Education, Knowledge and Know-how

Everybody wants to reach a production process that is repeatable and of improved quality.
One can do this by identifying the variables within the system and understanding their interactions in printing.
This objective is attainable via educational activities in order to improve users technical know-how and allow a continuous update to the latest production techniques in flexography.
A significative experience, gained over 30 years of activity, allows flexo•expert to be a competent partner to rely on, in case of educational, calibration and consultancy requirements within the flexographic printing process for packaging production.

Certified education

The educational activities offered by flexo•expert are supported by the 30+ years of experience of Stefano d’Andrea within the flexographic industry.

Stefano is an industrial graphic expert who was acknowledged as Certified Implementation Specialist according to the FIRST (Flexographic Image Reproduction Specifications & Tolerances) program of FTA, the American Flexographic Technical Association.

This important acknowledgement is given after the completion of 3 levels of in-depth training on the flexographic process that covers all aspects, starting from the communication between the customer, the prepress and the printing phases, up to the optimization and characterization methods of the flexographic printing system.

A winning method

Flexographic Image Reproduction Specifications & Tolerances (FIRST) supports the methodical approach to process control, optimization, fingerprinting, characterization and process improvement as outlined in CGATS TR 012-2003 (Graphic Technology – Color Reproduction and Process Control for Packaging Printing).

While each organization may use its own workflow based upon its specific needs, there are certain fundamentals universal to the flexographic printing process that must be known for the system to be effective and produce quality and economic satisfaction.

With a firm understanding and application of this methodology, and thanks to the educational program offered by flexo•expert, flexographers can:

• identify potentially troublesome issues;
• benchmark press performance;
• utilize statistical analysis to maintain optimal conditions;
• perform accurate device calibrations;
• identify improvement opportunities;
• preserve stable conditions for repeatable results

All with the end result of satisfactorily reproducing the graphic design that was commissioned.

The training activities offered by flexo•expert comply with the FTA FIRST method, with the ISO standards relevant to the flexographic process and with the Guidelines and specifications suggested by Atif (www.atif.it) to guarantee a level of professionalism appropriate to the modern needs of packaging printing in flexography.

Training courses

Educational and technical training activities are addressed to packaging printers (flexible packaging, labels and corrugated), platemaking companies, repro studios and graphic designers, manufacturers and distributors of printing presses and related technologies, graphic schools and trade associations, brand owners.

All educational activities are conducted by Stefano d’Andrea, graphic arts expert and FIRST Implementation Specialist, Level III (Certificate #ISC0183), certified by the Flexographic Technical Association (FTA), the world’s leading professional society dedicated to the advancement of the flexographic printing process.

Program of activities covers the following topics:

Base Course (6 hours)
Ideal for a good introduction to the fundamentals of the flexographic process, touching the most relevant subjects from the printing group components to elements of prepress and system calibration.

Advanced course (18 hours)
Dedicated to the advanced users who need to dig into more technical information with detailed description of every component in the printing group and their variables. Our interaction with color reproduction, from perception, through measurement and management in prepress. And finally a complete step-by-step description of the system calibration with optimization, fingerprint and characterization.

Complete course (24 hours)
The complete package, includes all subjects of the Advanced course plus a deeper comparison between different printing technologies and evolution of the flexographic process. A full training about the platemaking process and its calibration is also included.

Detailed Program of Courses

Legend to symbols
⬤ = full subject covered during session
◒ = subject covered in essential concepts