Looking Ahead

Industry experts recently examined the future of release liners at AWA’s Global Release Liner Industry Conference.

April 2008 by Corey M. Reardon

multipage

The Global Release Liner ­Industry Conference, hosted annually by AWA Conferences & Events, took place this year Feb. 6-8 in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. The event, which alternates annually between North America and Europe, drew 150 delegates from all corners of the globe to focus on the opportunities and concerns in a business that has seen considerable consolidation in recent years, and is facing rising costs, reduced profitability, and environmental issues.

Market data

Opening the formal conference proceedings, Conference Chairperson Corey M. Reardon, president and CEO of market research consultants AWA Alexander Watson Associates BV, provided the first keynote address—his company’s global update on the release-liner market as a whole. North America is still the largest market at 37 percent, he said, with Europe in second place at 30 percent—but across nearly all applications, these are mature markets, and growth is slowing. Asia Pacific’s current share, 25 percent, is, however, likely to increase significantly. Annual growth of nearly 10 percent means that this region will soon overtake the traditional market leaders in terms of volume usage (Figs. 1 and 2 below).

Overall, AWA forecasted a continuing annual growth rate for the industry of 4-6 percent, but Reardon drew attention to a real concern. “We must not forget that the release-liner industry is a producer of waste material after a self-adhesive application is completed. As it positions itself for the future, this becomes more and more of a critical issue.”

More partnership

Alexander van ‘t Riet, business line director, films, for Avery Dennison Roll Materials Europe, addressed suppliers, growth, and customer needs from two perspectives: that of a purchaser of release liners, and that of a leading self-adhesive laminate producer. His premise was challenging: the customer’s agenda, he said, is “ME, everything, now”—a wish list that highlights a genuine need for supply chain partnerships. “We are too often in transactional mode,” he said. To grow the self-adhesive industry in the future, he told delegates, suppliers have a key role in developing cost-effective, innovative solutions in support of the multi-generation product plans, which are already actively pursued in Avery Dennison.

A global market

Penti Kallio, CEO of release-liner producer Loparex Group, looked at drivers and challenges. In the label stock market today, he said, 50 percent of customers are global and 50 percent are local. In the hygiene, tapes, medical, and graphic arts markets, most of the business is now global. However, he said, even global customers want local service and local language. Loparex’s business model is designed to provide that, within the context of global R&D, raw materials purchasing, and manufacturing, he said.