Last week, I had an opportunity to attend the FTA InfoFLEX and Forum 2022 in Fort Worth, Tex. The exhibits and discussions were centered around the preparation and printing of packaging, primarily through Flexography, but also other digital printing methods. This week finds me in Philadelphia, Pa., at Pack Expo East 2022 to see what happens to all of that printed packaging material once it comes off the presses.

The Association of Packaging and Processing Technologies hosts Pack Expo in different venues around the globe. The goal of the event is to introduce their exhibiting members,  which include manufacturers and suppliers of equipment, components, materials, and the providers of related equipment, to each other and to consumer goods companies. This event had more than 400 exhibitors and expects about 7,000 registrations to attend over the three days of the event.

The theme of the event was “Key Challenges in Packaging and Processing Operations. The pandemic has and will continue to have an impact on packaging growth due to disruptions in the supply chain, shifts in consumer purchasing, and labor availability pressures. As a result, consumer packaging groups (CPGs) need to think about how they can be more efficient at what they do.