utschig@foxvalleytech.com

The customers we serve are demanding higher quality printing and graphics on our materials today because of the market trends toward process printing on all forms of flexible packaging, as well as on cartons. In order for higher quality to become reality, there has to be a coordinated effort from all parties involved to understand the flexo process and what is required to accomplish a successful result. The key to all this is the application of the three-part "Flexo Optimization Equation".

Each supplier to the printer, as well as the printer himself, has to be willing to generate the proper data to be successful in printing high quality graphics:

• The plate supplier's responsibility requires production of press fingerprint plates and the conditions under which they were made, along with which plate material was used.
• The ink supplier must provide the working parameters of the ink system to be used.
• Anilox roll suppliers are responsible for the cell count and volume specifications for the rollers used.
• Press-run condition reports need to be generated by the press operator so that they can be reproduced.
• The separator is responsible for the evaluation of results of the press characterization.
• Maintenance records of the printing press involved to produce the print should always be available for review.

An open dialog must exist among contributors for evaluation of the documentation provided so all concerned can make modifications of any of the elements to reach the common goal of high quality graphic print reproduction.

The most important areas of concern for all parties involved in the print process cannot be understood without a strong educational background in how the flexographic printing process works. Some of the more critical elements of training that need to be addressed are:

• The relationships and interactions of the different components within the process.
• The importance of a press characterization and what can be learned from it.
• Dot-gain relationships between types of plates, inks and substrates.
• How the press operator affects dot gain in the utilization of ink management and setting verification.

All parties involved must have a good understanding of how the total process works and how each individual component affects the end result.

An increase in quality is only one benefit that accrues when all parties are involved. More productivity and less downtime can also result. For example, say that a job is being run on a printing press and some problems develop, are corrected, and are duly noted on the press-run condition report.

When the job comes up again, all personnel from the various departments should be looking at all the documentation—especially the press-run condition sheet—so that they can determine if there is something that can be done in their departments to minimize the problem or make it go away. There usually is! If good documentation and communication is used, a printing job should run better each time it is done, because more has been learned and there is less educated guessing. If good procedures aren't set for job tracking, it is more likely that the same mistakes or errors in judgment will be made again.

If the proper education is provided for all of the contributors involved in the goal to produce High Quality Process Printing the success rate will go up as well as the profitability.

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