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Distributors stick with labels to lick market woes. The birth of modern labeling technology can be traced back to the 1700s, when labels began appearing on Guinness bottled ale and stout in Ireland, and on wine and liqueur produced in France. Eventually, canned food processing caused label usage to soar. In the 1920s, 3M developed masking and cellophane tape, which resulted in various pressure-sensitive applications, and universal product codes introduced in the late '70s spawned a multitude of bar-coded label solutions. Clearly, labels are one traditional product group that is thriving in our information-crazed, technology-obsessed society. Here, four executives discuss the impact of

A panel discusses the advantages, disadvantages and the necessity for value-added services. For many years the job of distributors in the forms industry was to package, ship and deliver forms. By forms we mean those that are basic, tangible, paper-based and traditional. Today, however, the expectation of the distributor is to provide more than forms. End-users are looking for solutions to help them streamline their forms operations. In addition, as more businesses use the Internet, they're demanding special amenities to ensure the efficiency of electronic services. In fact, BFL&S recently conducted a survey to find out what distributors are doing these days to maintain

Taken as a technology, not a business sector, e-commerce is an unmitigated success. As Industry analyst Eliot Harper tells it, the birth of e-commerce can be traced to 1986 and Henry Freedman's "829" patent—a pioneering invention allowing for the interconnection of printing requesters to printing facilities on telecommunications networks (visit www.henryfreedman.com). "However, we started to witness the real introduction of print dot-com providers in 1999 at Seybold in Boston, when we saw Collabria, Impresse and others springing up," said Harper, on staff with WhatTheyThink, Lexington, Ky. "There were a total of nine new dot-com companies at this show. Today, there are more than