The Hague, The Netherlands – FINAT's Young Manager Club (YMC) announces its first independently organized summit. This is the result of informal and international meetings and initiatives taken last year and embodies the YMC enthusiasm and aspirations. The club is intended to attract young managers and to help prepare them to become the company and industry leaders of tomorrow. The 2011 YMC Summit is being held in Hotel Bristol in Vienna (Austria) on 28-29 March.
 
"Based on a poll, young managers indicated that they like to learn about the latest management tools, processes and implementation methodologies, said Francesc Egea, of IPE Innovaciones Para Etiquetajes, Spain and chairman of YMC. "A lot of business improvement is being left unexplored. New managerial skills and practical tools can help label converters to run their business more efficiently, improve their customer service and become more profitable." In addition, young managers reported to appreciate the knowledge and expertise transfer through informal networking. "The upcoming summit will definitely meet their expectations," said Peter Dhondt of Cerm, Belgium and program manager at YMC. "We secured industry specific and inspiring speakers, interactive workshops and ample time for informal contacts with their peers."
 
Outlines of the YMC Summit Programme 2011
Under the umbrella "Leadership & Strategic Management in this Century", the YMC summit opens with a presentation by Jan Frederik Vink, Kolibri Labels (NL), former president at FINAT and instigator of the YMC. Based on his broad experience, he will explain how to build partnerships and to become a global player in the labelling industry.
 
Ronny Leyman, Partner at Conlibrio (BE) brings over 20 years of experience as a leader in organizations and as a management consultant for various markets, including the label industry. From "The Strategic Safari" workshop, participants will gain surprising and inspirational ideas around project, process and change management and learn how these can influence their company's culture.
 
On day two, Els Maes, management consultant at Alnus (BE) and graphic arts and packaging expert, will guide an interactive and practical session on the balanced scorecard, bringing  best practices from the labelling industry. The balanced scorecard is a strategic planning and management tool used to align business activities to the vision and strategy of the organization. It improves internal and external communications, and monitors organizational performance against strategic goals and KPI's (Key Performance Indicators).

The summit closes with a roundtable session involving all participants and moderated by Francesc Egea and Peter Dhondt.
 
FINAT's YMC ran a successful exchange-programme and networking event with its peers from LMAI, the Label Manufacturers Association of India during Labelexpo India last December.  "We are pleased to see the progress made by our YMC and applaud their global approach in collaborating with their colleagues from LMAI, India and TLMI in US. We fully support their initiatives and encourage all young managers to become a member and attend this first summit. Our industry has changed drastically. Technical printing skills and craftsmanship no longer suffice to remain competitive. In addition, the younger generation needs to adopt strategic and integrated business processes and develop strong people skills to strengthen their businesses and safeguard their future," said Andrea Vimercati, president at FINAT.
 
For full details on the YMC Summit 2011 Program go to www.finat.com