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Flexo Quality Consortium FQC LogoThe Flexo Quality Consortium (FQC) Executive Committee met in St. Louis at Fall Conference 2017 for its monthly meeting. There has been a lot of activity recently and the momentum is building as we complete existing projects and transition to new ones.

High-Resolution Printing Project

The High-Resolution Printing – Wide Web project team has completed two press trials already and is planning eight more in the coming months. That will create a lot of good data. To facilitate collection and reporting, the team is working on reading the data on site to engage the supporting companies and facilitate collection and reporting for the project—hands-on learning for sure!

The team is planning on getting all trials done and the data analyzed in preparation for a final report at Forum 2018. If you are one of the member companies supporting the team, you’ll be contacted soon (if you haven’t been already).

Plate & Mounting Tape Optimization Project

The Flexographic Plate and Mounting Tape Optimization project team is working on bringing together its final report and recommendations. It is also planning on having a presentation ready for Forum 2018. Preliminary results (presented at Forum 2017) provided insight into plate durometer and tape density interactions.

CxF Characterization Project

The CxF Characterization Project work is also complete (again, presented at Forum 2017) and the project has been closed. The team believes work will continue in this area and will coordinate with the Standards Working Group (SWG) to keep membership apprised of future activity. The final report has been written and the team is adapting the content for future publication in FLEXO Magazine if you missed the presentation.

New Projects

There are two new projects that are just beginning. The first is going to investigate the effects of temperature and humidity on ink behavior. This project was initiated based on input from FTA membership. The team is being formed right now, so if you are interested please contact any Executive Committee member for details and to volunteer.

The second project is going to focus on opacity measurements and test methods. Retail and CPC brand clients are concerned with the opacity or hiding power for white film and for white ink on clear film. ISO standards and test methods do not exist specifically for application in the printing industry. In addition, the instrumentation used in the industry varies by geometry, leaving the measured results in a state that is difficult to compare and/or communicate. This team is also forming right now and is looking for interested members and leadership. Contact any Executive Committee member and get involved!

SWG Update

The fall of 2017 saw many of the standards reviewed at the spring meeting of ISO TC 130 Graphic Arts Standards committee held June 4-11 at Ryerson University in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Several of the standards have interest for the flexographic printing community and are highlighted here.

The ISO TC 130 Graphic Arts standards committee met Dec. 4-9 in Surakarta (also known as Solo) in central Indonesia. Look for the results of that meeting in a future update.

Working Group 2

The prepress data exchange group saw updates to:

If you would like to review and comment on any of the upcoming ballots on these standards, please contact FTA Director of Education Joe Tuccitto.

About the Authors: Jean Engelke is the chair of FTA’s Flexo Quality Consortium and a member of FTA’s Board of Directors and FFTA’s Board of Trustees. She has earned an AAS in graphic and design technology, a B.A. in printing management, an MBA and an M.A. in industrial engineering management. Jean started her career teaching printing and paper science at Western Michigan University. She has held positions in R&D, engineering and global product marketing with Appleton Papers, Alcan Packaging and Kodak. Currently she is the business development manager – packaging group for RR Donnelley. In 2017, she received the FTA President’s Award.

Dr. Danny Rich obtained a master’s degree in physics in 1977 from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in Blacksburg, VA. In 1998, he joined Sun Chemical Corp. to direct the Sun Chemical Color Research Laboratory in the Daniel J. Carlick Technical Center in Carlstadt, NJ. He has been awarded the Nickerson Service award from the Inter-Society Color Council in 1999, the National Printing Ink Manufacturers award for Technical Achievement in 2008, a Thomas Alva Edison award for innovation by the Research Council of New Jersey in 2008, the Robert F. Reed Medal from the Printing Industries of America in 2013 and the Mattiello Memorial Award from the American Coatings Association in 2015.