Industrial Dots - Anno I - n. 1/2016 - € 20.00 - Iscrizione al ROC n° 26062 del 23/11/2015 Poste Italiane SpA - Spedizione in Abbonamento Postale - D.L. 353/2003 (convertito in Legge 27/02/2004 n° 46) art. 1, comma 1, LO/MI
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Metis: from image scanning to surface capturing
When substrates are special, print software has to become “industrial”
Success, vision and thinking of Bill Baxter, “the” inkjet engineer
ISSUE 01/2016
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MILAN 15-17 NOVEMBER 2016
LEADING THE FUTURE OF INDUSTRIAL PRINT
The show will feature the latest technologies for printing on metal, plastics, foils, textiles, glass, ceramics, woods and other substrates. Exhibit categories include: • • • • • • • • • •
SPECIALITY
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SCREEN
KEY ORGANISATIONS WILL COME TOGETHER TO SHARE EXPERTISE DURING A FULL PROGRAMME OF EVENTS
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Technology, machinery and printing systems Ink, fluids and chemicals Materials and substrates Hardware and software solutions Pre-press devices Equipment for processing and finishing (cutting, pressing, moulding, etc.) Integrated and customised parts and systems Print heads, screens and other special parts Services for industrial sector Research, consultancy, trade associations, media
D I G I TA L • • • •
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INKJET
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3D
3 days of exhibition Conferences and workshops Award ceremonies Seminars and technical presentations
WWW.INPRINTITALY.COM
GIS software and electronics - the driving power for industrial inkjet printheads & ink supply systems. Any number of inkjet printheads Any number of inks Process colours Spot colours XY scanning Interleaving, multipass strategies Single pass expertise Ultra-high data handling capability No limit on print width No limit on image length Variety of print modes Binary, greyscale, drop size selection Advanced Front End technologies Customisable user interfaces GIS RIP supplied as standard 3rd party RIP compatible Ink system components Recirculating & end shooter Supported printheads Fujifilm, Konica Minolta, Kyocera, Ricoh, Toshiba, Xaar www.globalinkjetsystems.com - info@globalinkjetsytems.com
EDITORIAL Industrial Dots - Year I - No. 01/2016 Iscrizione al ROC n° 26062 del 23/11/2015 Editor-in-chief Silvia Guglielmi Co-publishers Lorenzo Villa - lorenzo@densitymedia.com Editorial board Roberto Bonsignore - roberto@densitymedia.com Elena Panciera - elena@densitymedia.com Collaborators Tim Phillips Smithers Pira Technical consultant Gabriele Lo Surdo - gabriele@densitymedia.com
The same old printing but from a new perspective
Advertising marketing@densitymedia.com Administration Manuela Spatola - manuela@densitymedia.com Graphics Genuine Roman Art - info@genuineromanart.com Printing Unigrafica srl - www.unigrafica.it Print run 2,500 copies
Industrial Dots is printed using green electric power, originating solely from renewable sources.
One copy: € 20.00 Back issues: € 35.00 3 issue subscription: € 54.00 3 issue subscription abroad: € 75.00 Subscription department subscriptions@densitymedia.com
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hen you're practically born with your hands covered in ink, you grow up and even start to grow old like that. It gets harder and harder to get excited about something that many consider revolutionary. Of course, the mass adoption of inkjet in the graphic arts industry, which began in the nineties (i.e. last century) and is now fully incorporated, has brought a welcome wave of innovation for manufacturers and end users. It has given rise to pioneering approaches, made space for new workers, forced the establishment to change its make-up and brought about collaborations that have evolved into partnerships and mergers in many cases. Yet, looking back over the last twenty years in our industry with one of my business friends and analysing certain recent “revolutions” with indifference, we often find ourselves coming to the conclusion that it was always about
iron, chemistry, imaging techniques and knowledge of materials. And that's still what it's all about. I've had this belief ever since we started Industrial Dots last year, something which young people, newcomers and incurable enthusiasts might turn their noses up at. It has only intensified in the last few weeks while creating our first issue. Knowing that many of the stars of this issue that you're about to read have written indelible pages on graphics and packaging, observing them for years and in some cases even finding a bit of my experience in their products, leads me to say that this industrial printing that everyone boasts and waxes lyrical about is not by any means a sector or a segment, but just a different perspective on the technologies we are familiar with. It's a different way of putting the pieces together, maybe adding to them or inventing new ones, but never straying from the paradigms that Gutenberg himself bowed down to.
trade magazines for enthusiasts Via Carlo Torre, 29 - 20143 Milan ITALY density@densitymedia.com - +39 329 7874378
Tutti i diritti sono riservati. Notizie e articoli possono essere riprodotti solo con l’autorizzazione dell’Editore e in ogni caso ci-tando la fonte. Manoscritti, disegni, foto e altri materiali inviati in redazione, anche se non pubblicati, non verranno, in nessun caso, restituiti. In particolare l’invio di articoli implica, da parte dell’autore, l’accettazione (in caso di pubblicazione) di un compenso puramente simbolico stabilito dall’Editore, salvo accordi preventivi sottoscritti e comunicati a mezzo R.R. Gli articoli firmati impegnano esclusivamente gli autori. Dati, caratteristiche e marchi sono generalmente indicati dalle Case Fornitrici (rispettivi proprietari); non sono comunque tassativi e possono essere soggetti a rettifiche in qualunque momento. Informativa ai sensi dell’art. 13, d. lgs 196/2003 I dati sono trattati, con modalità anche informatiche, per l’invio della rivista e per svolgere le attività a ciò connesse. Titolare del trattamento è: Density srl - via Carlo Torre, 29 - Milano (MI). Le categorie di soggetti incaricati del trattamento dei dati per le finalità suddette sono gli addetti alla registrazione, modifica, elaborazione dati e loro stampa, al confezionamento e spedizione delle riviste, al call center, alla gestione amministrativa e contabile. Ai sensi dell’art. 7, d. lgs 196/2003 è possibile esercitare i relativi diritti fra cui consultare, modificare, aggiornare o cancellare i dati, nonché richiedere elenco completo e aggiornato dei responsabili, rivolgendosi al titolare al succitato indirizzo. Spedizione in abbonamento a titolo oneroso Il ricevimento di questa rivista avviene a titolo oneroso secondo il tipo di abbonamento sottoscritto o tacitamente accettato. Chiunque desiderasse sospendere tale abbonamento ne avrà piena facoltà, senza alcun costo e basterà darne comunicazione scritta all’ufficio abbonamenti.
LIST OF ADVERTISERS Caldera
p. 9
INX Digital Italy
p. 44
FESPA
p. 19
Mack Brooks Exhibitions
p. 3
Global Inkjet Systems
p. 4
MS Printing Solutions
p. 43
IMI Europe
p. 42
Tecnargilla
p. 2
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inNews
Change at the top for Fujifilm Europe Go Miyazaki is the new Managing Director of Fujifilm Europe and will supervise all of the company’s European activity. Joining the Japanese company in 1981, Miyazaki has occupied several hugely prestigious roles, including Chairman and CEO of the Fujifilm North America Corporation and General Manager of the Photo Imaging Products Division. He has been a Board Member of Fujifilm Holdings Corporation since 2015, while simultaneously holding the position of Fujifilm Corporation Corporate Vice President. www.fujifilm.eu
Lubrizol acquires Diamond Dispersions Ltd The multinational Lubrizol Corporation announces the acquisition of Diamond Dispersions Ltd, a company specialised in the production of pigments and water-based colourants for the production of digital printing inks. Diamond Dispersions will become a part of Lubrizol Advanced Materials, directly linked to Lubrizol’s Performance Coatings, the company division focused on the production of chemicals for materials processing. The American company is broadening its product portfolio, arriving at the growing inkjet market. www.lubrizol.com
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Cefla invests in industrial inkjet, acquiring the majority of JetSet The renowned Italian multi-business industrial group has announced that it has acquired the majority of JetSet, from Bergamo, which is specialised in the design and creation of industrial inkjet printers and the construction of inkjet components for OEM constructors, incorporating it into its Cefla Finishing business unit. At the same time as the acquisition, with a quota of more than 60%, Cefla has promised a significant increase in capital for JetSet, which will enable it to accelerate the growth process and the already numerous new inkjet platform development projects. “The acquisition of JetSet – says Alberto Maestri, Managing Director of Cefla Finishing – is
a significant step because it enables us to further broaden our know-how in the digital decoration sector, which is showing great growth potential; both in benchmark sectors for our company and in alternative sectors, being plastic, fibre cement and metal, which we have been investing in for a long time”. Satisfaction with the operation is also evident in JetSet’s corner. “In Cefla we have found the ideal partner to continue investing in research and development for inkjet printing solutions in the industrial sphere, staying in line with our mission” – affirmed Sergio Ferrari, founder and Managing Director of JetSet. www.ceflafinishinggroup.com
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Tecnargilla: reopening the ceramic festival
XAAR 5601, the high-performance, low-cost Plug 'n' Print printheads With the new range of XAAR 5601 printheads, the Cambridge-based company is taking a big step forward in industrial printing. The 5601 is, in fact, the first printhead created by XAAR for low viscosity fluids – specially, water and solvent-based inks – and the combination of low purchase costs, high printing quality and easeof-use seems to foretell success. 5601 3p0, in production before the end of 2016, is the first model in this new head family, where XAAR has concentrated a mix of innovative technologies: thanks to the new Thin Film Piezo Silicon MEMS
technology, XAAR 5601 will have 5680 nozzles, capable of a printing speed of around 800 m²/h, variable drop size from 3 pl to 21 pl and eight levels of greyscale. The new head has a native resolution of 600 dpi or 1,200 dpi, which one can decide to use with one or two colours. The particular shape with Z section allows rapid and precise positioning. It is called “Plug’n’Print” and is designed to facilitate the installation or replacement, as well as configuration, of modules and print bars at extremely competitive prices. www.xaar.com
Tecnargilla 2016 is ready to welcome visitors and workers. In Rimini from 26th to 30th September, the leading global ceramic industry trade fair, already in its 25th edition, is aiming to repeat the excellent results of two years ago. There are three thematic sections: Kromatech, dedicated to colours, glazes and decorations for ceramics; Claytech, aimed at the brick industry; and Kermat, for producers of machinery and solutions in the ceramic world. The show will host workshops, conferences and events, including presenting of the Tecnargilla Design Award. www.tecnargilla.it
MH5220, the single pass printhead according to Ricoh
