Strength

• Maxim Label and Packaging Co., Ltd. has a unique value proposition in the market and follows sustainable practices in manufacturing labels. The company uses recycled paper and vegetable-based inks with the mission to minimize the impact on the environment.
• The company offers brand identity protection and information technology solutions to retailers and major brands.
• One of the key strengths of the company is its wide range of products and solutions, including RFID solutions, price tags, heat transfer labels, hang tags, care labels, and adhesives.
• The core capabilities of Maxim is its variable data, including price tags, adhesives, and care labels. The company’s solution is tailored for order management of retailers to optimize their supply chain.
• The brand has been in existence since 1973 and is present in over 27 locations in 17 countries across the globe, thereby providing it a broad reach and an extensive market.
• Maxim is associated with OpSec, a global market leader in security solutions. Maxim’s partnership with OpSec helps in fighting the increase in brand infringement and counterfeit goods. The association makes Maxim’s products unique, which stands out among its competitors, thereby adding on to its strength.
• To effectively connect with customers, the company is committed to reducing the impact on the environment. The company’s polyester woven labels are certified, which are free from harmful substances and are safe for babies and toddlers.
• The company offers alternative eco-friendly labeling solutions, such as stone paper, cotton paper, sugarcane paper, and bamboo paper, thereby making it a go-to solution for eco-friendly retailers.

Weakness

• One of the key weaknesses of the company is its limited approach to advanced technology. The brand primarily serves with price tags and RFID technology that provides tracking for retailers to minimize their merchandise visibility and improve inventory management.
• The company needs to improve to remain competitive and to adopt RAIN RFID embedded tagging solutions for their brands, which enables businesses and consumers to use embedded rain tags for retail inventory, and theft deterrent systems.
• The company's locations and offices are primarily targeted towards more developed areas and lack appeal for rural areas, which obstructs the growth potential and connectivity for the brand.

Opportunities

• Companies operating in the label and packaging market have started exploring advanced heat transfer capabilities and technology. Such advanced and disruptive technologies present an excellent growth opportunity for Maxim to access the latest technology within the heat transfer industry and expand their production footprint into Europe.
• The company can cover a more unexplored market area of Europe and the United States. The RFID tags and labels market could find opportunities in other regions such as Japan, the Middle East and Africa (MEA), Western Europe, Eastern Europe, and Latin America, which present an excellent growth opportunity for Maxim.
• The proliferating global market for RFID labels presents an immense expansion opportunity for the brand as it has a strong foothold in RFID labels. As per IDTechEx, the number of tagged apparel items will grow to 21 billion units by 2023.
•  To garner a premium positioning in the labeling market, the company also has an opportunity to leverage the use of RAIN RFID tags, akin to some of its global competitors, such as, r-pac and Checkpoint Systems.

Threat

• The label market is highly competitive, and the company faces a threat from various established global brands, including, Tageos SAS and r-pac. Also, several new brands are entering the market, which is adding more competition.
•  Adoption of new RAIN RFID embedded tagging technology by competitors such as Impinj and TexTrace presents a top-line threat for the company.
• The company faces extreme pressure from the European market, as many European retailers are not willing to use RFID for their labeling use. Only 30 % of surveyed retailers use RFID technology for their labeling solutions, while other retailers are reluctant to use it, which poses a threat to the company's operations in Europe.

• Headquartered in Shanghai, MAXIM has 22 locations in 16 countries all over the world and a revenue of $11.40 million. The company aims to provide label and packaging solutions for its target audience (i.e., apparel brands, retailers, and manufactures) in an efficient, reliable and global manner.
• The company is privately held and it is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Chinese Maxim Group. It's C-Suite consists of members of the Chai family and its products and services include variable data, RFID, graphics and design, brand identity protection, and IT solutions.
• The company's competitive advantage is due to its competitive prices, sustainability practices, innovative practices such as RFID and heat transfers, and global reach. The company invests in research and development to create new development processes.
• Though there are no mergers or acquisitions, the company has a strategic partnership with OpSec Security.

