Robbie Manufacturing Wins Best in Show

For two days, 36 flexographic professionals worked diligently, examining and scrutinizing 652 print samples for the 2005 Flexographic Technical Association (FTA) Excellence in Flexography Awards Competition.

The judges used a scale of 1-10 to rate factors like registration tolerances, dot reproduction, matching the proof, how difficult of substrate to print on and plate/printing complexity and levels of execution for sharpness and consistency. Judges for the Wide Web category were impressed by the strong, overall quality of the entries. With 165 entries in just the wide web category representing 25% of the total submissions, several judges praised the quality of entries this year. A variety of cutting-edge technologies was responsible for that.

Robbie Manufacturing stole the show with its Arizona Tea with Lemon Flavor 12 pack cans in the process film category. Not only did this package with the first place Gold Award, it also was given the highest honor of “Best of Show.” As best of show, it earned praise from both judging teams for its print quality and innovative use of color.

As color was very critical to this particular job, Robbie used both line and process printed colors blended softly together in the art to bring to life the true colors of AriZona’s metal cans. Most difficult was printing the ice cubes and giving the ice a “wet look” while not showing any color. Especially difficult where the ice reflects the green can seen through the cube.

“There was high coverage in the background, and some of the color builds they used were unique, especially in the ice,” said Ron Schroder, Williams Printing Materials, a Team level-of-execution judge. “They used cyan, pink and gray!”

“We were impressed with the fact that it wasn’t standard CMYK,” said Arleen Neustein, Excelsior Packaging Group, a Team degree-of-difficulty judge. “The printer modified its tones and ink colors to achieve something that was a dead-on match to customer-supplied samples of product printed using other methods.”

Team Judge, Joe Tuccitto of Dunwoody College, was equally impressed. “This printer really put flexo to the test. The colors used to make the highlights in the ice were very creative. It looked like it was going to melt right off the sheet.” Tuccitto added, “We can do the unthinkable now! We are at that level!”

The creativity of how it was built, good execution and the ice really standing out truly earned this print best of show, noted Andrew Berg, Sealed Air Corp, also a degree-of-difficulty judge.

Robbie Manufacturing is a leading flexible packaging supplier to the supermarket industry in the United States. The company also serves the food processor industry with customized packaging solutions.

Find more information about the AriZona Tea project and Robbie’s printing capabilities on our website or contact Penny Sweeny at 913-492-3400.