Foundation of FTA Explores Flexo’s Global Gateway
World View
Hans Deamer, Windmoeller and Hoelscher, chaired the Flexo Global Session, where FTA’s technical and education director, Dr. John Anderson gave regional reports for both the FTA in North America and Australia (AFTA). Dieter Niederstadt of Asahi Photoproducts Europe offered the regional report for DFTA (Germany), citing a study done by the association that showed flexo is “seen as agile and innovative, but hardly reproducible.” Niederstadt informed the audience about a project by the DFTA to create a digital platemaking control strip, which would act as a quality guide for digital plates. Noting that size does matter, Jean-Pierre De Moor of Esko Graphics Asia spoke on threats and opportunities in Asia, most notably China, which hosts 96,000 to 160,000 printers, with 36,000 of them producing packaging. “Most are not sophisticated enough to compete in the world market,” Flexicon AG’s Gerrit Sander spoke about chances and challenges of prepress across borders. He warned, “Offshore production is an opportunity that requires more than cheap labor….By outsourcing labor you can focus on internal development projects.”
- Companies:
- Flexographic Technical Association