One of the shortest poems ever written is titled *Fleas*:

"Adam had 'em."

I find it incredibly elegant. Fleas, like the poem, are tiny. They’ve been around a long time, and “had them” is contracted down to “had ‘em,” making the poem itself even smaller. Yet, the poem is complete. Impressive.

Another document that impresses me is *Flexographic Image Reproduction Specifications and Tolerances*, or FIRST. It’s filled to the brim with everything we need to “produce high-quality and consistent print results, pressrun after pressrun”—to quote its description. For a relatively small publication, it’s packed with detail. It can be overwhelming, especially for anyone new to the world of diligent flexo process control. I know I spent years lost in that forest. All I could see were trees.

Now, I’d like to invite you to climb aboard my hot air balloon and rise above the forest for a change. Let’s look down on the process from a quieter, elevated spot where the trees shrink to the size of fleas, and we can finally see the forest’s outline. From that perspective, five main things come into view that we standardize and control: the ink, the substrate, the plates, the mounting tape, and the press.

The Ink 
We control the pigment, resin, additives, temperature, viscosity, pH, and ink film thickness applied to the substrate. Some of these are managed by our suppliers; others, we control in-house.

The Substrate
We standardize composition, coating, treatment, absorbency, color, and gloss. Consistency here often relies on what our suppliers deliver.

The Plates
We standardize the composition, durometer, surface energy, relief, and processing of the plates.
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The Mounting Tape
We control thickness, resilience, durometer, density, and adhesion.

The Press
We standardize the press, speed, color sequence, aniloxes, dryer temperatures, and the press room environment.

I can already hear some of you saying, “But Frank, there’s more to it than just that.” I’ll agree! The point of this post is to look at the process from a distance, to pull back from the details and hold on to a framework we can come back to when we find ourselves lost. Indeed, every element here has its specifications, which can be measured and has tolerances. There are ISO, ANSI, TAGA, BSI, CEN, PIA, and FIRST standards we and our suppliers can adopt. Tools like micrometers, viscometers, thermometers, spectrodensitometers, echo topography instruments, tape measures, scales, and gloss meters help us measure and monitor these specifications to stay within tolerances. And we rely, too, on our human perception of quality, color, and feel.

So, next time you feel lost in the forest, remember to take a ride in that hot air balloon. See the process from a distance, then go back and deal with the fleas with a bit more confidence.

And that, my friends, is what fleas have to do with flexo!

Last week I wrote about challenges associated with predicting ink consumption. Therefore, I felt compelled to follow up with a significant, related factor; controlling ink properties, especially with water-based ink.
A few years ago, I had the opportunity to assist a new client in Louisiana as they embarked on launching their flexo printing operation.

For years, they had been producing plain paper cups, but now, they wanted to break into the printed cup market. To do this, they had acquired a robust six-color in-line carton press.

The gentleman running the department was a capable leader with years of experience in offset printing, but flexo was a whole new ball game for him and the company. The team had been facing significant challenges, so they called me in for help.

When I arrived, the press was set up and ready to run. As soon as they started printing, it became immediately clear that their biggest issue, causing a chain reaction of problems, was poor control of their water-based ink. They didn’t have a way to measure viscosity, nor anything to adjust pH. At just 100 feet per minute, the ink was tracking through the press and making a mess.

We quickly called their ink supplier and ordered a #3 Zahn cup along with four gallons of DMEA (a pH adjuster). By the next morning, the supplies had arrived.

We mixed up fresh ink, adjusted the viscosity and pH to the recommended specs, and started the press again. This time, we ramped it up to 325 feet per minute before the operators had trouble seeing print details. At that point, we agreed the next step was to invest in a video inspection system.

Fast forward a few years, and I was called to help another client, this time in Salt Lake City, UT. They were printing on non-woven fabrics using a massive 144-inch-wide flexo press, and they, too, were running into serious trouble. With material costs between $5K and $10K per roll, the stakes were high.

The root cause? Again, it came down to poor ink control. Once we dialed in the pH and viscosity, things turned around quickly. I spent the rest of my visit walking the pressroom floor, coaching the team, taking notes, and periodically checking, “Do you have the ink under control?”

Some of the crew members only spoke Spanish, so I’d ask, “¿Tienen la tinta bajo control?” Soon, “la tinta” became the team's mantra.

A couple of weeks after I left, the general manager texted me a picture. The team had put up a picture of me near the ink prep area and started wiping ink on it with their stirring sticks whenever they made a new batch, like a form of cathartic release. It was all in good fun, but I’m sure they were a little tired of hearing me say “la tinta” by the time I left.
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I could share countless stories like these. What these experiences have taught me is that many of us still aren't managing our ink as well as we should, and it’s costing us—through unnecessary headaches, wasted material, and lost opportunities. I can't emphasize it enough: La Tinta!

Last week, I corresponded with a fellow flexographer about the complexities of calculating ink consumption. He noted that different calculators produced varying results, which led me to explain that accurately predicting ink consumption for a given image and anilox volume is difficult. In fact, it’s more like “voodoo”. That’s why my approach combines using a calculator with tracking and analyzing actual consumption data over time. Let me expand on that here.

