One Flint Group—Asia Pacific

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Packaging and Narrow Web:
The Biggest Label Show on Earth!
Print Media:
“Nearly One Year On...”
One Flint Group—Asia Pacific...
Performance Management—The Flint Group Way • Food Packaging Developments • Flint Group’s Helping Hands
Meet your Colleagues—Dr Matthias Schütz • Gladys Carracho • Hiroyo Morimoto • Eberhard Huter • CEO Comment
Employee Newsletter
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Feature Articles...
Antoine Fady
CEO Comment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3
“from Santiago to Shanghai, Ahaus to Asheville...”
Hello and welcome to the latest edition of Visions… Within this publication you will find insight from the four corners of the earth and as
a global organisation we must count ourselves fortunate to employ a huge amount of people with various cultural and ethical backgrounds
who have a wide range of styles, skills and ideas that we can all look to learn from… From Santiago to Shanghai, Ahaus to Asheville you
will find articles that highlight just some of the telling contributions that our people and teams have made to Flint Group throughout 2011.
You will also hopefully associate with many of the
strategies that have been employed to obtain proven
results… We have identified how our partnership
with winning customers in China has enabled us to
expand on our sheetfed blanket business in Asia. We
also discuss some of the teamwork that has taken
Colin Stokes
place between our Print Media divisions (amongst
others) to drive progress and provide momentum in what has been a
very challenging market and described how recently launched product
innovations have opened new opportunities and continually
improved our product portfolio and value proposition.
c
Flint Group News
What’s been happening within Flint Group? . .5
Flint Group Asia Pacific
“One Flint Group” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8
Print Media Europe & North America
One Year On . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13
Divisional News...
Performance Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6
Flint Group Asia Pacific . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8
We have reported on our ecological efforts that have helped to not
only raise our profile but increase brand integrity. Finally, we have
also taken the time to recognise just some of the social and charitable
activities that employees around the world have undertaken – that
are nothing short of inspiring!
Our Mission provides a template and strategy to give everyone a clear
perspective of what we as Flint Group want to accomplish. Our Guiding
Principles provide us with simple, clear statements about the values
and ways that we will work together to achieve our goals. Together
they form the foundation of Flint Group, and describe the way that
we deliver value to our customers.
I trust that you will enjoy reading this edition as much as I have
enjoyed pulling it together…
Communication…
Our marketing and communication teams remain committed to
continually improving on the way we relay and share information with
you – this has been really important to us particularly during the
difficult market conditions the industry is currently experiencing. The
CEO Comment and Employee Briefing Presentation have provided
greater transparency and understanding of Flint Group’s activities and
performance, while new platforms have also been introduced to
provide feedback and ensure that your voice is being heard and
listened to...
There is one common thread running throughout each article within
this edition… that is they all provide living, real examples of our
Mission and Guiding Principles in action. Perhaps more than ever, the The popularity of our intranet continues to rise as we look to develop
importance and relevance that our Mission and Guiding Principles play content that you will find to be interesting, engaging and useful on a
daily basis. Finally, we also have some exciting plans to add to our
to all of us in our daily lives cannot be underestimated.
corporate website that we hope to bring to fruition in the first half of
2012.
We’d love to hear from you…
Do you have any thoughts or ways we could improve on Visions that
you would like to tell us? Perhaps you would like to see an article on
a specific subject or would like to learn more about a particular region
or division?
Please feel free to send any comments, questions or suggestions you
have to our Visions letterbox by clicking on the link below…
Packaging & Narrow Web . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10
Flexographic Products . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12
Print Media Europe & North America . . . . . .13
Flint Group Latin America . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15
visions@flintgrp.com
V I S I O N S
1
Please forward any questions,
comments or articles for inclusion to:
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J UE LCY 22001110
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Change Language: Español Portuguese Français Italiona Deutsch
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CEO Comment:
Addressing Challenging
Market Conditions...
Hello and welcome to the fourth and final CEO Comment of 2011. There is no doubting that the last twelve months have been incredibly difficult for
everyone involved in our industry. Reduced demand, industry consolidation and the spiking cost of raw materials all had a significant impact on our markets.
Despite these difficulties, Flint Group’s teams and people have continued to work incredibly hard to try to address the challenging conditions and
position the company well for 2012. Over the year we have witnessed some excellent progress in a number of key areas and perhaps it would be
fitting therefore to start this CEO Comment by sharing my thoughts on some of these achievements…
c
It could have been even better. TIR increased slightly
from the end of August, when it was as low as 0.89.
This highlights the fact that the safety journey does not
always follow a straight path, and it reinforces the
importance of remaining vigilant in our safety efforts—
at work, customer locations and at home. We should
always remember to keep our eyes and minds on our
task and never become complacent where safety is
concerned. Flint Group has a long history of turning our
stepping stones into further achievements. With your
ongoing commitment and support I believe that we can
use all of the hard work put in place during 2011 as a
platform to making Flint Group an even safer place to
work in 2012.
Success has been noticeably evident in safety. We
have continued to make tremendous progress in
reducing our TIR from 1.42 at the beginning of
the year to 0.98 at the end of November. The
fantastic effort from everybody involved
helped us keep on track to surpass our
2011 safety goals and, as a result, 35
fewer people have suffered injury this
year, which is a substantial reduction
on 2010.
Success has been noticeably
evident in safety. We have
continued to make
tremendous progress in
reducing our TIR...
V I S I O N S
2
An incredible amount of good work has also taken
place in other areas of our operations…
The reformulation project undertaken throughout the
course of the year has contributed to significantly
counter the increased raw material costs. Substantial
expertise has given Flint Group the ability to
simplify and
3
streamline the amount of raw materials used within our
formulations without affecting performance in
pressrooms around the world. This has enabled us to
keep a tighter control on our own manufacturing costs
and the savings that have been achieved through this
programme have been considerable.
Our cost-containment programmes have also continued
to assist us in controlling our expenses, which in turn
have helped support our profit during an extremely
difficult period. As I mentioned in my previous CEO
Comment these programmes will need to remain as an
important part of our strategy in 2012 as we still look
to recover on the increased raw material costs imposed
on our own businesses not yet recovered from our
customers.
Contribution margin (the price we receive for our
products minus our raw material and shipping costs)
has recently also showed some encouraging signs of
recovery in both our print media and packaging markets.
Whilst I welcome this trend I must underscore
that we have not fully recovered our position.
Whilst we do see some stabilising of raw
materials, they are settling at much higher
levels than has been previously seen. Indeed, we
predict that Flint Group’s raw material spend in
2012 will exceed that of 2011 by more than €20
million. It is therefore incredibly important that we
remain committed to not only achieving alreadyannounced price increases but also maintaining those
price levels in the New Year.
DEC 2011
4
Home
Throughout difficult and uncertain times we have never lost sight of our long-standing objective “to be the best-performing supplier to the printing
and packaging industries. Whilst 2012 will undoubtedly have its challenges, I remain more confident than ever that the actions we are taking
will leave us even stronger and better positioned to succeed in the coming year… and well beyond.
Finally, we have continued to perform well in debt
management. For example, our strategy of partnering
with winning customers in 2011 limited our risk of
serving customers who are unable to pay their bills, or
who file for bankruptcy. Once quite rare these financial
downfalls have been all too common in the last few
years. Improved accounts receivables compliance has
also served a very important role in managing debt. By
helping customers pay on time, you have helped Flint
Group avoid millions of lost euros to the world of
bankruptcy and customer closures.
These are just a few of the many examples of excellent
business management that have been incredibly
valuable in helping to position us as well as we could
have expected as we head into 2012. And, whilst we
can all take much satisfaction and pride in completing
this work, it is worth remembering we still have a very
difficult journey ahead of us.
Profit levels have dropped well below expectations for
the year as a result of the increase in raw material
costs, that have been compounded with the reduced
demand and unfortunately, it would appear that any
great recovery in the market will not be not quick in
arriving. The printing industry does not operate in
isolation and demand will only truly return as our global
economies improve. We must also be aware that
demand may never return to the levels previously seen.
