Sunday, June 4, 2023

Flex Technology Group Continues National Expansion With Advance Business Systems

FTG Makes Strategic Investment in Advance Business Systems to Expand Market Share in the Northeast


Flex Technology Group - Advance

Flex Technology Group Continues National Expansion with Advance Business Systems

Flex Technology Group (FTG) announced today the acquisition of Advance Business Systems, a premier office technology and solutions provider based in Baltimore, Maryland.

Since its founding in 1964, Advance Business Systems has become a leading provider of business solutions in Maryland, helping to improve workflows and increase efficiencies with Managed IT Services, Hardware, Production Print, Managed Print Services, Document Management, and Software Enhancement. Today, Advance Business Systems serves customers throughout the greater Mid-Atlantic region and across the nation out of its corporate headquarters in Baltimore, MD.

"We're excited to welcome Jeff Elkin and his team of over 130 professionals to the FTG family. Advance is a world-class organization. Their core values and unwavering commitment to their customers, community, and people align strongly with FTG, creating a solid foundation for a phenomenal partnership," states Frank Gaspari, CEO of Flex Technology Group. "With this acquisition, FTG's revenue now exceeds $400 million. We have a strong pipeline of great dealers looking to join FTG. Our national sales platform continues to fuel our organic growth. The future is exciting at FTG, and I look forward to the opportunities it will create for our 1300+ employees." 

"I'm thrilled to announce our partnership with Flex Technology Group and what that means for our entire team at Advance and our customers - new growth opportunities, additional employee programs, and expanded resources to provide an even greater customer experience," states Jeff Elkin, President of Advance Business Systems. "We're incredibly proud of what we've built here and look forward to leveraging our collective resources to continue our growth and elevate our value propositions."

"We are excited to continue our best-of-breed acquisition strategy," said John Knoll, co-founder of Oval Partners and investment partner to Flex Technology Group. "Advance's longstanding customer relationships and deep market presence in the greater Baltimore area creates an attractive opportunity for FTG to offer its market-leading managed print platform to both existing and new enterprises in that market. Combining the local presence of our copier dealer partners that have joined Flex with the nationwide coverage and capabilities of FTG is a powerful combination that has benefited all our customers. This is an exciting continuation of that strategy."

Mr. Elkin, who will be an equity holder in Flex Technology Group, and his executive team will remain in their current leadership roles to ensure the continuation of the company's proven success in serving their employees, customers, and the greater Baltimore community.

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About Flex Technology Group

Flex Technology Group provides customized office technology solutions for national and leading-edge regional companies. The company focuses on print, document management, document production, and managed IT solutions, representing industry-leading suppliers such as Canon, Ricoh, Konica Minolta, HP, Lexmark, Sharp, and various software solutions. FTG services over 25,000 customers nationally. For additional information, please visit www.flextg.com.

About Oval Partners

Oval Partners is a multi-family office investment firm designed to provide liquidity, growth, capital and acquisition funding to founders of growing businesses across North America. Oval's capital base is permanent—it is committed, unencumbered and unconstrained in terms of holding period. Oval offers the capabilities and capital of a private equity fund, but the mentality, partner orientation and investment time frame of a private holding company. Oval's principals have completed more than 75 transactions involving platform investments, acquisitions, exits, and re-financings. Oval focuses on making investments in the tech-enabled services, information services, internet, software/SAAS, and industrial technology markets. FlexPrint embodies the essence of Oval's targeted "buy and build" strategy in attractive, service-oriented, niche end markets. For additional information, please visit www.OvalPartners.com or contact Dan Ruhl at [email protected].

About Advance Business Systems

Advance is an iconic Baltimore-based business serving the Maryland community since 1964. They attribute their longevity to delivering exceptional service to customers as well as their commitment to the growth and development of their employees. Advance's mission: "We are a people company with an intense passion for improving our customers' businesses and enhancing our team members' lives," is the guiding principle behind their every action. Advance partners with Maryland businesses to identify areas within their organizations that would benefit from more effective technology and processes to help increase efficiencies while maintaining the security of their data and the safety of their employees. Advance provides Hardware, Managed IT, Managed Print, Document Management, and Software Enhancement services.

From its inception in 1964, Advance has made caring for and investing in its employees and their families a top priority. The culture is team-oriented and collaborative, with standardized processes in place that create efficiencies that are utilized at every level of the organization. Advance has been able to consistently thrive in the Baltimore marketplace by constantly adapting to and staying ahead of business and technology innovations. Learn more at www.advancestuff.com.

