The beginning of a new year has long been time to reflect on the past year and make plans for a fresh start. For me, that fresh start came a bit early, as my computer’s hard drive decided to fail during the production of this issue. Needless to stay, one of my New Year’s resolutions will be to regularly back up my files.

What are your plans for success in the New Year? On p. 28, Henkel’s Head of Adhesive Technologies, Asia-Pacific, Christian Kirsten, writes about how effectively capturing regional opportunities is crucial to success in today’s manufacturing environment. “Today, linear business models can’t drive long-term development as easily,” he writes. “Different markets are faced with different challenges, whether it’s the saturation of domestic markets in certain product categories, rising labor costs, dwindling natural resources or middle income traps.”