Adapting and evolving to meet an ever-changing
market…
The economic downturn is only serving to accelerate the
rate of change within our own industry. This accelerated
change has resulted in some difficult moves at Flint
Group, including reductions in staffing levels and site
closures to make our company better fit today’s—and
tomorrow’s—market needs. While I realise these have
been difficult for everybody concerned, be assured that
we’ve taken these decisions for the long-term benefit
of our company to make us fitter, leaner, stronger and
better positioned to lead ourselves to recovery.
Also remember that Flint Group has maintained a good
financial position and remains a strong vibrant business
with significant potential and opportunity ahead of us—
which is in part due to some of the difficult decisions
we have made along our journey.
Your understanding of the challenging market conditions
that have necessitated these changes is appreciated.
This does not mean that we do not see opportunity
for progress in 2012.
While we remain nimble enough to respond to the
market, we never lose sight of Flint Group’s overall
strategy and plans. Flint Group will continue to extend
our reach around the world, with particular focus on
fast-growing, high-potential markets of Latin America,
Eastern Europe and Asia.
We will also continue to develop our market segments,
simplifying our operations and building on relationships
with winning customers. We will also expand our Stage
Gate innovation process to ensure we are developing
the correct products in the right markets for our
business. It is clear that Flint Group’s unique and
powerful portfolio, coupled with our team of experts, will
remain a key tool to support profitable sales growth and
drive increased market share within the more
established European and North American markets.
As I look back over my first full year with the company,
I can say that I have never failed to be impressed by the
“can-do” culture and determination that Flint Group’s
people and teams possess. Throughout difficult and
uncertain times we have never lost sight of our long-
standing objective “to be the best-performing supplier
to the printing and packaging industries”. Whilst 2012
will undoubtedly have its challenges, I remain more
confident than ever that the actions we are taking will
leave us even stronger and better positioned to succeed
in the coming year… and well beyond.
I look forward to updating you on progress and sharing
some additional information about our plans for 2012
in my January CEO Comment, however please feel free
to address any questions or thoughts that you
may have in the meantime through the
ceocomment@flintgrp.com mailbox. As ever, I sincerely
value hearing your questions, feedback and ideas.
In closing, I would like to take this opportunity on behalf
of the EMT and myself to wish you and your loved ones
a wonderful holiday season and to thank you for all of
your efforts throughout 2011.
Antoine Fady
CEO, Flint Group
Flint Group 2011 Performance Measures
Financial Performance Year to Date (November 2011)
Global Rolling TIR
Safety Levels
3.00
NOV 11
2.00
Rolling TIR
NOV 11
12 Month Monthly
Rolling
Incident
TIR
Count
2.50
GLOBAL
0.98
8
NOV 11
NOV 10
NOV 10
YTD
12 Month Monthly
Incident
Rolling
Incident
Count
TIR
Count
YTD
Incident
Count
69
NOV 10
1.44
8
104
-2%
Total Sales
Profit
as % of sales
-32%
Working
Capital
as % of sales
Print Media Divisions
Target TIR
Global Rolling TIR
1.50
Key: Large icon versus 2011 budget
Small icon versus 2010 performance
2011 TIR % 2011 TIR %
Difference
Difference
From Target From 2010
Packaging Divisions
1.00
Total
NOV 11
OCT 11
SEPT 11
AUG 11
JULY 11
JUNE 11
MAY 11
APR 11
MAR 11
FEB 11
JAN 11
DEC 10
DEC 07
0.00
V I S I O N S
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4
DEC 2011
5
Home
Helping Hands…(and feet, and minds, and wallets)
Flint Group employees around the world are exceedingly generous with their time and resources. There is no way to adequately recognise
all employees who give to those in need, but from time to time we will shine a light on some of those efforts. What do you or your
colleagues do for others? Tell us, and we’ll try to share your story in future Visions and on the Intranet.
Kathy Marshall
Asheville, NC USA
Kathy
Marshall,
Administrative
Assistant and 14year Flint Group
employee, belongs
to the VFW Ladies
Auxiliary
Post
4012. Throughout
the year, she and
the other members seek
donations and purchase items for troops in the field,
especially goods that a service member away from the
comforts and safety of home would need. The
volunteers pack, ship and pay approximately
US$1000 to send hundreds of boxes each year.
United Way is a network of community-based
organisations across 45 countries and territories.
Individuals and companies often turn to the United Way
because “we know they will get the money to the
organisations in the community that need it,” says Lawre
Pate, Human Resources Generalist, Asheville, NC.
Earlier this year, Kathy applied for a grant to help
defray the cost of these shipments. Success! Her
organisation was granted US $1060.
Most recently, Kathy worked with the Plymouth, MI,
Human Resources team to involve all employees at
the site. Plymouth runs monthly “jeans day”
fundraisers, and VFW Ladies Auxiliary Post was
November’s charity. Employees raised approximately
US $700.
In September, Asheville
raised
employees
US$25,000(!) for their local
United Way. A handful of
employees also participated
in a United Way “Day of
Caring” project. The crew
applied a fresh coat of paint for an organisation that
provides child care and meals for babies and toddlers
while their mothers finish high school.
c
For The Warriors®, an organisation that supports
“wounded U.S. service members, their families, and
families of the fallen”. In 2010, Bruce raised the fifthhighest level of donations of all runners. This year, he
continued his gruelling pace of races, including multiple
5Ks, 10Ks, 15Ks, half marathons, marathons and
duathlons. Each time, his goal is to advertise and
fundraise for Hope For The Warriors. Bruce says he is
“inspired” by racing alongside injured vets who show
amazing determination but not bitterness. If you think
Bruce rests when not at work or on a mega-run, think
again. He is also a member of the civilian Air Force
Auxiliary, which engages in search and rescue missions
on an as-needed basis.
The Great Irlam Bake off!
Laura Holmes, Svetlana Popova,
Wendy Doherty and Cathy Sorbie at
the Bake off!
On Friday 18th November 2011 our Irlam, UK, site held
a cake making competition to raise funds for Children In
Need. This was supported brilliantly by many people from
all over the site putting their baking skills to the test and
providing many different varieties of cakes and biscuits.
There were all types of lovely things to eat from sticky
chocolate cakes, biscuits, scones, fruit to cakes and
muffins, chocolate eclairs and a very special Russian
Cake! There was massive support from all employees
who came and purchased to support this charity and
taste the delights on offer. To end the day a judging
panel, who sampled all the lovely treats, declared who
was the Master Baker of 2011.
This was presented to Svetlana Popova from the
Customer Care team who made the wonderful Russian
Cake (although we think the brandy inside may have
helped!!!). We would like to thank everyone for joining
in this event and raising a wonderful amount of £162.
V I S I O N S
4
Mr. Hiroya Morimoto
Day International K.K. Managing Director
Where do you live?
Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, Japan
Tell us about your family?
My Wife: Freelance medical/ pharmaceutical
translator, and Daughter: Keio university student,
majoring pharmaceutical.
How would you describe your character? Smiling
When did you first join Flint Group?
1st November 2010
What was your first job with Flint Group?
General Manager to take care of sales
What is the proudest moment of your career?
Joining Flint Group
Bruce Neal
Bruce Neal, Supply Chain Manager,
Customer Care Division, has been a
Flint Group employee for almost four
decades. He started running six years
ago, quickly turning the physical
exercise into a fundraising exercise to
“give back to the community”. Most
of his charitable runs are for Hope
Meet your Colleagues...
5
DEC 2011
If you met a newly graduated student starting out
on her career, what is the best piece of advice you
could give her?
I would advise anyone to join a reasonably sized
company in order to learn how to work in the
organisation and have a chance to meet different
people.
What moment in your private life has brought you
the most pleasure? Spending time with my family and
travelling, particularly to the hot springs at “Onsen”.
What do you do in your free time?
Watching movies, reading books or driving my car
What is your favourite food?
Japanese, Italian and Thai, possibly Indian.
Where in the world is your favourite place and why?
Japan and country area of US, Australia (Perth) and
England (Wales), as the people are so kind and polite.
Do you follow sport – if so which team do you
support and why?
Hanshin Tigers (Baseball) as it’s my home town team.
