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 addition, the association announced the IMDA Hall of Honor and inducted its first member, former executive director and association founder Ronald B. Schultz.

CHARTER MEMBERS

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.

The association recognizes and thanks these organizations for their contributions to IMDA and as leaders in in-mold technologies: Distinctive Plastics, General Press, Innovia, MULLER, NETSTAL, StackTeck and Vibrant Graphics.

“In 2005, these companies stepped up to support an idea,” says Dianna Brodine, executive director of 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. We would not be where we are today without our Charter Members.”

There also are three individuals who have made incredible commitments of time, energy and ideas, guiding the organization for more than 20 years. These include Bob Travis, InkWorks Printing, president of the IMDA Board of Directors; Michael Sansourcy, ARBURG, vice president of the IMDA Board of Directors; and Jordan Robertson, StackTeck, also serving on the IMDA Board of Directors. The association sends its sincere thanks to them for serving the membership and the industry.

HALL OF HONOR

As part of the association’s 20^th anniversary, the IMDA is announcing the creation of the Hall of Honor. Designed to recognize critical contributors to the growth of the association and the in-mold labeling and decorating industry, the Hall of Honor will begin accepting applications in early 2026.

In announcing the formation of the Hall of Honor, the IMDA Board of Directors also named its first inductee: Ronald B. Schultz.

Ron served as the executive director of the IMDA for 15 years, stepping down in retirement in 2020. At that time, Bob Travis, president of InkWorks Printing, LLC, and president of the IMDA Board of Directors, said, “Ron Schultz has been a vital part of the In-Mold Decorating Association since its inception. Together with his wife, Myra, Ron has established the association as a leading educational source for the molders, printers, material suppliers and equipment manufacturers that compose the in-mold decorating and labeling production chain.”

Schultz was a chemist, and his specialty was adhesives and flexible packaging. In the mid- to late-1970s, he was working in the laboratories of Morton Chemical. He had an inquiry from a converter looking for a heat-sealable coating that they could try on what Ron called “a newfangled technology” – in-mold labeling. Ron said, “None of us had heard of it, so I grabbed some samples and got to work. The solution we created became the first in-mold label in the United States, first used on Downy^® fabric softener bottles. It grew from there.”

For more information, contact IMDA at (785) 215-8635, email dianna@imdassociation.com or visit https://imdassociation.com/imda-hall-of-honor/.