French Manufacturers of Adhesive Label and Flexible Packaging Equipment Join Forces
Five French manufacturers of equipment dedicated to adhesive label and flexible packaging markets – Codimag, GIC, MGI, Serame and SMAG – have decided to join forces by creating a Club to promote their technologies to label printers and converters.
On Friday 29th May 2020, Benoît Demol (Codimag), Bruno Vitali (GIC), Victor Abergel (MGI), Charles Dernoncourt (Serame), and Stéphane Rateau (SMAG), as the representatives of 5 printing and converting equipment French manufacturers, gave birth to the Label French Tech Club, a unique initiative in the industry.
Through this Alliance, the Fives wish to highlight French technological innovation in the market, represented by the richness and relevance of their offers to printers and converters.
Codimag, GIC, MGI, Serame and SMAG have their R&D Departments and Manufacturing Plants in France, and export worldwide their solutions.
Innovate in the marketing relationship
For Victor Abergel, VP of MGI, the creation of the Label French Tech Club is obvious in the current context: “Drupa has been postponed of one year” he says, “ and with the absence of any major exhibitions this year in the world of labels and flexible packaging, and finally the two months of business stoppage due to Covid 19, has clearly led us to rethink and reinvent our customer outreach”.
Differentiation and added value
In this context, innovation in the marketing approach is essential for Stéphane Rateau, CEO of Smag: “The appetite of printers and converters for value-added innovations remains. In a competitive market, it is more than ever necessary to differentiate oneself, and the Label French Tech Club is intended to facilitate the presentation of French technological innovations to the players on the label market”.
Technological innovation
This initiative is very important, as Made in France is very popular in the self-adhesive label and flexible packaging market, explains Benoît Demol, CEO of Codimag: “Each of our 5 companies generates the majority of our turnover from export sales, either in Europe, and Asian and American continents. This position is showing the excellence of French technologies on the Label and Flexible Packaging Industry. Our approach aims to spread our know-how beyond our borders, under a common label”.
Proximity and adaptation
By joining forces within the Label French Tech Club, Codimag, GIC, MGI, Serame and SMAG are sending a strong message to printers and converters, says Bruno Vitali, CEO of GIC: “The Covid crisis has highlighted a problem of technological dependency and distant sourcing, which is a big issue for European label and flexible packaging manufacturers. Through the Club, we want to show them that there is an innovative, high value-added French technological offer, close to their factories and responsive”.
Service and responsiveness
In their common approach, the Fives wish to emphasize their proximity to their customers’ plants and the responsiveness of their service, an essential aspect, concludes Charles Dernoncourt, CEO of Serame: “Assist label manufacturers on a daily basis in their industrial differentiation strategy requires great proximity and strong responsiveness: a true service focus. Control locally the design, manufacturing and marketing of our technologies, makes us more capable to adapt to the daily needs of our customers”.
The first action of the Label French Tech Club is the organization of an event, the Label French Tech Expo 2020, with demonstrations of equipment proposed by the 5 companies and the organization of workshops.
An extensive program will be unveiled in the coming weeks…