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Home
Grow and Succeed
Meet your Colleagues...
Dr Matthias Schütz,
VP Product Management for Web Print Europe
Where do you live?
In a small village near Frankfurt, Germany.
Performance Management:
Tell us about your family? I’m married with 2
children, one girl (19) and one boy (13).
The Flint Group Way...
How would you describe your character? Analytical,
pragmatic and fact based, dedicated to move things
forward and rise to challenges. Team player.
performed in 2011 and start making our plans for 2012. And, when we talk about performance,
What was your first job with Flint Group?
Chemist in the liquid packaging lab.
we are not only talking about the business, but also about us as individuals and teams. Every
What moment in your private life has brought you
the most pleasure? The birth of my children and
many beautiful moments I could enjoy with my family.
What do you do in your free time?
I enjoy being with my family, digital photography/image
processing and reading popular science books.
If you could play any character in a movie you have
seen, who would it be and why? Steve McQueen in
Bullitt—I have a passion for classic 60s/70s action
movies and would love to ride a ’68 Mustang GT 390
fastback in a car chase across San Francisco.
What is your favourite food? All kinds of Japanese
dishes.
Where in the world is your favourite place and why?
New York City, the most vibrant place in the world.
Do you follow sport? if so, which’ team do you
support and why? I am a fan of the local football
team Eintracht Frankfurt although this normally means
more pain than pleasure (they went down to second
league after the last season – but will come back!).
one of us is important to how we contribute to the success of the business.
For many, this will be the time of year that we identify
on our own personal objectives which then provide
the basis for regular performance management
conversations with our managers throughout the year.
But, what exactly is performance management? It is
a business process we use to align teams and
individual performance with the Mission and strategy
of the organisation. It is a continuous process of
identifying measuring and developing individuals and
teams. This process is designed to align teams and
individual actions with the strategy of the organisation
and improve speed and effectiveness. And, best of
all, it improves jobs satisfaction and enjoyment.
Factors; our Critical Success Factors (CSFs) drive the
Balanced Scorecard and Vital Actions. Once our Vital
Actions have been identified (for our business unit), we
can then define our team and/or individual SMART goals
for each individual Performance Log.
The performance management process is currently in
the process of being phased in on a global basis, and
is not currently used by all Flint Group employees. Your
manager will guide you through the career development
process that applies to your business or location.
So keep your eyes and ears (or better yet—your hearts
and minds!) open during the coming months and into
2012 and so on…. You will continue to hear much more
about the Balanced Scorecards and Vital Actions. They
will be directly linked to our performance logs. Using this
process will insure we are all doing the right things right!
The Flint Group ‘Way’ for performance management
is a business critical process. It is a process that
“moves us from good intentions into planned,
measurable actions”. As you can see from the flow
chart below—we begin with our Mission and Guiding
Principles leading through to our Critical Success
2
Practise your Skills
3
Try New Things
Mission
and Guiding
Principles
Critical
Success
Factors
Develop a Growth Mindset with e-Learning
Acquire new skills with eLearning. Flint Group’s
eLearning program provides you with a wide range of
flexible learning opportunities so that you can
continually gain new skills and knowledge.
People with a fixed mindset tend to avoid challenges.
After all, if your abilities are fixed and innate, there’s no
point embarrassing yourself by trying something that you
just know you’ll be bad at. But why limit yourself?
People with a growth mindset tend to embrace
challenges. After all, if your abilities grow as you use
them, you can only get better by trying new things.
People who achieve highly usually have a growth
mindset: they’re willing to continually practise in order
to get better at what they do.
Diana Butler
eLearning helps you acquire new skills, which can
lead to more fulfillment and personal growth. And you
can instantly access eLearning at the office, at home,
or on the road 24×7×365.
Contact Diana today to get started today:
The Flint Group Way...
Balanced
Scorecard and
Vital Actions
V I S I O N S
5
Stop Saying “I Can’t”
Are you ready to begin a new year? 2012 is upon us and it is time to think about how we
When did you first join Flint Group? In 1996
What is the proudest moment of your career?
When leaving Liquid Packaging Division after 10 years
to join Print Media I was complimented by many
customers on the good service I provided to them
together with my team.
1
6
Team and
Individual
SMART Goals
Performance
Log
E-mail: Diana.Butler@flintgrp.com
Tel: +1 630 425 1621
DEC 2011
7
Home
Eco-friendly efforts within Print Media North America:
“Across the world, companies are creating
more earth-friendly products and practices”
We certainly see that in the printing and publishing
world. Numerous environmental-oriented trade
organisations have sprouted up around the globe. Some
trade conferences focus exclusively on “green” printing.
Some companies run reports on their carbon footprint.
more reflective “housing”, making ambient light much
brighter. “The plant’s safety features pop,” says Scott
Turner, Vice President Operations, News Ink & Publication
Ink. Scott notes that nearly all of PMNA’s manufacturing
sites now use T8 bulbs.
Where does Print Media North America fit in? Our teams
have been implementing a variety of ecologically minded
projects. They’ve approached this in many ways, including:
using fewer materials to make our products; decreasing
waste and scrap; and increasing yield. Any way you look
at it, time after time we find that what’s good for the
environment is also good for business.
Medium Effort, Maximum Impact
Below are a few examples of eco-friendly activities, ranging
from small to large, that take place across PMNA—a result
of making “sustainability” a core piece of our operational
excellence strategy, and of the company’s overall strategic
direction
In simple terms, our “carbon footprint” is how much
greenhouse gas—especially carbon dioxide—is produced by
what we do. Since greenhouse gases affect climate, tracking
our carbon footprint tracks our impact on the environment
and helps us identify ways to minimise that impact.
Small Projects, Big Impact
To the Beat of a Different Drum (INK):
Jason McMahon, Production Manager,
Batavia, IL: Manufacturing and shipping
sheetfed inks requires many plastic pails
(for weighing and shipping), 30-gallon
Reused Pails
drums
(for
shipping/storing)
and
corrugated packaging (for each shipped
product). Dirty, used containers were once tossed. Now
Batavia washes pails and drums for reuse, and, in
collaboration with Graphic Technicians around the
country, saves boxes to use again or recycle. Their effort
saves approximately $6,000 each year. “The good news,”
notes Jason, “is that this is very scalable.” Imagine the
ecological and financial impact if each manufacturing site
worldwide were to follow suit.
Light the way (Transfer Media): Joe Doornbos, Site
Manager, Three Rivers: By changing all lights to T8 lowmercury bulbs, Three Rivers, Michigan, USA is conserving
energy and using less power. Impressively, safety is
improved as well. How? The T8 lamps are placed in a
Less (waste). More (money):
Quentin Hopkins, Plant Manager Asheville, North Carolina:
c
Use it or Lose it (Transfer Media): Even slight
variations in manufacturing can result in
unusable products. Quentin and his staff
formed teams to study and minimise variations Anthony
on the offset and digital sleeves they make. Wilson
The effort was led by Anthony Wilson, Offset
Sleeves Department Manager, and Andy East, Digital
Department Manager. Result: Fewer sleeves were
added to the waste stream and, on an equalvolume basis compared to this time last year,
Flint Group saved US$350,000.
Andy
Energy Recovery: Also under Quentin’s
leadership, the Asheville staff began a host of “energy
recovery” projects that are saving US$700,000 per year
in utility expenses.
For example: We have recovered and reused toluene—a
chemical used to manufacture sleeves and blankets—to
reduce air emissions for a number of years. The process,
however, used a lot of energy. With minimal expense, the
team upgraded the process to run “smarter”, says
Quentin. In one deceptively simple example, they
programmed blowers to run slower or faster as required by
the process, thereby saving electrical energy.
Brian
McElrath
Ralph Kitts, Electrical Engineer, Phillip Underwood,
Electrical Engineer, and Brian McElrath, Project
Engineer, are some of the leaders of the energy
recovery team.
Big Ideas, Big Impact
Dan
Goemer
A Different Approach (Pressroom Chemistry):
Dan Goemer, Supply Chain Manager Batavia, IL:
Sometimes a raw material or finished good will not
be used due to contamination or discontinued
product lines. In the past, these materials were
quarantined until they could be safely disposed
Print Media Europe:
Libra Update...