Strengths

•  Global presence - SML has a global presence in around 30 countries. These countries include Mexico, USA, Peru, Honduras, Egypt, Germany, UK, China, Pakistan, and India. SML's global presence offers an increasingly diverse range of products and services in multiple countries.
•  Sustainability efforts - the company has a well-defined sustainability strategy that is segmented into social compliance, environment, and sustainable materials. Under its environment initiative, the company's sustainability efforts include reduced waste, smarter logistics, sustainable materials, and responsible sourcing. The sustainable materials used by the company include bamboo, organic cotton, recycled polyester, soy-based ink, and water-based ink.
• Major player in the RFID industry - SML is one of the biggest player in the global RFID industry. In 2017, the company sold more than 1.4 billion encoded RFID tags and its technology, which is "in the form of labels, software solutions or both, is in use in 95% of the world’s retail RFID deployments." A report titled retail RFID security tags market lists SML as one of the major players in the industry.
•  Diversity in products, services, and solutions offering - the company offers a range of products, services, and solutions in a business model that is highly dynamic. SML's solutions include design, logistics, manufacturing, and retail while the company's products and services includes brand protection, creative design, data management, software solutions, RFID, trims, and packaging.
•  Excellent client list - the company's client base consists of large, multi-billion dollar companies across the world. These companies include the world’s largest retailers and top fashion brands. One notable company in SML's client list is Best Buy.

Weaknesses

• Lack of a social media presence - an analysis of SML's social media presence returned nothing from all the major social media platforms i.e. Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. The company only has an online presence in LinkedIn. This was identified as a weakness because the company is missing out on all the benefits that come to companies that have an online presence.  
• Lack of an e-commerce presence - an exhaustive analysis of SML's online presence pointed to the fact that the company does not have an e-commerce platform. After going through the company's corporate website and the SML-RFID website, it was discovered that neither website offers online sales to clients via an e-commerce platform.

Opportunities

•  A growing market - SML Group's primary market of operation is the RFID market. An analysis of the global RFID market pointed to an expected growth within the market in the coming 5 years i.e. in 2016 the market was valued at $16.45 billion and it is projected to grow to a value of $31.9 billion by 2025. This forecasted growth presents a business opportunity that SML Group can leverage to its advantage.
•  Use of social media - an online presence that is centered around exploiting the benefits that come with social media is important to continued business success in today's digital world. Consequently, SML Group has an opportunity in adopting the use of social media for business. These benefits include faster and easier communication, a boosted organic visibility, increased website traffic from social channels, customer feedback, branding, user-generated and crowd-sourced content, among many other benefits.

Threats

•  Presence of competitors - after sampling the major players in one of SML Group's key market i.e. the RFID market, it was determined that although the company is one of the major players in this market, there are still several other companies that offer a degree of competition to SML. They include Alien Technology, Avery Dennison, SMARTRAC, ZIH, CoreRFID, GlobeRanger, GAO RFID, Honeywell International, Impinj, Invengo Technology, Mojix, Omni-ID, ORBCOMM, and Tyco Retail Solutions.
•  The Corona Virus pandemic - SML Group is headquartered in Hong Kong, which is a part of the Greater China. The Corona Virus that originated in China is one of the current threats facing the company because it has a large presence in China as evident on this map. The company also has a number of subsidiaries that operate from the Greater China such as Downtown Button Limited, Dongguan SML Fashion Co., Ltd, Dongguan Dong Hing Labels and Embroidery Co., Ltd, Qingdao SML Labels Co., Ltd, Shanghai SML Co., Ltd, Shanghai Verylucky Special Fibre Co., Ltd, and SML (Shenzhen) Company Limited.

Company locations

• SML Group is headquartered in Hong Kong, China, with regional headquarters in New York and Germany. The company has its offices and manufacturing sites located in 30 countries across Europe, Asia, and the Americas.

