By Christian R. Bonawandt and Robert Moran

Milestones were marked, and new ground was broken, as nearly 1,600 flexographic printing/converting professionals rolled into Dallas, TX for the 2008 Foundation of Flexographic Technical Association (FFTA) Forum and INFO*FLEX Exhibition. Key decision makers, process engineers, sales and marketing experts, press operators of all levels of experience, and a record number of students and education professionals lined up to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the leading society dedicated to growing the flexo industry-FTA.

The gilded event took place April 27-29 at the Hilton Anatole. It was marked by the release of a Golden Anniversary Commemorative Book, the presentation of a lifetime achievement award, and a Golden Jubilee Special Event at the ever-popular Speed Zone Race Track. Attendee, exhibitor, and speaker alike professed their appreciation for FTA's "50 Years of Making Flexo Stronger."

Scott Gilbert, Smurfit-Stone Container Corp., who chaired this year's event alongside vice-chair Mark Mazur, DuPont Packaging Graphics, said he couldn't have been happier with the turnout. "I've gotten a lot of positive feedback on the content, the keynote, and of course INFO*FLEX," he said. "Overall, I'm extremely happy."

Being Grateful
Kicking things off on Sunday, Mark Cisternino, FTA president, welcomed a packed house of attendees to the 2008 Forum, and offered an update on Association activities. He introduced to stage Greg Collins of C-P Flexible Packaging, chairman-elect of FTA's Board of Directors, who talked about the current status of the Strategic Planning Initiative (SPI). Collins called the SPI program "as valuable as the technical sessions and INFO*FLEX" and described its goal as being "to bring value to you" by "converting ideas into action," and making FLEXO and Forum "more reactive."

Dave Neiman of All Printing Resources, FTA chairman; and Paul Lancelle of Green Bay Engraving, FFTA chairman at the time, followed respectively to update members about the changes in the board. Neiman also brought the audience up to speed on the SGP Partnership, FIRST 4.0, and spoke briefly on the 50th Anniversary Commemorative Journal. Lancelle addressed the status of FLEXO's Editorial Advisory Committee, the Flexo Quality Consortium (FQC) and the regional workshops.

Afterward, Joe Tuccitto, FTA education director, discussed details of the Association's TEST (Technical Education Services Team) program. "TEST isn't one person, it's all of us," he said. Tuccitto revealed plans to launch a Virtual Campus and provide FIRST accreditation to flexographic education programs.

Next, Gilbert introduced the keynote speaker. Jackie Pflug told a heart-wrenching tale of her experience of an airplane hijacking and hostage situation that ended with her taking a bullet in the brain-and somehow surviving. "Choices in your life require faith in the idea that no matter what you do, you will be OK," said Pflug. She explained, "We think a lot with our heads, but we sometimes have to think with our feelings." Pflug advised attendees to "behave your way to success." She recommended:

• Have a great attitude. Expect more success than failure.
• Don't worry over the little things in life.
• Be grateful every day.

She concluded her talk by reminding the audience that "nothing great is accomplished alone." The keynote ended with a standing ovation from all in attendance. Gilbert exclaimed that the speech was well received by all. "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."

Examinations: Near and Far
Launching in to the Prepress Session, chairs Po Cheung (Smurfit-MBI) and Gerry Sondej (SCI) introduced Tom Cassano of MacDermid Printing Solutions, who asked where the value of a digital prepress workflow is. "People are interested in protecting brands," he observed. Cassano also revealed that "of 20,000 new products introduced every year, only 2 percent are successful." He said speed to market is the competitive weapon. Private brands are growing 25 percent nationally, he warned, adding that at Wal-Mart that growth is 40 percent. When it comes to converting to digital platemaking, Cassano said the critical question is "Will I lose business if I don't?" He followed by commenting, "Only you know best the economics of your business."

Cassano was followed by Ray Bodwell of DuPont Packaging Graphics, who compared various digital platemaking technologies. He started by insisting that "in-house platemaking is not for everyone." In his talk, Bodwell covered the three types of processing (solvent, thermal and laser) and three types of imagesetters-direct laser engravers (DLE), laser ablation mask (LAM) and laser laminate. Bodwell calculated that solvent processing takes 161.5 minutes from a "cold stop" and that, with continuous plate production, can output 14 plates per shift. Thermal systems can produce a complete plate in 42 minutes and average 30 plates per shift.