Quarantine Before...
Quarantine After...
Dan formed a team that included John Fatigato, Technical
Director, Pressroom Chemistry, his team of scientists, and
some operations and quality personnel. The group studied
the materials and dedicated time and effort to brainstorm
safe, efficient ways to make use of these products. The
result? 70% of the once-quarantined products are now used
or sold. The host of benefits include: more space in the
warehouse, increased safety due to fewer containers of
hazardous goods, and less accounting complexity. The effort
also results in savings of US$200,000-US$300,000, and
removes about 250,000 pounds from the waste
stream.
Andy
East
VV II SS II OO NN SS
6
of. The quarantined
area took up a lot of
space, and the value of
tossed goods totalled
US$400,000+. “Last
Dan
says
year,”
Goemer, “we took a
different approach.”
Frank
Schreiner
It Takes A Team To Move A (Blue) Mountain
(Pressroom Chemistry): Frank Schreiner, Senior
Operations Manager, Batavia, IL:
When we manufacture press washes, we “flush out”, i.e.
clean, the equipment and lines to keep ingredients in one
product from contaminating the next. This is especially
important when switching from a solvent-based product to
a non-solvent formula. The spent liquid, “solvent flush”, was
traditionally placed in 55-gallon blue drums and set aside
for safe disposal or reworking. Accumulation of these drums
(there were over 300 by mid 2010) caused us to re-think
our entire process.
In 2010, engineering staff came up with a mechanical
process that helped us segregate “solvent flush” streams.
Through 2011, manufacturing, quality control, and R&D
teams worked together to develop instructions for using and
reducing these streams. As a result, the amount of wastefilled drums created each month has been virtually
eliminated. The current “blue mountain” is down to 14
drums, which will be gone by year end. We have created
floor space and turned our blue to green. Estimates show
a potential saving of US$50,000 each year.
What earth-friendly activity can you tell us about your site?
Since the announcement of the creation of Libra in
the July Visions, we have continued to run rigorous
industrial trials around Europe. By the end of
November more than 60 trials have been
scheduled, of which 30 have either been completed
or are still running. Several of these trials have
resulted in conversion to Libra technology
It has become apparent that Libra not only offers
savings in IPA elimination, but, more significantly, it is
proving to be much faster in reaching balance during
make-ready and after re-starts. The paper or board
waste savings have been as high as 50% and average
around 20% of the wasted material during the trials,
which represents significant financial benefit to the
customer.
As a result we have designed a Libra Savings
Calculator, which is available to download off the Print
Media Market Place.
Alongside all of the low VOC, carbon footprint reduction
benefits that Libra offers, giving the technology a very
appealing environmental advantage, these financial
benefits are powerful sales arguments that customers
will find hard to ignore, whatever their objectives are.
For more information on Libra Technology, the Market
Place and the potential savings, please contact
marketing.printmedia.eu@flintgrp.com
The main benefits of Libra
• Reduced start-up waste
• IPA free application
• Reduced or eliminated picture framing
• Low misting
• Duct fresh
• Fast setting
• Good oxidative drying properties for the
conventional series
Frank Mastria, Vice President Operations Print Media Americas / Global SHE
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Asia Pacific:
“One Flint Group - Asia Pacific”
From China’s Latest Resident...
Although I have been travelling in Asia for more than 20 years with Varn, Day and Flint Group, visiting and living
in a country are two different experiences.
Until September this year, I have only been taking
snapshots but now it is a full length movie with a
script from the Balanced Scorecard. I am sure that
becoming a resident in any new country is a
challenge; however we were surprised by the length
of the process and our thanks go to the HR resources
in China and Australia for smoothing out the bumps.
Like most things in life, we compare the good and the
bad of every situation by comparison to previous
experiences to determine how we feel. Living in
Shanghai is an experience which requires
acknowledgement that we accept change and the
differences to our lifestyle compared to Australia. My
wife and I are grateful for the open, welcoming
reception from our team members in China.
In our professional lives, we also need to
accept that change is inevitable. In fact
during the recent challenging times of
swings in raw material prices and
changes in market demand, change
is the one thing that has been
consistent.
In
September,
the
organisational changes to Flint Group
were announced. These changes reflect
our vision for the company structure
going forward as one Flint Group,
a company that has the leading
portfolio of products in the
industry, the most experienced
team and highest brand value.
As a team, we have the benefit
in most emerging markets
taking the business forward by
improving our share position
and providing opportunities for our team members to
step up. As an example, our Indian team led by Upal
Roy for Packaging, Narrow Web and Print Media is
demonstrating the change to one Flint Group. A new
liquid packaging facility will open in Q1 and expanded
news ink capacity in Q2 to meet increased demand,
which will bring significant change to our position in this
market.
c
Flint Group China will continue to evolve and also add
new capacity for Pressroom Chemicals in Q3. Our
project with RR Donnelley is one example of how we can
succeed as one Flint Group and we can see many other
opportunities with the regional "winning companies". In
Japan, we have the chance to supply ink to
one of the largest regional customers
with additional sites in China and
Hong Kong. This opportunity
brings a larger team into play
from the global resources of
our company. The change to
one Flint Group is very positive
—for our people and our
customers. No
In the Chinese horoscope, 2012 is the Year of the
Dragon—a symbol of good fortune and intense power.
The Dragon is seen as a divine beast who is the master
of authority. A BIG thanks to all of you for your
contribution to our 2011 performance - we may not
view our company as a divine beast, but we can use the
intense power to bring good fortune. To all of you who
are celebrating Christmas - best wishes for a safe and
happy time.
Bring on the Dragon!
Xin Nian Kaui Le and Kung Hei Fat Choy
Brent Stephen,
President, Flint Group - Asia Pacific
Label Expo
Asia 2011
Partnerships...
We enjoyed a very profitable cooperation with the
flexo printing press partnership: 7 of 9 printing
press manufacturers used Flint Inks and displayed
the Flint Group Logo on their printing presses.
We also cooperated during the show with Klaser and
Yupo to print samples which displayed in both their
and our booth.
Customer Events...
On 29th Nov, the 1st day of the show, there was a
customer banquet hosted by Avery Dennison,
Dupont, Taiyo and Flint Group. Around 200 guests
were invited to the dinner, and customers came from
all over China. Brent Stephen gave a short speech
during the dinner to express thanks to customers
and partners. Flint Group will continue to develop
new products and technology, and provide valued
service to the Chinese customers.
On 30th Nov, Flint Group and United Printing (Mark
Andy) hosted a customer dinner with around 80
guests invited for the dinner. George Lyle again gave
a short speech during the dinner to thank customers
for their support in 2011.
Customers...
We collected information from many customers who
will or have the intention to buy flexo printing
presses, like QD Sanhui, GZ Meikei and CD
Tiantianyong and we will keep a very close eye on
this.
V I S I O N S
7
doubt there will be more change to come as we adapt
our business plans to market trends, and the APAC
team are committed to making this happen.
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Henry Leong and Brent Stephen
pictured outside of the RR
Donnelley Chengdu site.
IGAS2011...
RR Donnelley expands Blanket use in China
Flint Group’s Print Media—Asia Pacific team recently undertook a successful programme to expand its sheetfed blanket business
in China and further cement its relationship with RR Donnelley—the world’s largest supplier of print related solutions...
RR Donnelley—China currently has a total of 6
printing plants with significant blanket business with Flint Group having around 16% of this business
primarily on its web presses.
Recognising the significant potential to increase on this,
Flint Group’s Asia Pacific team recently formed a Key
Account Management Team to look at initiating a
project to expand on its business with RR
Donnelley (RRD):
Percy Chan
Under the leadership of Henry Leong (VP–
Asia Ink) and with the help of Mike Kellen
(Business Director, Heatset Ink, Director of
Strategic Marketing PMNA) and Mike Podd
(Global VP RRD) in North America working
very close with our China Print Media Team
members Vivien Zhu, Ray Gao, Percy Chan
and Paul Su.