Value proposition

• SML Group promises its clients a “deeper understanding and commitment that allows it to deliver best-in-class solutions with speed, flexibility, integrity and innovation.” The company ensures that it meets the needs of its customers across the globe by "doing the right thing every time, all the time."

Ownership

• SML Group is a private company owned by Simon Suen.

C-Suite Members

• Ronny Ho is the Chairman of SML Group, appointed in January 2020. Before his current position, he was the company’s Chief Executive Officer since 2010.
•  K.C Lau is the CEO of the company since July 2015.
•  Dean Frew is the Chief Technology Officer of SML Group and the Senior Vice President of RFID Solutions, the company’s innovation segment.
• The Chief Financial Officer and the Chief Operating Officer of the Company are Alex Au and Wilson Chan, respectively.

Revenue

• The company’s annual revenue is estimated to be $400 million.

Product/services

• SML Group has extensive offering, including product labeling and branding, EAS and RFID, advanced inventory software and data management services, and product packaging design and engineering.

Competitive Advantage

• SML Group is a parent company to multiple subsidiaries across the world, including SML Europe Limited, Xterprise Incorporated, Dongguan Dong Hing Label & Embroidery Co., Ltd., which gives it a global footprint. Today, the company has 21 production sites, 64 centers, and 5 product development centers strategically located to reach a wider market.

• SML Group’s recent innovation, RFID TotalCare™, offers the company a competitive edge, as it is designed to deliver immediate and long-term values for brand owners who face changing retailer mandates. The all-in-one package contains diverse features, including Inspire™ RFID Tag Solutions, Clarity® Enterprise Level RFID Software Solutions, Professional Services, and Retail Ideation Space (RIS).

• The company recently launched two brands, EcoInspire, which make tags more ecofriendly, and EcoHangers, built from recycled chipboards to meet the sustainability needs of the growing market.

Target customers

• SML Group offers its services to leading brands, retailers, and manufacturers across different industries, including design, manufacturing, logistics, and retail sectors.

Innovation Investments

• The company launched the RFID TotalCare™ in 2019 to simplify RFID adoption and maximize returns. The tool is an all-in-one system package with RFID tagging and software solutions, which helps retailers to simplify their compliance activities, adoption, and reduces risks while maximizing value.

Partnerships

• Some major partners of MSL Group are Microsoft, Impinj, Bluebird, NXP, Zebra, Beaumanoir Group, among others.

Mergers & Acquisitions

• SML Group acquired Xterprise Solutions in 2013 for an undisclosed amount.

• In 2019, the company acquired Geo-Info Limited, a company that specializes in underground mapping and surveying services to the engineering and rail sectors.

Strengths

• NexGen Packaging is a global leader in the label industry producing the highest quality of branding products for apparel, data products, and other packaging items.
• It implements an industry-leading platform which is used by over 12,000 vendors in 19 manufacturing countries around the world.
• Its core platform was built around the founders visualizing a way that technology could help improve the relationship between vendors, suppliers, and brands.
• NexGen is viewed as producing great-quality products, paying special attention to the needs of their customers.
• Their use of technology to develop a software that improves on the efficiency of production, as well as providing transparency to suppliers, sets them above their competitors.
•  Over 10,000 brands currently use the NexGen Packaging platform.
• NexGen is focused on solutions of high quality, and stays up to date with growing trends such as environmental concerns. They provide each client with a unique experience based on their personal interests and concerns. This allows clients to be able to find environmentally friendly packaging without sacrificing quality or increasing cost.
• According to Zoom info, NexGen has an annual revenue of $118 million, and has grown to 600 employees globally.

Weaknesses

• With the rising expectations of customers NexGen found the need to improve on their operational abilities through bulking up their leadership. As a result, they appointed a new president in 2017, Mr. Jim Welsh.
• When observing their social media pages, the lack of customer engagement is noticed, showing a downfall in their marketing techniques and strategies.
• NexGen is currently seeking to fill their marketing lead position in an attempt to help shape the future of the company.
• According to employees, a downfall of the company is in the difficulty in global communication due to a variance in time-zones of the various locations.

