Supply Chain (Cont’d from Page 1)
higher, at 6.4 percent as label users seek to source small run sizes and fast turnaround times, particu- larly during this time of the pandemic. Of particular interest is the fact that a growing number of respondents are involved in a liner re- cycling program. Compared to a year ago, the per- centage of respondents indicating that they are involved in a liner recycling program more than doubled to 41 percent, whilst by contrast the per- centage of respondents indicating they are not in- volved in such a program shrunk from 30 percent to 10 percent. More than 60 percent responded that they are willing to make used liner available for collection in hubs, provided these are within a 200 km range of the factory. “During every conversation we had, two topics were front and center: Supply chain and Sustain- ability,” said LPC’s Jennifer Dochstader, who head- ed the research. “There is tremendous concern at the bottom of the value chain regarding the stabil- ity, and availability, of raw materials and the ability for label vendors to meet delivery demands and lead time requirements. The current upheaval in raw material supplies has made all of us keenly aware of just how intricate and interconnected the global supply chain truly is. Each and every com- pany we spoke with also indicated that they want
supply chains resulting from severe raw materials, components and labor shortages, excessive rises in delivery times and demand-supply gaps resulting in exponential increases of raw materials and energy prices. Shortly after the summer of last year, FINAT already signaled these trends in a tour around vari- ous stations of the global supply chain. The report confirms that these supply chain con- cerns are of equal importance among the actors at the ‘bottom end’ of the supply chain: labels and packaging specifiers, engineers, sourcing and pro- curement, R&D as well as print production leaders active in the food & beverage, personal care, phar- maceuticals, chemicals, consumer durables, auto- motive and retail sectors. Compounding Concerns Apart from the role of labels and narrow-web packaging in essential sectors, supply chain con- cerns are compounded by the fact that more than three quarters of the respondents indicated that they are planning to increase label procurement in 2022 in response to continued economic recovery. On average, label procurement is expected to in- crease by a robust 5.4 percent this year. For digital labels, the expectation is even a percentage point
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Flexo Market News January 17, 2021 3
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