Expo Bound: Seeking Cutting-Edge Wide Format Solutions

The PRINTING United Expo — September 10-12 in Las Vegas — is just around the corner, and attendees are eagerly preparing for days filled with learning, networking, and inspiration. As we approach the Expo, we're excited to present a series of Q&A interviews with attendees from diverse sectors. They'll share their reasons for attending the PRINTING United Expo, the knowledge they hope to gain, and what they're most looking forward to at the event.

Cober Solutions
Darren Buck, Vice President Wide Format
Kitchener, ON, Canada
cobersolutions.com

Cober is a privately owned family business with more than 100 years of history in the industry. We at Cober are less of a jack of all trades and more of a business Swiss army knife. We have two facilities in Ontario, Canada, that provide innovative solutions, whether through our Marketing, Litho, Digital, Wide Format, or Fulfilment and Warehousing, that provide solutions big or small. Being a privately owned business for over 100 years we have seen the evolution of print. Our facilities can print the smallest business card to the largest billboard.

WFI: What made you decide to attend this year's Expo?
Buck: I'm attending this year's Expo to receive firsthand information and current trends in the wide-format sector. This part of our business continues to grow at a very fast rate, and keeping current with suppliers on new ways of producing items, from simple kiss-cut decals to large coroplast sign press runs, from better ink adhesion to press speeds, is primary in keeping up with growth. This is the show to ask those questions and get real answers.

WFI: What brings you back?
Buck: I find that PRINTING United brings the competitors together, and we actually talk. The boxing gloves are off, sort of speaking, and we can chat over a new machine that's being shown on the floor. We can discuss together any past issues the supplier might have had, what is working well for us with the current machine, and suggest things the manufacturer should or could fix without having a customer we share in the conversation.

WFI: What products, brands, or services are you most looking forward to seeing?
Buck: I'm particularly interested in some of the new Mactac crack-and-peel vinyl for our customers who require that product. I'm also interested in the advancements Kongsberg is making to its digital cutting tables. Of course, any of the wide-format high-speed presses is always interesting.

WFI: How do you plan and maximize your time at the Expo?
Buck: Normally, I would walk the trade show, gathering information, and from there, book time with the supplier and come back with questions that need answers. The PRINTING United website is very helpful. There's a "show planner" I plan on using again this year.

WFI: How do you hope attending will impact your business/career moving forward?
Buck: With the information I gather from the show, I will be able to take back to my team, and together, we will be able to make educated business decisions such as new purchases of equipment and upgrades to current equipment. I will also be able to provide our purchasers with new items and advise on what's up and coming. Cober's sales team is always looking to me and my 35 years of experience in WF for new and innovative ways to help them in the wide format world, and I hope to be able to answer all of their challenging questions.

To read more Q&As with PRINTING United Expo attendees, visit the article: Are You Expo Bound?. To register to attend, please visit PrintingUnited.com.