Opportunities

• One of NexGen’s active trademark applications is known as the Sustainable Manufacturing Ratio.
• NexGen Packaging, in an attempt to expand the relationship between their brand and customers, has hired a new general manager for their Vietnam operations, Mrs. Siu. This is one of their fastest regions of growth.
• Mrs. Siu is known for her years of leadership experience in sourcing and merchandising for brands such as GAP, and PVH. As such, it is NexGen’s thought that she will be able to increase their capabilities in Vietnam.
• NexGen has many ongoing partnerships with Finotex, and leather brand KT Label.
• In 2017, NexGen announced another partnership with Chico’s FAS Inc where NexGen will be providing label and packaging products.
• The company has stretched their capabilities to also include labels and packaging for sustainable brands.
• ThingWorx now serves as the platform on which NexGen’s cloud software is set up to develop solutions for the retail and footwear industry. This is in an attempt to improve the customer experience and manufacturing capabilities of the company.
• They continue to grow in market size in the regions of North America and Europe as a result of their industry leading technology, quality products, and amazing customer service.
• NexGen is also expanding to the EMEA region.

Threats

• NexGen leads their industry in terms of technological advancements and implementation. As such, NexGen needs to continue to maintain this lead.
• With the further advancements in technology, more companies will begin to implement these platforms, bringing about new players to compete with NexGen.
• So far, even with expanding their reach to include environmentally sustainable products, NexGen has been able to help customers keep their price down and quality up.

Research Strategy

Company Locations

• Nexgen Packaging has three corporate headquarters located in Chicago (US), Hong Kong (Hong Kong), and Madrid (Spain).
• It also has manufacturing facilities in 11 cities across the globe including Guatemala (Guatemala), Querétaro (Mexico), Shenzhen (China), Delhi (India), Binh Duong Province (Vietnam), Addis Ababa (Ethiopia), Narayangonj (Bangladesh), Bang Rak District (Thailand), Rajagiriya (Sri Lanka), Karachi (Pakistan), and Tokyo (Japan).
• Nexgen also has three sales locations in California, Boston, and New York in the US and one sales location in Reading, UK.

Value Proposition

• Nexgen endeavors to "commit to valuable, impactful global solutions that promote brand integrity with a consistent quality product." "The company is focused on simplifying everything from the creative process to order execution, utilizing innovative technologies to increase efficiency and enhance customer service."

Ownership

• Nexgen is a privately-held company co-founded by Andy Effron, Kent Pellegrini, and Mike Naimo.

C-Suite Members

•  Andy Effron — CEO 
•  Kent Pellegrini — Chief Business Development Officer  
•  Mike Naimo — Chief Operating Office  
•  Robert Loop — Chief Strategy EVP Innovation 

Revenue

• According to ZoomInfo, the company's current estimated revenue is $118 million.

Products/Services

• Nexgen offers a wide range of products including printed and woven labels, "heat transfers, hang tags, integrated tags, price tickets, RFID tags and labels, wrap bands, patches, boxes, poly bags," and several specialized products. Nexgen also offers cloud-based Nexgen Software Platform (NSP) to all of its retail customers and more than 12,000 vendors. In addition, the company offers a broad range of branding services, product development services, creative services, and data integration services.

Competitive Advantage

• Nexgen Packaging is a global provider of apparel brand identification and packaging products as well as branding, creative, data integration, and product development services. It also offers Nexgen Software Platform (NSP), the industry-leading platform to its customers and more than 12,000 vendors. The company boasts of its expert product team that understands its customers' "goals, audience, and competitive landscape." With the help of its 600 employees, Nexgen ships more than 3 billion products each year. Some of its customers include Brooks, Boston Proper, Vera Bradley, Mango, American Eagle Outfitters, Nordstrom, TJX, and Victoria's Secret among several others.

Target Customers

• The company's target customers include apparel and footwear brands, retailers, and manufacturers.

