APR FlexoAcademy expands at Toppan facility

All Printing Resources' FlexoAcademy blended training platform has been adopted at Toppan's flexible packaging facility in Hickory, North Carolina, with two groups of production and support personnel completing the program since February 2025 and a third cohort under consideration.

The Hickory facility, formerly operated by Sonoco, produces flexible packaging for food and tobacco markets on four central impression flexo presses. Press trainer David Wheatley, who has worked at the facility for 14 years, implemented FlexoAcademy as a structured complement to his existing hands-on training program, providing employees with a shared knowledge baseline before moving them into equipment- and process-specific instruction.

The first group of ten production personnel began with a one-day onsite introductory session in February 2025, followed by eight weeks of self-paced online Flexo Fundamentals content and a one-day advanced flexo session. The program has since extended beyond the pressroom to include the facility's quality manager and pressroom supervisor, with additional quality technicians and prepress and graphics staff under consideration for future cohorts.

Wheatley said the program's sequential structure, covering prepress through press and into downstream production, helped employees understand how upstream decisions affect pressroom outcomes. 'I heard a lot of my people say, well, that makes sense now,' he noted. 'When it's presented in a clear flow, it's easier for people to understand how everything connects.'

'The success at Toppan shows what can happen when a company combines internal expertise with a structured, flexible learning platform,' said Catherine Haynes, executive vice president at APR. 'FlexoAcademy is designed to support the way converters actually train, with a balance of online learning, instructor engagement, discussion, and practical application.'