Surface Screening
Premedia service providers polled observed that the vast majority of jobs taken in require application of a screening package.
Screening Required?
Jobs Dictate Use
In fact, 45 percent of those queried label demand at better than 50 percent. Another 26 percent place it in the 25 percent to 35 percent range. Twenty percent answered that screening is required on 10 percent to 25 percent of work. Five percent noted application requirements go to 5 percent to 10 percent of packages, while just 4 percent place demand at less than 5 percent.
Screening Packages
No. in Use
Most premedia houses—62 percent of those surveyed—reported using multiple—four or more—screening packages. Thirty-four percent of respondents rely on two or three. Just 4 percent of those sampled rely on only one.
Asset Management
Speaking to automation and its impact on asset management, members of flexography’s prepress technician community appear to have universally embraced such interconnectivity.
Off-the-Shelf?
Approach to Asset Management
Fifty-eight percent reported deploying a combination of commercial, off-the-shelf and custom asset management software in their enterprise. Twelve percent rely on off-the-shelf options, while 30 percent customize such offerings to their operation.
Lease vs. Own
Software Update Preference
Two-thirds utilize perpetual licensing agreements in updating prepress job management software. One-third own their own subscription.
Cloud Storage
How It’s Used
Cloud-based asset management systems are utilized for multiple tasks—file transfer, processing, communication and approvals. Just under 50 percent of premedia providers questioned use it to meet demand in all those areas. Half of respondents rely on automated workflow software for file transfer. Utilizing such packages for approvals is favored by 28 percent of those polled. Eighteen percent appreciate the communication functions. Less than 5 percent utilize such software for processing.
Standards & Certifications
By and large, flexo premedia service providers are gradually coming to embrace standards, specifications, tolerances, guidelines and controls.
Best Practices
Standards/Guidelines Followed
Presented with a list of eight distinct options, better than 35 percent adhered to aspects of each. Leading the list, with 59 percent of Flash Poll respondents utilizing it as a guide, was FTA’s Flexographic Image Reproduction Specifications & Tolerances (FIRST). Right on its heels was International Standards Organization (ISO) at 55 percent and Idealliance’s General Requirements for Applications in Commercial Offset Lithography (GRACoL) at 53 percent. Next in succession came Standard Web Offset Procedures (SWOP) at 37 percent, Committee for Graphic Arts Technology Standards (CGATS), utilized at 25 percent of responding trade shops and American National Standards Institute (ANSI) standards, which were applied at 19 percent. Global Food Safety Certification (GFSI) and/or Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) guidelines were adhered to by 9 percent.
Credentials & Certifications
Preferred Accreditation
Findings of the FLEXO Flash Poll revealed that certification credentials are increasingly winning favor among premedia professionals. Some 28 percent of the audience currently hold one form or another of prepress certification. Another 17 percent are currently pursuing professional recognition. Still, 55 percent are yet to explore the concept.