ALEXANDRIA, VA, USA—Envelope manufacturers are finding a ready market in soft packaging, a niche that encompasses a variety of packaging applications (soft goods and/or security packaging). This, says the Envelope Manufacturers Association (EMA) and the EMA Foundation for Paper-Based Communications, is due to the rapid growth of e-commerce and catalog sales. "Envelopes have been made in America since 1843 and have changed with each new generation. For one thing, they are not just for cards and letters anymore," states EMA Foundation's press release.

Adds Maynard Benjamin, EMA president, "As packaging-on-demand expands, more and more envelope manufacturers are adating handily their equipment for folding envelopes to the development of soft packages." Benjamin projects 30 percent of envelope manufacturers will be in the soft packaging business within the next five years.

Visit EMA at envelope.org.