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LABELS&LABELING |31<br />
HOT OFF THE PRESS<br />
A ROUND-UP OF THE LATEST GLOBAL<br />
LABEL STORIES<br />
offerings. It can prove or disprove<br />
the respect for (and effectiveness<br />
of) your management team. It can<br />
tell a potential buyer about your<br />
culture and how easy or difficult your<br />
people may be to assimilate into an<br />
existing portfolio holding or strategic<br />
enterprise. It can also signal to a<br />
potential acquirer whether the people<br />
who are closest to your mission<br />
and opportunities believe in the<br />
company, or not. And finally, if there<br />
is a lot of turnover, it may indicate a<br />
weak competitive position. If you are<br />
on the buying side, you should be<br />
thinking through these things as well.<br />
An uncooperative or challenging<br />
employee pool can quickly derail an<br />
otherwise valuable transaction.<br />
Too many businesses today chug<br />
along without any measurable<br />
loyalty effort. And again, too many<br />
entrepreneurs don’t know what their<br />
employee retention curve looks like<br />
without asking human resources to<br />
run a report.<br />
Just like for customers, businesses<br />
must be cognizant of what they can<br />
do to keep employees ‘sticky.’ If<br />
you have a great retention record,<br />
evaluate what it is that you are<br />
doing to keep talented employees<br />
around. If you don’t, waste no time in<br />
adopting a workable initiative.<br />
Whether it means opening<br />
up advancement opportunities,<br />
implementing ‘lunch and learns,’<br />
assigning an employee of the month<br />
parking space, or simply making<br />
sure to express appreciation,<br />
every company should be making<br />
conscious efforts to build, inspire,<br />
and harvest the loyalty of its many<br />
talented staffers.<br />
Listen to office chatter. Watch how<br />
employees treat customers and vice<br />
versa. Talk to your staff. Your success<br />
in recruitment can provide a gauge<br />
for your efforts as well. Part of any<br />
prospective acquisition will be a<br />
site visit. While an acquirer may not<br />
explicitly say it, they will be watching<br />
your people and dynamics and<br />
taking these into consideration. And<br />
if you are on the buying side, make<br />
sure you are analyzing these things<br />
as well.<br />
Preparing for a merger, acquisition,<br />
or sale is not just a process that<br />
spans equipment and financial<br />
performance. It’s one that requires<br />
an explicit focus on human assets<br />
– customers and employees alike.<br />
The value of customer and employee<br />
loyalty cannot be underestimated.<br />
Their loyalty will be key in estimating<br />
your company’s value.<br />
ABOUT THE AUTHOR<br />
Bob Cronin is managing partner of<br />
The Open Approach, an M&A firm/<br />
consultancy focused exclusively on the<br />
world of print. In addition to spearheading<br />
several large label industry transactions,<br />
the firm regularly handles valueenhancement<br />
initiatives and organizational<br />
workouts/turnarounds. To learn more<br />
about The Open Approach, visit www.<br />
theopenapproach.net, email Bob Cronin at<br />
bobrcronin@aol.com, or<br />
call 001 630 323 9700.<br />
ACCRAPLY ACQUIRES TURPINS<br />
PACKAGING GROUP<br />
Accraply has expanded its line of shrink sleeve labeling<br />
equipment with the acquisition of Turpins Packaging<br />
Group. Turpins, located in Clacton-on-Sea, England,<br />
specializes in the design and manufacture of highperformance<br />
shrink sleeve applicators marketed under<br />
its Sleevit brand. With a wide range of standard and<br />
custom-configured sleeving systems, Turpins sells to<br />
a global customer base that spans a broad range of<br />
industries.<br />
‘This acquisition strengthens Accraply’s commitment<br />
to the shrink sleeve labeling industry and expands<br />
our footprint in Europe,’ said Rob Leonard, president<br />
of Accraply. ‘The addition of Turpins and the Sleevit<br />
brand within the family of Accraply, Graham, Trine and<br />
Stanford brands complements our position as a global<br />
provider of a complete range of labeling and converting<br />
equipment, backed by an extensive service and parts<br />
support network.’<br />
MATRIX WASTE FROM LABELEXPO<br />
AMERICAS TO BE RECYCLED<br />
In a trade show first, matrix waste and finished rolls<br />
from the show floor at Labelexpo Americas will be<br />
collected and recycled with the help of Greenwood<br />
Fuels and Channeled Resources.<br />
The material will be collected every few hours and<br />
taken to the show’s Ecovillage area to showcase the<br />
amount of waste that could potentially be recycled<br />
instead of being put into landfills.<br />
After the show, all waste will be compacted and<br />
picked up by Greenwood Fuels to be made into fuel<br />
pellets. Greenwood’s fuel pellets are a direct substitute<br />
for coal yet can have a higher BTU content, is more<br />
cost-effective than land filling and reduces the overall<br />
environmental footprint of producing labels.<br />
Danielle Jerschefske, L&L’s North America editor<br />
and co-author of a ‘How to’ guide to sustainable<br />
labeling, said: ‘As consumers more frequently review<br />
and purchase products based on their environmental<br />
footprint, the supply chain will inevitably be held more<br />
accountable for its sustainable stewardship.<br />
‘In collecting these label materials at Labelexpo<br />
Americas, the show is demonstrating to the industry –<br />
and its investors and the value chain – a viable closedloop<br />
solution for solid waste. The process maintains<br />
the value of such material throughout manufacturing by<br />
finding new opportunity at the “end of life” stage and<br />
creates a renewable energy alternative to coal.<br />
‘This waste-to-energy system is an excellent resource<br />
for label converters to drive zero waste manufacturing,<br />
to reduce their own carbon footprint and to gain<br />
competitive edge.’<br />
Also featured at the Ecovillage will be a selection of<br />
exhibitors who offer products and services to support<br />
a better performing, more environmentally conscious<br />
label industry.<br />
ETI NAMES INDIA AGENT<br />
ETI Converting Equipment has appointed New Delhi,<br />
India-based Weldon Celloplast as its exclusive<br />
distributor in India, Sri Lanka, Nepal and Bangladesh.<br />
JULY 2012 | L&L