Mike Kellen visited RRD China plants with
our China team in early April 2011 and
immediately found that the RRD Liaobu
plant changed the blankets far too
Vivien Zhu
frequently mainly because of a poor
lifespan with the existing Trelleborg
blanket. RRD Liaobu predominantly produces a variety
of short run jobs on many differing substrates.
We identified that Flint Group could provide a better
blanket to improve their printability and longevity. After
many internal meetings and customer visits, we supplied
6 pcs of blanket in both 6901 and 3610 with RRD
testing in early June 2011.
The 3610 blanket showed
slightly better printability
but RRD Liaobu were not
quite sure about the
blanket life. After our
follow-up meeting with
Paul Su
Ray Gao
them on 14th June,
2011, they decided to order 50 pcs of 3610 blanket to
test print quality and take a closer look at durability.
We designed a specialist test tracking form on this
second trial and our China team members Paul Su and
Ray Gao spent time working very closely in different
shifts on site almost everyday. Blankets were delivered
to Liaobu plant on 4 July and dressed on 2 selected
presses from 15-27 July, 2011.
During this testing period, numerous internal meetings,
conference calls, and communications were held with
RRD Corporate and RRD Shanghai Regional office as well
as their Liaobu production and QC team. After the testing,
they confirmed our 3610 had better printability and
durability. However, they wanted to further confirm the
longevity on our 3610 blanket with different presses and
different jobs and compare the blanket life of Trelleborg
for at least one month usage on selected presses.
VV II SS II OO NN SS
8
With the theme of "Print your Future", IGAS2011
(International Graphic Art Show) took place over six
days from 16th to 21st September 2011 at Tokyo
Big Sight.
Reflecting the East Japan Great Earthquake, the
number of exhibitors decreased to 327 companies
(overseas 32 companies), compared with the previous
event in 2007. In the meantime, despite the bad
weather of the last day, the show ended with total
visitors of 73,554, including 5,825 overseas visitors.
They decided to order another 100 pcs of blanket which
we delivered on 15 September, 2011. The third round
of blanket testing started from 16 Sept – 15 Oct, 2011
again Paul Su spent a significant amount of time
working very closely with their production. A further
month’s testing passed and the result was very
encouraging as our 3610 blanket achieved 80% better
blanket life than the Trelleborg product.
A large number of attendees enthusiastically and
favourably took part in the special lectures, seminars,
international forums and symposia. Also, there were
a lot of visitors to "the East Japan Great Earthquake
Press Photo Gallery". The Global Print Tokyo Meeting
(a confederation of printing machinery manufacturers
associations in countries in the world) was held on the
second day of IGAS2011, 19th September.
Our US team members Mike Kellen and Mike Podd
started the commercial negotiation with RRD Corporate
in North America and were able to obtain the official
approval of our blanket not only within the RRD Liaobu
plant but also all of their plants in China.
Flint Group Japan jointly hosted hundreds of
customers and attendees at its booth. IGAS2011 was
closed successfully with 177 new business leads and
the opportunity to present the complete Print Media
Portfolio for the first time in Japan.
As a result of this extensive testing programme we are
now currently working with the RRD China team on their
first commercial order as well as their scale-up plan in
2012.
From left: Brent Stephen, Ami Yamano, Hiroya Morimoto, Tomoko
Shimizu, Nori Fujita, Mamoru Nakagome
I would like to thank our team members with all their
hard work and contributions to this RRD project. This
is an excellent demonstration of our great TEAMWORK
synergy with “Can Do” attitude. We all know that Flint
Group has an excellent product range and professional
associates. Working together as a TEAM, we really can
achieve more and grow with our winners.
Percy Chan
GM and Sales Manager - Transfer Media Asia
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Packaging & Narrow Web:
Flint Group Packaging and Narrow Web addresses UV ink developments
for food packaging in 2011 through product leadership and education…
Cereal boxes, milk cartons, yogurt lids, candy wrappers, those power bars that get us through our busy day… many of these items we enjoy
each day are packaged in paper, or plastic, printed with our inks.
Market developments have led to an increasing need for shorter run
lengths in this packaging field, which have inspired many
converters to look at Narrow Web presses utilising mainly
UV curable technology. This resulted in
questions relating to the technology’s
suitability for use in food packaging. In
addition, due to the extended definition by
EU of "what is packaging", the area of labels
now falls under the same rules and
regulations that have traditionally been used
for food packaging only. This on top of some
stricter requirements from Nestlé plus
legislative demands expressed, for
example, in the Swiss Ordinance
required some new developments as
well as improved communication in the
packaging supply chain.
c
Flint Group Packaging and Narrow
Web has responded to these
regulations, requirements, and
printers’ demands in multiple ways...
First and foremost, with the recent
launch of Flexocure ANCORA, a UV
Flexo low migration ink for food
packaging,
and
the
current
development of a low migration UV
Offset ink. Having the inks
suitable
for
these
applications is an
absolute must.
Not only have we
responded with a
suitable,
quality
product—we’ve
chosen to educate
our customers and
the
industry.
To
increase awareness
on the topic and the
regulations in place
Flint Group took a call
V I S I O N S
9
10
to action through the following…
Flint Group has published a guide for printers on this
sensitive topic—Food Packaging: A Guide to Best
Practice for Print;
We have hosted a free educational seminar for any
packaging and label customers on this same subject;
We addressed visitors at Labelexpo Europe with the
latest information on food packaging in our first ever
Speaker’s Corner Seminar Series.
More details on
Flint Group’s call to
action…
Food Packaging: A
Guide
to
Best
Practice for Print
is a brochure that
provides an overview
of the main issues
related
to
food
packaging regulations
and provides printers
and
packaging
converters with a
sound understanding
of the issues that can arise
through the interaction of the printed package with the
packaged food itself. The brochure includes checklists
and recommendations that can help promote best
practices in the printing of food packaging.
This brochure is available globally in several different
languages and can be ordered via Packaging and
Narrow Web marketing in Europe and in the States.
Thus far, we have had incredible response to this
publication – many copies have been mailed and hand
delivered. And, along with this, for any interested
parties we offer web training and a presentation on
GMP and low migration inks.
On 27 September, Flint Group hosted key customers
and industry peers at an educational seminar
"How to fulfil end-user demands in food label and
packaging printing.”
Here Flint Group provided an open forum to discuss
developments in response to the latest demands in
food packaging and labelling. Five key industry
speakers presented the following topics:
Regulatory information from EU
Ms Janice Robinson, Director Product Regulation,
CEPE, shared the latest directives in effect regulating
what chemicals can be used in the packaging industry,
discussing the role of the ink maker, the printer, and
the packager.
Food packaging Legislation’s impact on Labels
Mr Avon Joyce, Director Sustainability and Regulatory
Affairs for Flint Group, outlined the requirements that
have to be adhered to today to be fully compliant with
end-user demands… What do our customers’
customers need?
Low migration high performance UV inks and GMP
Jennifer Joyce, Global Product Director for Flint Group,
DEC 2011
11
Flint Group Packaging and Narrow Web
exhibits at the “Biggest Label Show on Earth”
Home
Boasted to be the “Biggest Label Show on Earth”, Labelexpo Europe 2011 was host to more than 25,000 visitors
with Flint Group having an impressive presence! Flint Group Packaging and Narrow Web and Flexographic Products
jointly hosted hundreds of visitors at its booth—over 400 people!
With representation from both divisions, Flint Group
showed its combined strength and ability to offer the latest
innovations in ink technologies, sleeves and plates. As
this was the company’s 12th year in exhibiting at
Labelexpo, Flint Group certainly proved its long-standing
and formidable presence at this important label show.
Over the course of four days, visitors sat in our Speaker’s
Corner, where Flint Group representatives presented
current and relevant information on inks and plate
technology, low migration inks and regulations, successful
combination printing techniques, and the innovative
solutions Flint Group offers via further mini seminars.
Customers and Flint Group staff agree that our presence
at Labelexpo Europe once again was a major success!
