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ICMA ACADEMY WORKSHOP ADDRESSES THE LATEST ISSUES AFFECTING THE CARD MANUFACTURING INDUSTRY

Attendees Learn About Latest Advances in Card Manufacturing and Production

PRINCETON JUNCTION, NJ, July 10, 2006 —The International Card Manufacturers Association (ICMA) recently concluded its Spring Academy Workshops. The first was held May 22-23 in Munich, Germany; and the second was held June 7-8 in Chicago, Illinois, USA. The workshops were highly successful, with the Munich workshop setting an all time record number of attendees. Each workshop, themed Card Manufacturing – What You Need to Know, provided two days of informative presentations with topics covering all elements of card manufacturing and production including materials, equipment and standards. Sessions included: Estimating Card Durability, Plant Security, New Challenges in RFID Personalization, Overview of Card Substrates with a separate session on Teslin and more .

According to US workshop chairman Bud Kronenberg, president, Keystone Manufacturing, “This year’s Workshops provided a valued learning venue for ICMA member companies and their employees. Sessions were very informative and provided an open forum for audience participation enabling attendees to get immediate response to pressing industry issues.”

Offering solutions to the current industry challenges, participating speakers included representatives from PPG Industries, Smartrac, INEOS Films, NBS Technologies, DuPont Teijin Films, Cardel, Waytek, VCT/Qualteq, Visa, MasterCard and Barnes.

First-time attendee, George Bogdanovic, CEO of Jet, found the workshops extremely beneficial. "The recent ICMA workshop was a great venue for networking with individuals from all aspects of our industry. I was impressed with both the structure and the lively array of subjects ranging from color and design to capitol expenditures and manufacturing issues,” said Bogdanovic.

“Also hearing from the card issuance providers was a great help in understanding their concerns. As a result of this program, Jet plans on becoming a more active member in the future."

Additional highlights of this year’s workshop were special table top displays, where suppliers were able to showcase their products and gain more exposure to potential clients. Exhibiting companies at the workshop included: Associated Pacific Machine Corp., Barnes International Ltd., Blumer Maschinenbau AG, Boltaron Performance Products, LLC, Freeman Company, Linxx LLC, Pineberry Manufacturing, Pittsburgh Embossing Services, Spartanics Ltd., Technical Machine Products, Transiwrap and The Vinyl Institute.

Following each day of sessions, ICMA hosted networking receptions designed to directly connect members of the card market segment with potential clients. “The networking events were very successful and provided a very relaxed environment to network,” added Kronenberg.

Geared towards all card manufacturing and personalization production managers, supervisors, executives and line workers, the Spring ICMA Academy Workshops are open to ICMA members only.

To learn more about becoming an ICMA member, please visit www.icma.com, contact Lori Nasatka at LNasatka@ICMA.com , or phone 1-609-799-4900.

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Editors: Photos of workshop available

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