The future of the label industry is in good hands. That was how one delegate summed up the first ever Global YMC Congress organised by FINAT’s Young Managers Club (YMC).
Mike Fairley of Tarsus Group went on to say that the opportunities for the next generation of industry leaders to meet, network and discuss the industry’s challenges and opportunities will undoubtedly provide long term benefit. The congress, held in Berlin, in close collaboration with TLMI (US), LMAI (India) and the hosting country’s national association VskE (Germany), covered a range of topics under the umbrella of ‘Young Managers, let’s challenge the future’. It offered networking opportunities and the ability to share experiences and obtain knowledge from industry experts all over the world.
It also covered a broad variety of topics from ‘Next Generation or New Generation?’, ‘Developing an Environmental Management Policy That Makes Economic and Business Sense’ and ‘Decision Making’.
Francesc Egea, of IPE Innovaciones Para Etiquetajes, Spain and chairman of YMC summed up the messages of the event when he said: ‘There is a lot of change around our industry today – changing technology, changing end user markets, new economies, and changing customer needs. We have to be flexible, and adapt our companies accordingly.’
The Young Managers Club was created by FINAT – the European association for the self-adhesive label industry – for industry managers under 40. Initially it was focused on succession planning within the many industry SMEs. It has since evolved to encompass meetings and topical workshops.
Mr Egea explained, ‘With the YMC we are recognising how important it is for young managers to understand the global influences on the industry and how they can align their business to these changing requirements. Essential to this is being able to connect with their peers in the labelling industry from around the world. There are so many interesting young global citizens and professionals out there and collectively we are highly educated, ambitious and excited about the future.’