Niklas Olsson (above) and
Jennifer Joyce (right) pictured
presenting at our Speakers
Corner during Labelexpo .
explained the need for inks that meet the requirements
from Nestlé and the Swiss Ordinance. She also shared
details of Good Manufacturing Process (GMP) –
absolutely key in keeping those inks compliant
throughout the print run.
Protecting your print runs with better UV control
Marcus Greenbrook, Sales & Service Manager for GEW,
gave an in-depth presentation of UV Lamp
developments and some very interesting tools on how
the UV process can be measured in-line, and offering
better control of your cure as well as the energy
consumption.
Technology trends in the wider world of labels
Lastly, Mr Andy Thomas, Managing Editor, Tarsus Labels
and Packaging Group, provided insight into
observations and trends in the labelling industry;
discussing innovative products and new business
models that have evolved in response to a dynamic
environment.
The seminar was well received by all attendees and
customer feedback was very good. There is clearly a
desire to stay updated with latest developments and
the newest trends in the market. Flint Group hopes to
host additional regional seminars on this, and other
topics, in 2012.
Here are some comments we received from our internal
customers:
Flint Group’s Speaker’s
Corner Seminar Series
During Labelexpo Brussels, Flint Group decided to
inform an even broader customer base on the topic
of low migration and food packaging in one of four
mini seminars in our first ever Speaker’s Corner
Seminar Series. The audience was given insight into
the history of the concerns of printed food packaging,
the current regulations and laws, and Flint Group’s
response to the printers’ and packagers’ needs.
Nicholas Sabbioni
Country Manager Flint Group Narrow Web France
Labelexpo 2011 is such an important part of showing clients
that we are involved in the industry as a leader and key
innovator. This is noticed by our clients and, as such, forms
a basis for generating more interest for our company. It is
also important that we are involved in (or at least fully aware
of) the latest trends as many clients will come to us and ask
for our opinion and sometimes even our advice on what to
look for. By being visibly involved in many projects, as we
were at Labelexpo 2011, we keep our image as a leading
ink supplier to this market, which will generate even more
interest in future as we will get the first questions / chances
in any new developments.
Konstanty Odziemkowski
Regional Manager Packaging and Narrow Web—Poland
Flint Group has a firm understanding of what is important
for our clients attending a show like Labelexpo. Every year it
is more challenging to impress our customers, but we
continue to do so—and excel upon the previous years. This
year’s seminar before the show, and the mini seminars
during the show, were very well received.
Visitors were encouraged to ask questions and discuss
the topic with the Flint Group experts on hand.
The regulations surrounding food packaging hit the
industry hard and fast—and Flint Group was there to
respond to the industry’s concerns and needs. Not only
did we develop the product needed to support our
customers and our desired market, we developed our
ink experts into food packaging experts: product leaders,
going beyond just the ink and providing our customers
with guidance and answers—a true partner in the everchanging world of print.
VV II SS II OO NN SS
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Anthony Murphy
Commercial Director Flint Group Middle East
Labelexpo 2011 was a great success for Flint Group. We
had an extremely busy stand, attracting all the important
printers from most parts of my region. They come to
Labelexpo Europe as this is the place where they find all
the latest developments and also ask all their respective
questions—allowing people to bring their problems, and us
to talk about our solutions.
The
The Flint
Flint Group
Group team
team you
you see
see here
here played
played aa direct
direct part
part in
in the
the success
success
of
of this
this Narrow
Narrow Web
Web focused
focused trade
trade show—meeting
show—meeting with key customers
and
and discussing
discussing Flint
Flint Group’s
Group’s capabilities
capabilities with
with new
new prospects.
prospects.
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Flexographic Products:
Interview with Eberhard Huter, Vice President Sales
Eberhard Huter, Vice President Sales and member of the Steering Committee Flexographic Products, joined Flint Group just
recently, with VISIONS using the opportunity to share his thoughts and his perspectives on his new position...
Please tell us a little bit about your background.
Where do you come from and for which companies
did you work before?
I was born in Austria 52 years ago and have been living
in the UK since 2003. My children live in Vienna. The
school years I spent in Austria where I studied Export
Management at the University of Innsbruck. Career wise
I have been involved in various industries, both in
services and manufacturing. My first role was in Banking
but the lack of internationality made me move into the
ski industry where I could combine my interests and
career as Export Manager for a
number of years before I
moved on to the Trierenberg
Group with a global
perspective.
Speciality
papers
and
flexible
packaging products for the
global tobacco industry
was the product portfolio I
was accountable for during
my time as Managing
Director of a site in
Hamburg.
The
involvement
w i t h
flexible
packing carried on in my roles as Operations Director and
Global Account Director at Filtrona plc in the UK until the
end of August 2011, just before I joined Flint Group last
September.
Why did you decide to join Flint Group? What have
been your expectations?
Flint Group is a significant global player I was aware of
and the opportunity to join the group and the position as
Vice President Sales was very attractive. I had various
interesting meetings with the EMT members and decided
to take on the challenge. The opportunity to join a true
global player in the highly successful Flexographic
Products Division has been a unique chance and I am
pleased to be part of Flint Group. I have been thinking
that, within the Flexographic Products Division both the
positioning of new technology with the global presence
and outlook have created an excellent opportunity to
share my international experience in sales management,
as well as to help drive the business to the next level
which will be underpinned by growth on a worldwide
basis.
c
c
You have now been working for Flint Group for three
months. What are your first impressions of Flint Group
and especially the Flexographic Products Division?
Our products, comprising nyloflex® and nyloprint® printing
plates and equipment, rotec® sleeves and nylosolv®
solvents, are highly technical and no individual endconsumer would imagine the complexity behind our
products and capabilities. However, I do believe that all
of our products and services have to be looked at
holistically being part of the entire supply chain and
adding value to the finished products but, more
importantly, offering differentiation opportunities to our
end-customers. It’s not only the appearance of the end
product but, as well the overall improvement of
equipment efficiency through our products.
Now as we are close to year-end, we are looking
forward to the new year and the future challenges.
Can you please give an outlook on what you are
planning for next year?
V I S I O N S
11
With the vertical integration of equipment I think there
is a good opportunity for Flint Group Flexographic
Products to grow the business in specific markets. It will
be more difficult in Europe because of the maturity of
the market and the high market shares we have already.
But in Asia and Latin America there should be good
potential for growth, which we now need to turn into
reality.
And that leads to the challenges for next year. The raw
material prices have been soaring over the last 12
months. And we would have to face an impact on our
contribution margins through higher cost of sales if we
didn’t strive to pass on some of these incremental costs
to our customers. Competition is tough and not always
increasing prices in the same way as we would expect.
They probably think this could be the right time to grab
some market share from us and that’s why they don’t
increase at the levels they should from a commercial
point of view. This seems to me a rather short-term and
risky policy as we have to ensure sustainability of our
business long-term to fulfil expectations of all
stakeholders. Of course we have to approach price
increases selectively and carefully to keep the doors
open to our customers for strategic development and
growth and prosperity on a mutual basis. With that in
mind, price positioning is one of the challenges for
2012.
Additionally I would like to focus on the commercial and
strategic development of the sales organisation. A much
higher degree of market-orientation underpinned by
strategic sales management tools and the position of
cutting edge technology like nyloflex® NExT is key for
2012. We need to spend much more time with our
customers to understand better their needs and
expectations. This is an important element for the
positioning of our product and service offerings now and
then. In Sales we have to be good listeners to help to
make our business a “rule maker” in future. With the
strengths of our sales teams, we will be well prepared to
face the challenges in 2012.
12
Customers excited about
Flint Group innovation...
Flexographic
Products
Division introduced the new
and innovative UV exposure
technology nyloflex® NExT
into the market during two recent
customer events. On 7 and 8 November
2011 nearly one hundred customers,
mainly from Western and Eastern Europe, came to our
technical centre in Stuttgart to see the new technology.
The events started with technical presentations from
internal and external experts giving a deep insight into
the high level of innovation. The information on how to
participate in individual test trials raised lots of interest
with our customers as this will give them the real proof
of the great advantages of using nyloflex® NExT (see
below).
The highlight was the eagerly awaited live demo. In the
Flexographic Products showroom visitors could see the
exposure of photopolymer printing plates and were able to
watch the live 3D analysis of plates exposed with nyloflex®
NExT.
