Centenary Celebrations For Global Label Company

A company which started out in the metal packaging business and rose to become one of the world's largest label printers is celebrating its 100th anniversary in 2006.

One hundred years ago, few could imagine that a small company founded in Stavanger (Norway) would emerge as one of Europe's largest label printers in the 21st Century.

Skanem has seen its fortunes rise as it turned itself from a metal packager in to a label printer and it now boasts 14 printing plants, 1,100 employees and revenues totalling around 170 million Euros.

Its success is down to one man, Norwegian entrepreneur Ole Rugland, who invested 6,000 Euros of his own money in to what was then A company which started out in the metal packaging business and rose to become one of the world's largest label printers is celebrating its 100th anniversary in 2006.

a fledgling enterprise in 1986 and borrowed another 2.5 million Euros from the local bank.

It was little over 30 years ago, that the Skanem brand really emerged in its own right.

It was all to do with a new type of packaging - the Easy-Opening lid, which led to cooperation with a French packaging group -Cebal.

At the time the company was known as Stavanger Bliktykkeri, which had the exclusive rights in Scandinavia for selling the Easy-Opening lid products from Cebal.

That is when the name Skanem was created, in October 1973 and Stavanger Bliktrykkeri was re-branded as Skanem AS.

Skanem built a new factory and increased export orders followed.

Towards the end of the 1970s, Skanem's exports rose from 35 per cent to 50 per cent and then in 1984 the company was acquired by an export group in Oslo.

In 1985 a young Ole Rugland became its managing director and subsequently bought the company in 1986.

Rugland was only 30 years old when he made the move and today, whilst his company is still private, he sits astride a truly global enterprise.

Only last year, the company made its first move in to Eastern Europe when it acquired label printing plants in Poland and Russia.

According to Rugland: "The world is really set on globalisation and you need to be able to print labels in many different styles and languages for the multi-nationals who lead the way in brand marketing." And those same companies see eastern Europe as ripe for adopting Western-style branding for their goods, which means that labels and labelling is now big business there.

"In 2004, the use of self-adhesive labels grew overall by 4.9 per cent but in eastern Europe it was up by a massive 19 per cent - four times more than western Europe - and shows no sign of wavering," added Rugland.

Today, Skanem prints labels for many of the world's best known brands and the chances are that when you are next in a supermarket you will not fail to see a popular product with a Skanem label.

The labels come from Skanem plants around Europe, including Norway, Sweden, Denmark, the UK, Germany, Poland and Russia and can be found on products ranging from foods and beverages to household cleaning products and beauty aids.

From the company's humble beginnings in 1905, when it was merely a tin printer, it has evolved today in to what it describes as a company with international strength but with a strong local presence.

Over the years it has acquired companies, divested itself of others and consolidated and built a truly global enterprise.

The turning point for Skanem came in 2001, when it acquired SE-Labels.

Around the same time it sold its metal packaging companies in Denmark, closed down another in Norway and self-adhesive labels became its core business.

Rugland commented: "We still have a lot to do and other markets to conquer.".

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