New semi-conductive BASF inks are accelerating the evolution of LCD panels Thanks to its new semi-conductive inks, BASF is creating new panoramas in the printed electronic circuit production industry, in particular the creation of LCD and OLED screens. The multinational has improved the composition of ink chemicals, doubling the mobility of the transmission droplets of the charges within the printed circuits. This enables energy-saving and the reduction
of working temperature of various pieces of equipment, such as the backplane, which processes images on LCD screens. The latter have only been built in glass or polymers resistant to high temperatures up until now. From this time on, however, one will be able to access a whole new range of possibilities. www.basf.com
Unveiled at the latest Drupa, the MH5220 printhead was created by Ricoh, mainly for applications in the label printing and packaging world. Designed to apply high viscosity UV inks – up to two colours per head – it has four channels with 320 nozzles each, for an overall total of 1280. The native resolution is 600 dpi, but it can reach 1200 dpi if the heads are used in a staggered configuration. The multidrop mode allows a drop size of between 2.5 and 9 pl. www.ricoh-europe.com
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It’s time for InPrint Italia: the industrial printing show will stop off in Milan before touching down in the US The time to start your engines for InPrint, the most innovative industrial printing inkjet industrial printing trade fair, is getting closer. From 15th to 17th November, Milan will host the third edition of the show, which will also appear for the first time in Orlando, USA, in April 2017. Inkjet, 3D, innovative fluids and materials are some of the main features of the
event. Despite its short history, InPrint already represents an important date in the calendar for OEM constructors, integrators, scholars and visitors. This is thanks to the capacity of its organisers to understand the need for an event capable of satisfying the constant requests for information, technology and solutions in a sector undergoing incredible growth. In-
dustrial digital printing surely represents the beating heart of InPrint which, during its last edition, led to many collaborations in this field. Seminars, meetings, presentations and academic conferences not only make the perfect combination, they also form a key part of the industrial printing segment. www.inprintshow.com
Sun Chemical opens a new R&D centre aimed at coatings for graphics and packaging
Durst Rho Vetrocer is sure to play a leading role among the inkjet platforms at Glasstec 2016
Sun Chemical is further reinforcing its presence in graphic arts and the packaging market by opening in a new research and development laboratory for pre-and post treatments in Carlstadt, New Jersey. It is a structure which extends over a gross floor area of more than 1000 m², equipped with the most advanced equipment for studying migration, adhesion permeability and other phenomena related to the world of coating. The structure is the fourth study centre of this kind created by Sun Chemical (the others are located in the UK and Japan). In 2017, a further laboratory will be added to help study the interaction between inks, materials, primers, varnishes and laminations. www.sunchemical.com
Durst will be present at Glasstec 2016 (20th to 23rd of September in Düsseldorf) with the Rho Vetrocer series of inkjet printers. Designed for digital printing on glass, it uses non-organic and eco inks made by Durst and it is available in three versions with printing widths of 1600 mm, 2500 mm and 3300 mm. Maximum resolution of 800 DPI, up to 6 colour channels (CMYK + 2 spot colours) and up to 4 heads per colour. It handles glass sheets of up to one ton and uses a patented handling system equipped with suction cups which move on a magnetic roller carrier, guaranteeing maximum printing precision. Available in both stand-alone and online versions, the Rho Vetrocer was created to guarantee 24/7 productivity. www.durst.it
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RIP SOFTWARE FOR PRINT-TO-CUT WORKFLOW
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Version 11 Highlights: • APPE4 : New APPE 4 includes smoother shades, extensive spot color handling and seamless gradient blend • PrintBleed : Pixel cloning and contour duplication to expand print area • Sync&Deploy : Synchronize RIP station and Print configurations. Manage updates in one click and deploy them automatically through the entire company • OpenCL : Boosted computing for higher RIPPING speeds • Optimized for Print Clustering and Digital Presses
www.caldera.com
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FROM IMAGE SCANNING TO SURFACE CAPTURING Metis capture technology is receiving an ever-increasing interest from the world of industrial decoration, especially in environments where the third dimension is a decisive factor ROBERTO BONSIGNORE | ROBERTO@DENSITYMEDIA.COM
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nkjet printing technology,the use of which in graphics implies performance together with quality and predictability, has encountered new challenges upon entering the industry. Amongst these is the need to enrich the production of “flat” images with a tactile and visual dimension, enabling the reproduction of natural patterns and materials, particularly in home decoration. Initially solved by using vector graphics, simulations and reconstructions of the material, which, with the need for increased precision and "naturalness" of the effect, led to the use of 2D and 3D colour scanners. Tools which are capable of capturing all the information necessary in order to faithfully reproduce the aesthetic and chromatic detail, as well as the surface irregularities of a material. With its experience gained working for the European Space Agency, the Italian company Metis has designed an innovative three-dimensional image capture system, inspired by technology originally designed to obtain information about the surface conformation of the moon and the other solar system satellites.
THE BEST IN PHOTOGRAPHY AND THE GENIUS OF LIGHT Metis scanners are based on an exclusive combination of the best high definition photographic technology with an exclusive variable angle lighting system 10 •
Colour images and 3D mapping remain as two separate yet perfectly overlapping files
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A SINGLE SCANNER THAT DETECTS 2D AND 3D Metis enables the capturing of extremely high quality colour images from the material to be reproduced, combining with a file that faithfully returns the three dimensionality of the surfaces
From space to industry On the back of this experience, Metis has created a system which takes inspiration from the same technology – known as “photometric stereo” – capable of scanning common surfaces in industry and visual arts. Photometric stereo requires hardware made up of a fixed photo camera and a luminous multibody apparatus: by illuminating the same object from different angles, images with various shadings are obtained, which, thanks to a system of practical algorithms which calculate dimensions and altimetric characteristics, return a digital file which will enable the printing system to faithfully reproduce the surface. A solid, “ready to use” device The DRS-DCS scanner family is based on this technology, whose creation gave Metis the decisive turning point in 3D scanning of surfaces. The revolutionary DC-SynchroLight technology is at the base of the system, an LED lighting system made up of lighting bodies spoked over the surface to capture, in order to emit light rays with variable intensity and angle. Thanks to sophisticated softwares, the DRS-2000-DCS scanner is capable of meeting the most challenging demands in many industry sectors. Yet the advantages go beyond the third dimension. Metis's exclusive PhotoMetric Stereo technology, combined with a sophisticated digital camera, returns faithful and crisp 2D images and 3D mapping, in a matter of minutes. The scanner has a solid 2,000x1,330 mm scan plane, which enables it to house materials often up to 500 mm thick, guaranteeing maximum precision and lack of vibration. From ceramics to works of art The applications are practically infinite. From fine wood samples to ceramics, to works of art like oil on canvas paintings, miniatures and reliefs.
Leather, in particular, is known to be particularly complex to reproduce: The DRS-2000-DCS is successfully used in this field, thanks to its ability to capture every single fold or relief in tricky leathers such as calf or crocodile. The advantages over other kinds of graphical editing are clear: Metis technology enables the separating of colour images from the 3D mapping of the subject, guaranteeing perfect overlapping, both in terms of captures from the same camera and from the same point of view. 3D maps can then be used separately, perhaps as a basis for building a virtually infinite number of alternative patterns. A considerable advantage for a fashion brand or a coatings and floorings manufacturer.
Software: a key element The extreme precision – DRS-2000-DCS is also one of the best tools in the world for accurate cartographic and fine art reproduction – is further enhanced by the proprietary software developed by Metis to make maximum use of the technology. Thanks to the Scan Director suite and the Light Inspector module, which uses a special proprietary format, a single file can contain thousands of different images of the same subject with all possible combinations of light, combined with the ability of exporting every single image with the desired illumination in TIFF format. Everything happens in real time and without the need to graphically rework the scan.
Metis: innovation born from passion Metis is these days intrinsically linked to the story of a family of developers – the Colagrande – who have been working in the field of professional photography since the 1970s. The long collaboration with Telespazio and the European Space Agency (1975-1999) in the developmental years of digital image technologies and the subsequent independent design and creation of systems, has given
Metis unique know-how. The presentation at Photokina in Cologne of the DMC (Digital Macro Camera) system with 3.3 Gb resolution (the most powerful camera ever produced in the world) dates back to 2000. The patented DC-SynchroLight LED system was, on the other hand, conceived in 2010; thanks to which the Italian company was able to develop its own scanner solutions for the industry.
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JETSET IS TAILOR MADE, TURNKEY INKJET INTEGRATION Experience in precision engineering, flexibility and the capacity to effectively produce digital printing and decoration systems have made this small Italian start-up a popular company respected by end users and OEMs alike BY ROBERTO BONSIGNORE | ROBERTO@DENSITYMEDIA.COM
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ndustrial printing is one of those sectors in which design and manufacturing experience, along with a clear vision of the multiple areas of application, can make a big difference. In this world, it's possible to find businesses (sometimes small or medium ones) that have taken advantage of their own uniqueness to stand out
and showcase not just solutions and products, but also new entrepreneurial perspectives. For our first InCompanies feature, which was created to unearth and promote corporate excellence in our market, we have decided to tell you about Italian company JetSet. Whilst technically still a young manufacturer, it is already well known and
respected by inkjet professionals. JetSet has come up with a truly useful and original mission: to design, prototype and mass produce highly specialised, high-tech inkjet printing platforms both for industry end users (increasingly more predominant) and OEM suppliers wanting to stand out from the competition with a digital solution.
