Tapping Technical Expertise at Info*FLEX

If you join up with the Info*FLEX tribe when it gathers in Fort Worth, Texas at the beginning of March you’ll see a lot of technology, hear many promises, and be exposed to a host of technological resources. Most are worth consideration, but you’ll garner the most positive results by looking beyond the products to what vendors can provide with respect to support and expertise.

It is relatively easy for a distributor to offer up a mix of products at low prices, but such commoditization of supplies and consumables fails to address the unique challenges of each converter’s business and mix of equipment. And today, as flexographic printing becomes increasingly dependent on materials science and digital technology, understanding the differences between products is business-critical. With modern technology, buying products based on price is not a sound business strategy.

Bear this in mind at Info*FLEX as you listen to the presentations and visit with different vendors. All converters need to identify the best products for their needs, but you also need to be sure those products are backed by solid technical support. Seek out vendors and distributors who ask about your business, talk with you to develop an understanding of your challenges and operational needs, and then use your input to recommend optimal solutions.

For example, the technology professionals at Provident are committed to providing printing and packaging converters with the industry’s best service and support for ink metering and handling. Provident carries a wide variety of products including doctor blades, anilox roll cleaning products, defect marking systems, anilox and plate inspection choices, and bar code verification tools. As you know, there are no “silver bullet” products that are the right fit for every converter. So Provident’s technology teams work with converters to assess each individual converter’s business and determine the mix of products that will provide the support needed for optimal performance. Very simply, they help customers determine which product to use—and when to use it.

The solutions may involve ink circulation and conditioning systems from Graymills, anilox roll analysis from Troika Systems, defect flagging by Novation, cleaning systems from FlexoClean, or Provident’s own steel doctor blades that feature the flatness and straightness mid- and wide-web flexo presses need.

Having world-class products is important because every converter wants to the do best they can. Having access to superior technology and the support necessary to ensure it yields the best results is a combination that every converter should be looking at when considering the many supplier and support options at Info*FLEX.

So when you stop by Booth 423 at Info*FLEX and talk with one of Provident’s technology pros, be prepared to talk about your operation, because the more they understand, the better they will be able to help you select the equipment that will raise the level of performance you are able to offer.