2006 forum draws 1,600: Mark Andy wins FTA Innovation Award.

Mark Andy's integrated RFID tag insertion system is the recipient of the 2006 Technical Innovation Award from the Flexographic Technical Association (FTA). Presentation of the award was made April 30 in Louisville, KY, USA, at the Foundation of FTA's Annual Forum.

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"We feel proud and humble" to have won the FTA award, said Mark Andy President Paul Brauss. "One of the hardest aspects of the work with RFID is taking what is known technically and presenting it in a solution format whereby a converter can yield a profit."

Mark Andy's technology uses one machine and one integrated workflow to achieve in-line print production and converting. The process includes insertion of inlays, verification of qualified labels and removal of defective pieces. A single Mark Andy RFID solution consists of an RFID inlay insertion unit; an RFID in-press reader; static elimination equipment; and/or offline readers and inspection equipment. Outfitting a press with the complete RFID label system costs between $250,000 and $500,000, depending on level of sophistication.

Mark Andy's RFID-equipped press can accommodate up to two RFID tags in one pass, meaning that a higher rate of throughput is possible. To date, the company has supplied more than a dozen presses for producing passive RFID-enabled labels. Mark Andy's headquarters is in Chesterfield, MO, USA.

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More than 1,600 flexographic print professionals attended the forum and Info-Flex, the accompanying exhibition that featured 196 participating companies.

The event began with a welcome by Matt Moffett, of The Meyers Printing Co., who served as chairman of the forum. Ed Dedman of Hewlett-Packard was vice chairman. The keynote address, titled "World Class Converting", was delivered by Paul Brauss.

The forum, which continued through May 3, featured several days of technical sessions on a variety of subjects, including sales and marketing, emerging technologies, education and training, pressroom and production practices, supply chain management, and color management.

Supply chain session chairs Mike Buystedt, of XSYS Print Solutions, and Colleen Larkin Twoemy, of MacDermid Printing Solutions, set out to help flexographers gain better control over every link in the supply chain. Lieven Plettinck, of Esko-Graphics, encouraged those integrating Job Definition Format (JDF) into their operations to "start small, but to expect more." David Taylor of Radius Solutions noted, "JDF files contain a great deal of information. All data is readily available to the user."

Edward Murphy, of Datacraft Solutions, informed attendees that "lean concepts are not something you tack on to existing systems." The key to going lean, he added, is to reduce inventory. Paul Denmark of Avery Dennison detailed how vendor-managed inventories can help build better business relationships. Susan Stitzel, Esko-Graphics, endorsed streamlining the packaging supply chain workflow. "It's not just about prepress and printing ... it's about packaging."

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During the sales and marketing session, examples of innovation and new approaches to packaging were detailed by John McCooey of DuPont Imaging Technologies. He spoke of how Dannon invented a new market by creating yogurt for kids. Then he launched into the story of Cool2Go and other types of insulated packaging. The point he made for printers/converters was to look at things from a consumer perspective.

Mark Hancock, Brach's Confections, revealed his views on the entire packaging production workflow. He told designers in the room, "If the package isn't functional, it doesn't matter what it looks like." In his mind, prepress providers are "the link between pretty and functional." He noted to printers, "It takes a second to realize a package isn't printable," and requested that they "provide a realistic proof ... and match it."

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Schawk's Charlie Cox perceived the prepress provider's role in the chain to be bridging the gap among consumer product companies, designers and printers. He asked that all members of the supply chain "make changes in the concept stage" and persuaded all parties to "establish technical boundaries and guidelines."

Tina Schuelke of Bemis Co. asked printers and converters to be passionate and eager about technology, rather than interested but cautious. She declared that communication was necessary for success, and that communication has become global, instant, personal and portable. The messages that we send, she said, "have to be the right messages to the right person at the right time."

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