The last day of Virtual FORUM 2020 kicked off with Innovation and Technology Born from Frustration. They May 6 session was chaired by Johnny Stamey of Daetwyler and Stuart Beeson of Sandon Global.
Paul Teachout of PT Consultant Group spoke first. He explained that innovation has driven new technologies, and that these smart solutions allow flexographers to overcome workforce challenges and improve efficiency. Because younger generations have grown up in a digital world, he said it’s important for companies to provide opportunities for the growing population to continue to flourish in a new production environment. “Digitalization of manufacturing is going to continue to help us move forward in our production workflow,” Teachout said.
Dennis Hughill of Bobst Manchester Ltd spoke next, focusing on converter barrier solutions for the sustainable economy. “In general, we do see a shift toward inorganic transparent barriers in the North American market,” he said, explaining this alternative to structures available today is sustainable and cheap to produce. He discussed how the sustainability agenda is driving innovation in flexible packaging, and that these trends require collaboration between stake holders all through the value chain. He also observed that there is an opportunity for converters to enter barrier film production, particularly in pouches.
The next speaker was Peter Mulheran of Eaglewood Technologies, who talked about the benefits of laser cleaning. “There are three pillars that make up sustainability: people, planet and profit,” he said, and showed how laser cleaning has more sustainable benefits than traditional liquid cleaning. He also demonstrated how laser cleaning results in more vibrant color, an improved density reading and better consistency. He finished by explaining the cost savings benefits of laser cleaning.
The session concluded with a white ink round table discussion panel, which included Mickey Bower of Interflex Laser Engravers, John Gaber of Flint Group and Brad Gasque of DuPont Advanced Printing. The panel was asked a series of questions on topics that included poor white ink laydown and their opinions of innovative solutions to improve it.
After a scripted discussion, the panel was joined by the session’s other presenters for an open question and answer session. Attendees posed a number of questions to the complete roster of session speakers.
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