At its annual meeting in Germany yesterday, the MEDIA-TECH Association elected Doug Franzen, President of Colonial Purchasing Co-Op, to the Executive Board "in order to bring a broader range of opinions in the reshaping to the Association from an American replication market perspective."

Members present at the board meeting made it 'very clear' there was an increasing need for new ideas and a fresh approach to consolidate the MEDIA-TECH Association's status as the leading voice for the packaged media industry.

For reminder, the MTA was created in 2001 to serve every facet of the optical and removable storage media manufacturing industry, spanning all current formats of optical discs and magnetic media to Blu-ray Disc. Member companies range from content owners and licensees through designers and software developers, to raw material and equipment manufacturers.

They are involved in the entertainment industry, the games market, data storage innovations, plastics technology, injection moulding, quality assurance, printing, packing, wrapping and distribution as well as sales and marketing, and many other areas of expertise within the media manufacturing industry.

Since 2004, Franzen has been involved in the optical disc industry on the procurement of raw materials and is currently the President of Colonial Purchasing Co-Op which represents more than 30 replicators with manufacturing facilities in North America and Europe. He also worked for 29 years at Evatone, Inc. where he was responsible for the development of the optical disc department, engineering, quality, print, purchasing, sales and customer service.

MTA Chairman Frank Hartwig commented: "Mr. Franzen's experience and knowledge covering a wide range of sectors within the optical disc industry will contribute to a progressive Board which will take the association to the levels that are expected by our members and partners, and to lead the only dedicated voice representing the packaged media industry."

Story filed 06.12.12