By Dianna Brodine, executive director, In-Mold Decorating Association

The In-Mold Decorating Association (IMDA) is celebrating its 20-year anniversary in 2025 – a milestone achieved due to strong member support and the dedication of a group of companies that has served as advisors and leaders. At an awards ceremony during the Plastic Product Decorating Summit, held September 3-5 in Charlotte, North Carolina, the association for in-mold labeling (IML), in-mold decorating (IMD) and in-mold electronics (IME) recognized seven Charter Member companies for two decades of continuous support. In this article, these companies reflected on the beginning of the association and looked ahead to what’s next in IML
and IMD.

A Brief History
Incorporated in 2005 in Arizona by Ron Schultz, the IMDA was established to create a repository of knowledge about IML and, over the years, that has expanded to include IMD and IME. At that time, a group of leaders in the industry came together to advocate for the association’s activities and made a financial commitment to jumpstart its success. Today, the association recognizes seven IMDA Charter Members who jumped in at the very beginning of the association’s formation and have remained committed and active over the course of the last 20 years: Distinctive Plastics, General Press, Innovia, MULLER, NETSTAL, StackTeck and Vibrant Graphics.

“In 2005, these companies stepped up to support an idea,” said a press release from the In-Mold Decorating Association. “While in-mold technology was growing, it certainly wasn’t widespread in its adoption. These seven companies came together to lend their well-respected names, their technical expertise and their financial support – and then continued to advocate for the association for the past 20 years.”

Leaders not only for the association but also for in-mold technologies, the following individuals contributed to this article: Jordan Robertson, vice president, Business Development and Engineering, StackTeck; Matt Membrino, director of Sales PET and Netstal System, NETSTAL, Inc.; Travis Baker, vice president of Sales for Automation, Muller Technology CO; Jon Knight, vice president, Innovia Films North America; Tim Curnutt, president, Distinctive Plastics, Inc.; Erik Schnupp, sales manager, General Press Corporation; and Alex Dott, Vibrant Graphics.

Founding the IMDA
Injection in-mold labeling was a newer technology in the United States in 2005, when the IMDA was founded, and several of the founding members recognized that growth depended on a unified voice for education. “Having experienced significant growth in Injection IML in Europe, we were confident that North America would follow,” said Knight (Innovia). “At that time, Blow Mold IML was well developed in North America, but Injection IML was not. The IMDA was founded to help educate printers and brand owners on the benefits, technology, requirements, equipment and films needed for success in Injection IML.” Similarly, “StackTeck understood that IML was new for many molders,” said Robertson, “and it was apparent that an active industry association would promote awareness and technical knowledge to help new technology adapters.”

Membrino (NETSTAL) added to the conversation about increasing awareness of a relatively new technology: “We understood the key advantages in thin-wall packaging with regard to the graphic quality and the one-step process, but converters and brand owners still were hesitant to make a jump to this ‘new technology,’” he said. “In order to make it easier to adopt this technology, we felt there had to be an independent technical resource for converters and brand owners.” Echoing the need for technical resources, Dott said Vibrant Graphics had “taken a leap” when getting involved with IML, especially in producing labels digitally. “Meeting others in IML and in the plastics industry in general at the association events has been beneficial. It always interesting to learn something you didn’t know you should know.”

Muller (operating as CBW Automation in 2005) joined IMDA to help define industry standards, educate brand owners and collaborate with partners across labels, materials and equipment, according to Baker. “Being a charter member also provided credibility and visibility, signaling that automation specialists had a voice in advancing the technology,” he said. This breadth of voices from all areas along the supply and production chain for in-mold labeling and decorating attracted others in the industry, including General Press. “We recognized early on that IMDA would be the leading trade organization for IML, and we saw it to be a great source for knowledge and networking with customers, equipment providers and other suppliers,” said Schnupp. “IMDA has been key in allowing us to grow our IML business.”

Curnutt (Distinctive Plastics) was impressed with the overall goal of using a variety of representatives of the IMD industry to educate the US market about in-mold technology and committed not only his time to the association but also his entire facility! “I think that the most fun I have had was when our company hosted the Breakout Sessions of the 2018 IMDA Symposium,” he explained. “We literally shut down the factory for several days and spent our time educating people on all aspects of IMD. That was quite a kick.”

Future Opportunities for In-Mold
For these original IMDA members, many of whom exhibited at the recent K 2025 in Germany, future growth in IML and IMD are on the horizon, driven by technology advances, regulatory effects and industry connections.

“IML surely is no longer in its infancy as it was when we first entered the market,” said Schnupp (General Press). “We have seen new customers entering into IML yearly, including companies that have long been in the plastics decoration market and are just now embracing IML for the first time.”

Curnutt (Distinctive Plastics) agreed: “I see the technology steadily growing in the US,” he said. “I think we have a long way to catch up with Europe. The biggest obstacle I have seen is that too many molders that try IML/IMD say that it is too difficult and steer away from it. With the advancements and availability of automation, molders could realize better success.”

Driving some of the future growth will be consumer and regulatory environmental pressures. “IML has gained general market appeal for great graphic quality, but the future will be packaging based on sustainability,” said Membrino (NETSTAL). “There have been steps taken to increase shelf life with barriers incorporated in the labels, and there are opportunities to help in cleaning up the recycling stream by allowing the labels and inks to be easily removed from containers and mold substrates in the recycling process. On top of this, the general trend for lightweighting IML products to use less CO2 will continue.”

Sustainability is the driver for Muller as well, as the company sees the strongest opportunities in sustainable packaging with its modular IML systems for mono-material applications. “Automation efficiency will continue to grow, enabling faster and more flexible changeovers,” said Baker. “Additionally, advances in digital labeling and smart sorting will allow brand owners to meet sustainability goals while enhancing production flexibility and quality.”

Robertson (StackTeck) also pointed to the production and material efficiencies that are attributed to in-mold processes as factors for growth – in particular, those enabled by innovations in molds, automation and system integrations. He said, “Key opportunities for the future include faster cycle times; thinner parts; new resins, including PCR; and the related process technology needed to sustain reliable, efficient production.”

For Knight (Innovia), seeing Injection IML develop from a niche application to a well-established and accepted form of product decoration has been a satisfying experience, and he believes it will continue its upward trajectory. “Innovia was a pioneer in developing BOPP films for Injection IML and now has been a leader in this segment for over 37 years. We foresee continued strong growth for Injection IML driven by sustainability, superior graphics and more packages that are ideal for IML as packages change shape to make better use of shelf space.”

Conclusion
As the IMDA concludes its 20th year and looks forward to future decades of serving the industry, the association’s primary goal is to continue bringing together all segments of the IML/IMD production chain.

“The opportunities are limitless when people work together,” said Dott (Vibrant Graphics). “A group like IMDA is a good place to start finding the people who provide opportunities you didn’t know existed. Vibrant Graphics has always seen these new opportunities as partnerships that allow us to work together with people who have the same passion for the project.”

For more in-depth insights from these IMDA Charter Members, visit www.imdassociation.com.