2025 FTA Award Winners
2025 FTA Hall of Fame Member
Bettylyn Krafft, the penultimate student advocate in flexographic printing circles, and co-founder of The Phoenix Challenge and its High School and College skills competitions, a true believer in empowering future generations of package printers, is the 67th and newest member of Flexographic Technical Association’s Flexo Hall of Fame.
Induction came Sunday, May 6 at the association’s Awards Banquet, staged in conjunction with the packaging printing and converting industry’s premiere event—FORUM INFOFLEX 2025. There, Hall of Fame Member Jean Engelke ushered Krafft into FTA’s most prestigious society.
Excellence in Flexography Award Winners
Sticking to FTA’s tradition, six of those jobs—one each from Narrow Web, Wide Web, Mid Web, Combined Corrugated, Preprinted Linerboard and Envelope—saw a Gold Award glean enviable “Best of Show” designation. By name, they are:
- McDowell Label, Narrow Web, RYZE Godzilla Strawberry Mango Pre-Workout Dietary Supplement Label
- PPC Flex, Mid Web, Freeze Nums Sour Salted Caramel and Berry
- Mondi Jackson, Wide Web, Instinct Ultimate Protein Cat Skin & Coat, 10lb Bag
- DS Smith, Finland & Marvaco Oy, Combined Corrugated, Carlsberg, 18 Pack Pilsner
- WestRock, Preprinted Linerboard, Pampers My Little Pony Easy Ups, 74 Pack
- MackayMitchell Envelope Co, Envelope, Animal Rescue
Technical Innovation Award Winners
Honors were bestowed, Sunday, May 4, during FORUM INFOFLEX 2025’s Awards Banquet. The highly sought after and prestigious FTA’s Technical Innovation Award stands as recognition of the embodiment of a commitment to driving the future of package production through engineering ingenuity.
By name, the specific products lauded in 2025 were: Bobst’s Digital Inspection Table, Rossini’s FastBridge sleeve adapter and Techkon’s SpectroVision automated color measurement system
Sustainability excellence Award Winners
Flexographic Technical Association has named XSYS and GEW as winners of its 2025 Sustainability Excellence Awards. GEW was cited for Innovations in Sustainability, while XSYS was feted for enhanced products and processes.
Product lines heralded were: Nyloflec Eco Series plates by XSS and the AeroLED2 UV Curing System by GEW.
2025 FTA President's Award Winner
Brad Gasque, technical marketing leader at DuPont Cyrel Solutions, was presented with Flexographic Technical Association’s President’s Award, Sunday, May 4. Announcement came at the formal banquet held in conjunction with FTA FORUM INFOFLEX 2025.
Nathan Ridnouer, FTA president, said from the stage. “Brad Gasque is, at his core, a problem solver. His journey into flexography wasn’t meticulously planned—it was sparked by a passion for understanding how things work and a drive to make them better. Brad has built a career rooted in hands-on solutions, customer success, and continuous learning. From plate troubleshooting to press optimization, Brad has become a go-to expert—someone who not only solves problems but helps prevent them by empowering teams through training and guidance.”