FQC: Exploring Technology & Defining Value in Packaging
Monday, April 20, 10:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.
Session Chairs: Jean Engelke & Dr. Sam Ingram
The Flexo Quality Consortium’s (FQC’s) objective is to provide the industry with a better understanding of the factors controlling the quality of the flexographic printing process through research. Our session highlights the research our project teams are working on, as well as student research from programs that support advancements in flexo technology.
This year’s session title, “FQC: Exploring Technology & Defining Value in Packaging,” encompasses the topics our presenters will provide. We know brand owners are very focused on brand color consistency throughout the packaging chain. They are also driven to use packaging as a marketing tool. The technology this industry brings to the table to maximize the value of packaging for brand owners will be discussed, as will how printers/converters are able to utilize this information in their own operations.
“Student research allows those conducting it to achieve, learn, explore and participate in an industry that will provide a very viable future.”
The FQC is focused on providing actionable research to FTA membership. We are fortunate to be able to feature research from our industry’s future—today’s students—and our continued industry participation through project teams that move our technology forward. Scholarships support student research that allows those conducting it to achieve, learn, explore and participate in an industry that will provide a very viable future. These are your future employees. Make sure to get this session on your schedule.
We are very fortunate to be featuring FFTA Rossini North America Flexographic Research Scholarship recipient Anissa Mollett, as well as Gary Hilliard FQC Scholarship recipient Dovie Jeffcoat, both students at Clemson University.
- Anissa will present “Color Accuracy in Biodegradable Paperboard Packaging with Eco-Friendly Inks.” Sustainability is an important aspect of the $10 billion North American folding carton and paperboard packaging segment, and she is focused on eliminating any misconception that eco-friendly packaging and inks can’t meet the needs of brand owners
- Dovie will present “Clemson Orange Brand Color Consistency.” She intends to present her research on the color consistency of Clemson’s unmistakable brand color of orange. Clemson orange is printed on many platforms and locations. She intends to measure differences in color across a large sampling of flexo-produced products to document accuracy and explore color management techniques that may be used to keep reproduction tolerances in check
We will again be featuring the winning Phoenix Challenge College Competition Team. We don’t know which team will be the winner until the Awards Banquet Sunday night at FORUM, but we do know this is a presentation not to be missed. The team will present its solution on utilizing flexo-printed packaging to support branding efforts.
The FQC has two project teams that will provide updates. Opacity, or hiding power of white film and white ink on clear film, is important to brand owners. The team will report progress investigating various measurement instruments, recommending a test method and creating a lookup table to help the industry communicate from brand owner to the pressroom floor. Conditions in the pressroom are paramount to a successful print outcome. Our second project team will be updating us on research into ink temperature and humidity and how it may influence press performance.
The goal of any package is to meet the functional and aesthetic needs of the brand owner. This session highlights the many facets of technology that deliver the value sought by brands and how we utilize what we’ve learned to move the industry forward. The session is engaging our future workforce to make sure the momentum the industry has developed toward a common goal continues to thrive.
Press Optimization: Straight from the Mouths of Printers
Tuesday, April 21, 8 a.m.–10 a.m.
Session Chairs: Laura Wright, CSW Inc & Bart Wright, Interflex Group
Press optimization is the topic of this session. This topic is often addressed in an academic way, defining needs, parameters and testing methods, as though in a lab setting, where all options are available to be catered to a specific job. Our major objective is to present this topic in a new and different fashion, from a printer’s perspective.
In talking with printers, we found there is a passionate need to discuss this aspect of the printing process in light of real-life situations. These situations impose limits on some of the variables and options in the process. Also, execution and follow-through of teams performing the optimization and printing requires communication and training that need to be addressed for the process to actually be effective.
We picked printers who are dedicated to the optimization process and believe in Flexographic Image Reproduction Specifications & Tolerances (FIRST) and printing by the numbers, but who also need to work within the parameters of real-live jobs, timelines and the need to be profitable. By name, they are:
- Ron Henderson, printing director, Berry Global
- Scott McLeod, production manager, TC Robbie
- Kim Madigan, director of corporate color management, Smyth Companies
- Kirk Birchler, creative services director, Berry Global
We chose each of these people because they all work in the print manufacturing world, meaning they do not directly sell, nor do they represent a certain product as a technical resource. All speakers are well-known in the industry, with great reputations, and are passionate about what they do.
“Real printers, in real situations, tell the real story.”
“Press Optimization: Straight from the Mouths of Printers” is our title. This will be a panel discussion and we will be defining optimization, where it fits in the printing process and the different aspects comprising the process. Each presenter will be sharing his or her viewpoint, experiences, how to communicate with the operators; maybe even what not to do. The session will be divided into several segments, with each speaker addressing these by sharing stories and experiences:
- How to approach the optimization process based on objectives and constraints
- Substrates and inks, consumables, and plate and screening technology
- How to communicate and train your teams about optimization
Speakers will discuss the importance of the optimization process and how it’s done on live jobs in business situations. They will each share their own experiences and how they approach each part of the process, presenting the good, the bad and the ugly. The collective message will be how to optimize with no hidden agenda from the speakers, as none of them represent any technology for sale.
Attendees with leave with a realistic idea of how to perform the optimization process in their own facility, not in a lab-like environment. This will be optimization in the real world, without the influence of someone trying to sell something. Real printers, in real situations, tell the real story.