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FORUM & INFOFLEX 2024 Recap: Your Quality Is Our Concern

“Fantastic.” “Riveting.” “Awesome.” “Entertaining.” “Engaging.” “Insightful.” “Real-to- life.” “Worthwhile.” “Interactive.” “Innovative.”

“A true opportunity to see what people are doing in pushing the envelope in flexography.”

Reviews like that are hard to come by. Yet, for FORUM & INFOFLEX 2024, they proved the norm, rather than the exception.

Four days—May 5-8—60+ awards and accolades… nine educational session and two full afternoons of networking time on the exhibit floor… Every moment addressed print quality and why it’s an ever-present concern up and down the packaging supply chain.

Brand owners, pre-media service providers, printers/converters all weighed in. Thoughts expressed stretched from concept and design to production, shelf placement and end-of-life disposal and recyclability. Automation, sustainability, accountability. Process controls, best practices and continuous improvement opportunities cemented the highly valued and seemingly all-encompassing agenda. Printers and package buyers alike heard the resounding message: “Your Quality Is Our Concern.”

FTA’s FORUM & INFOFLEX 2024 delivered what it promised—a broad view of what’s happening now, why it’s important, how it will change the operating environment of tomorrow, and the likely impact it will have on the bottom line.

The event, saw near-record participation on the part of both printers/converters and brand owners, with the strength of their numbers made even more evident by their sheer on-stage presence, as well as their penchant and passion for networking on the INFOFLEX exhibit floor.

Voice of Customer

Printers heard from their customers and the charge was very specific: communicate, collaborate, manage change with new and improved technologies and move things along as quickly as possible.

What does that entail? Four consumer product companies took to the stage in expressing “The Voice of the Customer” and shared their perspectives. Randy Nienas, manager packaging and e-commerce graphics, Tyson Foods, told FORUM 2024 delegates, “Flexo has a lot of strengths. It is a big part of the business. There is definite opportunity for improvement.”

David McCoy, director of strategic sourcing, Instinct Pet Foods offered, “Our job is to facilitate conversation, so everyone is aligned with the final job and everybody is happy.” He indicated, “Demand for sustainable packaging options is growing exponentially,” then said, “Collaborative relationships and partnerships are critical between prepress, printers and brands. Admittedly, no silver bullet exists. Help be the agents of change. Tell the story in an impactful way that makes consumers want to participate.”

Multiple concerns continue to converge, according to Mike Onderwater, North America design to print lead, Kraft-Heinz. Among them:

“It’s not all about dollars, it’s about time—specifically, removing time from the workflow,” Onderwater stated. Citing an example, he explained, “It’s a natural transition going from a physical to digital monitor scenario.” Elaborating further he added, “We’re asking you to look into digital color proofing. We’re looking to converters to run our metrics. We’re encouraging a return to reliance on industry standards in demanding that you do your job.”

Christopher Weiser, print production manager, Georgia Pacific, echoed the call for print providers to align environment and sustainability goals. “We encourage our vendors to take the lead and bring options to us. …Everything points back to brand integrity—24/7. Brands are focused on communicating through packaging. A good print quality program is crucial—print by the numbers.”

Weiser called on printers to “Invest in, nurture and enable your team to grow.” Specific points he stressed:

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