Latin America's flexible packaging industry

(Flexible packaging industry in Latin America) In 1999, the total sales volume of the flexible packaging industry reached approximately US$1.5 billion, and a total of 425,000 tons of cartons were produced. The average annual growth rate of the 50 most prominent companies reached 12.8%. According to a sample survey conducted by CONVERSION magazine, the growth of flexible packaging manufacturers reached 25% by the year 2000. This is not easy, but it did. This magazine has reported on the most important development trend of the packaging industry. Its main information is collected from 50 companies from different regions and is distributed as follows: Argentina (4); Brazil (6); Intelligence (6); Colombia (6) Costa Rica (1); Ecuador (2); El Salvador (1); Guatemala (1); Mexico (9); Nicaragua (2); Panama (1); Paraguay (1); Peru (2); Puerto Rico (1) Dominican Republic (2); Uruguay (4); Venezuela (1). The main features of the 50 companies The following is a survey of the status of 50 companies in 1999. Table: Survey of large flexible packaging products companies in Latin America Total number of companies surveyed Average minimum and maximum company history (years) 4330654 Flexible packaging sales (Million USD) 50146229.2151.92.4 Total sales in 1999 501861373753 Employees 4918912386340032 Number of printing equipment 453277251 Production materials ( t)45424646943744238450 exports (thousands of USD)341205593546180003 From the table, we can see that the total sales of 50 companies in the flexible packaging field is 1.462 billion US dollars, accounting for 78.6% of the total sales (1.86 billion total sales). (1 million US dollars), which shows that flexible packaging products occupy an important position. In fact, 33 of these 50 companies specialize in the production of flexible packaging products; 10 of them have more than 80% of their businesses in flexible packaging products. Although it is possible that the bulk of sales will be concentrated in several companies, the average sales to each company can still reach 29.2 million US dollars. If ranked by sales, the total sales of the top ten companies can reach 884 million US dollars (58% of the total). One-third of the companies surveyed have sales ranging from $20 million to $50 million. Only 18% of companies have sales of more than $50 million. With regard to the consumption of materials, in 1999, 48% of companies showed less than 5,000 tons, and 26% had more than 10,000 tons. Another feature of flexible packaging is that people often compare relatively large companies and packaging boxes with the average size of the printing industry. In addition to large-scale sales, these companies also play an important role in solving employment problems. The survey data shows that 66% of companies have more than 200 employees. The dynamics of the flexible packaging industry in most countries in Latin America in 1999 was very positive. The average growth rate of sales per company is 12.8%, which is 3 percentage points higher than the regional inflation rate in 1999. Only four companies reported a negative growth in sales, while 44% had a 10% increase in sales. If you consider the consumption of materials, you can observe a more real growth rate. Forty companies reported that the average growth rate of major material consumption was 10.3% in 1999. More than half of the enterprises’ growth rate is higher than this, and only five companies’ figures indicate negative growth. The good news of the flexible packaging industry can also be certified in the export trade field. The survey data shows that the total value of freight destined for foreign countries was US$ 141 million, including 8.3% of the products (this means that 8.3% of the products produced by these companies for US$ 100 are exported). It should be noted that 35 of the 50 companies have export records in 1999 and they expect these to be further strengthened in the international market and will become part of priority in the near future. Technology Flexible printing and gravure printing are the two main printing methods in the flexible packaging market. Among these 50 companies, 43 companies have flexographic printing systems (independent or combined with other systems); flexographic printing is the only production method in 21 companies; 16 companies have flexographic printing systems and gravure Printing system. The report shows that a total of 327 printing presses (with an average of 7 printing presses per household) in 45 companies. Twenty-six of these companies provided data on printing presses and printing components. There were a total of 180 machines and 868 printing units with an average of 5 printing units per machine. A considerable number of flexible packaging industry has reached the ISO 9000 quality certification standard. What has played a major role has been the fierce competition between the packaging industry (which is most sensitive to quality standards) and their local and international markets that are closely related to them. The survey found that half of the companies have been certified (9001 or 9002); 12 are in the process of being evaluated and 13 have not yet obtained but have already planned to start the project in the near future, which is included in their priority sequence. The outlook survey also includes the investment expectation module for the flexible packaging industry in the next three years. All business owners are asked questions about equipment investment, exports, ISO and strategic alliances. The results are very clear and make the company more aware of what is the most important issue. Eighty percent of companies believe that one of the priorities is to expand their printing capabilities. 15 companies gave three different expectations about changing their printing systems. In the area of ​​post-press processing, there are few priorities for investment, and only nine companies intend to invest in this area and consider this to be very important or take it as the top priority. In the next few years, personnel training for companies will be placed in the main investment projects and will be given priority; similarly exports will become important projects in the coming years. Forty-one companies believe that their main job in the coming years will be to increase their share of export trade. The ISO 9000 and ISO 14000 certifications clearly reflect the actual state of the project. There are 22 companies that have obtained ISO 9000 certification as part of the plan. This seems to be only a small part of the total number, but actually half of the companies have been certified, and these certifications have become a key part of the company's consideration. What is surprising is that virtually half of the companies have included the ISO 14000 certification in their plans (environmental impacts on certification). ISO certification is interrelated and there is no question that any company expects to perform well in the international market. Finally, corporate owners reflect the most difficult issue is a strategic alliance. Sixty percent of companies in the survey considered this issue as one of their expectations, but the main interest was to reach a production alliance with other developed countries and even commercial competitors in the same region. It is understandable to make strategic alliances with local market competitors, but the scale is smaller. The alliance issue should be an important project rather than a priority issue.