Rolling with the times

With a myriad of demands and challenges to keep up with, the metal decorating segment must be prepared for every future eventuality, as was made clear at the 2025 International Metal Decorating & Packaging Association Conference & Awards.

Scott Breen, who was promoted to president of the Can Manufacturers Institute (CMI) in June 2025, was the keynote speaker at this year’s conference and laid out some of CMI’s ethos and key aims.

Breen noted that trust is the main pillar of CMI; it aims to build trust with everyone along the supply chain, including decision-makers, governments and of course consumers. CMI wishes to dispel misinformation that seems to be circulating online, Breen noted, especially with the ever-growing popularity of AI. For example, a simple AI search could tell the everyday consumer that microplastics are found in cans, which is completely untrue. CMI is working to optimise online information and help fine tune search engine optimisation (SEO) for metal packaging.

Breen also spoke about fearmongering that certain bans on materials can generate within the industry, particularly brand owners. He said that CMI and other metal packaging experts can help alleviate some of the stress associated with using these contact materials. In some cases, the banned materials are perfectly safe in the minimal doses used in can manufacturing.

Breen mentioned the CMI Food Safety and Product Stewardship Committee, which aims to track and discuss legislation and regulations around use of materials.

In terms of recycling, Breen highlighted the use of deposit systems – although CMI prefers the term “recycling for refund” – in “moving the needle” towards some of the global 2030 decarbonisation targets, although he admitted that not all of them would be reached. CMI’s continued work will help to raise recycling rates for metal cans, mainly via policy change but also through action with the community in the US through programmes such as its Million Cans Recycling Contest for schools and its work with the US chapter of Every Can Counts.

Breen was also part of the tariff roundtable at the IMDPA, which included his colleague, vice president of communications and marketing, Tim Ebner, as the moderator, Matt Meenan, vice president of external affairs at The Aluminum Association and Steve Mihm, senior vice president of purchasing & logistics at Reynolds Services. The overall agreement was that it is going to be a difficult uphill road from here.

“CMI maintains its long-standing position that while tariffs can help stimulate domestic manufacturing of certain critical materials, tariffs on primary aluminium and tinplate steel should be lowered to reflect the fact that domestic production of these key inputs to metal cans are not and will not be produced in the United States any time soon anywhere near the amounts that can manufacturers need,” Breen summarised in a later statement online.

Global Economy

Alex Chausovosky, economist at the Bundy Group, presented an overview of the current global economy, and wanted to dispel what he called the “myth” that the US economy is failing. It is in fact strong, he said, although warned that business leaders will need plans in place to navigate the complexity of the rest of the Trump administration.

Tariffs will continue to be changeable and companies will have to be quick to act, he said, adding that the cost of business is set to rise with inflation, which also means that manufacturers who strive for success in these challenging times need to ensure they are paying in line with inflation and “paying competitively” in order to ensure they continue to attract high-quality talent.

The Bundy Group provides advisory services to business owners and can provide data on leading indicators to predict economic development as far as a year into the future, Chausovosky said.

He encouraged business owners in the audience to “make data drive your decision-making, not rhetoric or fear,” echoing Breen’s earlier sentiment. He also recommended that businesses “increase communications up and down the supply chain” to streamline operations.

AI update

“We’re at the most technologically advanced time in history,” said Alex Castrounis, CEO of Why of AI, in his address to the IMDPA conference.

He asked the audience who used ChatGPT, Copilot or equivalents in some capacity and a good majority raised their hands. Castrounis presented at last year’s conference and said that even since then, the amount of people who even just know about AI, let alone use it, has increased rapidly. He noted that multiple modality models are now available with AI – meaning it’s not just text that is captured and generated: audio, images and videos are well within its capabilities. For example, someone could input an audio file into AI and ask it to generate an accompanying visual video.

Castrounis also touched on agentic AI in his presentation, which is a type of AI that doesn’t need highly detailed information to create actions or outputs. Castrounis used the example of asking an agentic AI programme to book him a table nearby the conference in Itasca for a large group of people for a networking dinner, and it did so easily, based on intelligent assumptions and not necessarily on any “hard” facts given (ie, it assumed a group of about 20 people, at 8pm, because the exhibition closed that evening at 7pm and people might need time to change clothes or pack exhibition items away, etc).

For businesses still relatively new to AI, Castrounis recommended they “identify the areas of operation [they] either don’t want to do or won’t want to fill labour positions with, and see whether AI could fill that gap.” However, he emphasised that caution is always needed and to “never sacrifice safety for speed.” Always understand your data and protect it accordingly, he said.

Craft beer status

Matt Gacioch, economist at the Brewers Association, covered the state of the craft beer market. With more than 5,000 US brewery members, the Brewers Association has been operating for 20 years and monitors challenges and developments closely.

