Flexographic Technical Association

ATLANTA—Package buyers from six of America’s largest consumer product companies—Coca Cola, General Mills, Pepsico, Procter & Gamble, RR Donnelly, and TetraPak—met with the Flexographic Technical Association, Friday, Sept. 21, to craft a position paper outlining their collective expectations of flexographic printers and converters. Their message will be presented to FTA members and other attendees at the Foundation of FTA’s Fall Conference: Productivity & Profitability, set for Nov. 5-7 in Nashville, Tenn. Critical demands of consumer product companies (CPCs), expressed at FTA’s September summit, will be revisited at the conference, namely getting a job right the first time, consistency across multiple substrates, tolerances, color and

CLEMSON, S.C.—Clemson University’s Printing and Converting Lab (PrintCon) will host the Fundamentals of Quality Print on Corrugated Symposium, Nov. 14–16, 2007. This annual symposium provides an in-depth overview of the elements of the printing system, examining board liners, anilox rolls, doctor blades, inks, and plate systems to demonstrate how they are integrated together to produce enhanced graphics, from clean solids and line work to halftones and even an introduction to process color. This program is co-sponsored by the Foundation of Flexographic Technical Association (FFTA). This year’s symposium will features a number of expanded interactive breakout sessions, many held press-side and is a rare opportunity

ATLANTA, Ga.—Package buyers from six of America’s largest consumer product companies—Coca Cola, General Mills, Pepsico, Procter & Gamble, RR Donnelly, and TetraPak—met with the Flexographic Technical Association, Friday, Sept. 21, to craft a position paper outlining their collective expectations of flexographic printers and converters. Their message will be presented to FTA members and other attendees at the Foundation of FTA’s Fall Conference: Productivity & Profitability, set for Nov. 5-7 in Nashville, Tenn. Critical demands of consumer product companies (CPCs), expressed at FTA’s September summit, will be revisited at the conference, namely getting a job right the first time, consistency across multiple substrates, tolerances, color

Ronkonkoma, N.Y.—Foundation of Flexographic Technical Association (FFTA) announced that is has selected an official theme for its 2008 annual event. Next year’s Forum is themed “FTA’s Golden Anniversary: Fifty Years of Making Flexo Stronger” and is set to take place April 27-30, 2008 at the Hilton Anatole Hotel in Dallas, Texas. FFTA/FTA President Mark Cisternino commented, “1958 marked the beginning of what is now the world’s leading professional society dedicated to the flexographic package printing and converting trade. Although we have year-long celebrations planned, Forum 2008 is the perfect venue to commemorate the association’s long-time reputation for working to advance flexography and the businesses

SEWICKLEY, Pa.—Printing Industries of America/Graphic Arts Technical Foundation (PIA/GATF) named Ron and Katherine Harper the winners of its 2007 Education Award of Excellence for industry representatives. The awards are presented annually to an academic representative and an industry representative in recognition of outstanding contributions to education and training in the graphic arts. Ron and Katherine Harper are the husband and wife team who founded Harper Corporation of America, a global anilox roll supplier with two locations in the United States and licensees in Bangkok, Thailand (Harper Asia/Pacific) and Herford, Germany (Harper Graphics). An innovator in laser-engraved anilox roll production and restoration for corrugated wide

RONKONKOMA, N.Y.—Foundation of Flexographic Technical Association (FFTA) will be holding its annual Fall Conference at the Sheraton Downtown Hotel in Nashville, Tenn., Nov. 5-7, 2007. Themed “Productivity and Profitability,” the conference will focus on pressroom and process optimization and will also include the official launch of the newest edition of FIRST 4.0 (Flexographic Image Reproduction Specifications & Tolerances). Additionally the program will include an update of the CPC Scorecards on the performance and targets for the flexo industry from the FFTA Annual Forum in Washington, DC in 2002. FFTA’s 2007 Fall Conference will also feature a tabletop exhibition which will take place Nov. 5

CLEMSON, S.C.—The popular Seminar Series, “Optimizing the Digital Plate Package for Flexography,” continues at Clemson University’s Department of Graphic Communications August 1 and 2. In two days of lectures, demonstrations, and hands-on sessions attendees will learn to un-complicate digital plate prepress and production in order to achieve optimal results from their digital workflow. The topics discussed are recommended for: • Practitioners wishing to maximize their digital plate making capabilities. • Companies planning to convert to a digital platemaking workflow. • Training new employees and updating current staff. • Companies with plate consistency and performance issues. Joining Clemson’s faculty will be top industry innovators such

MONTREAL, Canada—More than 1,700 flexographers, from 17 different countries, recently converged upon the Palais de congrès in Montréal, QC, Canada for Foundation of Flexographic Technical Association’s (FFTA) 2007 Annual Forum and INFO*FLEX Exhibition. Over the course of four days—May 6-9—they networked on the sold-out INFO*FLEX show floor, conducted business with 183 exhibitors, attended technical sessions, established new contacts, and strengthened existing contacts. One thing was certain—flexographic printing, as the Forum theme denoted, is “Crossing Borders,” and Forum 2007 was the global gateway to success. The event was chaired by David Nunez, Great Lakes Packaging. Dan Dietrich, Schawk, Inc., served as vice chair. Keynote speaker

MONTREAL, Canada—More than 1,700 flexographers, hailing from 17 different countries, recently converged upon the Palais de congrès in Montréal, QC, Canada for Foundation of Flexographic Technical Association’s (FFTA) 2007 Annual Forum & INFO*FLEX Exhibition. Over the course of four days—May 6-9—they networked on the sold-out INFO*FLEX show floor, conducted business with 183 exhibitors, attended as many of the 10 technical sessions as possible, built new contacts and strengthened those already existing. One thing was certain—flexographic printing, as the Forum theme denoted, is “Crossing Borders,” and Forum 2007 was the global gateway to success. The event was chaired by David Nunez, Great Lakes Packaging. Dan

MONTREAL, Canada— CGS Publishing Technologies International with its ORIS brand, a global leader of color management solutions, digital proofing systems, and specially-formulated media, announced it will showcase its color proofing and workflow technology for the packaging industry at the INFO*FLEX Exhibition, in Montréal, May 7-8. Focused on the flexographic printing and in-line converting industry, the event is sponsored by the Flexographic Technical Association (FTA) and is expected to bring in nearly 2,000 international attendees. “The packaging industry is an exciting market for us,” said Trevor Haworth, CGS Publishing Technologies president and CEO. “InfoFlex is an excellent venue to demonstrate the value we bring