Awards and Honors Abound at FTA Banquet
The Flexographic Technical Association’s (FTA) annual Forum is currently underway in Fort Worth, Texas, and began on Sunday with the Awards Banquet.
The ceremony, which lasted two hours, included presentations of 110 Excellence in Flexography Awards, the President’s Award, three Technical Innovation Awards, two recognitions for sustainability excellence and the induction of a new member to the Flexo Hall of Fame.
Excellence in Flexography
Among the 110 total Excellence in Flexography Awards presented during the banquet, six received Best of Show honors, signifying the very best of the gold medal winning entries. These included:
- Sunshine FPC, for its Extraordinary Fruit Co. Roast Figs and Apricots Wrapper
- Sunshine FPC, for its Jewelled Nougat Delights Wrapper
- McDowell Label, for its Performix Ion Multi-Phase Pre-Workout Dietary Supplement Label
- WestRock CP, for its Saris SUPERBones Rack Box
- International Paper Co., for its Diamond of California Nut Display Bin
- Mac Papers Envelope Converters, for its Domtar Business is Blooming Envelope
Technical Innovation Awards
During the banquet, the FTA announced three winners of its 2016 Technical Innovation Awards, which honors achievements that advance the flexographic industry toward better efficiency, greater productivity and unsurpassed performance.
Flint Group won in the prepress graphics category for its nyloflex FTF digital plate technology, which provides flat top dots by simply processing like any standard round top digital plate.
MacDermid Graphics Solutions won in the same category for its LUX ITP 60 Technology, which builds on its previously award-winning LUX Lamination technology, through providing the convenience of flat top dots right out of the box. The advancement was in the combination of creative formulating and plate construction expertise, providing a simple, yet complex solution addressing concerns of flat top users. No additional platemaking steps or equipment are needed to take advantage of the print quality and consistency that LUX flat top dots provide.
PAD Peripheral Advanced Design FLEXOMAID won in the heavy metal category for its AEROMAID Technology. The AEROMAID system cleans all types of anilox and gravure cylinders with remarkable efficiency, unparalleled accuracy and unrivaled repeatability, regardless of line screen or cell dimensions.
Mark Cisternino Inducted to Flexo Hall of Fame
Mark Cisternino was announced as the 54th inductee to the FTA’s Flexo Hall of Fame. Cisternino has been president of the FTA for 15 years and is among the strongest supporters of flexographic printing.
Mark Cisternino
His career began with a part-time job in the FTA’s mailroom, while working on his MBA at Hofstra University. He then served as associate editor of FLEXO Magazine, FTA’s marketing manager, director of programs & marketing, vice president and has been president since 2001.
Sante Conselvan Earns FTA’s President’s Award
Sante Conselvan
The FTA also honored Sante Conselvan with its President’s Award. As president of ATIF (Associazione Tecnica Italiana per la Flessografia), Conselvan led the formation of FTA Europe. The organization has created a more unified European flexographic industry, bringing together the Flexographic Technical Associations of Benelux, France, Italy, Spain and the U.K.
FTA Europe was formally established in February 2015.
Sustainability Excellence Awards
Kendall Packaging of Jefferson, Wis., earned the 2016 FTA Sustainability Excellence Award and Specialty Printing of East Windsor, Conn., received honorable mention recognition. The Sustainability Excellence Award is presented to companies for their outstanding efforts in developing innovative processes, products and management approaches that have had a positive impact on the three pillars of sustainability —people, planet and profit.
Kendall Packaging's sustainability accomplishments include the baling and recycling of all scrapped converted materials, sky lights being installed in work areas, high efficiency lighting in its facility, installing reduced energy air conditioners, sending out still bottoms to be repurposed for road material, installing two retention ponds to reduce the plant’s water runoff and working with customers to down gauge films.
Specialty Printing’s sustainability accomplishments include certification by the Sustainable Green Printing Partnership (SGP) and a reduced carbon footprint through a reduction in energy consumption and increased system reliability. The company’s Lean to Green program found ways to decrease runtime, reduce power and water consumption, reduce ink inventory and more.
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