Throughout this year, the flexographic industry has seen remarkable growth due to several interesting factors. As 2019 draws to a close, I’d like to pause and consider the changes that a thriving marketplace has brought to our industry as a whole and to Pamarco specifically, as well as taking a look at how the year ahead is shaping up.
The continued lobby against plastic and expansion of e commerce has brought a tremendous boost our corrugated customers, right alongside the new horizon of inside and outside printing. We’ve seen the inside outside customers gaining traction most prominently in the subscription box market, noted by the sales of many new presses – both flexo folder gluers and die cutters. This is stimulating growth with many of our OEM customers worldwide: Bobst, BW, Gopfert, Emba and MHI, to name a few.
In the film industry, continued consolidation of printers is still on trend, but with Pamarco’s regionalized business, we are ideally suited to support this strategy on both a corporate and local level. The investments we have made in plasma spray and laser technology have presented unique opportunities to service and support this growth. Additionally, the stocking of anilox sleeves has enabled us to reduce our turn-around time to this important marketplace segment.
Internally, 2019 has been a year of big change for Pamarco. In the UK, we have a new management team in place with the hiring of Steve Mortimer as General Manager, Gary Carpino as Plant Manager, and a new Sales Director to be named shortly.
In the Midwestern US, we are eagerly anticipating the move of our Batavia plant to a new 36,000 square foot, custom-built facility after sixty years in our current location. The move will be completed by the end of June. The new plant is located only two miles from the existing one as we aim to retain the skills of our dedicated, seasoned personnel.
In the Northeast, we have spent the year consolidating the manufacturing of our mechanically engraved anilox and glue rolls into our Roselle facility. This process was a move to take advantage of the experienced and highly-skilled personnel, and, from an environmental standpoint, to reduce our electroplating lines from four to two.
We look forward to 2020 with increasing optimism and wish all of our employees, customers, and suppliers a Happy Holiday Season and prosperity in the New Year.