There may be a lot of uncertainty related to the upcoming Brexit transition, but Avery Dennison has taken steps to ensure a steady supply of products and reliable local support to UK customers who rely on its sustainable and intelligent labels.

Avery Dennison has increased investment in its Cramlington Concept Lab in North East England, and continues to build upon its established local network while expanding partnerships with UK customers. It has increased stocks of raw materials in the Cramlington distribution center to ensure customers can confidently order the supplies they need during the Brexit transition. The company has already established customs clearance arrangements at the facility.

A broad, diverse portfolio
Avery Dennison, backed by a global organisation, offers the most flexible material portfolio available, and is leveraging that advantage to create label solutions that protect, inform, decorate, and engage. Clients can choose to mix and match papers, adhesives, and films to create the optimal combination for every application.

“With over three thousand unique material combinations available with a low minimum order quantity for small batch deliveries, our customers are able to experiment with label applications.” says Darren O’Carroll, UK country manager at Avery Dennison, “They can choose the optimal material for each individual application, instead of getting stuck trying to make a single bulk order work on every part of the supply chain.”

The firm’s well-established UK supply network, combined with its full-service research lab in Cramlington, allows customers to go from concept to project in 10 working days, with a minimum order of just 1000 square meters.

Local access to innovation
Avery Dennison’s UK-based solutions team has over 100 years of combined experience in the print and labeling industry with backgrounds ranging from application technology, to adhesive chemistry development, to sustainable design and legislation. Clients can leverage this diverse, local knowledge for innovative supply chain solutions.

“The print and packaging industry is really on the forefront of innovation,” says Mikaela Harding, technical sales support representative at Avery Dennison and board member of FINAT’s Young Professionals Network, “I’ve gotten to work with really creative UK brands that are leveraging chemistry and engineering to turn their packaging into a differentiator, such as solutions that extend product freshness or support sustainable design. These projects are highly collaborative, and it’s been very encouraging to see how many partners across the supply chain are eager to team up to work on these larger solutions that are driving the industry forward.”

UK customers also have access to the R&D teams at the Cramlington Concept Lab for custom research and material recommendations.

Continued investment in materials science
“Unsurprisingly, we see a majority of our UK customers focusing on Brexit and Covid-19 at the moment.” says James Wigzell, technical sales support representative at Avery Dennison, “But many of these companies are also partnering with us on wider transformation plans, especially around sustainability. I’m working with companies on projects which focus on label material choice and design to reduce material usage, create innovative reusable packaging and enable recycling. It’s motivating to see that even with the challenges facing the global economy in the short term, businesses are still focused on taking big steps forward in tackling environmental issues.”

Avery Dennison has pioneered a wide range sustainable, ready-to-go labelling solutions that improve recyclability, enable packing reuse, and reduce consumption of natural resources. As well as developed and acquired RFID technologies that give customers the opportunity to create market leading digital experiences with intelligent labels.

“Avery Dennison has helped develop this industry, and that’s reflected in our product range,” says Niels Chr. Schou, sales director Northern Europe at Avery Dennison, “We’re not focused on short term wins. We’re interested in working with our customers to find new opportunities to move the industry forward, we’ve even seen customers build business models around the intellectual property we’ve developed for them.”

Long term, collaborative partnerships are the core of Avery Dennison’s business, and it has put the resources in place to ensure the strong partnerships with its UK customers continue through the Brexit transition and far into the future.