Innovation Investments

• In 2017, Nexgen announced that it will develop supply chain applications for apparel, footwear, and retail using the PTC ThingWorx® IoT Platform.

Partnerships

• The company has partnerships with Chico's FAS, Inc, SolTrim, and PTC Inc. It is also a part of the Acuitas Digital alliance.

Mergers and Acquisitions

• After scouring through the company website, its Crunchbase profile, and news and media resources such as PR Newswire, Reuters, and Built In Chicago, among others, no recent mergers and acquisitions of Nexgen were found.

Strengths

• RPAC offers a one-stop-shop for packing, trim, and branding needs within the apparel industry.
• They have the capability to integrate RFID into their products and offer bespoke designing of RFID capable technology solutions. With the continued development of smart clothing, this technology is expected to grow in popularity.
• The company has a strong legacy within the industry and has been operating for over 30 years and in over 20 countries worldwide.
• With the head office situated at the heart of the New York fashion scene, RPAC is perfectly placed to maintain its position as a leader in the industry.
• The estimated annual revenue of RPAC international is $133M.
• The company is committed to sustainability and protecting the environment and has secured FSC certification. They also use recycled materials and have partnered with Solegear Bioplastics to produce environmentally friendly plastics.

Weaknesses

• Compared to the websites of competitor companies, RPAC's website is at times unclear. The use of industry jargon and long sentence structures make it more difficult to quickly grasp what the company offers.
• RPAC has a fairly low rating on global recruitment site Glassdoor, with past employees highlighting bad working conditions, issues with management and being put under too much pressure.
• While social media continues to be an essential part of any business's marketing campaign, RPAC has a very low following and level of interaction with consumers and businesses on social media channels including Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, and Instagram where they do not currently have a presence.
• The company does not currently have a presence in Canada, Australia or New Zealand. The Canadian apparel market alone is estimated to be worth 29.66 billion U.S. dollars and is steadily rising.

Opportunities

• Investments in smart clothing technology would provide RPAC with an edge on competitors as the industry continues to shift and expand into more smart technology solutions. Through its design and end-to-end solutions, RPAC has the opportunity to offer innovative solutions to the growing market.
• Establishing a physical presence in Canada, Australia, and New Zealand would increase the company's global reach, tapping into a larger share of the global market.

Threats

• As technology develops there is a need to develop with it. With competitors equipped to design and manufacture the latest technology in-house, RPAC could lose business if it is not able to do the same.
• As sustainability becomes more important to consumers globally, there is a potential decline in companies requiring traditional packaging solutions and an increase in sustainable or minimal packaging. That may see a significant portion of RPAC's packaging products become redundant.
• Recent research reports 75% of consumers want to see less packaging within the fashion industry, this is a potential threat for a company that includes packaging solutions as a large part of their business.

Research Strategy

C-Suite Members

• Michael L. Teitelbaum is the Chief Executive Officer at r-pac international.

• Matt Matsuo is the President and Chief Operating Officer at r-pac international.

Revenue

• The estimated annual revenue of r-pac international is $133,000,000.

Products/Services

• r-pac international diverse product line includes corrugated displays, shopping bags, poly bags, labels (woven, printed and heat transfers, tapes (webbing and elastic), tags, patches (leather, paper, embroidered and synthetic) stickers, boxes (corrugated, gift, shoe), foam inserts, blister packs, header cards and PVC packaging.

Competitive Advantage

• r-pac international innovative branding and packaging solutions helps deliver compelling solutions that protect the environment and promote a sustainable future.

• The company has more than 30 years experience in the industry and is known to provide unique, distinct, and exquisite products and services that offer solutions to retailers and brand owners.

Partnerships

• In 2019, r-pac international partnered with Blue Bite to empower brands to digitally enable physical products.
• r-pac partnered with Solegear Bioplastic Technologies to develop packaging materials for Fortune 500 brands.

