Themed “FTA's Golden Anniversary: 50 Years of Making Flexo Stronger,” the Foundation of Flexographic Technical Association's (FFTA) 2008 Annual Forum will, according to event organizers, offer attendees “technical content unparalleled to any other program this year.” Printers and converters will find the conference specifically geared to their objectives.

Set for April 27-30 at the Hilton Anatole Hotel in Dallas, the Forum boasts 10 sessions, housing six presentations each. Sessions include the popular Prepress as well as Business Management, Emerging Technologies, Flexo 101, and FIRST/FQC (Flexographic Image Reproduction Specifications and Tolerances/Flexo Quality Consortium). This year's Forum also sees the return of the Sustainability Session, one of today's most pressing issues, and welcomes the addition of two new sessions: Faster, Better, Cheaper and a Newspaper Session.

“Our primary goal when developing the program was to make sure we offered subject matter attuned to keeping their [printers/converters] operations competitive in today's evolving business climate,” says 2008 Forum chair Scott Gilbert of Smurfit-Stone Container Corp. “We've taken a 'by the people, for the people' approach. Each session is chaired by a printer/converter, which helped tremendously in developing the content because he/she could ask himself/herself, 'Is this something I would want to hear as an attendee?'”

Forum co-chair Mark Mazur of DuPont Imaging Technologies adds, “What sets this Forum apart, aside from the energy brought by the fact that it celebrates FTA's 50th anniversary, is that there is very little supplier influence. We wanted to make sure the topics addressed what printers and converters want and need.”

Attendees will learn about achieving color quickly, controlling variables, waste-reduction initiatives, and tools that will optimize productivity. As an added bonus, printers/converters and consumer product company (CPCs) representatives receive more than 25-percent off the regular Forum registration rate.

“Each session in some way or another addresses the challenges and opportunities facing a printer/converter today,” Mazur says. “The best thing to do: Bring more than one person so every session is covered and more information is brought back to the plant. Being at Forum, talking with others, evaluating what's happened in the past 50 years, and envisioning what's to come in the next, is how you keep abreast of everything that's going on.”

Forum 2008 begins April 27, with the highly popular Prepress Session. Attendees can learn about solutions to old and new challenges such as ever-shortening lead times; educating print buyers as digital proofing becomes mainstream; increased customer expectations; achieving color on-press as quickly as possible; and waste reduction. The session will conclude with information on how these latest advances are reducing flexography's carbon footprint.

Attendees in the Business Management Session will explore answers to today's most critical questions such as “How can I best meet customers' needs and expectations?” and “How can I handle capacity and capability challenges?”

The Emerging Technologies Session will cover the ins and outs of today's innovations designed to complement flexography's capabilities and enhance speed-to-market.

For those new to the industry (or those needing a refresher course), the Flexo 101 Session will provide an overview of some of the basic principles and practices of flexo printing. The FIRST/FQC Session will present ways to apply the near-neutral calibration process using G7 technology; how to use statistical analysis to document press performance; and how to conduct research to understand the phenomena of plate performance as it relates to composition/process variables.

Attendees who want to learn how to do things Faster, Better, Cheaper will hear industry experts speak about the tools and techniques that will assist in this quest. The Forum will conclude with the multifaceted issue of Sustainability, where attendees will hear presentations on the Sustainable Green Printing (SGP) Partnership; how to define and communicate sustainability via flexo; and sustainable inks, substrates and solvents.

Co-locating with FTA's Annual Forum is the INFO*FLEX exhibition, the flexographic industry's top gathering of buyers, sellers, educators, students and professional flexographers representing all aspects of flexo and in-line converting. The show floor is nearly 85 percent reserved with a sold-out exhibition expected by show time. That event runs April 28 through April 29.

Nearly 2,000 delegates are expected to turn out for the Annual Forum event, which coincides with the 50th anniversary of the founding of FTA. Golden anniversary celebrations marking the occasion include the group's annual banquet and awards reception on April 27, and a special 50th Anniversary Luncheon on April 28, where FTA will unveil the limited-edition, 50-year commemorative journal. Finally, a Golden Jubilee party on the evening of April 29, will take place at Dallas' SpeedZone® race park.

Premier sponsors of the FTA Forum include 3M; All Printing Resources; ARC International; Environmental Inks & Coatings.; Fluid Ink Technologies; Mekrom-Degraf; Rogers Corp.; tesa tape; Nazdar; and Sun Chemical Performance Pigments.