Packaging professionals from across the world gathered in Utah for Arden Software’s long-awaited user conference.

The Arden Software Peak Performance Conference (APPC) was back in Park City in June, following a four-year hiatus amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

APPC 2023 brought together leading figures from the corrugated, folding carton and manufacturing industries to discover the latest innovations in Arden’s packaging design software and solutions, which includes Impact, WEBcnx, Enterprise and nServer.

The four-day event, hosted by Arden Software’s North American division, provides a hands-on learning and training experience for those involved in the packaging supply chain.

Jim Silianoff, president and CEO of Arden Software North America, said: “Our last user conference was back in 2019, so it was fantastic to bring APPC back with a bang this year. It was bigger and better than ever, with a record number of participants from across the packaging sector, including many first-time attendees.

“We delivered 17 different training sessions and workshops across the course of the event and attendees were able to see and take away some of the numerous plug-ins available in our Impact packaging design CAD software, including the new Bill of Materials solution.

“The highlight for many was Arden’s new and revolutionary parametrics design tool, which will be available in the pending release of Impact and has never been seen before in packaging design CAD software.

“We previewed the feature at our last conference, but this year, attendees were able to get hands-on with the new tool and will be first in line for training and upgrade when Impact 2023 is released later this year.”

The ground-breaking new tool in Impact enriches the entire use of the product’s design and editing capabilities, moving away from the legacy history-based approach to parametrics. It not only captures the designer’s intent as they draw, but also offers the unique advantage that any existing or imported drawing can be resized quickly and effortlessly.

There were also a number of CimPACK software users at this year’s conference, after Arden Software completed the acquisition of American software company Cimex Corporation back in 2020.

Jim added: “It was great to be able to welcome CimPACK users at this year’s conference, who got to preview the new Die-Making Add-on plug-in for Impact. This plug-in introduces a number of new tools that will greatly benefit those producing rotary and flat-bed tooling and will be familiar to CimPACK users, helping to combine features from across our software portfolio.”
Presentations were also given by Arden’s partners including Bobst and Hybrid Software who were able to demonstrate how their products can be used together with Arden’s software suite to enhance performance and improve workflow.

APPC takes place in Park City, Utah, which is home to a world class mountain resort and the setting of the famous Sundance Film Festival. At this year’s conference, guests enjoyed an excursion on the Heber Valley Railroad and a visit to the renowned Alpine Bar.

Arden’s next Peak Performance Conference is expected to take place in 2025.