Audrey LaForest

The market for shrink sleeves and stretch sleeves continues to be one of the fastest growing segments in labeling and companies like Elk Grove, Illinois-based Fort Dearborn Co. are poised to play a leading role.

Walle Corp. received its SGP certification in 2014, but Combs says the process relied on a complete mindset change from the management team and its floor employees.

What types of bags and pouches are brand owners, converters and suppliers going to purchase in the next year? Are they likely to purchase or lease new bag- and pouch-related equipment? What are the effects of industry automation in packaging?

Kodak hosted employees, customers and community leaders at a groundbreaking ceremony held April 20 in Weatherford, Oklahoma, to celebrate the expansion of its manufacturing facility to accommodate the production of its flexo plate line, Flexcel NX Plates.

Consumers are growing more accustomed to seeing water-soluble, unit-dose pods on shelves in the laundry and dishwasher detergent aisles, but now they can also find these little pods next to cans of shaving cream.

At Overnight Labels, a Deer Park, New York-based manufacturer specializing in custom-printed shrink sleeves, neckbands, flexible films, and both pressure- and non-pressure-sensitive labels, among other products, the packaging marketplace pushes their labeling capabilities and offerings.

The global economic impact of counterfeit goods has reached an estimate of $1.7 trillion, according to the International Chamber of Commerce, so if you have a brand or product on the market, you’re going to want to protect it.

“If there’s something that we see as a market opportunity or a customer need, we look to develop that capability in house, so we have the control of quality, delivery and cost,” says Joe Imburgia, general manager of operations at Packaging Personified.

For Fritz Yambrach, professor and director of packaging at San Jose State University in California, decades of experience in the packaging industry and concern for access to water in impoverished or disaster areas led to an idea for a simple, yet life-changing solution: the Fritz Water Vest.

Fairfield, New Jersey-based converter Custom Labels Inc. has listened to its customers well enough to know that the flexible packaging and film label markets are two areas slated for big growth.