Press
Catalogue Refresh
Practical advice for planning a catalogue refresh around flexo plates, inks, consumables, and the products SA packaging teams actually order.
Plate and ink range review
The Catalogue Refresh page helps packaging teams review which flexo plates, inks and consumables should appear in an updated range. It is centred on the products South African print floors actually order and use.
Start a catalogue refresh by checking what the pressroom still orders every month. Include current flexo plates, anilox-linked ink sets, mounting tape, doctor blades and wash-up consumables that suit the substrates running in Johannesburg, Durban and Cape Town.
Photograph each item in the condition buyers will recognise on delivery or in stores. Capture label codes, pack sizes, colour references and any change to carton count so the updated range is useful to purchasing staff as well as operators. If a product has been replaced, note the press setting or cleaning method that changed with it.
What belongs in the update
An effective refresh names the exact plate specification, ink chemistry and consumable variant that packaging teams request. List what is active, what is low volume, and what no longer suits current corrugated, film or label work. Clear product naming reduces mix-ups between similar SKUs when jobs are repeated months later.
Link Catalogue Refresh to the matching product pages before you expand the range online. Add one current photo of the item or label when asking about a discontinued line or a substitute.
- Active SKUs grouped by press use
- Product photos with pack and label details
- Discontinued items flagged before reordering
Checks for South African stock lines
Catalogue decisions should reflect what packaging plants in South Africa can actually source and run. Include imported plate materials with longer replenishment periods, common solvent and water-based ink systems, and consumables that fit older CI presses still operating in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal. Where a product depends on a specific sleeve, tape thickness or wash-up routine, state that plainly in the listing.
Coastal humidity can affect how some tapes, plates and stored cartons are presented and handled. Inland dust makes sealed packaging and accurate product photos more important when goods sit in warehouse stock before dispatch. During load-shedding planning, keep technical sheets and item codes easy to access in print as well as online.
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Records to gather before editing
Plan Catalogue Refresh with product photos, current stock details, and notes on items that changed, sold out, or no longer suit the pressroom.
Pull the latest stock list, supplier code, product photo and press-use note before updating any catalogue entry. A short record of what changed, what sold out and what should not be reordered helps buyers compare the old range with the current one. This is especially useful where one ink series or plate type replaced another across several packaging jobs.