Strengths

• Checkpoint Systems has a wide global reach. Its acquisition of Alpha S3, Shanghai Asialco and other solution providers with a global presence expanded its capabilities and extended its client base to markets in Asia and Europe.
• Checkpoint Systems boasts many prominent retailers as its clients, among them are companies with exceptionally large sales volumes such as Walmart and Target. These clients distinguish Checkpoint Systems from other solution providers, boosting its reputation and making it less vulnerable to competition from its smaller rivals.
• Existing competitors of Checkpoint Systems such as AveryDennison, Invue and Sensormatic offer a much more limited selection of products. In contrast, Checkpoint Systems can offer highly customizable solutions encompassing both store and supply chain management to satisfy the needs of various types of retailers.

Weaknesses

• Checkpoint Systems' specialization in loss prevention limits its client base to retailers with a physical presence. This makes it susceptible to market fluctuations in the brick-and-mortar industry.
• Competitors such as Sensormatic offer highly sophisticated data aggregation and analytics tools, allowing their clients to gain insights on inventory management and consumer behavior in addition to loss prevention.

Opportunities

• Checkpoint Systems' cutting-edge retail solutions provide it with the means to develop products that can further enhance retailers' performance through the use of data analytics. Checkpoint Systems already has an infrastructure that generates a considerable amount of data, making the development and application of such products more cost-effective to both the company and its clients.
• The opening of Amazon Go and other cashier-less stores presents another opportunity for Checkpoint Systems. These stores, some of them unmanned, completely transform the landscape of shrink management. Using its merchandise-tracking technologies, Checkpoint Systems can lead the charge into the future of shopping.

Threats

• Checkpoint Systems operates in a declining industry. UBS estimates that 75,000 brick-and-mortar stores are likely to close by 2026. The decline in brick-and-mortar retail industry presents a serious threat to the company's traditional client base.
• As retailers rush to reduce their labor costs, automation poses another threat to Checkpoint Systems. Employee theft and organized retail crime have long been the focus of shrink management. Many traditional loss prevention technologies are becoming obsolete as human employees are replaced by robots.
• The rise of cybercrimes that result in shrinkage exposes another threat to the company. The National Retail Security Survey of 2019 finds that respondents perceive an increasing overlap between loss prevention and cyber issues. Checkpoint Systems is ill-equipped to respond to this trend.

Company Locations (Headquarters, Manufacturing)

• The company is headquartered in Thorofare, New Jersey, and currently runs manufacturing operations in 10 locations, including Europe, North America, and Asia.

Value Proposition

• The firm primarily focuses on being the "first choice for source to shopper solutions that optimize success for customers."

Ownership

•  CCL Industries own the company.

C-Suite Members

•  James Wrigley- President/COO
•  George Babich, Jr.- President/CEO
•  James Lucania- Chief Financial Officer
•  Farrokh Abadi- Chief and Principal Officer

Revenue

•  $587,160,000 

Products/Services

•  Electronic Article Surveillance Systems (EAS)
•  Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tags
•  Electronic Security Devices
•  Electronic Access Control Systems
•  Softwares 

Competitive Advantage

• Checkpoint system is a subsidiary of the world's largest label company, CCL Industries, which enables it to take advantage of the company's pool funds in carrying out innovative investments. Also, it takes advantage of the company's already established markets in expanding its reach to customers across the globe.
• The company has about 50 years' experience in the industry and is known to provide unique, distinct, and exquisite products and services that offer solutions to customers needs.
• Checkpoint system's Halo IoT platform, unlike other IoT platforms, is differentiated by its unique "intelligent, action-centric functions."

Target Customers

•  Packagers  
•  Manufacturers
•  Retailers 

Innovation Investments

• Checkpoint in 2018, invested in HALO IoT Platform.

Partnerships

•  Target  
•  Walgreen
•  Barnes & Noble
•  Sears
•  Walmart
•  Publix  

Mergers & Acquisitions

• Checkpoint System acquired OATSystem.
•  CCL Industries acquired Checkpoint Systems.