Printing smarter with data
Plate area reads off the step-and-repeat at imaging time, so every job carries true cost and margin by customer, plate type, gauge, and screening — not a month-end estimate.
2026 FORUM INFOFLEX · Milwaukee · April 25–29
Technology, talent, and community — running on one system of record.
The 2026 FORUM INFOFLEX put data, AI, and connected operations at the center of the conversation. Flexoworks is where those ideas land for a prepress trade shop: every customer, job, and plate on one platform you can actually run the business on.
Plate area · jobs · customers · AR — one system of record
What the show floor was really saying
Great themes from Milwaukee — and where they stall without an MIS underneath.
The FTA framed 2026 FORUM INFOFLEX around technology, talent, and community, with marquee sessions on Printing Smarter with Data and Leveraging AI with CRM, ERP, and EMP. Every one of those ideas needs a clean operational record to act on. For a flexo trade shop, that record is plate area — and it usually lives in spreadsheets, an offset-era MIS, and someone's head.
“Printing Smarter with Data” needs data worth trusting
Press logs, ink usage, and inspection data are only half the story. The business data — what each plate cost to make, by customer, gauge, and screening — sits in disconnected systems, so the dashboards never reconcile.
AI with CRM, ERP, and EMP needs one system to read from
Predictive scheduling and smart quoting assume a single source of truth for customers, jobs, and plate production. Three spreadsheets and a QuickBooks export are not that source.
Hybrid and digital convergence multiplies the billing math
As shops add print technologies, the question becomes whether each asset earns its place. You can't answer that without per-job, per-plate margin you can pull on demand.
Talent shortages punish tribal-knowledge workflows
When quoting, gang allocation, and AR live in a veteran CSR's habits, every retirement is a risk. A system of record turns that knowledge into a process new hires can run.
Flexoworks is the operating record those themes assume already exists. Customers, jobs, and plate production in one platform — so the data is trustworthy, AI has something to read, margin is answerable per plate, and the workflow survives turnover.
From session theme to shop floor
The 2026 themes, mapped to what Flexoworks actually does.
Each headline from the FORUM INFOFLEX program has a concrete home in the MIS layer. This is how the conference talk track turns into a system your shop runs every day.
AI-ready CRM, ERP & EMP record
Customers, quotes, jobs, and plate production live in one structured record — the clean foundation predictive scheduling, smart quoting, and analytics need to be worth anything.
Hybrid & digital decision support
Per-job, per-plate margin on demand, so you can see which assets and technologies actually earn their place as your mix shifts across flexo, hybrid, and digital.
Plate-area billing engine
Customer rate cards apply automatically by plate type, gauge, screening, and substrate — file prep, proof, mounting, rush, and shipping captured at intake, not reconstructed later.
Workforce-proof workflow
Quoting, gang allocation, plate status, and AR run as documented process instead of tribal knowledge — so new hires get productive and retirements don't take the system with them.
Connected community of partners
Brands, converters, and designers modeled as distinct customer entities, with intake portals and live delivery status — the three-party flow a trade shop actually coordinates.
How it fits your stack
Keep the workflow tools the show floor demoed. Flexoworks runs the business around them.
The exhibit hall was full of imaging, mounting, color, and inspection technology. Flexoworks doesn't compete with any of it — it's the MIS layer that turns that production into quotes, plate-area invoices, and AR. Most trade shops run both.
File → 1-bit TIFF → plate imaging
Your existing workflow engine keeps handling RIPping, screening, step-and-repeat, and CDI imaging control — exactly the production layer suppliers showcased in Milwaukee.
- Esko Automation Engine
- Esko Flexo Front End
- Hybrid CLOUDFLOW
- Kodak Prinergy
Customer → job → plate area → invoice
Flexoworks runs the business layer the conference kept pointing at: data-backed quoting, plate-area billing, gang allocation, converter delivery, and AR as one system of record.
- Plate-area billing engine
- Gang allocation across POs
- Customer & AR ledger
- Converter delivery flow
2026 FORUM INFOFLEX, in context
What attendees ask about the show — and where Flexoworks fits.
What was the 2026 FORUM INFOFLEX?
2026 FORUM INFOFLEX was the Flexographic Technical Association's annual conference and exhibition, held April 25–29, 2026 at the Baird Center in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. It drew roughly 1,100 flexo professionals and nearly 140 exhibitors for four days of technical education, live demonstrations, and networking under the theme of connecting technology, talent, and community.What were the main themes of 2026 FORUM INFOFLEX?
The program centered on data-driven decision-making, AI-enabled workflows, and hybrid/digital print convergence, alongside workforce development and customer-centric leadership. Marquee sessions included “Printing Smarter with Data” and “Leveraging AI with CRM, ERP, and EMP for the Future of Packaging.”How does Flexoworks relate to the 2026 FORUM INFOFLEX themes?
Those themes all assume a clean operational record to act on. Flexoworks is the MIS/ERP system of record for a flexographic prepress trade shop — it holds customers, jobs, and plate production in one platform, so the data is trustworthy, AI and analytics have a single source to read from, per-plate margin is answerable on demand, and the workflow survives staff turnover.Does Flexoworks replace the imaging and workflow tools shown at the exhibit hall?
No. Flexoworks runs alongside prepress workflow engines like Esko Automation Engine, Esko Flexo Front End, Hybrid CLOUDFLOW, and Kodak Prinergy. Those tools handle RIPping, screening, step-and-repeat, and imaging; Flexoworks runs the business layer around them — quoting, plate-area billing, gang allocation, converter delivery, and AR.Where and when is the next FORUM INFOFLEX?
FTA announced that FORUM INFOFLEX 2027 will take place in Fort Worth, Texas, May 2–5, 2027.
Bring Milwaukee back to the shop floor
A 30-minute walkthrough on your real plates, customers, and AR.
Heard a session on data, AI, or connected operations and wondered where it actually lives in your shop? Bring a quote, a job ticket, and a recent invoice — we'll show you the same job in Flexoworks end to end. No slideware.