One of the highlights of the European label industry’s year is the announcement of the winners in the FINAT Label Competition – an annual event which has identified and lauded outstanding achievement for 37 years now.

Having just returned from the 2017 edition of FINAT’s European Label Forum in Berlin, I share with you some thoughts which I already wrote down in my editorial of the association's Yearbook that has just been released. The thoughts and ideas that were shared, the conversations that took place and the (new) friendships that were built only confirm the role of our association as platform linking the label community on its way to future business success! Thanks to all of you who were there who made this an event to remember.

Esko (www.esko.com) the global leader in integrated hardware and software solutions for packaging brand management, design and prepress has installed the first XPS Crystal 5080 exposure units at Reprographic Systems in Ireland.

The end-use markets for UV/EB curing have grown dramatically in the two years since RadTech Europe held its last conference. With its headline topic ‘UV/EB: best in class!’, and taking place as in 2015 at the well-received Clarion Hotel, Prague, 17-19 October, the RTE Conference and Exhibition 2017 will be a large and lively event, with an in-depth formal agenda complemented by an extensive on-site supplier exhibition and strong networking opportunities.

Professor Tan Junqiao, founder and honorary chairman of the China Label Sub Association of the Printing and Printing Equipment Industries Association of China (PEIAC), has been chosen as the recipient of the R. Stanton Avery Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2017 Label Industry Global Awards.

The organizers of Labelexpo Europe have announced full details of a ground-breaking new feature for 2017. The Automation Arena will debut at this year’s exhibition as Labelexpo Europe returns to Brussels Expo 25 - 28 September.

From 25 to 28 September, OMET will be among the main exhibitors at Labelexpo Europe 2017 in Bruxelles. The appointment will be at the booth B49-B53, hall 6, the usual point of reference for technology and innovation: all the visitors will attend an extraordinary show, with amazing live demos showing all the potentialities of OMET machines, always one step ahead of competitions.

Online visitor registration is now open as Labelexpo Europe 2017 gears up for its biggest edition to date. The four-day trade show returns to Brussels Expo during 25 – 28 September, with over 650 exhibitors lining-up to showcase the latest in cutting-edge developments for the label printing market.

Labelling and packaging today are a concourse for continuous movement at all levels – in terms of markets, technologies, formats, legislation, brand owner requirements, and environmental sustainability.

Few will have failed to see that UV LED (UltraViolet Light Emitting Diode) curing is being heralded as an alternative to Mercury curing. We wanted to see how the hype matched up to the reality.