What It Takes to Win at the Excellence in Flexography Awards

More often than not, awards in the FTA competition are won and lost in the Level of Execution category. This is where the rubber meets the road. The category covers how well the job was pulled off on press. Each entry is closely and meticulously evaluated for image sharpness, ink coverage, registration, dot screen/vignette quality and… drum roll, please… consistency.

Again, are these requirements anything different than what is evaluated and required by your customers on a regular basis? And, going back to the initial point of this article: When a printer maintains a focus on the fundamentals and the commitment to doing things the right way, meeting the awards judges’ criteria should become SOP.

In viewing judges’ comments regarding award winning entries, a common theme prevails. The following are terms you will see and hear repeated over and over again:

• Outstanding ink coverage
• Excellent ink laydown
• Exceptional register
• Clean vignettes
• Great detail and tonal range
• Open shadows
• Clean, crisp text
• And, last but certainly not least, “outstanding match to proof.” You would be surprised to learn how many awards are lost because of the points missed from the failure to submit a proof with an entry

Another side tip is that, should it happen to be the case that the job was previously printed by a competing print process and converted to flexo, submitting a sample produced by the other process can certainly aid in assisting judges in their evaluation of the target.

It should also be noted these comments cover the gamut from the different awards categories and segments: line, screen and process; narrow, mid and wide web; envelope and corrugated. Good printing is good printing—period.

Awards Advice

The best advice I can provide in determining whether a particular print job is worthy of submission to the Excellence in Flexography Awards competition is to first forget about the “prettiness” of the design or what lpi was applied. The second thing I would do is pull out a loupe and do what the judges do. In doing so, the focus should be on the following key areas:

• Is the solid ink coverage consistent and smooth, and as mottle and pinhole free as possible?
• How tight is the registration, and can it be any better?
• Do text and edges of solids look sharp?
• Are screens and vignettes clean and consistent? Any slur or dot bridging going on?
• Are the highlights clean and the shadows staying open?
• If applicable, how good is the white laydown?
• And, most importantly, am I getting the same consistent results across the web and from repeat to repeat?

While all of these points may seem fairly obvious and part of what any printer would do on a job to job basis, you may again be surprised to find how many entries submitted to the competition often fall considerably short in one, if not more, of these critical execution elements.

Finally, it bears repeating that ensuring the information requested on the Entry Log Form and Technical Data Form is completely understood and compiled as thoroughly as possible only aids in the chance for an entry to win an award—as well as providing full web width samples with the proper number of consecutive print repeats.

An ongoing focus on the fundamentals and commitment to doing things the right way will not only lead to awards on your wall, but a successful business operation, as well. To that point, allow me to quote Coach Saban one more time:

“Champions are rare. Everybody has some chance, some opportunity to change and improve, but not everybody takes advantage. Be somebody who does.”

About the Author: Paul Lancelle is a systems engineer with focus on product development in the Flexographic Packaging Division of Eastman Kodak. He has been employed in the printing industry for more than 40 years. Paul has served as a long time judge and committee member of the FTA Excellence in Flexography Awards, and currently serves as committee chair. Prior FTA involvement includes past FFTA Chairman of the Board and 2003 Forum Chair. He has been a frequent speaker at various Association events, and also currently serves on the FIRST Committee. Paul was inducted into the FTA Flexo Hall of Fame in 2015.