Packaging MEA has launched The Flexo Digest, a specialist publication dedicated to flexographic printing, converting and the technologies, businesses and people shaping the industry across Asia, the Middle East and Africa.
Published by JJ Media FZ LLC, The Flexo Digest builds on Packaging MEA’s industry presence since 2012, extending its publishing platform with a dedicated title covering the flexographic packaging value chain. Its editorial mission is to connect global expertise with the production realities, investment priorities and developing opportunities of Asia, the Middle East and Africa.
The inaugural edition was officially launched at Flexo Summit Asia 2026 in Bengaluru, placing the publication directly within the flexographic community it has been created to serve.
A platform for the flexo ecosystem
The Flexo Digest launches at a time of significant change for flexographic production. Automation, advanced plates and prepress, colour management, ink-transfer technology, digital integration, recyclable packaging structures and tighter process control are raising expectations for quality, productivity and consistency.
Its editorial approach reflects the reality that flexographic performance depends on an interconnected production ecosystem — from design and prepress through platemaking, inks, anilox technology, substrates and press operation to inspection, converting, quality control and, critically, people and process knowledge.
Ben Daniel, Editor-in-Chief of The Flexo Digest, said:
“Asia, the Middle East and Africa need a dedicated platform for flexographic knowledge, education and industry dialogue. The Flexo Digest has been created to fill that space — connecting global expertise with regional realities and becoming the voice and pulse of the flexo ecosystem across these markets.”
The publication will connect brand owners, converters, printers, OEMs, suppliers, prepress specialists, educators, associations and technical professionals, examining not only advances in flexography but the knowledge, skills and production disciplines required to translate technology into consistent commercial performance.
Global voices, regional perspectives
The international outlook is established in the inaugural edition through its flagship feature, “The world of flexography: Global vision, regional perspectives,” bringing together members and representatives of the FTA Global Alliance to examine flexography’s development across major regions.
Established during drupa 2024, the FTA Global Alliance connects flexographic associations through international cooperation and knowledge exchange. Its contributors reveal an industry developing at different speeds across different markets, but increasingly united by priorities around technology, standardisation, sustainability, skills and collaboration.
Sante Conselvan, President of FTA Europe and the FTA Global Alliance and CEO of GAMA Group, stresses the importance of human capability alongside technological investment:
“Printers must therefore invest in people as decisively as they invest in technology.”
Wim Buyle, Vice President of the FTA Global Alliance and FTA Europe, points to the need for greater production consistency:
“Europe’s next challenge is not simply to extend flexography’s reach, but to make the process more consistent, responsive and measurable.”
Looking beyond conventional packaging applications, Professor Timothy Claypole MBE, Professor Emeritus at Swansea University, sees wider potential for the process:
“Flexography should no longer be viewed solely as a packaging-print process.”
From Australia and New Zealand, Anthony “Tony” Dalleore, Secretariat of the Flexible Packaging and Label Manufacturers Association and General Manager, XSYS Australia, reflects on flexography’s technical progression:
“Flexography has undergone a remarkable transformation—from a process once constrained by inconsistent ink transfer and limited image fidelity into a high-speed, precision technology capable of near-photographic reproduction.”
Mustafa Kemal Bağdatlı, Packaging Printing Technologies Consultant and Educator and Türkiye and Neighbouring Markets Representative of the FTA Global Alliance, highlights the commercial discipline required behind investment:
“Machinery alone, however, cannot guarantee commercial success.”
From Brazil, Julianna Cezário, Marketing and Communications, ABFLEXO/FTA-Brasil, underlines the role of education and skills:
“Brazilian flexography demonstrates what an industry can achieve when investment in technology is matched by sustained education, professional training and technical cooperation.”
For Asia, Suhas Kulkarni, FTA Global Alliance Member representing Asia; Associate Editor and Founding Architect, The Flexo Digest, identifies the challenge of translating the region’s scale into consistent production performance:
“Asia has the technology, manufacturing scale and market demand to become a defining force in global flexography. The next step is turning that potential into consistent, standardised and measurable performance — through stronger process discipline, technical knowledge and skills.”
Representing the Middle East and Africa, Ben Daniel, FTA Global Alliance Member representing MEA; Founder and Chief Editor, The Flexo Digest; and Chief Editor, Packaging MEA, highlights the region’s transition from capacity expansion to competitive capability:
“Flexography across the Middle East and Africa is moving from expanding capacity to building competitive capability. Technology investment is accelerating, but the region’s next leap must come from stronger skills, technical knowledge and process discipline — turning advanced equipment into consistent, measurable and commercially competitive production.”
Together, these perspectives reinforce a central theme of the inaugural edition: there is no single global story of flexography. Markets differ in scale, maturity, investment, skills and production requirements, but their future increasingly depends on connecting technology with knowledge, standards and people.
Connecting global knowledge with regional industry
The Flexo Digest will provide specialist editorial coverage across labels, flexible packaging, corrugated and folding cartons, spanning presses and converting, plates and platemaking, prepress and workflow, anilox technology, inks and coatings, colour management, inspection and automation, substrates, sustainability, standardisation, training and workforce development.
Asia, the Middle East and Africa are diverse flexographic markets with different levels of industrial development and technical capability. The publication has been created to reflect those differences while connecting regional converters, suppliers and professionals with international knowledge and best practice.
For Packaging MEA, The Flexo Digest represents an expansion of its specialist publishing portfolio and a long-term commitment to technical journalism, knowledge exchange and industry development.
Its mission is clear: to connect global flexographic intelligence with regional knowledge and provide Asia, the Middle East and Africa with a specialist platform — and a dedicated voice and pulse for the flexo ecosystem.