After '50 years of making flexo stronger,' FTA celebrates in Dallas.

Celebrating its golden anniversary were an estimated 1,600 flexographic printing and converting professionals at this year's Foundation of Flexographic Technical Association (FFTA) Annual Forum and INFO(*)FLEX Exhibition. The event, which took place April 27-30 at the sprawling Hilton Anatole Hotel in Dallas, TX, USA, featured more than 60 speakers over the course of 10 educational sessions.

The event, tagged as "50 Years of Making Flexo Stronger," began its opening session with a keynote speaker who knows something about strength. Jackie Pflug captivated her audience as she spoke about her experience surviving a gunshot wound to the head during an airline hijacking and ensuing hostage crisis in Malta in 1985. She advised the attendees of her three pearls of wisdom, "Have a great attitude, don't worry over the little things, and be grateful everyday." Her inspirational story set the tone for the event as Pflug received an emotional standing ovation.

Event Chairman Scott Gilbert, Smurfit-Stone Container Corp., talked about Pflug's speech. "Sometimes we make assumptions that everyone wants business or technical information. In this case, Jackie gave us something we needed but didn't necessarily know we wanted."

The educational sessions offered a wide variety of perspectives from several speakers. During the Prepress Session, Ray Bodwell, DuPont Packaging Graphics, compared the three types of processing (solvent, thermal and laser) and three types of processing (solvent, thermal and laser) and three types of imagesetters--direct laser engravers (DLE), laser ablation mask (LAM) and laser laminate. Mark Samworth, EskoArtwork, took a new look at an old topic: dot gain curves. He declared, "Fundamentals are more important than the advanced," adding that "curves are the most important part of flexo."

The Flexo 101 Session provided an opportunity for attendees to learn about some of the basic components of flexography. Carl Hartz, Flint Group, spoke about the basic composition of inks. Jean Jackson, Allison Systems, and Donnie Gramlich, Smurfit- Stone Preprint, presented their takes on basic flexo theory and talked about real pressroom experiences. The pair also focused on the critical roles played by both the anilox and doctor blade in an effective and productive ink metering system.

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During the Sustainability Session, several environmental experts discussed trends, products, and economics when it comes to being ecofriendly. "Sustainability is actually very personal and very individualistic," said Debbra Johnson, DuPont Packaging Graphics, as the revealed preliminary results of a study into sustainability in flexography. Martin Spatz of Sun Chemical reviewed existing sustainability options for inks, noting that "dry inks of less than 1 percent are not factored into compostability." Frank Belardo, Phoenix Environmental Technology, spoke of the economics of solvent recovery and recycling. Charlie Black, Smurfit-Stone Container, concluded the session with a presentation on cube utilization. "Consider logistics as part of sustainability," he said.

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The Faster, Better, Cheaper Session featured presentations from experts that focused on the different segments of the workflow, and strategies to improve efficiency in those areas. Speaking on computer-to-plate (CTP) manufacturing, Bob McVey, GMF Flexo Prepress, advised: "Make the plates the same anywhere." Roger Bostdorff, Leader Engineering, walked the audience through a sample of computer assisted plate mounting technologies at work. Offering solutions to plate bounce, Xymid LLC's Mike Smoot made recommendations for both minor and major cases. Bill Poulson, Harper Corporation of America, advised printers to reduce their anilox inventories to two or three volumes. "Pressroom practices for flexo need to be implemented at the upper management level," added Kurt Hudson, Water Ink Technologies. Rounding out the session, John Thome of BST Pro Mark offered a comparison of different print defect detection systems, focusing on two technologies, area scan and line scan.

The FIRST and FQC Session included a presentation on near-neutral calibration. Jay Sperry, Clemson University, summarized his experience and experiments, than recommended that flexographers work step-by-step through the process. Clemson's Nona Woolbright addressed the human perception of "good color." She concluded that "substrate is a factor upon perceived effectiveness of calibration method." Stefano d'Andrea outlined the ATIF's (Italy's FTA) method for applying standardization to flexography. "Standardization does not flatten quality," he said. "In fact, the spirit of standardization should become a real point of reference among worldwide flexo users."

The INFO * FLEX exhibition area consisted of 175 exhibitors, 217 booths, eight interactive hours, and nearly a dozen 15 minute briefings in the Presentation Theater. Thus, the trade floor was an ideal scene for networking.

"INFO * FLEX was the most productive part of the program for me. Face-to-face meetings with some of my suppliers and prospective suppliers effectively moved some important issues forward for my company," said Brad Elledge, Nosco.

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Dave Straten, Advance Packaging Corp., was also pleased with the event's structure. "I liked the convenience during the Forum and the opportunity to network both between and at INFO(*)FLEX. I also appreciated the breakout sessions on the show floor."

Patrick Gerrity, All Printing Resources, added, "The INFO * FLEX Exhibition allows us to meet with current and potential customers in a relaxed, yet professional environment. It permits us to show and demonstrate new products, services and technology that would be difficult or expensive to take to each customer individually."

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'INFO * FLEX, combined with the technical sessions, is a good opportunity for us to connect with a number of customers on an annual basis," said Pete Hartmann, Harper Corporation of America. "We feel that the education made available as well as a chance to bring our product offerings to the flexo converters in a single location is an excellent venue."

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