Australian supplier of post-press equipment, Graph-Pak, has inked a four-year distributorship deal with Lombardi Converting, which will see the former distribute the latter’s range of solutions in Australia.
With this deal, Lombardi Converting makes its foray into the Oceanic region. The company previously had its efforts focused on Europe and the US.
“The company has been around for a long time but never had an entry in Australia or Oceania. Lombardi has about a dozen solutions across entry level, intermediate and high end. It also has a hybrid range which is a crossover of flexo and digital,” Graph-Pak managing director Tom Ralph told Sprinter.
According to Ralph, Graph-Pak had plans to expand into the flexible packaging space and was looking to attend drupa to seek a viable partner before the impact of COVID-19 emerged.
“We had planned to go to drupa; it’s basically a shopping cart over there and I wanted to seek out a prospective partnership there. But then COVID-19 happened, which affected drupa and I couldn’t wait for another year,” he said.
“We’ve been struggling as everyone else has in commercial print and our portfolio is probably getting a little bit tired. And the range of equipment we currently have is so good that it doesn’t really need replacing – many of them have been running for 12 to 15 years already.”
As such, Graph-Pak made its push into the folding carton space in packaging and on the back of that success planned to expand into flexible packaging and labels.
“So, I contacted Lombardi Converting, which is one of the top four brands, and we had a long conversation about how we could work together and how I could support them. They were happy with the deal but I was concerned about getting the product knowledge and training,” Ralph said.
“With the aid of the latest technology like Zoom and video chat, we conducted training. I have had about 40 hours or so of remote training so far and it has allowed me to start promoting the brand. As of today, we have seven projects on the go and two that could close in the next two months.”
Graph-Pak is also working closely with Lombardi Converting to get the relevant service training remotely.
“Lombardi is already in some countries without their own specialists being physically situated there. So, I have no hesitation that we will be able to do exactly what is required when the time comes,” Ralph said.
He also mentioned that the Lombardi Converting range sits seamlessly alongside Graph-Pak’s other portfolios and is targeted at entry-level and mid-range packaging companies and businesses in the labels space.
“It’s a bigger extension of our product family and can be extended to the customers of our customers,” he said.
“I want to hit the ground running with Lombardi and it’s important to get an installation in as quickly as we can and start spreading the word about how good this product is so that others can see that there are other options out there and as a brand, Lombardi is certainly an option they should consider.”
View a snippet of the interview with Tom Ralph, where he talks about how the deal with Lombardi Converting came about, here.
View a snippet of the interview with Tom Ralph, where he explains why the deal with Lombardi Converting is paramount in Graph-Pak’s focus in the packaging and labels space, here.
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