“Those that come to us have already analysed all the standard solutions available. And haven't found what they were looking for” Sergio Ferrari, JetSet MD
AN INKJET CENTRE OF EXCELLENCE IN THE HEART OF THE ITALIAN INDUSTRY Based in Bergamo, the vibrant, historic district that has witnessed the growth of giants such as Dalmine and Brembo, JetSet (demo centre pictured) shares its focus on inkjet production with other manufacturers from Lombardy such as Reggiani (EFI), La Meccanica, MS (Dover), Robustelli (Epson), Aleph and more 12 •
inCompanies
NOT JUST MACHINES BUT COMPONENTS FOR QUICK, EASY INTEGRATION Conscious of the demand for taking digital printing to third-party machines and analogue workflows, JetSet develops ink recirculation systems, electronics, independent inkjet modules and much more
From a start-up to Cefla's digital arm JetSet was created on solid foundations, built on its founders' twenty years of experience in the manufacture of inkjet printers for the graphic arts. The emergence of increasingly bigger and stiffer competition led Sergio Ferrari, JetSet's founder and current Managing Director, to envisage a new scenario in the mid 2000s for himself and for the team. This scenario involved new partners, new applications and ideas that hadn't been seen before or at least hadn't been spoken of before. A few years of preparation, and the knowledge that credible solutions had to be offered to their customers and partners, led to the establishment of JetSet in 2011. An entirely Italian start-up at the service of the area of the industry that was hungry for more: inkjet. JetSet started out on the road to industrial printing before everyone else. This allowed them to get ahead of the game, make mistakes and rectify them, and make choices without the burden of stereotypes. This situation undoubtedly favoured development, leading them to play an important role and firmly establish themselves in the minds of customers, partners, opinion makers and stakeholders. So much so that JetSet earned the interest and courtship of several investors
just four years following its establishment. A few weeks ago, it became part of a multi-business group of 1,800 employees and 55,000 customers like Cefla, which incorporated the company from Bergamo into its own finishing division. Not machines but tailor-made solutions Operating in a market that is still quite young and hyperdynamic has had its risks but also advantages for companies like JetSet, most significantly the chance to operate in contexts where hierarchies have not been well established yet and where there is room for companies that innovate and experiment. As such, the Italian company has worked hard to be seen not only as an excellent printer manufacturer but also as a partner able to turn dreams into reality, possibly just in time and beyond rigid numerical parameters. That kind of result is only possible thanks to JetSet's flexibility and its team's extensive and often mixed skills. They developed an extraordinary ability to listen to, understand and re-develop requests from a wide range of industrial sectors. JetSet's organisational structure is very well defined. The management team and front-line managers communicate and exchange information in real time, reducing time frames for contact, pro-
cessing, acquiring know-how, design, testing, validation and delivery as much as physically possible. The business is based on three main macro areas: R&D, design and production. Incessant research is the heart of the business. Not a day goes by without the technical department, laboratory and testing centre testing the compatibility of different materials supplied by customers, ink chemistry, printheads and substrate transfer systems. The decision to design and produce the machines' components almost completely inhouse is one of the biggest factors that gives JetSet a competitive edge. That is made possible by an experienced team and a production structure with well integrated design, assembly, electronic and electrical component installation, testing and shipping departments. Each of these steps is rationalised as much as possible in terms of time and resources. Just think, producing a fully functioning printing platform designed ad hoc only takes an average of 12 weeks from the customer's request. GATE, what else? The inkjet technology implemented by JetSet is based on a few fundamental values. Some of the most relevant of these are perhaps modularity,
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inCompanies universality, versatility and scalability. There are actually no ready-to-use printers; they are always built according to the customer's specific needs. JetSet has already managed to combine the majority of operating paradigms from a wide range of printing systems in an exclusive technological platform on which all projects are based: GATE. GATE can use any type of expendable ink chemistry, from water based to UV-curable ink and from solvents to pre-treatment liquid and functional inks. The choice of printheads, for single-pass architecture or scanning, and the material feeder system are the next step. By way of example, JetSet is capable of building roll-to-roll systems, fed by a conveyor belt or with a vacuum table, with print widths of just a few centimetres to several metres, in one colour or multicolour, with prototype productivity levels or for 24/7 industrial production. Basically, there are no limits. GATE can be used to produce stand-alone printers or integrated designs, which can include, for example, the application of an inkjet module to a printing line or analogue converting. The M series (JetSet's single-pass inkjet platform) can integrate Kyocera, Xaar or Dimatix printheads, equalling its own productivity with the linear speed of the production lines into which it is installed. Who turns to JetSet and why? Operating as a technology provider in such a vast, multifaceted market crowded with endless types of customers and suppliers is often a balancing act. That's why JetSet has refined its commercial approach strategy, dividing its range up into two segments and addressing two main types of businesses. The first is the supply of complete printing systems or modules to be integrated into OEMs producing machines for different sectors, from graphics to textiles and even ceramics, wood and glass. In many cases, JetSet designs and builds a printer with an exclusive design and unique
A young, competent team with the ability to listen and experiment: the people behind JetSet As with all successful companies, it's the people that make the difference at JetSet. And the team that operates from the production unit in Ponte San Pietro is young but brimming with skills they've picked up from a region with a strong industrial vocation, such as technical training in the local engineering institutes and, most importantly, from experience gained in the field. A team of 3D designers, electricians, carpenters, electronic engineers, software developers, assemblers, installation and support staff
characteristics for its partner, or it only supplies components like ink recirculating systems, scanning print engines or single-pass print engines to integrate into its partner's machinery. The second area of activity, and one that is more often than not covered by confidentiality agreements, sees JetSet in direct contact with the industry players
as well as a managerial and administrative team that knows what it means to offer complex technologies and take them to market. They are men and women that have learned to think outside the box in just a few years, to sit down with end users in every sector, to accept new challenges, make comparisons, acquire specific knowledge and design viable and sometimes unique solutions, to the point of creating ideas and patents that have become part of the company heritage.
accustomed to purchasing, installing and using fully customised machinery. In this case, the Italian company operates as a complete solution provider, from pre-analysing the application to formulating and installing an industrial inkjet printing system at one or several of the customer's production sites.
R&D, DESIGN AND PRODUCTION: ALL IN-HOUSE The research, prototyping, production, assembly and testing departments enjoy simple, solid organisation in order to reduce platform development and release times as far as possible 14 •
inCompanies
INTERVIEW
Davide Ferrari Product Manager & Sales JetSet
“We are focused on self-sufficiency and are equipped with industrial machines and specialist resources to produce all components in-house� What are the most challenging obstacles that you face on a daily basis? The main problem is the difficulty knowing what the customer expects. Most of the time we're working with a blank canvas. But we've got used to it and it's actually a way for us to stand out as a specialised solution provider. Another problem is that often inkjet technology is to be incorporated into a print or decoration work flow that is already well established, and usually analogue: pad printing, flexo, screen printing and offset printing. The biggest challenge is to equal or match the result, respect the parameters, or even just to make the company understand the difference between contact printing and noncontact printing like inkjet. Everyone in this sector is protective of their own technology. How have you managed to find your place in the market? Let's just say word of mouth works very well, but I'm using that term inappropriately. Whilst it's true that customers are generally not very inclined to share information about their technologies, our main partners are actually manufacturers of printheads and ink chemistry. People looking for specific solutions mostly tend to go to these big companies and if they get a yes, the next step is almost always to request information to enable the project to be put into practice. And I can now say that JetSet is almost always one of the recommended partners. Why is JetSet so efficient? To answer that question we'll have to go back to the day it all started. The initial strategy was very clear: we wanted contact with the largest possible number of manufacturers of printheads, lamps and
automation so that we could supply our customers with the best solution to their printing or decoration problems. When we have a potential customer, our main concern is ensuring that we know the type of fluid to use. We then ask ourselves which printhead is most suitable, and then we outline the type of machine so that all the pieces of the puzzle come together. To carry out this sequence, we must have the knowledge to link up as many technologies as possible. For example... I want to print on ceramic to create tiles. This is a typical case in which the ink chemistry is well defined, as the printed material will have to undergo specific binding and post-treatment processes. Based on the distance between the material and the print engine, I have to choose from different types of printhead, prioritising quality or productivity, or ensuring both, depending on the result the customer wants to achieve and the budget available. Hundreds of these analyses and the creation of many other solutions allowed us to introduce GATE. Aside from its technical capabilities, what else does GATE represent? It encapsulates how we operate. We designed a completely modular platform. Each part of it is composed of elements that can be combined in different ways to create a virtually endless range of solutions. It's not just a platform but the expression of a concept that opens the door to countless sectors of application. What makes you different from everyone else? We ensure that everything we design can be used in all our solutions so that we can respond quickly to
a customer's request. It goes without saying that to do this you need to have the entire supply chain under control. We focus on self-sufficiency and we are equipped with industrial machines and specialist resources to produce all components in-house, including software developers, electrical system designers and engineers. We are also open to all kinds of customisation and this has resulted in an exponential increase in our knowledge of materials and extreme applications (such as producing sensitive military documents). This has made JetSet a development hub with few rivals across the world. What is the most difficult material to work with? Out of the most common materials, probably glass. It's a substrate that you need to have a deep chemical knowledge of and which must be processed following strict procedures. However, surprises with materials are a common occurrence and often relate to the customer's scarce knowledge of them. That's why we analyse substrates directly and if we need more specific tools we activate our network of partners and research and development centres. Being the technology partners of companies that are sometimes competing with each other is a very unique situation... Professionalism and discretion are the foundations of every good relationship, especially in a sector built on technological prerogatives. Over the years, our partners have seen that as well as being exceptional developers and testers for their technology, we are also very reliable. That's why end users and big manufacturers come to us and trust us, often on the recommendation of printhead and ink manufacturers.
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inDevices
INKJET AND SCREEN PRINTING: MORE INSEPARABLE THAN COMPLEMENTARY With a decidedly industrial structure, the 3000 D is a digital printer that can be fully configured on demand and is designed with a view to complete integration with production lines in traditional screen printing companies. The 500 D is an inkjet laboratory with several aces up its sleeve, all to be discovered BY ROBERTO BONSIGNORE | ROBERTO@DENSITYMEDIA.COM
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he growth of digital technology in the world of digital printing is generally considered a phenomenon at odds with the analogue approach. Inkjet versus screen printing. Two sworn enemies in a contest that could see the two techniques battle it out over volumes in a constantly expanding market. A continual push and pull; with the potential for high production volumes in screen printing on one side and the versatility and scalability offered by digital printing on the other. However, there's actually a third option, which aims for the co-existence of analogue and digital systems, focusing, in some applications, on genuine integration that can fully maximise the potential of both technologies. To be able to test the biggest advantage of this combination in the context of industrial printing, it is still vital to have mastered both systems. Complete knowledge is required, which is often synonymous with many years of experience, accompanied by an innovative approach to research and development.
FROM FATHER TO SON, 100% MADE IN GERMANY The life and fortunes of Thieme are closely linked to the family of Werner Thieme (on the left next to his son, Frank). In the 1960s, they produced a solid business model that was fiercely self-sufficient and indifferent to market whims 16 •
“We are not focused on an easy victory in itself but on establishing solid and lasting relationships with our partners” Frank Thieme
inDevices
THE COMPACT SOLUTION The Thieme 500 D (left) is the ideal inkjet printer for ondemand manufacturing with high added value. It allows the ink chemistries to be easily replaced, making it a perfect laboratory for combining fluids, printheads and materials
THE INDUSTRIAL PLATFORM The Thieme 3020 D (right) is a flatbed suitable for the decoration of cardboard, plastic, wood, metallic laminates and glass. The size of the table, number of printheads and type of colours can be fully configured on demand Thieme has always been a key player in industrial printing Counting on a long history that began in 1960 producing components for machinery, Thieme rightfully belongs to the select group of players that combine both experiences. A distinctly bright attitude allowed the German company to continuously evolve, specialising more and more in the manufacture of plastic materials and, in the early 1970s, starting production of solutions for screen printing designed predominantly for industrial use. Collaboration with Agfa in 2005 marked Thieme's entry into the digital market, where it now has a firm place offering platforms fully designed and produced at its own premises. Presenting the 100% inkjet by Thieme The 3000 D is the first digital printer produced entirely by Thieme. It's a flatbed inkjet print-
er with print formats of 780x1,080 mm and 2,060x3,360 mm, designed predominantly for industrial use for the decoration of cardboard, plastic, wood, metallic laminates and glass with a thickness of up to 50 mm. There are up to 8 colour channels available, with the possibility of configuring the ink to your needs (CMYK, Lc, Lm, Lk and White, as well as optional primer and top coating). The standard Thieme 3000 D comes with 16 Konica Minolta KM1024 printheads available in three different product versions produced by the Japanese company. They allow this multi-pass system to print with a maximum resolution of 2,160x1,600 dpi, using UV-curable or solvent ink chemistries. Thieme can increase the number of on-board heads to up to 32, allowing the platform to reach a productivity close to 130 m²/h. The vacuum table's architecture enables the materials to be pre-loaded outside the printer
and then moved into position on the table. Precision above all else The material positioning system is one of the fundamental elements of the 3000 D. As well as using a laser measuring tool, Thieme has perfected a system of retractable alignment pins that are managed by its in-house software, allowing the substrates to be placed in exactly the required position. This is fundamental because the perfect positioning of the materials allows digital printing technology to be combined with screen printing, perfectly superimposing them, both in an online configuration and when managing alignment manually. Standard or tailor made? Despite the fact that the German company provided for a wide range of configurations, the
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inDevices
FROM CARS TO GLASS AND ELECTRIC APPLIANCES Thieme is a leading supplier of screen printing technology across a variety of sectors, from the automotive industry to the production of medical devices, not forgetting the fundamental world of electrical appliances
3000 D certainly couldn't be considered a standard printer. On the customer's request, Thieme can specifically produce automatic and semiautomatic feeding and stacking systems capable of guaranteeing 24-hour productivity. The customisation possibilities don't end there; Thieme can further increase the size of the substrate and the number of printheads, changing the type of printheads as appropriate and modifying the feeder system, by adopting a solution with a conveyor belt, for example. All this makes this printer to all intents and purposes a truly custom-made platform. The 500 D is the perfect laboratory inkjet solution The 500 D UV inkjet printer is smaller but decidedly multifaceted. This flatbed is equipped with a 400x600 print table and can handle up to 7 colour modules, each with a single printhead (the standard version comes with Konica Minolta KM1024 M heads) with a maximum speed of 60 m²/h, usually in the version with 2 UV lamps. Designed for printing on plastic materials, wood, metallic laminates and glass with a thickness of up to 55 mm, the Thieme 500 D is based on a mobile vacuum table and a fixed print engine. This solution allows the inks to be changed quickly and easily, so that the 500 D can be used as both a stand-alone printer for small runs alongside screen printing production and as an interesting laboratory for testing the various combinations of inks, printheads and materials. Who can benefit from it? The ideal target of these solutions is a company already active in the field of screen printing, in search of tools and technologies to expand its own range whilst, at the same time, achieving a high level of versatility and scalability. In this case Thieme is not only a technology provider but also an important partner that, with in-depth knowledge of both screen and digital printing, can produce tailor-made solutions for all kinds of requirements.
