AICC México Meets in Guadalajara With 200-Plus Attendees

More than 200 AICC México members met November 15–17 in Guadalajara, Mexico, for the 2022 AICC México Annual Meeting and Trade Fair. The two-day event offered educational seminars, general session presentations, and a trade fair featuring 37 suppliers of corrugated machinery, equipment, and services. Also on the agenda was a tour of Cartographic, a corrugated and folding carton operation in the nearby town of El Salto.

The meeting began Tuesday, November 15, with a daylong seminar by R. Andrew Hurley, Ph.D., a professor of packaging science at Clemson University in South Carolina. Titled “Packaging Design Workflow Process Mapping,” the five-hour session looked at a seven-step process of design for customer-focused sustainable packaging (see sidebar, p. 14).

The meeting continued Wednesday, November 16, with general session presentations from several industry and business management speakers. Sergio Menchaca, CEO of EKO Empaques, opened the session and welcomed attendees. Noting the growth of AICC México in the past two years, he reported that the Association has 75 member companies, up from 40 in 2019. He then welcomed AICC President Mike D’Angelo, who reported on activities at AICC at large and urged members of AICC México to participate in the Association’s Spanish-language training programs and online courses. AICC Chairwoman Jana Harris, CEO of Harris Packaging and American Carton Co. in the Dallas-Fort Worth metro area, also gave welcoming remarks, noting the need for more education about our industry in colleges, universities, and trade schools.

The featured industry speaker of the morning was Mark Wilde, senior paper and packaging analyst with BMO Capital in New York, who gave an overview of the containerboard and corrugated markets in North America. He noted the recent months’ decline in box demand and the resulting softening

of containerboard markets and predicted the major producers will soon be announcing the closure of older mill assets, adding that new capacity coming onstream in 2023 will also put downward pressure on paper prices.

Juan Javier Gonzalez, CEO of Cartró, a major independent supplier of sheets located in the Mexico City area, presented a leadership discussion on the qualities and characteristics of the chief executive. Saying that most management and leadership training focuses on the lower-level positions in the company and overlooks the CEO, Gonzalez outlined key characteristics needed for a successful company executive. They include mental and physical energy, a sound mind, emotional equilibrium, maturity, good work habits, and refi ned social skills. All these, he said, contribute to eff ective and ethical leadership.

Continuing in the program, Rodrigo de León González, a professor of political science and economics at the Instituto Panamericano de Alta Dirección de Empresa, spoke about the new geopolitical order in the postpandemic world and Mexico’s increasingly important role. He cited four factors that will influence the geopolitical structure into the mid-21st century: demographics, geopolitics, democracy, and sustainability.

Rounding out the day’s keynote presentations was Simon Cohen, CEO of global logistics company Henco, who discussed “The Secrets of an Entrepreneur Who, in Search of Success, Found Happiness.” Cohen described how in his early days of building his company he suffered a heart attack and, in rehabilitation, reordered his life priorities to family, faith, and friendship. His book, Pleno, tells the story of his journey.

The program also included AICC México’s annual Hall of Fame award presented this year to José Agustín Díaz Pacheco of EAM Mosca. He has been a member of AICC México’s board of directors since 2002 and has been instrumental in its growth over the past 20 years.

A trade fair featuring 37 key industry suppliers and a tour of graphic packaging company Carographic rounded out the meeting. Meeting sponsors were HP, PCM, SUN Automation Group, Alliance Machine Systems, Kolbus, SRC, Apex International, ALHU International, Grupo Gondi, EAM Mosca, BCM Inks, BIMAC, Policart, Macarbox, MATEC, ICASA, Erhardt+Leimer, and Carton.com.

For more information about AICC México and its annual meeting, contact AICC Latin America Director Maria Frustaci at mfrustaci@AICCbox.org.