TECHKON has been honored with the FTA Technical Innovation Award 2024 for its pioneering ChromaQA5 with SmartInk, an AI-driven feature that simplifies precise ink toning adjustments without the need for extensive experience. The award was presented at the Awards Banquet during FORUM & INFOFLEX 2024, FTA’s annual technical conference and exhibition.
Joe Tuccitto, Director of Education at FTA, commented on the significance of Techkon’s achievement: “Techkon is one of two announced winners this year, underscoring the importance of the achievement and the impact ChromaQA with SmartInk can make.”
George Adam, President at Techkon USA, expressed pride in the team’s accomplishment: “All of us at Techkon are extremely proud to have been recognized for what we believe is an important innovation in an area that is traditionally based on decades-long experience of highly skilled individuals.”
ChromaQA with SmartINK simplifies the ink toning process by allowing users to define their base ink sets and substrates, enabling AI algorithms to provide precise corrections quickly and efficiently. This tool is especially valuable in addressing skilled labor shortages and increasing efficiency in the printing industry.
Jon Whalen, Assistant Production Manager at Interflex, shared his experience with ChromaQA & SmartInk: “In the past, if you didn’t have an extremely skilled laborer, you would have long color match times and a lot of difficulty in keeping the press running. Now, with ChromaQA & SmartInk, we have a lot of young guys that are starting out fresh and it’s helping them to understand how that base and pigment impact the overall color of the product. Overall, that’s equaled up to $20,000 in savings just in press time alone (in only 4 months). That’s not even counting up my ink room’s time. Plus, our workoff program has become a lot easier, too. Our workoff numbers are over $50,000 a month now.”
ChromaQA with SmartINK offers substantial benefits, including reduced make-ready times, decreased waste, simplified color matching, and improved consistency in color quality.