Raflatac, Inc. today opened its first North American manufacturing center. The company’s new North American facility brings together Raflatac’s proprietary manufacturing expertise and application know-how. Juhani Strömberg, CEO of the Raflatac Group, comments on the strategic initiative behind the group’s sizable investment on North American soil. “Raflatac is the market leader in Europe, and the opening of the new U.S. factory will enable us to be a significant pressure sensitive material supplier in the United States, Canada and Mexico.” Cutting-edge technology and IT systems The state-of-the-art facility comprises a laminating machine, automated storage, slitting services and offices. The new factory showcases Raflatac’s proprietary automated production system, designed by a team of the company’s inventory and application-technology specialists. The custom-designed machinery, coupled with a sophisticated logistics system, highly automated finishing techniques, new auto-handling systems, and customized order flow, yield a consistent highest-quality product while ensuring short delivery times. The factory's operations are integrated into one central information system. Created by Raflatac's own development specialists, the proprietary software system has been designed to manage all aspects of the operation, in addition to managing product quality and material flow. Quality starts on the production floor Quality control is integrated into all production and service processes and the facility features a sophisticated lab for both quality control and product development. Environmental issues are taken into account in all the operations. At Raflatac, quality starts right on the factory floor, stemming from the sense of responsibility of every Raflatac employee, and guaranteed by the systems they have at their disposal to deliver the highest industry standards. The production operation is based on Raflatac's internationally certified processes, developed and refined by the company’s construction of several other factories on three different continents. A global player in a regional market The construction of Raflatac's new North American factory began earlier this year. Raflatac first launched its operations in the United States in 1985 via a sales and service company located in Fletcher, North Carolina. The new facility is only a few miles away from where the company's American operations originally started. While Raflatac, Inc. works in close cooperation with the Raflatac Group's worldwide network of experts, factories and sales offices, the inauguration of the US facility opens an entirely new chapter for the company dedicated to increasing market share across an entire continent. The new factory marks Raflatac Inc.’s ability to serve its North American customer base at unprecedented levels, with a wider range of high quality volume products, in addition to a range of customized labeling solutions. Raflatac’s hallmark, the “Raflatatouch”, will be an essential part of Raflatac's service in the US. Raflatouch defines the company’s ability to serve its customer base with undeterred professionalism, with a personalized customer focus. Raflatac in brief One of the world's leading suppliers of paper-based and synthetic pressure sensitive label materials, Raflatac develops and manufactures self-adhesive constructions for a wide range of requirements in product and information labeling. The company has over 1,900 employees worldwide and its net sales in 2000 were $ 630 million. Raflatac supplies pressure sensitive roll labelstock to converters and printers, and sheet stock through paper merchants. In addition to the United States, the company has factories in Finland, France, the UK, Germany, Spain, Malaysia, South Africa, China and Australia, and a wide network of terminals and sales offices throughout the world. Raflatac is part of UPM-Kymmene, one of the leading forest product companies and paper producers in the world. UPM-Kymmene offers Raflatac in-house papermaking expertise and vast resources for product development. UPM-Kymmene Corporation shares are listed on the stock exchanges in Helsinki and New York.