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Almost 60 years of continual progress have made Thieme a solid and successful business Founded in 1960 by Werner Thieme to produce components for machinery, the German company evolved quickly and in the space of just 5 years came to specialise in the production of plastic components. The production phase ran alongside intensive R&D work, leading to a notable evolution in design capabilities in the early 1970s, with an increase in the quality of polyurethane manufacturing. In 1976, Thieme added to its core business with the creation of machinery for screen printing, an activity that grew in parallel with the production of plastic materials. 1982 saw the production of the first type of foam to absorb kinetic energy, and was designed to improve safety in the automotive world. This was a step forward that came a few years before the opening of a facility in France and the arrival of Frank Thieme, the founder's
son, at the helm of the company. Throughout the 1990s, the company was remodelled with a view to modernisation and a facility was opened in the US. Screen printing is now a consolidated business, along with the manufacture of polyurethane predominantly for cars and medical devices. 2004 saw the beginning of a study into digital printing systems in collaboration with other companies, and the following year Thieme opened its first division dedicated exclusively to printing. This division contributed to the production of the M-Press Tiger, a hybrid printing platform (digital and screen) developed in conjunction with Agfa and Xaar. 2014 was the decisive year for Thieme in digital printing, with the dĂŠbut of the 3000 D series at FESPA. It was the first inkjet printer fully designed and produced by the German company.
FESPA DIGITAL TEXTILE CONFERENCE
30 SEPTEMBER 2016 | MILAN, ITALY
DISCOVER THE GROWING OPPORTUNITIES OF DIGITAL TEXTILE PRINTING BOOK YOUR PLACE AT FESPA DIGITAL TEXTILE CONFERENCE TODAY! FESPA’s Digital Textile Conference provides insight and knowledge of the various markets for digital textile printing, bringing together industry leaders and print consultants who will provide delegates with an understanding of the cutting-edge technology, applications and tools available to enhance your print services, as well as deliver expert insights into market trends and trade secrets.
30 September 2016
DATE:
30 September 2016
LOCATION:
nhow Hotel, Milan
LANGUAGE:
English and Italian
DELEGATE FEE: Early bird rate before 29 July - FESPA Members €175 Non-members €225
PROMO CODE: AD22 TOPICS WILL INCLUDE: • Market overview and industry trends • Industry Strategies • Digital Fashion • Environmental impacts • Digital Textile Inks • Textile printing for Interiors
For further information about FESPA’s Digital Textile Conference and to book your place, visit dtc.fespa.com Spaces are limited! SPONSORED BY
SUPPORTED BY
ITALIA ASSOCIAZIONE
ORGANISED BY
inExperts
THE IMPORTANCE OF DISPERSION QUALITY FOR INDUSTRIAL INKJET INKS One of the most difficult aspects of developing reliable inkjet inks is creating a stable dispersion of particles within the ink BY TIM PHILLIPS | TIM@IMIEUROPE.COM
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his applies to inks containing pigments for colour applications but equally to inks containing other particles for functional deposition applications, which are becoming increasingly important. The issue of dispersion quality and how to achieve it were covered by industry experts at recent IMI Europe events: the Inkjet Ink Development Conference in Lausanne, 13-14th April and the Inkjet Summer School in Heidelberg, 20-24th June, and this article will review some of the main topics covered.
The fundamental trade-off Any inkjet ink development is centred on the fundamental requirement that the ink be jetted reliably in the printing system of choice, while still delivering the expected application performance once printed. The problem is that in almost all cases the two parts of this requirement act against each other. For example, in a digital ceramic ink required to survive the high temperature firing production process, the pigment particles need to be inorganic (which makes them
dense) and relatively large: this makes creating a stable dispersion more difficult, and developing a reliable ink more challenging. Inks for printing conductive tracks are usually made from fine particles of a conductive metal: these have to be dispersed in the ink for reliable printing, which means that each particle is coated in a dispersing medium. The presence of this material means the printed ink does not conduct electricity unless subjected to further processing, thereby greatly complicating the process. As a last example,
“For inks containing particle dispersions, key parameters include viscosity, surface tension, particle size and size distribution”
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inExperts
COMPANIES SUPPLYING DISPERSING AGENTS INCLUDE Air Products, BASF, BYK and Lubrizol.
when formulating inks to print vibrant colours for textile or other decorative applications, the more colorant deposited in a single pass, the better, but the concentration of colorant in the ink is generally limited by the required physical parameters of the ink for reliable jetting (either viscosity, or stability, or both). In these and other situations the formulation chemist is found to be constantly on the horns of a dilemma. Dispersions – an introduction While some inks use a colorant that is dissolved in the ink (a dye), leading to a (relatively) simple formulation task, many inks, including those using solid pigments as the colorant and many inks used to deposit functional materials, require a uniform dispersion of solid particles in the liquid ink. Without correct formulation such a twophase system is unstable, with the consequence that excessively large particles of solid material can settle out of the ink and block printhead nozzles, filters and even ink pipes. The utmost care must go into the dispersion process and the materials and equipment used to stand any chance
of producing a product that will perform reliably in today’s demanding high-speed single pass applications. It is important at all stages during an ink development and production process to ensure that key ink parameters are measured and controlled using appropriate equipment. From checking raw materials on receipt from a supplier, through developing a prototype ink, into production and all the way through to final checks before a product is shipped to a customer (with on-going checks on batches to validate shelf life) relevant performance parameters must be measured. In the case of product manufacture, the parameters also need to be checked against agreed acceptable ranges for quality control purposes. For inks containing particle dispersions, key parameters include viscosity, surface tension, particle size and size distribution. All of these parameters require specialist equipment and techniques for measurement. Creating stable dispersions As we have seen, if we require the use of a pigment (a colorant that is insoluble in the ink) or
another particle such as a metal, then we need to make sure these particles are compatible with the jetting process. This means that the particles be of a suitable size (less than a micron in diameter, and usually significantly smaller than this) with a narrow size distribution (no oversize particles) and in a suspension in the ink that is as stable as possible. For small particles it is possible to create a stable homogeneous dispersion, while for larger particles some settling is inevitable, but with correct formulation this effect is reversible with agitation and so is manageable if correctly handled. In general for a two-phase system (solid plus liquid) the lowest energy state (and therefore the thermodynamically favoured situation) is where there is the smallest possible surface between the phases – in other words a single aggregation of solid – meaning that there is an inbuilt tendency in any system of this kind for all of the particles to join together (or agglomerate) into larger particles, and indeed for a typical system there are attractive forces in play (the Van der Waals interaction) that will tend to cause small particles to join together. In order to overcome this, we need to modify the surface
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inExperts of the particles using a dispersing agent to add a repulsive force, thereby overcoming this tendency to agglomerate. There are two key ways of achieving this that use different technology and different materials. The first is steric stabilisation, where a polymeric material is used with two components on the same molecule – one component sticks to the particle surface and the other disperses in the ink, creating a layer of polymer chains that tend to repel the chains on other particles. The second method uses an agent that creates a layer of charge surrounding the particle, which also provides a repulsive force between particles to overcome the inbuilt tendency to join together. Assuming the particles remain separate, there are two main forces acting on them individually: firstly Brownian motion, the random motion due to thermal energy which helps to keep the particles distributed in the ink, and secondly the force of gravity that makes the particles settle in the ink. The preferred situation for an ink is to have the Brownian motion dominate, which happens when the particles are smaller and less dense. For larger and denser particles, settling is more likely, and in this case we need to make sure
the ink is in constant motion when being used. Milling To create a stable particle dispersion, the correct milling process is essential. The dispersant material is added to the ink carrier (water or solvent) and then the pigment or other powder is added and mixed. The grinding process comprises both de-agglomeration – the separation of groups of particles – and true grinding where the primary particle size is reduced. While the particles are being broken up, the action of the mill also wets the particle surfaces with dispersant as they are created. The mill supplies the energy to create more surface area within the dispersion, while the dispersant acts to stop re-agglomeration as soon as the smaller particles are formed. Different types of mill are available and the choice is based on viscosity and final target particle size. Bead mills are the most common for inkjet ink use, and typically uses metal or ceramic beads within a helical screw structure that rotates during milling. The size of the beads and the milling time are the main factors determining the size distribution of the final dispersion. The correct
dispersant concentration is achieved by using an excess initially, then reducing the concentration to find the minimum required for stability. This then gives a stable result with the lowest cost (dispersing agents are relatively expensive by weight) and minimised impact on ink rheology. Dispersion characterisation In order to understand the characteristics of a dispersion once created, the particle size distribution can be measured using laser diffraction or dynamic light scattering. These measurements give an indication of average particle size and also the degree to which the particle size varies above and below that average (remember that a narrow distribution is best for inkjet inks). Light scattering can also be used to measure how the average position of particles in a sample varies with time and identify any tendency for the dispersion to settle under gravity, as discussed above. Light scattering is not so good for finding small concentrations of oversized particles, which is an important issue in inkjet inks, but visual particle counting techniques exist for this. Another simple but effective tool for dispersion
COMPANIES SUPPLYING MILLING EQUIPMENT FOR THE INKJET INDUSTRY INCLUDE Bühler and Netzsch 22 •
inExperts
“Dispersion quality is vital to the performance of inks in inkjet applications, particularly those industrial applications requiring very high reliability� characterisation is to measure the time taken to filter a sample quantity of ink through a filter of fixed pore size. This filtration time can be taken as a figure of merit for the ink and compared with future batches, and is also useful for identifying large particulates within the ink. Filtration As previously mentioned, filtration is a useful diagnostic technique, but is also an essential part of producing reliable inkjet inks and using them in applications. Filtration is required to ensure ink quality in production, promote stability in storage and to allow high performance and printhead protection during printing. There are many potential ink issues that filtration can help with, including gel formation, agglomeration, oversized particulates, insoluble residues from impure dyes, bacterial growth, dust and bubbles. Different types of filtration are used at different stages of ink formulation and manufacture, depending on the ink type. For dye-based inks the objective is to remove insoluble elements, contaminants and bacteria. For inks containing particles the additional objectives are to remove oversized and agglomerated particles and to further refine the dispersion created in the milling process. In conclusion, dispersion quality is vital to the performance of inks in inkjet applications, particularly those industrial applications requiring very high reliability. As single pass applications become more common, the reliability requirement is becoming increasingly stringent, calling for improved technology and increased investment in this aspect of inkjet ink development.
