Chairman’s Report:
The Forum countdown has begun!

Welcome to the AFTA website. I hope my fellow Flexographers had a safe and enjoyable Christmas and New Year break.

Your AFTA council in now getting down to the busy part of our year and are starting to finalise the annual forum, this year held at the Crown entertainment complex in Melbourne. The venue has been booked and the confirmed speaker list is steadily growing.

The theme for this year’s forum is “Cleaner, Safer, Smarter Flexo”. During the forum we will have presenters with a wide range of topics coming from a very diverse background covering some of these topics: new environmental regulations, OH&S issues and updates, Packaging Covenant, Buyers perspective, Drupa and Latest technology advancements.

We will also have one of Australian Rules Football’s biggest names, Kevin Sheedy, as our keynote speaker, ensuring the forum will get off to a flying start. It is now time to start dusting off the print samples collected over the past 12 months and start sending them in to the print awards; the judges for the awards are currently being finalised and are addressing the previous year’s comments for improvements to be made to the judging format.

The workshops are also being finalised with the following topics being looked at:
• Print awards - what the judges look for
• Inks - how to use
• EPA and safety regulation updates.

As you can see, the new look web site is up and running with many new features and I urge you all to look at it and you will find it a great site for information on the flexo world and the AFTA.

Nominations for the Apprentice of the Year Award close soon and the quality of nominations received so far are of a high standard again. It is not too late to enter, so get your application from the web site and put yourself in the running for this prestigious award. It is disappointing that at this stage we have no candidates/
nominations for the Chairman’s Award; hopefully we will have in the coming months.

The Council members are endeavouring to remain relevant to the industry needs and provide you with up to date information. In order to do this, we like to hear back from our readers and members on the information and services we have provided to date and what our members would like our council to be working on in the future.

If you have any feedback or comments at all please drop us a line
Please enjoy the magazine and its articles.

Previous Comments from the Chairman:

1. Meet Shaun Pearce: Chairman of AFTA
2. The Rewards of being an AFTA Member (November 2002)
3. The countdown to the forum has begun!
4. Chairman's report: Where has the year gone?
5. Chairman's report
6. IT'S BEEN A GREAT YEAR FOR AFTA!