Our customers were really impressed on the possibilities
of the new technology. In the meantime our sales team
have already received their first requests for quotations.
In the box:
nyloflex® NExT is an innovative technology to set a new
standard in flexo form making. This high-intensity UV
exposure technology enables users to produce precisely
defined surfaces on flat top dots and a precise image
reproduction. Thus it ensures highest print quality to
excellent ink laydown, even with long print runs. Printing
plates are exposed with high-intensity UV-LEDs (> 800
mW/cm²), which allow a consistent UV emission and the
reproduction of even the finest detail. Different to
competitive technologies, there is no need for additional
consumables. Flint Group offers two types of exposure
units: nyloflex® NExT Exposure F III (mid size) and
nyloflex® NExT Exposure F V (large size).
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Print Media Europe & North America, Pigments, Chips & Resins:
Print Media: Nearly One Year On...
A Word From Print Media’s President, Bill Miller:
For just under a year, I’ve been leading both Print
Media Europe (PME) and Print Media North America
(PMNA), with stronger-than-ever ties to Pigments,
Chips & Resins (PC&R). The goal: work smarter,
faster and better together.
Operations / Supply Chain Management:
Foster, PCR President.
The “operations” story stars highly capable teams led
by Tony Lord, Vice President of Operations Print Media
Europe, Frank Mastria, VP Operations Print Media
Americas / Global SHE and Ken Horton, Vice President
Operations, Pigments, Chips & Resins.
Example (one of many): To
improve
manufacturing
of
heatset and news ink black
bases, Adhemur Pilar, Director, Scott Turner & Cezar Barroso
Flint Group Brazil, and Cezar
Barroso, Industrial Manager, Brazil, got help
from Scott Turner, Vice President Operations
—News Ink & Publication Ink Division,
PMNA. Scott helped Brazil remove a
manufacturing step and boost capacity, and Adhemur
PMNA may benefit as well. Brazil used a Pilar
horizontal mill. Its performance could
influence PMNA’s future mill purchases.
c
As 2011 draws to a close, let’s look at
benefits gained by Operations, Finance
and Technology as a direct result of our
closer collaboration.
Tony
Lord
Bear with us for one moment, and
think of Print Media as a book
that involves many protagonists
and unfolds over many
chapters. This book’s three
main characters are PME,
PMNA and Pigments, Chips &
Resins. Other protagonists
feature as well, since we are One
Flint Group. “There is no ‘us’
versus ‘them’,” notes Craig Foster,
President, Flint Group Pigments, Chips &
Resins / President, Print Media
Operations. “There’s just ‘Us’.”
Frank
Mastria
Ken
Horton
Chapter 1: Working Capital
(i.e. cash tied up in inventory, accounts receivable and
accounts payable)
A team of international, cross-functional and crossdepartmental employees meet (via telephone) each
month to identify and pursue working capital
opportunities.
Benefit: Trade best practices (Imitation is the sincerest
form of flattery—and smart business).
Supply Chain. PME—Vijay Patel, Jonathan Howell; PMNA
- Allen Dippold, Rocky Bianchi, Tom Powlas, Dan Goemer;
PCR - Kevin Marsh
Example (one per unit): PME reduced inventory by
13.3 days from May to October; PMNA SLOB was
reduced by $281,000 year to date, and SLOB
reductions totalled $386,000 year to date for PC&R.
Sales / Product Management. PME—Wolfgang
Blumschein, Dr. Matthias Schütz, Nick Brannan, Romain
Boulot; PMNA—Doug Labertew, Mike Green, Mike Neroni;
PCR—Ron Gallas
Chapter 2: Safety
Finance. PME —Martin Sauer / Andre Frohnert; PMNA—
Doug Griggs, Paul Carnarvon; PCR—Hitesh Sheth
Benefit: Share what works. Ensure all characters have
the same safety language, expectations and tools.
SAFESTART is one particular focus of PME, PMNA and
PC&R.
Management . PME—Tony Lord; PCR—Ken Horton;
PMNA—Frank Mastria
Example: In one year, the 12-month rolling average
“total incident rate” decreased 48% for PME, 21% for
PMNA and 50% for PC&R. That means a lot more
people around the world avoided pain and
injury.
What, exactly, does “supply chain” mean?
Chapter 3: Shared Expertise
Craig
Foster
V I S I O N S
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It takes a village...
Benefit: “In a coordinated effort, we find
expertise that we wouldn’t know about in
an uncoordinated effort,” says Craig
FAQ...
The term describes a system of people, processes,
technology and activities that converts raw materials into a
finished product and delivers it to the end customer.
Because Flint Group manufactures pigments, chips, resins
and consumables, we have more control over the supply
chain than most competitors.
What’s a “horizontal mill”?
Horizontal mills, like their vertical cousins, use sheer force
to grind the raw materials used to make inks.
DEC 2011
14
learning the optimal way to meet current reporting
needs within the project's new, standardised guidelines.
Rachel gives credit to Sandra Polten, SAP Process
Controller, and Sabine Roth-Rerrie, SAP Competence
Center, both from Germany, for their willingness to offer
time, energy and expertise.
Home
Themes That Weave Through Every Chapter
Shared Accountability. “If there’s a leak in the boat,”
says Craig, “we’ll all fix the leak.”
Alignment, alignment, alignment: “Operations’ #1 goal
is to service the customer,” says Craig. PC&R, PME and
PMNA share the same goals and, because PC&R
understands printers’ needs, Print Media’s needs and
raw materials, our story is much stronger with that
protagonist.
Finance
Keeping
the
analogy alive…
Paul
Carnarvon
André
Frohnert
‘book’
Chapter:
Communication.
Communication.
Communication
Finance protagonists Paul Carnarvon,
Chief Financial Officer, PMNA and Pigments, Chips &
Resins, and André Frohnert, Finance Director Print
Media Europe, speak with each other nearly every
single day. Hitesh Sheth, Division
Controller, Americas Region, Pigments,
Chips & Resins, is a key part of these
ongoing conversations. Their teams, too,
communicate more frequently, openly and
collaboratively than ever before.
Hitesh
Sheth
The main benefit? “Greater transparency
and a better understanding of profitability
[throughout PME, PMNA and PC&R],” notes Paul,
which helps us make decisions “as a company, not as
a region”.
The sequel: Upcoming finance stories will likely reveal
notable progress on consistent internal financial
reporting. Expect the sequel to cover contribution
margin reporting…
Technology
Definition: Technology – The methods and tools that
a society has developed in order to facilitate
solutions*.
Print Media has plenty of challenges that require
solutions! And it’s how our technical teams around the
world interact that often provides the answers.
We depend on a cast of many to make the Technology
story a success.
c
Chapter 1: Sharing Ink Expertise
Deju Koziol—Director Analytical & Physical Sciences
Laboratory (APSL), PMNA, can testify to the evolution
of Print Media collaboration. “Over the past year, the NA
APSL has benchmarked coldset, heatset,
publication gravure, and sheetfed inks from
Europe to support the development of
better formulations, reduce cost, help
capture new customers, and provide more
overall value to our customers.”
Deju
Koziol
The ink technology teams talk regularly. As
a result…
“Exposure outside our comfort zone,” says Paul, which
widens our perspective and accelerates our learning
process. This can include learning a new financial
system or teaming up with an international
peer on a committee or project.
Kevin Kingman, Technical Director, PMNA Heatset:
“When a key raw material used to make phenolic resin
fell into short supply and prices skyrocketed, we were
able to free up some capacity for Europe and alleviate
some of the pressure.” This no-fuss approach has also
helped the teams match and qualify standard
formulations from each location to ensure equivalents
are available if needed. It’s also resulted in the
development of new resins and clays for
both continents.
Exposure also breaks down walls for team
members to pursue ideas. For example,
Rachel Goldberg, Senior Financial Analyst,
Rachel
PMNA, took the initiative to assist with a
Goldberg
global contribution margin reporting project.
