Brisk business in the halls at first LOUPE show

LOUPE Americas 2026 came to a close on Thursday 17 September, after three days at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center in Rosemont, Illinois.

FlexoTech attended the show and brings this short round-up of some of the developments that were on show or being talked about at the event.

The big news that broke during LOUPE Americas was the intended acquisition of flexo press manufacturer MPS Printing by Durst Group, due to take effect from the beginning of January 2027. The acquisition follows a turbulent period for Netherlands-based MPS.

Christoph Gamper, CEO and co-owner of Durst Group, commented: “Durst already has strong capabilities in digital printing, software and hybrid production. With MPS, we are adding further flexographic expertise, technology and engineering capabilities to the Group. This will give us additional integration options and allow us to pursue complementary development paths in parallel.”

MPS Printing CEO Michiel Borst will become managing director of the new Durst company, and he said: “What changes is not who we are, but what we will be able to achieve. MPS will retain its entrepreneurial approach, its customer focus and its commitment to flexographic innovation.”

Elsewhere, a series of press conferences saw Flint Group Packaging Solutions talk about its latest EkoCure ink, the EkoCure Fast Cure Ultralow COF Shrink White – a dual cure first-down white ink for shrink sleeves; AB Graphic International showing several production lines for the first time, including a Galaxy Packtech pouching system, a DigiLase Duo, and a new non-stop RFID converting line with an integrated Tamarack RFID insertion unit; and Kurz and Nilpeter were partnering with an inline flexo printing and embellishment system based on the latter’s FA Line press, with four embellishments in one pass; these included Kurz Disto Run cold foiling, and Pantec Rhino hot foil stamping.

German flexo press manufacturer Rotocon introduced its new partnership with US company Q360, now known as Rotocon USA, with Cooper Ludwig, vice president, saying “we saw a major market gap” in terms of the costs of new flexo technology, adding that “the price point on these presses is compatible to a two to three-year-old pre-owned press”.

Another flexo press was the centrepiece on Canon’s booth: the Edale LabelLine FL4p. This press was announced as having been sold to New York Label & Box Works, but was demonstrated with cold foiling, delam/relam, cast & cure and die cutting all inline. Edale, which is a Canon company, also hinted that a future hybrid flexo/digital system could soon be announced.

New York Label & Box Works’ president Steven Haedrich spoke at a conference seminar attended by FlexoTech, discussing the company’s move beyond labels into folding cartons – a journey in which Edale press technology has been key. Mr Haedrich was joined by David Totten, director of innovation at Nosco, Inc., who spoke about his company’s move into flexible packaging. “The single most important hire is your expert on (flexible packaging) structures,” said Mr Totten. “If you don’t have that person, you have to develop it from within, and that can be a long and bumpy road.”

A few more product developments: vision inspection company AVT picked up an innovation award for its varnish inspection technology; the company was showing further new products such as AutoEdit AI, and a Data Export package that can be integrated with customers’ dashboards. ERP/MIS company Amtech had a new Visual Analytics tool and was showing its new capabilities around cloud-based software and track & trace. Actega was talking about its ACTSmart and ACTExact inks, and also showing samples of Ecoleaf metallisation produced for the Henkel detergent brand Le Chat, which is working with All4Labels on utilising the technology.

GEW, meanwhile, was showing its new EOS power and control platform, which replaces the RHINO Power infrastructure – a development that GEW said will “transform the functionality, capability and integration of our UV curing systems”. Also new was the introduction of Adaptive Truck and Adaptive Bridge for RotoMetrics die cutting stations, making it possible to adapt to different width dies in seconds, without tooling. Meanwhile, Infigo launched new AI capabilities for its web-to-label, web-to-pack and web-to-print software.