Innovation Award for companies
with more than 300 employees. This award is for the development of a specific innovation by a supplier or converter company in 2022.

The Label Awards judging panel said: ‘Lintec impressed the
judges with its new polyester-based adhesive, which will greatly assist in the development of a circular materials economy by assisting in the clean separation of PET container waste.’

A typical PET/acrylic PS label contains around 20 percent
acrylic, which will contaminate the PET recycling stream. Lintec’s polyester-based mono-material labelstock, by contrast, consists of more than 95 percent polyester resin.

Along with this, Lintec has developed a top coat that allows
printing inks to delaminate in a container recycling system.

The Innovation Award for companies with up to 300 employees went to Cartes who impressed the judges with its fully automated end-to-end digital embellishment line, which integrates inkjet embellishment, digital metalization and laser die-cutting modules.

At a time when label converters are facing a skilled labor crisis, any development that replaces operators with automation is to be welcomed.

Furthermore, integrating several digital finishing processes
without the requirement to change tooling and with barcode-driven automated job change will reduce makeready times and waste, making for a more sustainable finishing solution.

Tom Schouten, the operational manager at Geostick in the
Netherlands, won the Rising Star Award.

The judges were impressed with his drive and passion for process optimization and continuous improvement which set him out as a future industry leader.

‘Now 30 years old and with only four years of working
experience in the business, he has managed a process of rapid change at Geostick. Overseeing the successful integration of digital technologies, with the result that Tom’s responsibilities now extend to plant manager and overseeing operations at the two Geostick plants. Tom has worked closely with external partners, who already regard him as a thought leader. He takes an active role in Finat discussions for moving the industry forward to a new era of
automation. All these qualities make Tom a worthy winner of the Rising Star award,’ the judges say.

Schouten comments: ‘After four years it’s great to be here
[at Labelexpo Europe 2023] and it is an amazing feeling to win this award. These last four years have been hectic for the label industry, so to get such an award is amazing. I have made my work into my hobby, and I think the label industry appreciates that so that is where the dedication comes from and that’s what the award is for.’

The Sustainability Award went to UPM Raflatac, for its Ocean Action Label, made from ocean-bound plastic, which is a major step towards creating a real commercial market for plastic waste.

UPM Raflatac’s Ocean Action label, made from ocean-bound plastic, is a major step towards creating a real commercial market for plastic waste which would otherwise be clogging up the world’s oceans. This took real commitment on UPM Raflatac’s part, involving pulling together a global chain of partners including a Malaysian-based plastic recycling company; SABIC which uses the chemical recycled pyrolysis oil to create high-quality PP plastic granulates; and Taghleef Industries which produces the label film used to produce the final label material by UPM Raflatac. The Ocean Action label material has the same performance as the current fossil-based labels.

The Converter of the Year Award was won by Baker Labels. The judges were impressed with the culture of the company which encourages among its 112 staff a passion for continuous learning, inclusivity and an active participation in a wide range of charitable and local community initiatives.

Bakers is a worthy winner of the Converter of the Year award. Celebrating its 50th year of business, this is an excellent example of a vibrant and successful family-owned and run business, now seeing its third generation entering management positions. In terms of customer satisfaction Bakers has continuously innovated, moving early into digital print and materials coating and most recently setting up a digital flexible packaging operation including pouch making, becoming a truly one-stop shop for its industry partners.

The final award, the prestigious Global Achievement Award,
went to GEW founder Malcolm Rae. The Global Achievement Award recognizes an individual who has made a key contribution to the promotion and growth of the label industry and has been a high-profile industry influencer and motivator. 

According to the Label Awards judging panel: ‘Malcolm Rae is a worthy winner of the Global Achievement Award. This recognizes his unique contribution, through GEW, the company he founded, to the narrow web industry’s transition to UV curing and to the subsequent technological development of the UV curing industry.’

Rae comments: ‘The award means a lot to me! Thirty-two years of doing anything is a long time and 30 years is widely regarded as a generation and I have been in the business for a generation. I feel deeply honored that I should have been selected when I am sure there are equally worthy people out there, but I gave it my best shot.

‘I think the main reason [for winning the award] is that our
product is everywhere. Wherever there is a printing machine there is UV and more often than not it is our UV. That is not a coincidence because we have developed, priced and made the product that can sold at that price and be ubiquitous.’

Andy Thomas-Emans, chair of the judging panel says: ‘We have been very impressed by the high quality of entries received for this year’s Label Industry Global Awards. I would like to thank everybody who submitted nominations and on behalf of the judging panel, I would like to congratulate all the winners and finalists. The full range of innovation, team energy and powerful sustainability initiatives shone through during the judging process.’

Jade Grace, managing director, Labelexpo Global Series
comments: ‘I would like to congratulate all of this year’s Label Industry Global Awards finalists and winners. I would also like to thank our sponsors – Gallus, Bobst, Durst, GEW, Flint Group and Labels & Labeling magazine – for their support in making these awards possible and supporting innovation in our industry.’