Tim Phillips Managing Director at IMI Europe Tim is Managing Director of IMI Europe with responsibility for commercial and operational management. Tim is also Founder & Director of Catenary Solutions, the technology marketing consultancy. Tim has worked in the industrial inkjet industry since 2007 when he joined Xennia Technology (which was bought by Sensient
Imaging Technologies in 2015). Before that he worked in technical, marketing and sales roles in technology areas including liquid crystals, compound semiconductor devices and specialist materials. Tim has an MA Honours degree in Natural Sciences from the University of Cambridge, a PhD in liquid crystal physics from the University of Bristol and an MBA from the University of Warwick. As well as a keen cyclist undertaking cycling challenges to raise money for charity, he creates electronic music and loves films, music and vinyl records.
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inFluids
THE THIRD DIMENSION OF INKJET INKS The industry is already able to offer faithful reproductions of every kind of material for a wide range of applications. However, demand is increasing for exclusive, niche products that are completely identical to the originals. UV-curable dimensional inks are the digital solution BY ROBERTO BONSIGNORE | ROBERTO@DENSITYMEDIA.COM
“Haptink is the result of a challenge posed by a customer” Giorgio Macor, Founder and CEO of KUEI
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ndustrial printing fever has infected the entire inkjet community regardless of origin, company size or specific experience. It is speeding up R&D processes, reducing the gaps between sectors that were until recently distant and antithetical. But above all, it is unearthing totally unexpected and unforeseen requirements and
WHEN A THIRD DIMENSION IS NOT AN OPTIONAL EXTRA An ink that can create volume multiplies production possibilities, faithfully replicating every surface, like fine wood, for example 24 •
priorities with irrepressible force. Yesterday it may have been nothing but chit-chat in a bar but it has now become a categorical imperative: low migration, conductive and even ingestible inkjet inks. In this first edition of InFluids, our feature dedicated to the development of ink chemistries and pre- and post-treatment fluids, we've decid-
ed to discuss a truly vertical requirement, covered by few and completely new to others, but all the more fascinating because of that. We're talking about bringing a third dimension to printing; better still if it respects quality, resistance and durability standards, making “dimensional” printing viable in everyday life and work.
inFluids
FROM FORMULATION TO PRODUCTION, RIGHT DOWN TO THE MOST STRINGENT TESTS Although compact and clearly designed to serve niche markets, KUEI's Italian facility boasts first-class laboratories, modern mixing units and a testing centre equipped with scanning and single-pass inkjet platforms as well as pre-treatment and binding units.
Light and shade in interior decoration For at least a decade, many suppliers of ceramic for floors and coatings, wallpaper and synthetic materials for architecture have been heavily involved in formulating solutions that can replicate the visual, tactile and emotional effect of wood, marble, granite and every other kind of material. And whilst some of these solutions (usually the cheapest) still have a second-rate look, there are more and more that equal or even improve on the visual experience and user experience in many of the more widespread areas of application. So, whilst products “in the catalogue” are widely available and can satisfy almost all tastes, there are still objective limitations to producing quantities of exclusive materials that are even unique in design, colour, finish and special effects. It isn't necessary to emphasise that the limitation isn't due to the possibility of printing at an extremely high resolution or in extreme colour spaces, but rather due to the need to ensure that the finished product truly resembles a piece of wood rather than a brilliantly decorated plastic panel.
The revolution of dimensional inks In light of these critical issues, dimensional inks are a huge step forward for the industrial forms of digital printing, especially in such a rich and demanding sector as interior decoration. Technically speaking, they are UV-curable inks modified so that they can be deposited in additional layers to create extremely accurate thickness variations on the surface. We're talking about a couple of tenths of a millimetre, which explains the reluctance of some to define it as “three-dimensional”. Yet that is how much is required to reproduce the tactile and visual effect of natural materials like wood and stone, giving humble substrates dignity and importance, and transforming them into home decoration accessories through inkjet printing, to the point that a multi-layered panel or cheap piece of plastic material take on the look and feel of the finest teak. What do you Haptink? Let's talk about the exclusive inkjet ink chemistry, Haptink. It was designed, developed and produced by KUEI, a young, dynamic Italian com-
pany specialising in the production of specialist ink chemistries for industrial digital printing. It's no accident that on its début, Haptink was awarded the Great Innovations Award at InPrint 2015, sparking the interest of key players that realised its huge potential. In particular Durst, that precisely during InPrint has integrated Haptink into its own industrial prototyping IP Series. Created for interior design, Haptink is ideal for reproducing the surfaces of natural materials, but also for fine art applications. Its properties allow it to be used to create copies of canvas oil paintings, replicating the thickness of every single brush stroke. Haptink has also proved to be suitable for printing on a multitude of robust materials used to decorate walls and furniture, and also for producing flooring for residential use. Reliable colours A similar solution would have significantly less appeal if, aside from 3D capabilities, it didn't offer the series of characteristics found in the best ink chemistries. These capabilities include giving prints gloss and saturated colours, as well as an
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inFluids appropriate colour spectrum and negligible metamerism. This phenomenon involves altering the perception of colour by varying the light source, and it is sadly common in all printing and colouring applications, both in graphics and industrial printing. It's a phenomenon that could prove decisive for interior decoration. Who would want a reddish wood floor that became a greyish colour when lit up by artificial lighting? How do you use a dimensional ink? KUEI's chemistry is comparable to the majority of UV-curable inks on sale. It can be used with printheads available on the market and the manufacturer states that the support does not require any particular pre-treatment processes. Haptink is suitable for high-speed single-pass applications but can also be used to your advantage in scanning systems for small volumes and prototype runs. But the files containing the items for print make the real difference. Whilst it's true that Haptink creates the thickness, it is crucial to supply the printer with precise information on how to do so. To maximise its potential, extremely precise files must be available, which have an accurate 3D map of the surfaces to reproduce, as well as the images of them. Writing
these types of files is possible through the use of vector software or 3D scanners that detect the surface of the material and export all the information that can be interpreted by the print RIP into a single file. A glimpse of the near future The interest generated by Haptink has led KUEI to proceed with their decision to develop dimensional ink chemistries. The next steps, already at an advanced level of development and almost ready to go to market, involve the production of inks designed for printing on flexible materials and for outdoor applications. As an example, flexible 3D inks can be applied to the fashion accessories sector. Previously, embossing was the most common customisation technique in that sector, despite all the limitations of analogue production. Haptink, on the other hand, enables the introduction of customisation and unique items, with a satisfying visual and tactile experience. And whilst resistance to atmospheric agents has been a limitation until now, as highlighted by Giorgio Macor, CEO of KUEI, a new outdoor version is now close to being released onto the market. Macor has also confirmed that these new ink chemistries will
combine the usual dimensional performance with high durability, which in optimal conditions will allow a loss of only 5% of the gloss over the course of 10 years. Technical characteristics Haptink is currently available in 7 colours: CMYK, Lc, Lm and Red. However, KUEI can develop spot colours on request. The tests carried out by KUEI with some of the main printheads confirm the reduced risk of the nozzles becoming blocked due to sedimentation and drying out. As for the physical and mechanical characteristics of the printed materials, KUEI currently offers level AC1 abrasion resistance certification. This is testament to the possibility of subjecting floors produced with Haptink to moderate use (like in bedrooms or living rooms) and refers to European standard EN685 within the scope of the classification established by the Association of European Producers of Laminate Flooring (EPLF). It's a very positive piece of information for non-laminated surfaces that are not subjected to particular abrasive stress, although by the end of 2016, KUEI intends to improve Haptink's performance even further to achieve AC2 certification, suitable for use anywhere in the house.
Science and experience are the foundations of a business that's only similar to others at first glance When chemical companies are faced with an industry where the multinationals hold the monopoly and there is less space for free agents, a small company's potential only stands out if it can offer extreme levels of specialisation. Intuition, competence and courage are essential characteristics for
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these companies, allowing David to challenge Goliath. This is more or less KUEI' story and the result of one of Giorgio Macor's dreams. He was a brilliant chemist in his time and a manager in his thirties when he left Ciba after a fruitful and long-standing collaboration with the well-known multina-
tional. Macor has managed to capitalise on that dream, paving the way for KUEI, studying and reinventing inkjet applications from a innovative perspective. Haptink is the result of this effort. It's an ink that is justifying KUEI's investments in the R&D possible for a small company in search of success.
inParts
DRIVING SAFELY TODAY’S INKJET ENGINES AND TOMORROW’S Just like an excellent car, to produce a reliable, high-performance printer you need first-class components and electronics that can perfectly steer all the machine's parts. This has been Global Inkjet Systems' mission for the last 10 years BY ROBERTO BONSIGNORE | ROBERTO@DENSITYMEDIA.COM
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he majority of inkjet printer users tend to think of their own device as a turnkey system. Some pay more attention to the technical requirements, carefully analysing the type of printheads or the RIP software supplied as a bundle. Yet each printer is a complex microcosm that requires multiple technologies produced by different manufacturers, which are then assembled by the relevant manufacturer or integrator. There are more widely known elements like printheads, curing systems and conveyor belts to feed the substrates, as well as countless other components that are less well known or completely unheard of. However, they are essential for the printer to produce the performance it is designed to produce. They include engines, switchboards, ink supply and recirculating ink systems, not to mention specific electronics and ad hoc software to control each part of the machine, including the printhead jet processes. The latter is the subject of the first edition of InParts, the feature that will analyse the gears that make up the inkjet mechanism. Speaking of specific inkjet electronics, we made a surprise visit to Global Inkjet Systems in Cambridge. It is one of the most innovative players in the industry and (unbeknown to many ignorant end users) is also behind many of the most widespread inkjet printers on the market.
