If you're one of the more than 21,000 flexible-packaging converters and nearly 17,000 flexographic printers who receive Converting, you'd got quite a bit of reading to do this month. About half of the editorial content of this issue is either directly or indirectly related to these two major categories of package manufacturing.

For you flex-pack makers, all signs appear to be pointing skyward—not just for future sales but also for innovations making their commercial debut. The latest version of The Freedonia Group's studies into converted flexible packaging shows US demand topping $14.4 billion in 2009. That's annual growth of 4.1 percent from 2004 onward—a healthy measure by most standards. It won't come as any surprise that the fastest growth is expected from standup pouches based on a laundry list of benefits and advantages over other types of flexible—as well as rigid—containers for everything from baking mixes and dishwasher tablets to beef treats for Fido. Want proof? Fully one-fourth of the entrants in the FPA's 2006 Achievement Awards competition are standup pouches, and four of those won gold awards for either printing, package-design or technical innovation.

For those flexo printers, the numbers are also going up—not just your share of the packaging market versus other print methods but in terms of colors and line screens. Four process plus two spot colors just aren't good enough anymore for many customers, as the global trend to 10-color presses continues. More than half of the new CI-flexo presses—often also gearless, sleeved systems—being installed in North America are now 10-color, while such equipment commands a third of the European market. One of the latest installations will be Cello-Pack's 10-color NOVOFLEX® CL from Windmoeller & Hoelscher Corp. The press is slated to be running at their Buffalo, NY, plant this summer. And based on comments from several flexo printers we interviewed, 200-line-screen printing is the new standard everyone's shooting for. That's further ammunition in flexo's arsenal against offset—if not gravure.

Need even more information? With about six weeks to go, it's not too early to register for the FFTA Annual Forum and INFO*FLEX exhibition. With its theme of "The Inside Track to Success," the event takes place at the Kentucky Intl. Convention Ctr. in Louisville April 30–May 3. Along with Forum sessions ranging from pressroom practices and color management to flexo marketing and printed electronics, the exhibition offers side-by-side comparisons of flexo products and services.

A good bet for the future? Flexo-printed flex packs are a winning combination.