New Wroclaw factory boasts UPM Raflatac’s largest capacity in Europe

A HEART OF THE LABELSTOCK GROWTH MARKET

text: Vesa Puoskari
photos: Herman, UPM

High-quality products, new efficient production technologies and the growing markets of Eastern Europe are the assets of UPM Raflatac’s new factory in Poland.

“New products and production technologies enable us to provide our customers with high-quality and easy-to-print self-adhesive label materials, uniform quality and excellent service. Materials can be run in printing and labelling machines extremely quickly without any interruptions in production, which means growth in the productivity of printers and end-users,” says Jon Lenck, General Manager for UPM Raflatac in Poland.

“The highly automated production process enables us to anticipate and avoid potential problems in advance.”

The new facility is located in Kobierzyce close to Wroclaw. The factory, which has been operating for about a year, has some 200 employees and in terms of production capacity is UPM Raflatac’s biggest in Europe.

Lenck, who has lived in Poland for more than 10 years, is well acquainted with both the region and the market, as he moved to the position of General Manager from a management post in sales. “Customers visiting the factory have been really impressed and convinced that it is with us that they want to develop their business,” Lenck says.

The factory uses a new hotmelt adhesive technology developed by UPM Raflatac, which works very well, for example, in food packaging stored in cool and moist facilities.

Besides the production machinery, the Wroclaw factory has also invested in environmental protection and energy efficiency. The heat energy arising in the silicone and adhesive drying process is recovered and reused. The wastewater produced in the process is precipitated and vaporised, which means that it does not burden the local sewage network.

“With this platform we are very excited to offer improved service reliability and quality to our customers,” says Jon Lenck, General Manager for UPM Raflatac in Poland.

“UPM Raflatac aims to be the leading supplier of label materials in Europe,” says Jussi Vanhanen, President of UPM’s Engineered Materials Business Group.

Growing business

The new factory in Poland was necessary strategically, as the focus of growth had shifted from the West to Eastern Europe. Moreover, Poland with its population of some 40 million is a big market.

“Thanks to our location, we are part of the Central and Eastern European growth markets, but transportation distances from the factory to Western Europe are also reasonably short. Neighbouring Germany is still Europe’s largest labelstock market, and deliveries to the Benelux countries and Scandinavia too run quickly and accurately,” asserts Jussi Vanhanen, President of UPM’s Engineered Materials Business Group.

The factory started up at a challenging time, as the world changed rapidly because of the economic collapse. “In order to adapt to the market situation, we had to close down some of our laminating and slitting capacity in other parts of Europe,” Vanhanen said.

He points out that labelstock manufacturing still has all the prerequisites for a profitable business both in the traditional European and American markets and in Asia, which has significant growth potential.

“Although demand has fallen over the past year, it will undoubtedly pick up as the economy recovers. We believe that average annual growth in the near future will be about 3–4% in Europe, approximately 2–3% in North America and slightly over 10% in Asia,” Vanhanen says.

The new factory features the industry’s latest technology to ensure the best quality and reliability of the products.