“The best way to earn money quickly is to help your customers to earn it even faster” Nicholas Geddes, CEO of GIS
THE FASTER THE SPEED, THE MORE CRUCIAL RELIABILITY BECOMES Current single-pass inkjet printing technologies produce linear speeds of tens or hundreds of linear metres per minute, always guaranteeing exemplary quality
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inParts
Why use electronics in digital printing? The use of electronics in an inkjet printer engine is complementary to the use of software. Together they help to provide information that can be interpreted by the printheads, and in turn acquire and interpret fundamental information from the printheads on the temperature, viscosity and quantity of ink, the nozzle efficiency status and much more. Each individual printhead on sale has different characteristics and is designed for a different application. It can also be built from materials that make it more, or less, compatible with a specific ink chemistry, and so on. Each printhead requires dedicated electronics designed to maximise performance, communicating with all the other interconnected components through the use of specific drivers and firmware. GIS' role in the inkjet industry Just like other young, successful companies, the establishment of Global Inkjet Systems (GIS) is
IT'S THE WINNING COMBINATION THAT MAKES A SUCCESSFUL PRINTER At the top, a simplified outline of the combination of different elements supplied by GIS: Head Interface Board, Print Manager Board, Print Server and user interface. Below, an example of a user interface based on the Atlas User Interface technology 28 •
linked to the vision of its current CEO, Nicholas Geddes. In 2006, after almost two years of providing corporate IT and technology consultancy services, Geddes decided to put his own experience and the knowledge he had gained in electronic engineering to good use. And so the GIS adventure began, and in just 10 years it became a real one-stop-shop for OEMs and integrators wanting to maximise the potential of various types of printhead, reducing development times as much as possible. From a hardware perspective, GIS' range comprises three different components: the Head Interface Board (HIB), the Print Manager Board (PMB) and the Ink Control Board to manage the Ink Delivery Systems (IDS). The electronic devices are used in combination with different types of software (drivers and firmware) designed to enable interaction between the parts or to manage printing processes in a practical way. The main software platforms are GIS Print Server, Atlas and GIS User Interface.
Hardware: the solution is served The Head Interface Board is a device that allows access to the basic configuration of each printhead, including the voltage level and printing modes: fixed drop or variable drop. It is also required for decidedly ordinary yet fundamental operations like supplying the printheads with the electric power they need to operate. Each printhead requires its own Head Interface Board, which almost always varies according to manufacturer and model. The HIB is connected to the component that is the real heart of GIS' range, the Print Manager Board. The PMB is a tool that translates software input into machine code, allowing the user to control the printheads, managing and optimising every aspect of the jet process. From basic to advanced functions, the PMB allows the user to perform all possible operations for each type of head. For example, the dynamic variation of the drop size can be controlled, there is a function to compensate for malfunctioning nozzles on multipass printheads, or you can even adjust the jet modes based on variable parameters like distance from the substrate and speed. The Ink Control Board manages the ink supply system. Each board can control up to 6 different colour channels and one of its main functions is to ensure that the inks recirculate through the printheads correctly, at the required speed and in the required modes. Despite not offering a ready-to-install Ink Delivery System, GIS supplies tanks for recirculating ink and systems that control pressure, filtration, heat and degassing. Naturally, GIS also provides consultancy to allow OEMs and integrators to modify their own printers in line with their needs. Print Manager Board: you ask, it delivers This device supplied by GIS is fundamental for industrial printing both in terms of its use by OEMs and by integrators. The scalability, print speed
inParts
THOUSANDS OF VARIABLES TO MANAGE It's not easy to build an image correctly and guarantee an exact and consistent result, especially with variable parameters like the distance between the printhead and the material, the overall speed of the system or even the unevenness of the substrate shape. GIS technology allows integrators and OEMs to create printing systems for any application
and repeatability of work depend largely on this daughterboard that can manage printheads suited to different types of manufacturing (single pass, scanning, multipass) carried out by different manufacturers. Having produced three different generations of PMB, GIS is able to adequately control every type of printhead, with increasing management features and requirements. There are two or eight channels available, to allow each daughterboard to manage an equivalent number of heads. An interface can be connected by a USB 2.0 or 3.0 port with a maximum storage of 64MB to up to 4GB. From an extremely practical point of view, the advantage of the GIS solution (the one that is essentially of more interest to the end
user) involves the large number of printheads that can be managed, the high final productivity of the system and the ability to manage a significant volume of variable data and complex manufacturing. Here is where the need arises for high-speed interfaces with a substantial number of channels, combined with a high storage capacity so as not to create bottlenecks in the passage of data from the software to the print engine. Global Inkjet Systems: 10 years and counting Founded in 2006 in Cambridge, GIS started its activities gradually, based on the experience of its current CEO Nicholas Geddes. An engineering graduate specialising in Computer Sciences,
after 6 years' experience in the financial sector, in 2005 Geddes set up Cametrics, a technology and software consultancy company. Almost two years later, with the creation of Global Inkjet Systems, it was time for the consultancy for printing system manufacturers and the design and production of hardware and software to increase the performance of printheads produced by key players across the world. GIS fully designs its own devices in-house, entrusting production to highly qualified and certified companies, and then independently testing every single piece before delivery. This constantly growing company currently has 40 employees, most of which are programmers and electronic engineers.
TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS Feature
PMB-C2
PMB-C8
Launch Date
In Production
PC to PMB Comms (Mb/s) Max. Memory (MB) Channels
USB 2.0 (370)
USB 3.0 (2600)
64
128
4096
2 x 200Mb
8 x 200Mb
8 x 400Mb
Encoder
RS422 & TTL Quad. Isolated, High Speed, Extendible
RS422 & TTL Quad.
Print Go
RS422 & TTL, 32 deep
Maximum System Size
No Limit
PMB – HIB Cable Length Encoder and Print Go Daisy Chain
PMB-C8-3
15m Yes RS422
Yes TTL
Yes LVDS
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inPeople He loves to be defined an engineer, yet half the world knows him as one of the founding fathers of industrial scale inkjet printing. We’ve met with Bill Baxter to hear about “his” Inca Digital and above all, how he sees the industrial printing of today and tomorrow.
BILL
BAXTER BY LORENZO VILLA | LORENZO@DENSITYMEDIA.COM
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inPeople
NEVER CHANGE A WINNING TEAM With its launch in 2001, Eagle 44 is the forefather of a family of industrial inkjet printers characterised by sophisticated and original print engine architecture and the flat handling of materials. So much so that years later, the original structure remains in the most modern Inca Onset platforms.
People like you are often called pioneers, scientists, visionaries. How do you like to define yourself? People often ask me what I do in life and every time I answer: “I’m an engineer". I spent all my life working in the engineering field, particularly in research and development: it is the reason why I have a thorough understanding of R&D processes. So being the co-founder of a successful business and co-owner of one of the most respected inkjet companies doesn't make you any different from an engineer? It shows how lucky I've been. Inkjet is a business where success depends on the quality of the technology. Until I became a part of Inca, the company was not doing particularly well in areas such as marketing, sales or customer support.
Production levels were improving significantly and it was doing well financially. We were streets ahead in one aspect: engineering.
greater importance. But I must emphasise that we are lucky today because technology is still the determining factor.
Why was Inca formed in Cambridge? Is it because there is such a high concentration of inkjet players there? Cambridge is an illogical choice for the production of large-size machinery: the area is incredibly expensive, transport is challenging and high interest rates mean you need money. But we have great engineers. Inkjet is still in its development phase, so the determining elements are not distribution channels, logistics and all the things I outlined above. If you offer a good product, the people will come to you to get it, they want to cosy up to you to obtain your product. Not until 30 or 40 years in the future will the product quality standardise and other factors acquire
How did the idea of Inca come about? I was managing a project for a large contact lens producer, which had to solve a problem: with a product stock of 200 private labels, it found itself with a huge number of different lenses – dailies, weeklies, monthlies, coloured – with 64 different hues and the need to hold an enormous quantity of packaging for every single product and each brand in the warehouse. So they asked me about printing directly on the packaging line, seeing as we already knew what was inside. I told them that I would try. It was 1997, and Inca Digital was born in 2000. But over the course of the years, Inca
IF PRODUCTIVITY AND QUALITY ARE NOT THE RESULT OF COMPROMISES Onset X is the clearest expression of the concept of scalability desired by Inca Digital: a single base platform with 14 “open” channels which each user can configure to grow from 560 to 900 sqm/hr with different colour and drop size options
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inPeople evolved towards the production of more or less standard machines… There is something very important that needs to be mentioned. It was 1999 and I was at a conference. A man came up to me, saying that he worked for a large ink producing company – Sericol – which handled a third of the global silkscreen printing market and that the company was starting to produce inks for digital printing. He told me that if we used their inks, they would sell our machines. The goal being the simple paradigm of more machines sold meaning more ink consumed. That company continues to be Inca’s distribution channel in the world today, even after the acquisition of Sericol by Fujifilm. This meeting was a determining factor, both for Inca and for Sericol, because from then on they had a printing platform through which they could channel their ink volumes, while we found a key partner to spread our technology.
Could we say then that collaborations such as the one between Inca and Sericol are the genesis of today’s industrial printing? Of course, we were not the first to use this type of strategy, but those who went before us printed in a relatively rudimental manner, mainly on vinyl. We've taken a large step forward by using UV-curable chemistry, and this definitely owes much to Sericol’s talent and ability along with its experience in silkscreen printing. Collaborations have been, remain and always will be an important driving force in innovation and the quest for perfection. What does the success of an inkjet integration project depend on? Rather than speaking about the reasons for success, I would focus attention on another aspect. Let's start from the thought that the majority of inkjet printing projects fail. If I had to make an
estimate, I would say that roughly 80% of inkjet development projects do not end well. First of all, because they do not work from a technical point of view and, less often, due to budgetary reasons. It is still very easy to commit errors today and over the years I have managed to call upon the experience and knowledge necessary to understand why. People think that printing is a marriage between a machine and an ink: a momentous error. Printing is not this, but rather a process consisting of several stages and variables. There are substrates, functional chemicals – first of all primers – and all of the treatments which are useful to modify the material’s characteristics. There are inkjet inks and naturally, partial and total drying phases. And of course there are loading, handling and unloading of materials systems. All elements that must not only be present, but which must also work together in order to complete the process. To be
“I’ve been lucky, but if you don’t get out from behind your desk and stumble all around, you can’t get any luck”
USING ENGINEERING TO LAUNCH TRUSTWORTHY AND SEXY PRODUCTS: INCA DIGITAL It's something you realise as soon as you get inside the company and spend a moment talking about products, business and marketing: Inca’s success is founded on a solid technical vision, rather than mere commercial logic 32 •
inPeople
BIOGRAPHY Bill Baxter Founder at Inca Digital Ltd A graduate in engineering from the University of Cambridge in 1971, Baxter is deeply interested in the phenomena and scientific theories which are at the base of thermodynamics, also profitably operating in the mechanics of fluids field and research linked to heat transfer. In 1982 he joined the Cambridge Consultants research and development company, where his distinguished himself through his research and creation of innovative on-demand technologies aimed at industrial production. After a long
and profitable career within the English company, Baxter's professional life took a decisive turn in 1997: an important client – a contact lens producer – asked him to find a solution for printing directly on his products within the production line. This request led Baxter to hone his research on inkjet, deciding to leave Cambridge Consultants and found, together with six colleagues from Cambridge Consultants, Inca Digital Printers Ltd in 2000, the first company in the world to create a wide format flatbed printer for inkjet printing, becoming CEO. In 2005 Inca Digital was purchased by the Japanese company Dainippon Screen Manufacturing and Baxter, after a brief pause in 2009, continued to play the role of CEO until 2013, when he chose to return to consultancy and part ways with the company he founded.
