Indianapolis hosted for this year’s event
The FTA’s annual Forum and InfoFlex event this year set up shop in the state capital of Indiana, in Indianapolis, on 6-9 May. With the theme ‘Bringing it all together’, the discussions and seminars looked beyond the flexo printing process. Michal Lodej reports.
A combination of educational content and networking, FTA’s Forum and InfoFlex is a well proven formula for engaging the flexo community. Every year the event moves across the continent, so that travel time and cost is shared equally around its members, and this year the show made its way to Indianapolis.
At the Forum welcome, Mark Cisternino, FTA president, said, ‘Welcome to InfoFlex and Forum 2018. This year’s theme is “Bringing it all together”, we try to put together a theme that properly reflects the market and this one really hit the nail on the head for the state of the market today.’
The show continues to grow with this year’s numbers reaching 235 companies taking part, filling up 375 booths to make it a sold out show.
In the sessions
As always the sessions covered a multitude of different sectors in the flexo world, and ‘Taming consumer behaviour through packaging design’, focused on the relationship between design and print.
The session’s co-chairs were Kevin Bourquin of Cyber Graphics and Dawn Connell of Snyder’s-Lance, who were joined by panellists Jason Edelen, creative director at We Are Alexander, Michael John, print quality manager at 3M, Jerry Thomas, CEO at Decision Analyst, and Jason Troutman, brand design manager at 3M.
The session outlined how disappointments and crossed wires can be avoided by better communication with the designer from the outset.
Mr Troutman explained that there needs to be a level of creative work completed before a brief is even considered, he said, ‘Shut up and listen. I know designers love to talk about the things designers like to talk about, but no one really wants to know how the sausage was made, so I like to tell my concepts as stories to better explain them, then try and figure out if that’s the direction the customer wants to go.
‘What I like to do is start a discussion and then shut up and listen to people talk about why they bought things and what emotions they felt. Only then can we start talking about briefing that path.’
Ultimately the brief for any packaging design should be to make it sell, and if it is an existing product with a redesign, to sell more.
‘Up to this point nothing has been designed we’re just all driving towards alignment together. The briefing helps us to know what to aim for, helps us to know the customer and ultimately to help inspire us. The brief only then kicks off the project.’
Trust the experts
It is important to remember the designer has been hired because they are the expert in that field. Mr Edelen, added, ‘You wouldn’t tell the doctor what illness you have, it’s the same for the designer, come to us with the problem and let us come up with the solution.’
Not being clear with the words we use can add to frustrations on both sides. Mr Edelen continued, ‘Using the word “feel” can be very subjective so how can you come to the same feeling with different people? We want to know what the problem is and then we can try to solve it. That brief becomes a contract for us, that’s what we work to, but we need to stop the “you never said that”, conversations.
‘When people see the design sometimes they want to change the brief because they look at the work and they realise that they ordered something that they didn’t really want. But good communication from the designer can explain why they took the work in that direction to eliminate any surprise at the end.’
At InfoFlex attendees can talk to suppliers in a relaxed exhibition environment
As you will know designers’ and printers’ roles in packaging come at completely opposite ends of the production chain. Most often the case is they will never see each other, and if problems arise, there is often no direct commination between them.
Mr Troutman said, ‘When designers do go to a print shop and the printer starts talking to me in a language I don’t understand, it doesn’t really help. But when I see what we are talking about in action and it is explained to me I get excited and everything starts to make sense. Then I can understand why something won’t work or why it is too demanding.’
Back to the brief
A lot of confusion could be avoided by the proper leadership from the agency or brand so the designers know who the printers are and their capabilities. Mr Troutman added, ‘If a printer doesn’t have a 10-colour press, but your design needs one, then the printer will say, “Ok now you have to make some changes” and that’s when you will get redesigns and that’s what’s going to cost money. So communication needs to be good.’
Throughout all this everyone in the chain is in the service of the brand, and should not try to promote their own preferences, so must pull together to make sure the project stays on track.
But whose responsibility is it to drive the alignment between all parts of the project, well it should be the brand but a good agency can help this lot.
Mr Edelen concluded, ‘We are all a brand owner in some ways if you know you are meant to be printing a Coca-Cola red and it’s coming out pink then you need to stop and figure out why, to protect the brand.’
Brits on tour
As part of the event, the FTA held its Awards Banquet where Eaglewood Technologies’ Sitexco Roll Cleaning System won the FTA 2018 Technical Innovation Award.
The Sitexco Roll Cleaning System is an intelligent, environmentally-safe and effective way of maintaining anilox inventory. Its advanced laser technology allows the user to easily clean ink and coating chemistries of all types. However this year three UK companies flew the flag for British flexo by winning the 2018 Sustainability Excellence Award, then in the pre-press graphics category, a 2018 Technical Innovation Award, and gold in the print categories.
Heritage Envelopes won the Sustainability Excellence Award for its PackMail packing solution for envelopes. This award is given to companies for exceptional efforts in developing innovative, processes, products and management approaches that have had a positive impact on the three mainstays of sustainability – people, planet and profit.
PackMail is a boxless packaging for shipping and storing envelopes to mail inserting companies by bounding product between two rigid cardboard ends with film wrap. This design keeps envelopes flat and safe from damage, reduces the environmental footprint, cuts-back on the amount of waste from packaging, storing, handling, and lowers transportation, CO2 output and fuel consumption.
Already, approximately 750 million envelopes have shipped using this new solution in the UK and Heritage plans to increase production by 50% in 2018. It is currently sourcing engineering and packaging materials partners in the US to keep the environmental footprint to a minimum.
The Technical Innovation Award went to Hamillroad Software for its Bellissima Digitally Modulated Screening (DMS). This software dramatically improves flexography’s quality and minimises common hardware issues like press bounce, barring and slurring, making it a very strong contender against both digital and gravure printing. The software produces near-perfect flat tones, sharp tinted text and sharp reverse tinted text.
‘This award provides the strongest public affirmation, by a panel of peers, experts in the industry, that they agree that what we have is a major technical innovation for flexo printing which will cause a significant transformation in what is possible,’ commented Andy Cave, CEO, Hamillroad Software. The only thing that could, or will ever beat winning such an award, would be to have many happy customers who just as emphatically say that Bellissima has transformed their business.’
UK printer Roberts Mart was also among the winners, taking gold in the wide web print category.
