- Dr. Markus Heering is a guest at the Annual Conference of the US American NPES printing equipment association in Florida
- The VDMA Printing and Paper Technology Association and the NPES cooperate in the fields of market research, norms & standards and share information on technological developments in the printing industry
Marco Island, Florida/USA, 16 November 2016 – On the occasion of the Annual Conference of the US American NPES (Association for Suppliers of Printing, Publishing and Converting Technologies) in Florida, Dr. Markus Heering, Managing Director of the VDMA Printing and Paper Technology Association, and NPES President Thayer Long continued the dialogue between their associations. Both announced that the ongoing cooperation in the field of international market research would render first results very soon. “At the moment, we are carrying out a joint study of the global packaging printing market,” explained Heering, adding that its results would be made available to the member companies of both associations. Long and Heering affirmed that they will continue the transatlantic cooperation of their two associations regardless of the result of the presidential elections. “We will continue to bolster better political, legal and economic framework conditions in the best interest of our member companies,“ said Long, stressing the importance of agreements about joint norms and standards especially considering the digital networking of printing processes and the growing use of digital printing methods.
Joint approaches for training, market research and technology
The VDMA Printing and Paper Technology Association and the NPES share information on the content of basic and advanced training in the increasingly digital environment. “We can learn from each other – and, in some cases,also prevent that our industry reinvents the wheel two or even more times,” Heering said, explaining that, as a long-term objective, he hopes for joint industrial standards for digital networking, harmonized qualification as well as broad market research that can profit from the assessments and experience made on both sides.
Whether and to which extent their cooperation will be embedded into a strong TTIP agreement, for which the VDMA and the NPES have advocated unabatedly again and again, is uncertain. “Our associations are in agreement that we do not wish to abandon the bonds of cooperation we have established,” said Heering, emphasizing that it would be even better if, in the end, the TTIP transatlantic free trade and investment partnership came into being. “The NPES and the VDMA remain convinced that the harmonization of international standards is a key tool to boost transatlantic trade,” says Long, adding that the machinery manufacturing industry on both sides would profit.
