June 2012
Change of leadership at etma: Members elect new president
Brussels / Düsseldorf. Dr Monika Kopra-Schäfer (Linhardt) is the new president of the European tube manufacturers association (etma). She was elected to the post at this year’s etma congress in Brussels on 25 May 2012. In keeping with tradition, her predecessor, Martin Hintz (Albéa), is now vice-president of the association.
etma’s new president sees major challenges confronting the European tube industry this year and it will probably be difficult to repeat or better the record production of over 10.7 billion tubes achieved in 2011. Besides the continuing economic uncertainty in Europe, Dr Kopra- Schäfer sees grounds for concern particularly in the increasing cost burden facing the tube industry: “Sharp increases in the price of plastics, printing inks, lacquers und not least wages are increasingly squeezing the tube industry’s margins. The trend towards ever smaller production runs and ever shorter delivery times is continuing unabated and demands the highest degree of flexibility from our industry.”
Despite this, overall Dr Kopra-Schäfer remains confident: “The European tube manufacturers are well placed and will continue to maintain their strong position in the European packaging market in future thanks to their creativity, high levels of productivity and innovative solutions.”
etma comprises a total of 52 tube manufacturers from 19 different countries. Its members account for about 75 per cent of tube production in Europe.
Our photos show:
1. The new etma president Dr Monika Kopra-Schäfer (Linhardt) with her predecessor, Martin Hintz (Albéa).
2. Dr Monika Kopra-Schäfer (Linhardt) with etma’s new tubes & trends information medium, which reports in a simple and concise manner on innovations from the tube industry and is available free of charge via www.etma-online.org.