The Variables:  Where Ink Consumption Gets Tricky
In theory, the key variables are straightforward: anilox volume, ink transfer percentage, image area, and the number of impressions. But let’s take a closer look at the real-world complications.

Anilox Volume:
Dan Reilly’s research, published by the Flexo Quality Consortium in the December 2011 issue of FLEXO magazine, illustrates how tricky volume measurement can be. If I recall correctly, the study found six different ways to measure anilox volume, with varying degrees of accuracy—and different results. Even for the same roller, manufacturers may report different volumes due to differences in measurement techniques.

Metering with Doctor Blades:
We’d like to believe that doctor blades precisely meter ink at the surface of an anilox roller. But anilox surfaces are rough at a microscopic level, with channels between cells and inevitable wear over time. Blades rarely meter perfectly, and operators often over-press them against the roller, causing ink to hydroplane under the blade. This can result in more ink getting past the blade than expected.

Ink Properties:
Viscosity, temperature, base type (water, UV, solvent), and surface tension.

Anilox Surface:
Roughness, condition, and surface energy.

Operational Factors
Ink spills, run length, residual ink losses (pans, hoses, and chambers), and shelf life—all of which affect costs.

In short, we are trying to control fine parameters within a complex, unpredictable environment. It doesn’t take much for actual consumption to deviate significantly—sometimes double or half the predicted amount.

A Practical Approach to Ink Prediction
So, what can we do? Start with the output from a calculator that aligns with your process, but don’t stop there. Track the actual ink consumed for each job’s plate over time. Use this historical data to develop a correction factor that you can apply to your calculator’s predictions for future jobs. This process isn’t easy—but it’s the best way to achieve more reliable estimates.

After all, as I often say, "Flexo. It's not rocket science... it's harder!"

I often think about how uniforms impact the productivity of press operators, ink technicians, and other industrial workers. Recently, I did some quick research on the topic, and here's what I found: uniforms can foster a sense of belonging and team spirit, which translates into greater productivity. They also reduce "decision fatigue," helping workers focus. It’s the same concept behind why people like Albert Einstein and Steve Jobs wore the same thing every day—to eliminate the small decisions that can distract from bigger tasks.

I agree with those points, but it’s another insight from my research that I find even more compelling, and one that I know affects my own productivity: wearing a uniform in the pressroom reduces hesitation to dive into the dirty work. Personally, I’m far more willing to get right in and handle the mess when I’m in uniform. Add nitrile gloves to the mix, and it’s full speed ahead!

Larger companies tend to use uniforms more consistently than smaller ones, likely because they can more easily absorb the costs and logistics of a uniform program. Smaller businesses, on the other hand, often have to manage their expenses more carefully. But I wonder—does this lead to a difference in worker hustle and effectiveness?

In my experience, it does. I’ve watched operators come in wearing street clothes, and they simply don’t work with the same intensity as those in uniforms. I’ve seen it time and time again—operators in clean sneakers and street clothes approach the job differently than those in uniforms. I know I do.
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While uniforms certainly help with team cohesion and focus, I’m more interested in their role in enabling workers to roll up their sleeves—literally and figuratively—without hesitation. That’s what matters most in our line of work. Reducing downtime, increasing productivity, and keeping machines running smoothly is dirty work, and it’s a lot easier when the team is in uniforms, ready to dive in.

I'd like to hear your thoughts or experience, feel free to comment below.

Ever found a stack of printed rolls ruined because the corona treater wasn’t running? I’ve been there, and it’s not pretty.

My first flexo press was in line with a blown film extruder, producing newspaper bags, printed or unprinted. It was a non-stop process, with film feeding directly into the press and onto a turret rewinder. When I wasn’t printing, I was extruding unprinted film for any one of 36 bag machines. We stayed busy.

Corona treatment was crucial for printing, and I quickly learned the pain of walking into work to find rolls with ink that wouldn’t stick. Back then, treaters made a high-pitched "eeeeeeee" sound when running, and a light bulb at the extruder indicated whether they were on or off. Every press I've operated or seen since has some kind of treater indicator.

But here’s something interesting: some treaters have lights that indicate when the treater is running, while others use lights to warn when the treater is off. Which setup is better?

If the light signals the treater is on, a bulb going out prompts the operator to investigate whether the treater is off or the bulb just died. Either way, it's a signal to check. However, if the light warns only when the treater is off, a burnt-out bulb might go unnoticed, leaving you at risk of printing on untreated film. This is problematic.

For many of you, this seems obvious—you wire the light to show when the treater is on. But if it were universally understood, every system would be set up that way. Yet, not all of them are.

So, if you want to avoid quarantined rolls and ink that peels off with tape, make sure your light is set up to come on when the treater is on. It’s a simple step that can save a lot of trouble.

How are your treaters wired? Have you ever faced issues with corona treating? Share your thoughts or tips in the comments below.

Remember, the right setup can save you from a lot of headaches.  Happy printing!