MMK on location – the key industry events 3rd/4th quarter 2016 – 1st quarter 2017

For three days, 1,600 exhibitors presented their products and services in the field of progressive packaging solutions. More than 500 innovations were exhibited over the course of the fair. The MM booth was a contact point for many interested visitors and a meeting place for new and existing business contacts. In order to give our customers and other interested visitors a better overview of our innovation and renovation projects, we invited to a presentation on the first and second day of the fair.

Apart from new products, we shared information on current developments and trends in the cartonboard industry as well as new legal parameters and regulatory changes regarding safe food packaging. Of course we also reported on our barrier cartonboard FOODBOARD™.

The ECMA Congress was hosted in Southern France under the motto “Big Data – The New Folding Carton Industry”. Numerous experts, among them Steven Van Belleghem (Author of “When Digital becomes Human”) and Matthijs van Leeuwen (Leiden Centre of Data Science, Netherlands) gave riveting talks illustrating how the constant exchange on the internet, the collection of all market and customer data, and artificial intelligence are changing the cartonboard industry.

 The speakers also explained some interesting approaches for companies to effectively using Big Data. MMK successfully launched the project “Digi 4.0” two years ago. Details will follow in the coming issues of Unfolded.

A summit meeting of Austrian stakeholders in the issue of migration was held in Vienna: at the event hosted by PROPAK, the Austrian Association of Industrial Manufacturing of Paper and Cartonboard Products, a panel consisting of Dietmar Österreicher (BMG, Federal Ministry of Health), Christa Hametner (AGES, Austrian Agency for Health and Food Safety), Christian Schiffers (FFI, Professional Association of the Folding Carton Industry), and Ralph Derra (ISEGA, a leading research institute for paper, cartonboard, and food packaging) joined Horst Bittermann and Heinz Traussnig of Mayr-Melnhof Karton to discuss the issues surrounding food contact materials.

The proposed German legislation regarding mineral oil migration (Printing Ink Ordinance and Mineral Oil Ordinance) and European developments were discussed in detail, as was the topic of migration testing and its practical challenges. The Austrian point of view clearly sees the need for a functional barrier to guarantee protection from mineral oils and other unintended substances.

Last year’s PTS Paper & Board Symposium, which was attended by 140 participants, focused on the newest developments and innovations in paper and cartonboard business. The challenges are manifold: Digi 4.0 is changing the value chain, and paper and cartonboard will have to redefine their path into the future. In addition, the increased awareness of food safety consistently results in more stringent requirements for food packaging. 

MM Karton gave a much appreciated presentation on FOODBOARD™, the safe cartonboard solution for protecting food from mineral oil migration and other unintended substances. Production of FOODBOARD™ in the Austrian mill at Frohnleiten has noticeably gained momentum. We are proud that our research and development work is allowing us to present a solution to the migration problem at many trade fairs and events such as the PTS Paper & Board Symposium.

In early October 2016, experts in the field of quality assurance, law, and product development met with representatives of authorities and end customers in the food and packaging industry for the Fresenius workshop to discuss the health safety of food packaging.

Central topics were complex manufacturing chains, as well as binding formulations of tests and standards and their legal significance.

Last year’s conference of the Swiss Packaging Institute (SVI) was entitled “Controversial packaging – protective function or ecology” and was dedicated to the tension surrounding packaging materials. On the one hand, a folding carton must fulfil several functions (protection, storage, transport, sales, and information functions) in the product design, on the other hand it should and must satisfy ecological demands. Trying to accommodate all of these components simultaneously results in tension.

The question is: how much compromise is acceptable? With talks, discussions, and practical examples, the conference addressed this question and endeavoured to find approaches to solutions that would satisfy all demands. We were able to respond to one of the greatest challenges – the combination of product safety and natural resources – by presenting our innovation FOODBOARD™.

A large number of visitors from inside the industry came to see around 1,600 exhibitors in Paris in mid-November 2016. Centre stage at the All4Pack, one of France’s most important packaging fairs, was given to current trends, developments, and innovations in the packaging business. The promise of the fair’s title “Let’s be creative” was kept in every way: the participants presented creative and unusual packaging solutions as well as astonishing refinements and designs. In an economy marked by fierce competition, innovations are crucial for adding value and as a growth driver.

With France, Mayr-Melnhof Karton is increasingly focusing on one of the most important countries in the European folding carton industry. The All4Pack proved to be an exciting meeting point for exchanging ideas with our international customers and partners of the packaging and cartonboard industry.

Under the motto "Helping the forest products industry make better decisions", decision-makers from the industry met in early March 2017 to discuss the current situation in the fibre-based packaging industry and to provide comprehensive impetus.
Frank Heidlberger, Director Global Supply Chain at McDonald's, gave a compelling presentation entitled "Transforming Packaging for a Transforming World". In order to successfully meet the challenges of the future, one thing is particularly decisive: Packaging must be adapted in terms of shape, material and design to meet the current needs of customers, employees, and the environment.

It is the only way a company can succeed in carrying its brand message successfully to the consumer. The entire supply chain is required for this holistic realignment.
In his speech "The European Economy – Divided by Brexit, United by its other Problems" Andrea Boltho, university professor at Oxford, clearly states that we are entering a new era: "From Stability to Instability". The stable conditions of the last 70 years are part of the past; instability is becoming the norm (new trade barriers, high level of debt, etc.).