“We’re delighted to be able to fill this role for the industry, and do so in support of aligning the value chain,” said NPES President Thayer Long. “With the advent of digital printing and other advancements in our industry, the supply chain environment will change rapidly. While exciting, without a collective group getting information into the right hands, it could be chaotic. One of the objectives for this new Council is to develop a clear and concise synopsis of standards group activities that will be of value to brand owners,” he added.
The inaugural meeting of the Brand Owners Council held on January 10, 2017, included reps from Kimberly Clark, Pepsi and Diageo. The meeting addressed the creation of a schema that brand owners can provide to their supply chain partners, which will require them to have proper viewing conditions, calibrated and verified instruments, and defined and repeatable workflows. This work will be based on ISO 19303-1 Graphic Technology – Guidelines for Schema Writers – Part 1: Packaging printing (one of the ISO standards that NPES is working to develop as an international standard).
“This is an exciting opportunity for CPCs to provide aligned input on their requirements to their supply chain through industry standards,” said Council Chairman Steve Smiley, President of SmileyColor and Associates. “It will improve the printers’ ability to match a global requirement through effective communication, and align many brands to a similar workflow through communication, metrology and standards, reducing cost for supply chain partners.”
For more information about this new Industry Council, and how to get involved, please contact: Debbie Orf, NPES Senior Director, ICC and Standards, at dorf@npes.org.