In 2024, US brewery closures overtook the number of brewery openings; the last time this happened was in 2005, he said. Craft production is usually modest in size and with costs on the rise, some could struggle to maintain their current capabilities. He added that in the US Midwest, some THC (tetrahydrocannabinol)-based beverages are directly competing for shelf space with craft beverages.

Despite this, Gacioch highlighted that more consumers than ever before are drinking craft beer, just perhaps not as frequently as they were before. Consumers have become “ombibulous,” Gacioch said, enjoying a variety of alcoholic beverages throughout their week rather than staying loyal to one.

Additionally, younger consumers, particularly Gen Z, are gravitating to low or no-alcohol products. The rise in popularity of these options, Gacioch commented, means that craft breweries throughout the US are seeking to diversify their lineups in favour of “beyond beer” offerings.

Encouraging & retaining talent

Sarah Davidson, vice president of human resources at Roeslein & Associates, focused on “talent strategies that work in can making” in her address. She highlighted that there is currently over a 30 per cent turnover rate in manufacturing globally, with over 415,000 manufacturing jobs advertised in the US at the time of her presentation. At Roeslein, the turnover rate has decreased rapidly in recent years, as a result of the company beginning to implement strategies to attract and retain talent within its many divisions.

Davidson advised businesses in the audience to streamline their initial recruitment and application process: “If it takes over five minutes to apply to the role you’ve advertised, the chances are you’ve lost a high number of potential applicants already,” she said. She also noted the importance of social media presence. “If you’re posting on LinkedIn highlighting your employees and all the good work you do, your applicants are more likely to want to work for your company,” she said, because this allows them a visual window into the culture and personality of the business.

Next, Davidson asked those in the audience who had left a job within the past ten years why they left. Responses ranged from “no growth opportunities,” to “not feeling valued,” to “micromanagement.” Davidson then supported these responses by saying that in a recent survey, 75 per cent of people said they left a job because of a manager. Managers need to be bettering themselves alongside their employees, Davidson noted, and should look at retaining talent through development opportunities, bonus schemes and company activities.

Davidson highlighted internship programmes as an integral pathway to creating talent pipelines. Supporting this pipeline for learning was Dr Kevin Howell, professor at the Appalachian State University, who spoke to the audience about its Graphic Communications Management course.

The course is aimed at students who are looking for a career as a graphic designer, project manager or creative director, allowing them to produce effective visual communications by applying principles of composition, layout, colour theory and context.

The curriculum includes opportunities for students to plan, design and create interactive solutions, such as user interfaces, motion graphics, mobile applications and web designs. The course offers a blend of practical experience, career fairs and internship opportunities.

The future of colour

Breakout sessions at the IMDPA 2025 Conference included discussions on decorator improvements, preserving can coatings quality amid global regulations and restrictions, pre-press decisions, troubleshooting and how to create sustainable and enhanced operations. The colour management roundtable was a particular highlight, bringing about lively discussion amid the speakers, as well as passionate input from the audience.

The roundtable consisted of Levi Boss, director of global graphics at Ball Corporation; Rafiq Mulla, solutions specialist at X-Rite Pantone; Gerardo Cerros, CEO of CMA Imaging; Barry Sanel, subject matter expert for packaging graphics at Diageo; and Robb Frimming, consultant at Robb Frimming Consulting.

The main discussion was around colour consistency. Levi Boss said he believed that the idea around colour consistency shouldn’t be “about the perfect can; it should be about being on the same page and using the same language as everyone in the chain.” He added: “As a can manufacturer, you’ve got to give your customer something that is reproducible from the get-go of a project.”

The roundtable agreed that digital proofs are going to become more important in future as currently there are many factors that could affect colour management and data measurement. This is where libraries such as PantoneLive are working to ensure digital specifications and communication of Pantone standards to all stakeholders, said X-Rite’s Rafiq Mulla.

Awards

The IMDPA Awards Luncheon saw individuals recognised in the Metal Decorators of the Year, celebrating high levels of competency throughout the industry. Awards were presented to Brian Bates from Reynolds Services; Bruce Brook and Earl Ireland from Crown Cork & Seal; Caesar Martinez and Aaron Taylor from Canpack US; Anderson Pereira Sampaio and Jan Pilar from Ball Corporation; Camilo Villanueva from Ardagh Group; and Blaine Robinson from SGX.

The Metal Packagers of the Year for 2025 were named as Greg Hawkins from Crown Cork & Seal; Jason Rowland and Brandon Shane from Sonoco Metal Packaging; and Rufus Thomas and Mike Walsh from Canpack US.

Presented to leading can making companies were the Excellence in Quality Awards. Crown; Trivium Packaging; Technocap; Canpack; Ball; The Meridian Design Studio; Reynolds Services; Tinpack; The Ohio Art Company; Independent Can and Lithocap were among the worthy winners this year.

The 2026 IMDPA Conference and Awards will return from 22 to 24 September.