By directly contacting our European experts, Rachel is
Jay Desai—Technical Director Newsink –
PME: “We have used NA APSL twice this
year during the gum rosin cost
Jay
escalation to help us develop non-gum
Desai
rosin based technology. With help from
Bruce Wolfe, Technical Director News Ink, PMNA, we
Major Story Theme:
“Without the help of Deju's team we would be miles away from
where we are today”—John Fatigato, Director of Technology
Chemical Products Division, PMNA
have enhanced our understanding of the hydrocarbonbased technology, which is prevalent in PMNA. The two
regions’ platforms are routinely transferring technology
to solve local market challenges.”
Juergen Riedlinger, Technical Director,
Sheetfed, PME: “Our UV formulations
began to develop applications issues as
the market began to move towards lowalcohol printing in Europe. A similar
Juergen
Riedlinger
market trend happened in the US some
years ago and Europe could take benefit
from this existing knowledge and experience. Rodney
Balmer, Director of Global R&D, Sheetfed, based in
Michigan, USA, with the support of Richard Wilson PME UV Product Manager, and Andrea Benvenuti Head
of Technical Service Centre Italy adjusted North
American formulations to comply with European raw
material legislation to produce two new products that
work extremely well in low IPA conditions.”
Chapter 2: Technology Transfers in Transfer Media
VV II SS II OO NN SS
Mutual support. Let’s stick with the PRC team for one of
many examples:
“We have a very active Global Products Team in the PRC
Division,” explains Mario Johnson, Product Manager PRC,
Print Media Europe, “which consists of John Fatigato
based in Batavia, Wing Ng in Foshan, China, Steve Smith
in Sydney, Australia and myself… In our regular
conference calls we share product performance
successes, formulation tips, product technology
information and development
updates.”
Final Chapter
Aha, there is a trick ending:
There is no final chapter.
This collaboration is part of
our continual effort to
become a better, more exciting
book. Keep reading. And writing.
Technological collaboration doesn’t stop at ink. As
explained in the “Transfer Media Going Global” article
(July Visions) the Transfer Media team has been working
on a global scale for some time and has brought global
R&D to new heights with the Dundee, UK and Asheville,
North Carolina, USA alliance.
Chapter 3: There’s a Certain
Chemistry Between Them
The APSL supports the Press Room Chemistry (PRC)
Product Development Laboratory (Batavia, IL, USA) as
well.
John Fatigato, Director of Technology, Pressroom
Chemistry Division, PMNA: “The [APSL’s] early analytical
work helps the PDL decide to move forward or not,
which reduces the lab time in testing a new material.
All information is shared with our labs in the UK and
China to make certain the gains are investigated
globally…. The analytical lab is key in providing our labs
with additional resources [people and equipment] that
are second to none.”
*Paraphrased from the American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
13
Theme That Weaves Through Every Chapter
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Mario Johnson at
work in Irlam’s lab.
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Home
Latin America’s
Long Service Awards
Meet your Colleagues...
Gladys Carracho
Accounting and Reporting Manager
Flint Group Latin America:
Davi Tome DaSilva and Mateus Alves Moreira Filho.
being presented with their awards...
The objective of Flint Group Latin America’s long
service award programme is to retain and motivate
our most valuable staff with the main aim of
holding on to these employees and encouraging
them to progress within the organisation.
Human Resources will maintains up-to-date hiring
dates of every employee from Flint Group Latin
America, keeping track of their achievements at the
organisation and recognising and rewarding them for
their dedication and loyalty to Flint Group Latin
America. These are awarded at 5 years of service,
and so on every 5 years thereafter. We will also
reward Flint Group Latin America’s employees in
2012, for “perfect attendance on an annual basis”.
These are a really enjoyable part of my role and
eagerly anticipated by the recipients and
management alike. A recent example of this
happened within our Cotia site in Brazil where we
took the opportunity of arranging the latest service
award ceremony to coincide with an EMT meeting
that was being held at the same time. On this
occasion we gathered to recognise 25 years of
service by both Mr Davi Tome DaSilva and Mr Mateus
Alves Moreira Filho. The awards were presented by
Mr Antoine Fady, Mr Claudio Labbé (Flint Group
LATAM s president) and Mr Adhemur Pilar (Director
in Brazil) in the presence of our Brazilian HR teams
and managers. During the meeting several other
awards were also recognised.
We would like, again, to congratulate all the award
winners for their loyalty to this company, their
dedication and hard work!!
Debbie Guberek
HR Manager Flint Group Latin America
Flint Group Latin America participates in the
Annual Meeting and Seminar ATDL 2011
c
The 2011 Annual Meeting and Seminar ATDL (Technical Association of Latin America Daily) was
successfully held on 14th and 15th November at the Sheraton San Conrado, Rio de Janeiro with
Flint Group playing an integral role as a Platinum Event Sponsor for the event. About 135 people
attended the event from the newspaper industry along with other companies linked to the sector.
The presentations and panel
discussions were of great
quality and high interest to
participants, it was noted that
many of the projects submitted
were real life experiences that
gave an “authenticity” to the event.
Of particular interest were the presentations highlighting
the infrastructure expansion programmes of Peru's El
Comercio and El Mercurio in Chile; an interesting
application development project in Argentina's Clarin
iPad, also the integration of the business unit in La
Nación magazine from Argentina to a core business
system.
There was also a very well evaluated and interesting
presentation on a training programme and certification
of operators of rotating presented by Colombia's El
Tiempo. Another interesting presentation was developed
by the newspaper Panorama of Venezuela in the search
field of investment and productive efficiency with small
but extremely efficient projects.
The major manufacturers of printing equipment such as
Goss, KBA and Manroland also attended, displaying
their current products and services as well as their vision
for the future.
Agfa and Kodak were also at the event with interesting
presentations on their plate systems, services and
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14
Where do you live? I live in Peñalolén, which is a
very beautiful area around 40 minutes from the office.
support systems to efficiently manage the complex task
of processing, storing and managing the delivery of
rotating plates at high volume and multiple editions.
Manufacturers of ink such as Flint Group, Industintas,
Sun Chemical and Tintas Sanchez gave their strategic
insight into their visions of creating value in printing
processes, in Coldset, Heatset and also UV light. These
presentations touched on the issues of pollution and
respect for the environment.
The Atex Company and Protecmedia gave
demonstrations on the systems that allow for the
efficient use of digital information and advertising from
media agencies and their application within the market.
Ferag and Muller Martini also passed on interesting
views in regard to the options given in the efficient
marketing of products for newspapers and the potential
that is available in using insertions within the classic
journal style paper.
The meeting and seminar concluded with a visit to the
headquarters and industrial plant of Infoglobo.
The full list of sponsors for the event were as follows:
Platinum Sponsors: Flint Group, Agfa, Goss, Manroland, Sun
Chemical and Tintas Sanchez.
Tell us about your family?
My family consists of my husband Juan Jose Balsebre
Olaran: Ingeniero, he is electrical Engineer. We have two
children teenagers: Jose Ignacio, he is studying
Business Engineer in second degree and Juan Luis is
finishing his last year in school.
How would you describe your character?
I am very cheerful, enthusiastic and conciliatory
When did you first join Flint Group? I started to work
at Flint in January 2004 in the Chile Plant.
What was your first job with Flint?
My first job was General accounting in the Chile Plant.
What is the proudest moment of your career?
My proudest moment at Flint was when Latin America
got the best scorecard of the world in December 2010.
What moment in your private life has brought you
the most pleasure? In my personal life the great
moment was when my children were born.
If you could play any character in a movie you have
seen, who would it be and why?
Scarlett O’Hara, because she was a passionate,
strong and romantic woman.
What do you do in your free time?
I ride my bicycle, read books and generally enjoy time
with my family.
Where in the world is your favourite place and why?
Some place where I can see, smell and hear the ocean.
Do you follow sport – if so, which team do you
support and why? I like very much the tennis,
because the people must win because their effort,
and football, because they work in a team: no special
team though.
Gold Sponsors: Ferag, KBA, Kodak and Muller Martini.
Silver Sponsors: Atex, Papeles Río Vergara and Technotrans.
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What do you wish you were doing right now?
Enjoy living each moment with passion.