Nearly 300 printers, converters and their business partners attended last week’s FTA Fall Conference (Oct. 15-17; Milwaukee, WI), themed “Efficiency in Flexography: Connecting the Dots.” They pointed to the sessions with statements like “High energy, thought provoking,” “Well done,” “Best set of qualified speakers,” “Very relevant to our business”, “Format, speakers and content = A+.”

Co-chaired by Sean Teufler, Harper Corporation of America and Johnny Dye, Accredo Packaging; the event hosted more than 20 speakers and 42 conference exhibitors/sponsors who kept the conversation and networking continuous.

• Presenters were lauded for their attention to detail.
• Capacity crowds filled the rooms.
• Sold-out exhibit floor.

“Johnny and I are very pleased with the technical content and and how it developed understanding throughout the conference agenda. We were also impressed with how the presentations sparked further discussion at the tabletop exhibit,” commented Teufler. He added, “We are gratified to hear positive feedback from many attendees; the consensus is the show was well worth the time and attendees are eager to apply the principles learned to their operations.”

That assessment was shared by others. One printer cited, “Great information. Made me rethink our processes!” Another said that it was “Refreshing to hear different perspectives when it comes to workflow, beginning to end.” Yet another pointed to the paybacks, “The conference reinforced the benefits of process control, and how it is being both accepted and expected.”

Chris Glover, Label World, Inc. summed it up like this, “Very good ideagenerating sessions.” Dan Doherty, Prairie State Group steered his remarks toward the FIRST session, “The FTA FIRST program is ‘real and necessary’! A true benefit to the membership!” Daniel Choate, Kendall Packaging Corp. left this remark on his evaluation form, “Excellent info that can be taken back and used!”

Exhibitors also voiced praise. Mike Orcutt, Matthews Brand Solutions exclaimed, “Awesome job! Look forward to more future participation.” “I enjoyed the conference and thought it was well organized and very interesting,” said Joe Tremper, Polymount US LLC.

The 42 exhibiting/sponsoring companies included: 360 Imaging / BrandColor Imaging; 3M Industrial Tapes & Adhesives Division; AVT; All Printing Resources, Inc.; Anderson & Vreeland, Inc.; Beta Industries; Braden Sutphin Ink Company; Color-Logic Inc.; Color Resolutions International; Conversource; CS Laboratories of N. America, Inc; CT Graphic Arts; DCM Usimeca; DIP Company; DuPont Packaging Graphics; Eaglewood Technologies, LLC / Sani- Blast; Eastman Kodak; eltromat; Erhardt + Leimer; Esko; Flexocleaners.com; Flexotecnica; Flexo Wash LLC; Flint Group Flexographic Products; FLXON Inc; Harper Corporation of America; Leader Engineering Fabrication, Inc.; MacDermid Printing Solutions; Matthews Brand Solutions; MCS, Inc.; OEC Graphics, Inc.; Paper Converting Machine Company / Aquaflex; Pitman, an Agfa Company; Polymount US LLC; PPCTS / ECO; QuadTech, Inc.; Screen USA; Ship & Shore Environmental; The Provident Group; Tri-X Incorporated; XericWeb Drying Systems; and X-Rite Pantone.

Speakers included: Brian Ashe, X-Rite; Richard Black, All Printing Resources; Roger Bostdorff, Leader Engineering-Fabrication, Inc.; Bobby Congdon, The Sonoco Institute of Packaging Design and Graphics; Cori Devlin, DuPont Packaging Graphics; Robb Frimming, Schawk; Travis Gilkey, Best Label; Malcolm Keif, California Polytechnic State University; Paul Lancelle, Eastman Kodak; Veronika Lovell, Sun Chemical Corporation; Rory Marsoun, Esko; Al Marquardt, Kimberly-Clark; Mark Mazur, DuPont Packaging Graphics; Michael Orcutt, Matthews Brand Solutions; Dan Rosen, Flint Group Flexographic Products; John Seymour, QuadTech; Joe Tuccitto, Flexographic Technical Association; and Guy Yogev, AVT.

Flexographic Technical Association

www.flexography.org