Making Flexo Stronger: FTA’s Focus at 50

Emerging Technologies Session

Observing that it is better to find an approximate answer to the right problem than find a precise answer to the wrong one, Timothy Gostick of MacDermid Printing Solutions spoke on direct write imaging, which combines the exposure and imaging process. DuPont’s John S. Locke, Ph.D., showed attendees comparisons between a traditional flexo plate and one with a less smooth surface. A collaborative study on EB inks and digital plates was reported jointly by Bob Mullen of Sun Chemical and Rick Marsh of DuPont. The quest: to find out if there was a way to reduce flexo’s inherent environmental footprint and also produce gravure-level quality.