Labels and Packaging Innovation Asia • 6 2021
25 a leader who can guide the team by example, not just by authority. KEVIN KIDNIE: I agree with that. You need that mix of skills. For example, the manufacturing guys are engineers, so they think in really practical terms, but you really need the ideas people too. The R&D department is like a family. We work closely together, and the problems we’re working on are often way too big for us to handle on our own. A lot of people say you should ‘tell it like it is’, but in R&D, I like to think you need to ‘tell it like it isn’t’: in other words, that you can think of things beyond the now, and imagine how things could be. That’s a key thing for the R&D group. Having that vision, imagination and exploration is what keeps us going. We have to work within the constraints that we have, but we like to push the boundaries as much as possible.
ZAKI ALI: Yes. It’s developing unique products and solutions which solve fundamental challenges and enable our customers to work faster, more efficiently and with results that meet the ever increasing needs of their brand clients. What are the technologies that we should be looking out for in the next few years? KEVIN KIDNIE: Printing efficiency is going to be a big focus for us – products that are robust and with a wide operating latitude but don’t compromise on the quality bar we’ve set. Sustainability is another big area: It’s important to have sustainablyfocused solutions while also improving
efficiency and cost-effectiveness. There’s a lot that can be done to help printers reduce waste and improve their overall sustainability footprint. Products like the FLEXCEL NX Ultra solution for water-based platemaking are also where we’re looking to continue to innovate. ZAKI ALI: We are on an innovation journey with our customers. All our innovations build on the prior one, so customers can be confident that we won’t send them off in a different direction. It’s a strategy that ultimately enables them to get the greatest return on their investments – and that’s important to us. We’ll continue innovating to help them meet, and hopefully exceed, their goals.
“A lot of people say you should ‘tell it like it is’, but in R&D, I like to think you need to ‘tell it like it isn’t’. In other words, that you can think of things beyond the now.” What’s the best part for you about working in R&D? KEVIN KIDNIE: For me, it’s seeing an idea that goes from lab scale to manufacturing scale and ultimately a product that’s out there on the market being used by customers – to grow their own businesses and make money. That’s definitely the most rewarding part.
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