“Print is a process in which everything affects everything else” able to successfully develop an industrial printing system, one must look at everything, because every single element influences all the others.
make a company and outline a clear vision have little to do with luck… Of course, if I'd stayed sat behind a desk without getting out there and making maximum effort, nothing would have happened. We can say that luck was helped, first and foremost by going out to find it.
You say that good fortune has played a significant role in your career. But Inca has transformed elements designed for a specific market into products destined for hundreds of clients all over the world… But it’s true: we were lucky. Lucky to quickly find a way to stabilise the first application, and lucky to find a partner capable of supplying us the right ink and an effective distribution channel. And then we were lucky to find the money to create the company. In this regard, the contact lens producer was fundamental, as, fed up with continually travelling to visit production sites in the United Kingdom, Porto Rico and San Francisco, he was looking for a new business to invest in. And so he introduced me to his friend, the owner of a venture capital company, which worked well for me. Bear this in mind: I've never trusted any other venture capital company, because in reality I just turned to one person. To that specific person. So we managed to find the money necessary to start our business. I hope you’ll agree that all of this is luck.
Looking at the market today there is a wide range of print heads, electronic component software and ink chemicals. All this should bring down the risk of failure to the minimum, but you don't agree... It doesn't bring it down at all. Let's be clear: I do not want to discourage those who want to integrate. Far from it. As I already mentioned, you need to get the idea in your head that it's not enough just to put the best components together to make a functioning, efficient machine. The development of inkjet printing technology requires a long research phase to understand what is desired to be printed, followed by rigorous tests and possible creation of prototypes. It's understandable that those who want to sell try to simplify and speed up all the phases which precede that which interests them most: when the client makes their purchase.
While the courage to get out there,
Where should someone wanting to start
a new inkjet project today begin? Definitely with the inks, immediately followed by the coating: from my point of view, the chemistry is the most important variable in a printing process. Every application in the world of industrial printing must start with the ink for one simple reason: the only irrefutable information that the final client can supply to the integrator is the ink chemicals it already uses. This is my personal experience. A client in North Carolina, responding to my question regarding what characteristics the ink to be used should have, presented me with a book which was one third full of rules and laws. The inks to be used must satisfy a multitude of parameters which fall outside of a “simple” final result. And an ink chemistry with those characteristics should combine both an aggressive price and arrive unaltered at the end of the printing process, managing to satisfy both specific qualitative and physical-mechanical characteristics: colour brilliance, definition and resistance to all relevant tests. There are suppliers who start a project by designing a printing machine, making a basic error. The process should run in reverse, also because, in my experience, inks represent at least 50% of management costs. Success will come from the development of better-performing and more convenient chemicals.
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inReports
THE FUNCTIONAL AND INDUSTRIAL PRINT MARKET IS FORECAST TO GROW TO $107.9 BILLION BY 2020 Exclusive data from the Smithers Pira report The Future of Functional and Industrial Print to 2020 valued functional and industrial printing at $67.4 billion in 2015, up from $32.1 billion in 2010. They forecast the market to grow to $107.9 billion by 2020. BY SMITHERS PIRA | INFO@SMITHERSPIRA.COM
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rinting technology is widely used to decorate items from architectural and automotive glass to ceramics, electronics, and textiles – with new functions including biomedical and photovoltaics becoming significant. Futuristic applications are emerging from development laboratories, with headlines involving printing human tissue, synthetic meat,
new classes of nanomaterials and professional 3D printing that some commentators suggest will revolutionise manufacturing. There is consistent growth across the industrial functional landscape as demand grows for construction, automotive, electronics and manufactured products that increasingly incorporate print. This is in stark contrast to publication and commercial print, where
print volumes are declining. Many established printers serving those markets are looking to follow the example of large Japanese print companies and move into industrial markets, where they can use their core skills. It is also attractive to equipment and consumable suppliers to develop niche applications that may grow significantly, as is the case for inkjet printing of ceramic tiles.
The Future of Functional and Industrial Print to 2020
Smithers Pira offers Industrial Dots readership an exclusive discount of 10% on this report. Please visit
www.smitherspira.com and order it using the discount code
ID10OFF 34 •
inReports
Printed glass Overall demand for flat glass, produced by float techniques, is dependent on the construction sector and is forecast to rise 7.1% in 2016 to 9.2 billion square metres, some 70–75 million tonnes. Asia is the biggest and fastest growing glass market, accounting for some 60% of all flat glass by area – obviously much of this is unprinted. Fabricated flat glass demand will benefit from rapid growth in the sales of energy efficient products such as solar control, insulation, and low-emissivity glass. Screen printing The global screen printed glass market was valued at $596.1 million in 2015, this is forecast to grow to $809.6 million by 2020 with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 6.3%. Screen printing is widely used to print onto flat and hollow glass. It can provide dramatic decorative effects or simpler designs for privacy or solar control. Leading equipment supplier Thieme reports growing demand for printed glass from technical glass applications like glass displays, touch panels and solar applications, with direct printing on glass. The printing requirements for these glass products vary a lot from architectural, automotive or domestic appliance products, which has created a market for new equipment
and process solutions. Ceramic printing The printed ceramic industry covers a wide range of product categories including floor and wall tiles, sanitary ware, and table and kitchen ware, along with technical and artistic ceramic products. In 2015 ceramic printing was valued at $4.7 billion globally, this will grow to $5.3 billion by 2020. Asia is the largest region; but the growth rate in Western Europe for 2015–2020 will be much higher. This reflects the adoption of inkjet printing systems, producing short runs and high-value customised products. Ceramics manufacturers have to consider several factors in determining which printing process should be used, including raw materials and any chemical additives, pressing and forming, drying and firing, final glazing. There are many methods of printing and decorating ceramics – these may be direct printing, or indirect through the application of decals and transfers. Analogue techniques involving contact – screen, flexo and pad printing – have been in use for many years, but are now being displaced by inkjet platforms. Inkjet The global economic downturn that begun in 2008 was a key factor in the transition to inkjet.
As construction slowed, builders reduced the quantities of tiles ordered, meaning shorter runs with more changeovers, making kilns less efficient. Inkjet allows faster changeovers, and some manufacturers reduced the thickness of wall tiles, saving clay and energy. Inkjet tile printing allows manufacturers to reduce production costs, with lower waste and inventory, while improving responsiveness with more design changes as customer demands change. Inkjet printing can deliver higher quality tiles with more realistic reproduction of marble and other costly natural materials. In 2010–2015 inkjet ceramic printing had grown at an average CAGR of 30.3%. This reflects the high rate of adoption of inkjet machines. These levels will fall back, but still almost reach 10% annually for 2016-2020. Automotive and transport printing Cars, buses, trucks, aeroplanes, trains and ships contain many printed items. There is upholstery, carpets, interior, switches, windows, dashboards and instrument panels. The print may be either decorative (for example a wood-effect interior) or functional (for example, the windscreen demister or radio aerials). In some cases it will be both: for example, the instrument panels will be designed to be easy to understand, with opaque panels interspersed with translucent colours
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inReports showing alarms. This segment consumes some 15% of the total float glass production, but this tends to be higher value. Speciality grades, such as shatterproof, are commonly used: 95% of this consumption is for automotive (including cars, vans, buses and coaches, trucks, and off-road mobile machinery); the rest is for other transport sectors, such as trains, metros, trams, ships, boats, and aircrafts. As well as original equipment for new vehicles, there are replacement products, supplied to the aftermarket for retrofitting (usually following damage), with the latter representing some 15–20% of the market. Electronics Printing Using print to print electronic circuitry – membrane switches, RFID antennas, display panels and photovoltaics – is already big business for many suppliers, and the potential applications are creating many opportunities. The printing of electronics is an emerging technology that allows electronic functionality to be delivered on to a far wider range of substrates than conventional
rigid electronic fabrication methods. For example flexible plastic substrates can be used for skinmounted disposable medical sensors. Asia is the biggest region for printed electronics. It is a lowcost manufacturing centre and is home to many large, innovative electronics companies making smartphones, TVs and displays, lighting, and solar panels, many using printing as part of the production process. South Korean rivals LG and Samsung have both committed heavily to printed electronics for OLED fabrication – including to help develop flexible screen for smart devices. Labels and packaging As the unit price for a printed electronic system falls – with claims that mass-produced circuits that will sell at around $0.10 are due for 2016 – smart packaging is set to become a reality. It may even evolve into what futurists are heralding as the “Internet of Packaging”. Across the value chain, brands, packaging suppliers and retailers are keen to embrace this technology for applications, including anti-counterfeiting
and brand protection, consumer engagement, logistics track-and-trace, monitoring a pack’s contents. These functions can be framed within the umbrella term of “smart packaging”, a set of technologies that allows packaging to contain, evaluate, and transmit relevant information. Solar panels and photovoltaics (PV) Printed solar panels and films represent a major future market. There are environmental benefits of renewable energy sources as alternatives to fossil fuels pushing the sector forward. In Europe and North America, attractive feed-in tariffs and government subsidies have fuelled the take-up of roof-mounted solar cells, which are becoming commonplace in a number of regions. Printable solar cells seem to open up new opportunities, but the efficiency of the energy harvester must be higher to be truly useful. Sustainable micro power generation will grow to be an important part of the energy mix in future, but the global economic woes have slowed the take-up of such systems.