Contact Information:
Andy Smalley
VP of Marketing
[email protected]
480-368-0011


Original Source: Flex Technology Group Continues National Expansion With Advance Business Systems
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Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany’s New Barrier Materials Offer Superior Flexibility, Reliability, and Longer Lifetime in OLED Devices

New silicon dielectrics processed via low-temperature Plasma Enhanced - Atomic Layer Deposition (ALD) technology enables flexible OLEDs in superior display devices. Provides highly improved barrier characteristics: 100 times more effective and 20 times thinner than existing solutions. Wins Display Component of the Year 2023 Award from Society for Information Display (SID).

Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany’s New Barrier Materials Offer Superior Flexibility, Reliability, and Longer Lifetime in OLED Devices
Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany Wins Display Component of The Year 2023 award from SID

Damien Tuleu, Executive Vice President and Head of Display Solutions business unit at the Electronics business sector of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany posing with SID Display Component of The Year 2023 award and SID leader.

EMD Electronics, the U.S. and Canada Electronics business of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, introduced new barrier materials that offer superior flexibility, higher reliability, and longer lifetime in flexible OLED (organic light-emitting diode) devices compared to existing solutions. Last week, the innovative ALD material won the Display Component of The Year 2023 award from SID, the world's biggest display society.

Free-form devices with fully flexible OLED displays are one of the fastest-growing trends in data-driven electronics. Compared with standard displays, these foldable, rollable, stretchable devices require a reduction of about 60% of the display module's thickness. However, OLEDs are highly susceptible to degradation by moisture and oxygen. To prevent damage, an encapsulation or barrier is needed that is conformable, flexible yet durable.

"As a pioneer in display materials, we are committed to providing our customers with solutions that enable new form factors," said Damien Tuleu, Executive Vice President and Head of Display Solutions business unit at the Electronics business sector of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany. "As the most advanced thin-film deposition technology, our low-temperature ALD silicon materials offer highly improved barrier characteristics - 100 times more effective than current solutions. And they come along with a thinner layer too - 20 times thinner than existing solutions. Ultimately, this means better conformability, flexibility, and durability than ever before."

Flexible OLEDs are critical to enabling promising new applications beyond traditional displays such as wearable, rollable displays and biomedical devices. However, repeated bending and stretching of flexible devices can cause display stress, leading to reduced performance and lifespan. The Electronics business sector of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, in collaboration with its partners in the display and equipment industry, addressed this challenge. 

Leveraging its 30 years of experience in developing encapsulation materials for the semiconductor industry, the company created new barrier materials which are processed via low-temperature Plasma Enhanced ALD technology for an improved thin film encapsulation. These new materials with improved barrier characteristics enable a longer lifetime of the OLED device and fulfill even harsh automotive requirements. The company's low-temperature ALD silicon materials were first introduced in 2022 for automotive OLED and are expected to become an enabling encapsulation technology for upcoming flexible IT OLED displays.

As new form factors enabled by OLED technology continue to penetrate the market, the Electronics business sector of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, is well-positioned as a leading global material supplier of this technology. With research activities dating back three decades as well as early investments in OLED manufacturing capacities, the company is committed to meeting the increasing demand for high-purity OLED materials. This commitment has been strengthened by an investment of around €30 million, completing projects to expand OLED production capacity in Korea and China in 2022. The company's local OLED production will give its Asia-based customers easier and faster access to OLED materials and a stable and more flexible supply chain.

About Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany 

Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, a leading science and technology company, operates across life science, healthcare and electronics. 64,000 employees work to make a positive difference to millions of people's lives every day by creating more joyful and sustainable ways to live. From providing products and services that accelerate drug development and manufacturing as well as discovering unique ways to treat the most challenging diseases to enabling the intelligence of devices - the company is everywhere. In 2022, Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, generated sales of € 22.2 billion in 66 countries. 

The company holds the global rights to the name and trademark "Merck" internationally. The only exceptions are the United States and Canada, where the business sectors of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, operate as MilliporeSigma in life science, EMD Serono in healthcare and EMD Electronics in electronics. Since its founding in 1668, scientific exploration and responsible entrepreneurship have been key to the company's technological and scientific advances. To this day, the founding family remains the majority owner of the publicly listed company. For more information about Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, visit www.emdgroup.com.

Contact Information:
Austin Kaphammer
Communications Business Partner
[email protected]
+1 (848) 230-5398


Original Source: Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany's New Barrier Materials Offer Superior Flexibility, Reliability, and Longer Lifetime in OLED Devices
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