Editor's note In recent years, the German sticker industry and narrow-format printing have been affected by constant changes. Although some enterprises have closed down and merged, reducing the total number of enterprises, the industry's sales are increasing, and the company's revenue and production capacity are improving. This special edition publishes the report of the German sticker label printers and the chairman of the VSKE Federation at the VSKE meeting in Berlin in 2007. And looked forward to the development prospects of the self-adhesive label industry and narrow format printing. I hope this article can have some reference for the label industry. â– Invited compilation Xu Shiyuan In Europe, 20% of the adhesive materials are processed in Germany. About 100 sticker label printing plants in Germany and all export companies in Europe divided the market, but it was not calm. In the end, the buyer's market is dominated by a higher level of competition. Figure 1 shows the market segmentation by enterprise size. From Figure 2 we can see the market share by scale. Figure 1: The scale of the German sticker industry Prices continue to fall The sticker industry has undergone constant changes in bankruptcies and mergers. The number of companies is decreasing, so the entire paper, cardboard and film processing industry is in this trend. Figure 3 shows the situation of paper, cardboard and film processing companies. In 2006, the value-added sales of stickers increased by 4.5%. The tonnage processed increased by 3.5%. This makes one guess that will increase the price. But in fact, the price has not been increased because of the low number of prints, the increase in the degree of finishing after printing, the use of more films to replace paper and the reduction in weight per unit area, which made prices continue to weaken in 2006. However, what is satisfying is that despite the price reductions on the customer side and the increase in the prices of materials from suppliers, the growth of sales is more than twice the growth of the national economy last year, and the earnings of enterprises have also increased. New business areas Such as shrink sleeves, roll solutions, printed films and in-mold labels open up new business areas for adhesive label printers. Many companies are busy with production and find that people cannot take into consideration this market gap. In order to make money, high-level professionals are also needed in this field. In addition to experts, today's large-scale packaging companies have expanded their product range, so they have become a complete set of suppliers in the field of product decoration. In order to win end customers at the point of sale, product decoration is constantly being valued. This is a good thing for the sticker industry. A variety of effects can be provided through materials, shapes, colors and functions, so maintaining market share is indeed a success. The German label manufacturing industry looks optimistically towards the future. The general sentiment of domestic demand and exports supports this optimistic view. It didn't take long to evaluate the business climate of packaging, printing and labels. Highlights of label industry development The development trends of the label industry in recent years are as follows: shorten the delivery time, increase the variety of varieties, increase the color, use different printing methods on a label, special effects, additional functions, and more films to replace paper. These developments are continuing, and more and more professionals are needed throughout the processing and manufacturing process. Customers demand high-end labels, and label manufacturers seek to provide new possibilities and efficiencies to meet customer requirements. This development is global, and competition as a driving force, customers themselves participate in this competition with their products. The adoption of RFID (radio frequency identification) tags heralds a significant development trend. The adoption of this technology has been slow, and prices have fallen rapidly. The "Security Solutions" department vigorously promotes the promotion and application of RFID tags. The expansion of the beverage label business is completely different. Self-adhesive labels have increased market share in this regard, showing a huge material volume in square meters. Risk trend The trend for the label manufacturer as a risk is transferred from the burden and risk of the customer to the label supplier. The key issues are: extended payment period; low delivery volume; free storage for zero inventory with no delivery obligation; high claims for internal processing cost settlement; downtime costs until the loss is passed on, which can reach a larger scale when the product is recalled ; Annual price cuts; free additional services and procurement framework agreements, which are important obligations for suppliers. Inspiringly, the fastest growing department in a large auto group is the one that has to find spare parts suppliers due to bankruptcy. The reason for bankruptcy lies in the lack of sufficient prices and funds for products and risks. This trend deserves special attention, and it also attracts lawmakers' attention in Germany. Global market mergers Over the years, purchasing power has been concentrated and will continue. Large groups are reducing the number of their suppliers. Therefore, medium-sized enterprises now want to save costs. Many suppliers classified as A and B by value are problematic. Today's Class C, such as stickers are the focus of attention. When reducing the number of suppliers, in addition to quality, service, and price, the selection criteria also depends on their ability to supply globally. Such measures will lead to the strengthening of foreign business activities, international cooperation, and continued industry integration. Therefore, the label industry will continue to change the status quo. Technological innovation The continuous hard work of equipment and material suppliers has significantly improved the level of sticker manufacturers. The traditional printing methods continue to reduce assembly time, materials and energy consumption. With every innovation, we can break through the limits of quality, feasibility and accounting. In addition to traditional printing methods, digital printing has also settled in the field of label printing due to: Ink and toner are getting better and better, while the price is getting cheaper; Printing quality has improved significantly; The machine covers less area than traditional printing methods; Less energy consumption; The machine also has a lot of potential for price reduction. Overall, this is a development that can change the image of label printers in the next few years. It is foreseeable that label printing will be digital and computer-controlled material processing with integrated quality control. At the same time, we started to study the printing process, decompose the process into time modules, and continuously optimize the workflow. Eastern Europe Development Trend In recent years, Eastern European countries have been a good sales area for machine manufacturers. Set up many modern sticker printing factories. The annual growth rate of the Eastern European market is 15% higher than Germany's triple growth. The reason for this is the cumulative demand and production shift, especially from Germany. This vigorously promotes development and improves competitiveness, thereby helping to obtain jobs in Germany. The governments of neighboring countries in Eastern Europe now expect to create new value in their own countries. The supply of labels from Germany to Poland and the Czech Republic has ceased. This has been confirmed from the statistics of the Federal Bureau of Statistics on self-adhesive labels. However, total exports from Poland to Germany doubled within a year. The total is still uneven. But soon it will be equal. When an important sticker label manufacturer in Eastern Europe establishes an enterprise internationally, it will inevitably be produced in the place with the lowest cost and mainly depends on the investor's income. In this regard, although Germany has decided to reform the tax system, it is still at a disadvantage compared with the tax burden of its neighbors in Eastern Europe. In the next few years, many companies in Germany have to solve the succession problem, as does the labeling industry. In general, although there are optimistic reasons to consider the continued development of the label industry, we must focus on the continued concentration of the industry.
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Figure 2: The scale / market share of the German sticker industry
Figure 3: German paper, cardboard and film processing industry-8.5% within 5 years
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