• April 16-19
  • Columbus, OH
  • Hilton Columbus Downtown
Linkedin Twitter Instagram Facebook
Early-bird pricing ends in
Days
Hours
Minutes
Seconds
Book Hotel Room
Room block closes in
Days
Hours
Minutes
Seconds
Download Event App

FORUM, at your fingertips.

Header logo FORUM 2023

Session

Flexographic Essentials

Wednesday, April 19

8:30 a.m. – 10:00 a.m.

Grand Ballroom

Full Event Schedule

About This Session

Join John Anderson and Brad Gasque as they deliver a session that provides a sound fundamental explanation of the key elements and activities as part of prepress, press components, and printing actions.

Their presenters will cover the similarities and differences between narrow and wide web flexographic printing, using presentations, videos, and on-press before and after examples.

Presentations will cover, at a high level, all of the key elements of the flexographic workflow from files, to plates, to plate mounting, to press setup and printing, giving a dynamic overview of how they interact and must be optimized for daily success.

Key takeaways from this session will include topics from FIRST as well as other industry documents, additional process recommendations, and tools to assist in process optimization and control.

Presentations & Speakers

FORUM 2023 headshot Zachery Blackburn

Essential Prepress Elements

Zachery Blackburn, Department Chair at Central Piedmont Community College

Presentation Details
Zachery will use media from several different styles of pressrooms to demonstrate the essentials of flexography. His presentation will contain a lot of information, specifically focused on prepress elements such as file preparation and inspection, plate making and inspection, and plate mounting.
Speaker Bio
About Zachery: Zachery Blackburn has been an educator in the flexography industry for 20 years. In this time, he has worked to achieve as many industry certifications as possible, including all three FIRST certifications. The students who come from his program have proven themselves by finding careers all throughout this fascinating industry.
Zachery is a graduate of the program he teaches, and holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Appalachian State University as well as a Master of Science from Fort Hays State University. Zachery is a frequent presenter at FTA conferences.
FORUM 2023 headshot Kenny Tucker

Press Components: Anilox, Inks, Doctor Blades

Kenny Tucker, Project Coordinator at the Sonoco Institute of Packaging Design and Graphics at Clemson University

Presentation Details
Join Kenny as he familiarizes attendees with the working components of the flexographic press including inks, anilox rollers, ink metering systems and doctor blades. He will inform attendees who are new to the industry about vital components of the flexographic process using easy-to-understand vocabulary, concepts and examples.
Speaker Bio
About Kenny: Kenny is the project coordinator at the Sonoco Institute of Packaging Design and Graphics at Clemson University. He is a Clemson graphic communications graduate and started his career at Sealed Air Corp working on prepress, color management, proofing, workflow automation, expanded gamut, press characterizations and management of graphic technologies.
At Anderson & Vreeland, he was a technology specialist installing plate making equipment, RIP software and inkjet proofing solutions. Most recently, at Frontier Label, Kenny was a production manager overseeing purchasing, production of narrow web labels, projects and maintenance. He joined Sonoco Institute of Packaging Design and Graphics at Clemson University in 2019, where he coordinates projects, industry seminars, research and workshops.
FORUM 2023 headshot Becky Bunch

What’s the Difference? Wide & Narrow Web Fundamentals

Becky Bunch, Program Manager, The Flexo Xperience Center at MacDermid Graphics Solutions

Presentation Details
A high-level overview of the fundamentals of flexography. Discover how these differ from wide web to narrow web and how these fundamentals have changed over time.
Speaker Bio
About Becky: After graduating from Clemson with a Master of Graphic Communications degree, Becky began her career at Esko on the Software Applications team, training customers on prepress software solutions. For the past four years, Becky has been working for MacDermid Graphics Solutions on the Applications Development team supporting new product development, partner collaboration and customers. Becky is now the program manager of The Flexo Xperience Center, a facility to foster and host industry training, collaboration, research, experimentation and learning, all designed to ensure package printing excellence.

Session Chair

FORUM 2023 headshot John Anderson

John Anderson

Miraclon

Session Chair

FORUM 2023 headshot Brad Gasque

Brad Gasque

DuPont

Session Chairs

FORUM 2023 headshot John Anderson

John Anderson

Miraclon

FORUM 2023 headshot Brad Gasque

Brad Gasque

DuPont

FORUM 2023 starts in

Days
Hours
Minutes
Seconds
Register

Sponsors

Become a Sponsor

Sponsorship Opportunities

Visibility in front of decision makers and end users.

Months of exposure before, during and after FORUM.

A variety of opportunities across different marketing channels.

Become a Sponsor
Footer FTA logo FORUM 2023

For more than 60 years, FTA has been enabling flexographers to grow their skills, connect with likeminded individuals, expand their reachable market and drive flexography to package printing dominance.

Linkedin Twitter Instagram Facebook
FORUM

FTA

The FORUM 2023 website uses cookies to ensure you get the best experience.

OK