Hosted by the USA member company, Everett Graphics, the International Packaging Group (IPG) met for their 55th Annual General Meeting in Northern California, San Francisco.

IPG is a global association of leading producers in the folding carton and packaging industry. There were 25 members represented overall. The number of members is restricted to one per country and they meet twice a year with their Associate members which are the world-leaders and suppliers for equipment and material to the packaging industry.

At the meeting in October, the decision-makers joined to share their challenges and successes as well as exchange ideas for future developments. A new Member of the Board was elected, Sylvie Casenave-Péré, CEO of the French member, Posson Packaging SAS, to replace Andreas Keller, CEO of PAWI Verpackungen AG, Switzerland. Benchmarking statistics were presented and discussed. The concept of a new logo and website was presented. There were 19 company presentations with the Associate members presenting their latest innovations and planned developments.

Invited Special guest speakers were:

• Dr. Ronald L Mayes, Earthquake specialist
• Dr Tyrus W.Cobb, national security adviser and special assistant to President Ronald Reagan

The goal of the IPG is the mutual sharing of knowledge and experience based on openness and trust.  The meetings act as an opportunity to maintain the network and build relationships. A visit of the brand-new production line at Everett Graphics and a Gala Dinner, rounded up the official programme.

The Group meet again for their Annual Technical Meeting in May 2018 in São Paulo, Brazil, to focus on sharing the latest technical issues.