GLOBAL FUNCTIONAL INDUSTRIAL PRINT MARKET BY APPLICATION, 2015 ($ billion, constant values) Source: Smithers Pira 36 •
inReports GLOBAL FUNCTIONAL INDUSTRIAL PRINT MARKET BY APPLICATION, 2020 ($ billion, constant values) Source: Smithers Pira
Screen Printing Screen printing is well suited for printing electronics because it can lay down thick ink films: up to 50Îź can be achieved using paste inks that can contain high loadings of conductive components. It can print conductive connectors, together with insulating and passivating layers, and has been used in production of membrane switches for many years. Screen is also used widely in printed circuit board manufacture, to print identifiers,
solder masks and other components. It is also widely used to print coatings onto touchscreens. In 2010 the screen electronics print market was $3.6 billion. This grew by more than 25% CAGR to 2015, with further growth of 12.7% predicted to 2020, when the value grows to over 19% of all functional industrial functional print. The global market potential of this dynamic technology sector are analysed and quantified
Smithers Pira Smithers Pira is the worldwide authority on packaging, paper and print industry supply chains. Established in 1930, Smithers Pira provides strategic and technical consulting,
in full The Future of Functional and Industrial Print to 2020. [http://www.smitherspira.com/ industry-market-reports/printing/the-future-offunctional-and-industrial-print-to-2] The market data presented in this report has been developed from the extensive database, with primary research sources and discussions with leading players across the supply chain. Smithers Pira uses primary research cross referenced against secondary sources.
testing, intelligence and events to help clients gain market insights, identify opportunities, evaluate product performance and manage compliance. For more information please visit www.smitherspira.com or contact Stephen Hill, +44 (0)1372 802025, shill@smithers.com
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inSoftwares
WHEN SUBSTRATES ARE SPECIAL, PRINT SOFTWARE HAS TO BECOME “INDUSTRIAL” Amongst the most visionary and admired inkjet software houses, Caldera plays a leading role in sectors such as graphic arts and packaging. And even more so today, in the decoration of industrial materials such as fabric, plastic, glass, ceramics, wood and every other substrate BY DENSITY | EDITORS@DENSITYMEDIA.COM
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eyond some overly-simplified considerations, which erroneously associate more or less standard printing systems with the industrial printing concept, the real day-to-day challenge for the industry is customisation. Decorating a tile is completely different to printing a raw cotton bobbin, glass plate or wooden board. How the material is supplied and managed, but also the size of the media, the ink chemistry needed to print it, the type of pre-treatment necessary, the finishing technique and the drying of the colourant, the type of inkjet heads and, naturally, the qualitative, visual and chromatic effects that the client expects from the finished product - these are all different. Industrial digital printing platforms must therefore have technical specifications which are inevitably unique, but with one common denominator: inkjet. The print engine must be managed by suitable software to work correctly. If nearly all manufacturers initially created software in-house or commissioned it from partners, Caldera was one of the first software houses to understand the industry’s possibilities, as well as to develop a high-performing solution, easily-adaptable to a vast range of platforms. To the point of becoming, paradoxically, closer to what we define as a benchmark in industrial digital printing. 25 years of continuous growth Founded in Strasbourg in 1991 by a group of 2-D and 3-D graphics graduates, Caldera immediately focused all of its resources on the development of solutions for digital printing. Cameleo – software for colour management and the creation of ICC profiles – was unveiled in 1996, and represents Caldera’s official entry into digital printing. From then on, the company, led by founder and
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“Our aim is to become a benchmark, like Adobe in graphic software” Joseph Mergui, Caldera CEO
Partnerships makes leadership Caldera’s greatness doesn’t just come from developing an excellent product, it also comes from its ability to have positive dialogue with an ever-growing number of interlocutors and partners. A vertiginous evolution which enabled the French software house to lead in nearly all inkjet sectors. Something which takes on even greater significance if you remember that Cal-
dera is not a multinational with thousands of employees. This is the company spirit, the reason which draws ever-more companies to turn to Caldera. There have been emblematic longterm collaborations with quality manufacturers such as Durst, with whom Caldera shared its debut and success in ceramic decoration; or with Zund, in printing/cutting integration.
inSoftwares
CEO Joseph Mergui, has been on a steady up. The first decade of the new millennium saw the conception of products such as Reproshop and the GrandRIP+ software, dedicated to the management of wide and super-wide format printing. In 2008, Caldera became Pantone’s strategic partner, integrating their famous colour libraries into RIP solutions. In 2009 it was Adobe’s turn, allowing the French software house to incorporate APPE (Adobe PDF Print Engine) into their products, guaranteeing optimal reproduction of PDF files. Caldera diversified its offer in the successive bloom, focusing on work flow management – Flow+ made its debut in 2013 – and industrial textiles, creating the RIP software, TextilePRO in 2015, after opening a new branch in the United States. In 2016, the 25th anniversary of Caldera coincided with the release of the Version 11 of their software suite at Drupa 2016, and with the inauguration of their new company headquarters. Customisation and colour management Meeting customers' needs has been one of Caldera’s biggest strengths from the very start. The possibility of optimising the work flow management system and RIP according to productive necessities and using optional modules prepared
by Caldera, or through integration with solutions coming from third parties, makes software made by the French company an excellent choice for digital decoration in an industrial environment. As is well known, materials are one of the main problems in the correct reproduction of colours, but that’s just one important issue. The processing of transparent surfaces, particularly glass, for example,is an important issue due to the scarce opacity of the typical ultra-thin ink inkjet layers. Caldera’s colour management system optimises the yield on the substrate, interpreting the chromatic intent of the source file and driving the print engine in order to obtain a final result which matches expectations. This is one of the advantages of the Caldera suite, which, thanks to Pantone’s libraries and APPE integration, can guarantee a hugely extended gamut and the final product’s fidelity to the source file. A further advantage of Caldera colour management is the possibility of supporting specific colour spaces, which include, for example, spot colours used on packaging, or special ceramic and clothing fabric colours. Capacitive inks, 3D and more: the future is now Looking to the future it is no surprise that such
WHEN THE COMMON DENOMINATOR IS IMAGE + COLOUR The Caldera brochure, dedicated to industrial software solutions (above), is the symbol of its commitment to meeting the quality and colour management demands of innumerable sectors
a dynamic company is returning to its first love – 3-D. MASSIVit, a young Israeli company which shocked the crowds at the latest Drupa with an XL 3-D printer, and CIRTES with its 3-D packaging, have chosen to use Caldera-developed RIP software to drive their machines. However, this French company is always thinking ahead and is already working on new projects, including software to optimise capacitive graphene (a hyper conductive material which is hard like a diamond but extremely flexible) based inks and the development of a high-performance print server to drive single-pass print systems.
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inDevices
MICHELANGELO USES INKJET TO PAINT CYLINDRICAL PACKAGING The inkjet decoration system developed and produced by Italian company Martinenghi opens up new scenarios and business models for on-demand production of plastic and metal tubes and containers BY DENSITY | EDITORS@DENSITYMEDIA.COM
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any surveys conducted globally on retail marketing trends tell us that consumer purchasing decisions are increasingly being made at the point of sale. The growing demand for customised packaging, both in large volumes – symbolic are Coca Cola and Nutella – and for promotional campaigns, imposes a level of versatility, scalability and the capacity for just-
in-time manufacturing on printers, converters and brand owners themselves, something which has never been seen before. This trend is also affecting the production of cylindrical packaging like metal or plastic spray cans, tins and tubes. Suppliers of these products are faced with a constant reduction of stock, but at the same time increasing demand for quality and sophistication. Whilst inkjet technology
and traditional production might seem like an almost obvious choice to go hand in hand in a similar scenario, printing on cylindrical objects is not as easy as it sounds. In the market for over 70 years, Martinenghi started producing aluminium containers and cans in the early 1950s, continuing to invest in R&D and develop solutions until it achieved internationally recognition.
Integrating Michelangelo into an analogue decoration line can increase its efficiency by up to 25%
INKJET LEADS THE WAY IN A TRADITIONALLY ANALOGUE MARKET To the left, some examples of the products made possible thanks to Michelangelo's digital technology. It can produce cylindrical packaging made of plastic or metal, offering a valid alternative to analog presses for small and medium volumes 40 •
inDevices
THE PERFECT COMBINATION OF ENGINEERING AND DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY Collaboration with Industrial Inkjet Ltd and Konica Minolta allowed Martinenghi to maximise its own engineering capabilities, creating a unique platform like Michelangelo
How a “technological artist” was born Appreciating the need to differentiate their product range, but without specific experience of developing machinery for printing, in 2010 Martinenghi's management team decided to invest in a digital printing system destined to make the difference. After five years sourcing and developing the required technology, in 2014 the company from Lombardy launched Michelangelo, the most innovative and productive system for the inkjet decoration of cylindrical containers, especially tubes and spray cans made of plastic or metal. One of the objectives they set immediately thanks to their collaboration with British company Industrial Inkjet Ltd and their technology partnership with Konica Minolta, was that of exceeding the prototype size and achieving production volumes straight away. That's why Michelangelo is equipped with KM1024 heads designed for single-pass systems, with 6pl droplet size and 8 greyscale levels. These print heads are extremely robust and reliable and enable the system to operate efficiently over the course of three 24-hour shifts. Michelangelo supports 4 or 6 colour channels, in addition to white, or the widespread CMYK model. Two channels are also available from a choice of orange, green or a spot colour. The maximum productivity level is 150 or 250 cylindrical containers per minute, with diameters between 13.5mm and 66mm, depending on the number of print heads installed. To facilitate the drying of the ink, LED pinning lamps are installed on each printing unit, and are followed by the final drying process carried out by a more powerful UV-LED curing module. Michelangelo uses UV-curable inks that can be selected by the end user, providing that they meet precise prerequisites and do not hinder print head functionality.
Analogue, inkjet or both? The differences between analogue and digital technologies are more apparent in industrial printing than in graphics, in terms of modularity, scalability and just-in-time manufacturing. In cylindrical packaging, it can take several hours to put a new item into production on a traditional printing machine, in addition to creating new printing plates and the start-up waste which could reach 1,000–1,500 pieces. This is time and money that will pay for itself over a large number of print runs, but for only a few pieces there is a risk that it will damage the cost-effectiveness or feasibility of a commission. If Martinenghi's aim
was to create a solution for very vertical requirements and on-demand production carried out by innovative employees, then Michelangelo is definitely the perfect answer. Nevertheless, there isn't a shortage of packaging giants (mostly printers and specialist converters) that have already seen the potential in this platform as a tool to support their own traditional lines and acquire flexibility and a competitive edge. Aware of this demand, Martinenghi ensured that Michelangelo could be integrated into an analogue system, either online through the use of a proprietary bypass or off-line for more specific and intricate manufacturing, such as prototyping.
TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS Manufacturer
Martinenghi
Platform name
Michelangelo XK Series
Max. diameter of objects
66mm
Print heads
Konica-Minolta KM1024
Speed
80 linear metres/min
Printable objects
Aerosols, plastic and aluminium collapsible tubes, cylindrical containers
Ink chemistry
UV-curable
Applications
Cosmetic and pharmaceutical containers, packaging for chemicals, food cans, beverage cans for soft drinks
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IMI Europe facilitates learning and collaboration within the community of inkjet technology developers and users for digital printing and deposition applications. We organise high quality conferences and courses aimed at strategic and commercial executives as well as technical developers in the digital printing industry.
Upcoming events: 28 November – 1 December 2016 Amsterdam | Netherlands
IMI Europe Digital Print Europe Including the flagship strategic IMI Europe Digital Printing Conference and supporting events.
See www.imieurope.com for more information and further event announcements.
25 th International exhibition of technology and supplies for the ceramic and brick industries
The future of ceramics
26 th -30 th SEPTEMBER 2016 RIMINI - ITALY Organized by
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