Submitted by ARC Staff

The Printing Committee of the Association for Roll-to-Roll Converters (ARC) is broadening its focus to include all printing technologies, embracing a more inclusive vision for the global printing community. Formerly known as the Gravure Committee, this evolution reflects a commitment to serving printers worldwide, regardless of the technology they use.

At the end of August 2021, the Gravure Association of the Americas (GAA) merged with the Association of International Metallizers, Coaters and Laminators (AIMCAL) to become a committee that would concentrate on the printing function of converting. At the time of the merger, the committee was to keep its initials, GAA, but the acronym stood for Gravure AIMCAL Alliance. After the ARC name became official, the GAA simply was referred to as the Gravure Committee.

When asked about the renaming, Jim Garvey, the committee chair, said, “The renamed Printing Committee has embraced the reality of the packaging and product segments – that printers use the best printing process for each project. This shift moves the Printing Committee from limiting itself to the gravure sector to encompassing all printing technologies.” The name change was unanimously endorsed by the committee.

Why the change? Industry trends and market evolution

The change in name and focus reflects two evolutions: first, adding a committee directed at the printing function of converting was a plus for the association, and second, the changes in printing technologies. Today, most printers offer more than one technology, e.g., flexographic, gravure and digital, and hybrid presses are being implemented, especially for labels and packaging. As part of its commitment to better serve the roll-to-roll converting value chain, having the Printing Committee makes it possible for ARC to bring all facets of the industry together – printing, metallizing, coating, laminating and web handling – and ensures the success of every member’s customers. This expansion ensures that ARC serves the global printing and converting community from end to end, enabling members to access insights, resources and innovations across all sectors.

“Although its name and scope have changed, ARC’s Printing Committee will continue emphasizing the educational and support functions that have long been part of GAA’s mission,” said Rod Sosa, a committee leader and ARC board member. This includes understanding customers’ needs, promoting operational efficiencies, cultivating innovation and promoting education through textbooks, articles in Converting Quarterly, R2R Conference Printing Track speakers and presenting training courses and seminars.

One of the first tasks of the Printing Committee will be to encourage the universities and colleges that conducted Gravure Days to now promote Printing Days to introduce students and faculty to the importance of printing as a manufacturing process and to the careers that are available across all printing segments. The committee has started to update the GST Gravure Standards and Tolerances publication with the help of the Association’s gravure-endowed professorship at the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT).

The Printing Committee also will continue GAA’s tradition of promoting new technology by recruiting speakers to discuss the latest innovations at R2R Conferences and other meetings worldwide.

The GAA legacy: a strong foundation for the future

ARC’s Printing Committee stems from a 2021 partnership between the GAA and ARC’s predecessor AIMCAL. The combination of the two associations unified the converting supply chain since many members of the two groups are suppliers to or customers of each other.

The first GAA, the product of a series of mergers, was formed in 1970-71 by the combination of the Gravure Research Institute with the Gravure Technical Association. In 1987, top executives at Sears and JCPenney encouraged the formation of an end-user group, which prompted GAA to establish its Gravure Catalog and Insert Council. (In the 1980s, Sears and JCPenney, the largest users of the rotogravure [gravure] printing process, relied on it to produce their catalogs, a driving force in the growth of the publication printing segment.) The Council’s highly successful meetings helped support the GAA for roughly two decades. GAA’s annual conventions also generated interest and revenue, drawing 1,000 attendees to the Waldorf in New York City or the Drake in Chicago.

However, due to the size, volume and revenues produced in the publication segment, those members dominated the leadership of the GAA and the focus of its conferences. This was at the time when consumer packaging was being seen as a marketing tool, and the gravure process in the packaging segment was growing. Tension between the publication and packaging segments increased. So, by the late 1990s, the group’s gravure packaging members decided to become independent and formed the PLGA (Packaging and Label Gravure Association Global).

A bit more than a decade later, it became evident the Internet would become the dominant communication technology over newspapers and magazines, and new retail companies didn’t always need printed catalogs. This led to the realization it would be best for users of the gravure printing process to pool their resources to develop and improve the technology. During 2012, the boards and leadership of the GAA and the PLGA worked out a merger to establish a new organization to serve the needs of the entire gravure industry (publication, packaging, coatings and product) across the Americas, creating the Gravure Association of the Americas. The merger created the second rendition of the initials GAA.

Education and training always have been prime objectives of the GAA. In support of those initiatives, it endowed a Gravure Professor Chair ($2.5 million) at RIT and established the Gravure Education Foundation (GEF) endowment in 1979 with $1 million. In 2018, the GEF joined forces with the Print and Graphic Scholarship Foundation (PGSF) program, which awards thousands of dollars in grants and scholarships each year to support students and collegiate programs in the graphics field and manages the GEF endowment. This tradition continues through ARC’s Printing Committee, ensuring that today’s students and professionals have the resources they need to advance printing technology worldwide.

Join the global printing community

The Printing Committee welcomes members from around the world who are shaping the future of roll-to-roll printing and converting. To join, visit the ARC website at www.rolltoroll.org, click on About, then Committees.