Industrial Print Magazine Oct-Dec 2019 issue

vol-03 Issue- 04 Oct-Dec 2019

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Vol.03 Issue 4, 2019

Why LED-UV is a good choice.......................06 Labels/Cartons on the same press..............10 ...truly sustainable packaging........................14 Grand opening of Golden Signage.............38

A Quarterly Publication from the house of Industrial Publishing Media Sdn Bhd

What’s next in inkjet..........................................42 Print Make Wear..................................................44 Printing both Rigid and Flexible...................46

KDN No: PP19341/04/2018(034874)

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PRINT. REDEFINED. RICOH Pro C9200 with E-85 Fiery Controller

BLI Production Printer Pro Award “Outstanding High-Volume Color Production Device”

RICOH Pro C7210 Series with E-45A Fiery Controller BLI Production Printer Pro Award “Outstanding Mid-Volume Color Production Device”

RICOH ( MALAYSIA ) SDN BHD (10078-w)

Lock + Store, Level 1, No.5, Jalan Penyair U1/44, Off Jalan Glenmarie, 40150 Shah Alam, Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia.

Tel:+603-5565 3888 Fax: +603-5569 7760 Customer Hotline : 1-300-88-8228

From the editor’s desk Dear Friends from the Printing Industry: Greetings | Selamat Pagi Drying technology has a major impact on operational efficiency, cost-effectiveness, environmental friendliness, throughput speed as well as final product quality as far as various printing processes are concerned. Blowing to heating to using UV and finally LED-UV has been a story of technology coming of age. To know exactly how LED-UV is changing the course of drying in printing processes and has transformed as a technology of choice for forward thinking printers, just go through our take on this wonderful technology.

The ability to produce labels and cartons on the same press enables label printers to expand their product portfolio. The “Carton Edition” of the digital Gallus Labelfire overcomes the previous process limitations of these applications in narrowweb printing. However, for converters, investing in a hybrid printing system also means breaking new ground and becoming a pioneer in a smart service industry. To have a detailed picture as sketched by Dieter Finna, just read the article in the inside pages.

Sustainability is the number one priority for Brand Owners now, but they do not want to make concessions on the visual appeal of their product packaging. Many businesses have publicly declared very ambitious sustainability targets, promising entirely recyclable materials in their packaging production and alternatives to plastic. BOBST has teamed up with several partners (Dow, Brückner Maschinenbau, Hosokawa Alpine, Elba and Constantia Flexibles) to produce new high barrier mono material flexible packaging solutions designed for recyclability.

Talking further of sustainability, two interesting topics in this Issue are production of paper with animal waste and that too no smaller than elephant waste; just read it to know what possibilities it has opened for such niche producers. Also, Platina and Green Maple Leaf Lamitubes’ innovation by Essel Propack heralds first of its kind eco-friendliness in the segment.

RICOH Pro VC70000 has received the Printing Industries of America’s (PIA) InterTech Technology Award.

Judges noted that the Pro VC70000 “was seen as a definite innovation for inkjet production presses,” specifically calling out its ability to print on commodity papers, including coated, with no pre-treatment necessary. Ricoh received the award at the 2019 Premier Print Awards Reception in Chicago. Ricoh will be presenting its largest ever range of transformative print solutions at Dusseldorf during drupa 2020. The latest introduction by the company is its new series of intelligent A4 colour systems. The four new A4 colour MFPs that are available now include the Ricoh IM C300, IM C300F, IM C400F and IM C400SRF. Golden Signage Sdn Bhd is our success story this time. The company is a perfect example of product innovation and technology for value addition. Eugene was the man behind establishing the retail brand signage for multiple branches across Malaysia. To provide complete solutions and better services to GSBB’s clients, he has also expanded the business to establish two subsidiaries – Hesperus Printing Sdn Bhd and Laser Cut Generation Sdn Bhd. The HP Latex R Series is the latest Revolution that transforms rigid and flexible printing in ways that were never ever possible. It would be an interesting read to know more about the ability to print on both rigid and flexible substrates – opening a whole new world of possibilities for printers.

Find all this and a lot many interesting topics discussing subtleties of printing, for example, the one “Print Make Wear ...” or “What’s next in Inkjet...”. This is besides our regular take on the latest from around the global printing industry. Wishing A Very Happy New Year To All Our Readers! Enjoy Reading!

Warm regards | Jacob George

Industrial Print is a quarterly magazine published by Industrial Publishing Media Sdn Bhd (1250474-A), No.42-2 Jalan 6/38D, Taman Sri Sinar,Segambut,51200 Kuala Lumpur.Malaysia Tel : 03-6277 5108 Director Belle Yam belyam@hotmail.com Editor-in-Chief Jacob George jacob.industrialprint@gmail.com Editor Jasvinder Singh Advertising and Sales Adelle Wong adelle.wong@industrialprintmag.com Graphic Designer/Prepress Anil Kumar Networking/Hardware Consultant Sukhdeep Singh USA Corerspondent Yadhu Morphine European Correspondent Monique Van Der Sman Printed by: Thunder Print Sdn Bhd (374290-X) No.6463,Lorong Ayam Didik 3, Taman Ria Jaya Light Industrial Park, 08000 Sungai Petani, Kedah.

Tel: 04-4418 005 Industrial Print Oct-Dec 2019 Vol 03, Issue 04 Every effort has been made to ensure that credits accurately comply with information supplied.

All material supplied is compiled from sources believed to be reliable or solely an opinion of the authors. Industrial Print is not responsible for any steps taken based on the information provided herewith.

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Visitors

20,000+

Exhibition Area

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Booths 1000+

Why LED-UV is a good choice for forward thinking printers?

- The fast expanding drying technology has benefits that range from operational efficiency to costeffectiveness, operator and environmental friendliness and many more.

It is astonishing to see instant drying of inks on the fly, coming readyto-finish out of the press which was simply unimaginable earlier.

It brings a major gain in productivity over standard drying; and it is only one of the many advantages that UV technology brings to printing.

Key Notes : > Drying ink on substrate has come a long way from powder sprays and heat to UV LED. > UV LED is by far the most cost and time efficient drying technology employed in printing. > The technology is expanding by both pre-equipped new machine installations as well as retrofitting old presses with add on kits.

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Not many days ago, it was a general fear among printers to not pile the printed sheet stack too high to avoid set-off. Many methods were used conventionally to dry the ink on the paper. Use of powder spray and/or heat to hasten the drying process of ink on paper used to be pretty popular methods.

The landmark change in drying ink on substrate came with the advent of UV Curing Technology in Offset Lithographic press-rooms. And I for one consider the present day pressmen the blessed ones to reap the benefits of curing inks and coatings with UV. It

is astonishing to see instant drying of inks on the fly, coming ready-to-finish out of the press which was simply unimaginable just a few days back. And the resulting fully set, ready-to-finish sheet can be sent to the bindery much faster than earlier which required much waiting for the stack to dry on a pallet.

Thus, UV drying brings a major gain in productivity over standard drying; and it is only one of the many advantages that UV technology brings to printing.

Conventional UV lamps emit UV radiation by passing electricity through mercury vapour and other chemical compounds inside a tubular glass bulb. It’s a proven

industrial printing/general printing

technology, but during the past decade, UV systems developers have learned how to accomplish the same thing with mercuryfree light emitting diodes (LEDs) as the UV source. The next best thing in the printing industry?

Yes, I would have no reason not to agree!

LED-UV, isn’t intended to be a wholesale replacement for its well-established predecessor – UV curing system – but it has a number of distinct technical advantages over lamp-based UV, and these, manufacturers and other experts agree, could make it the UV solution of choice for many printing and packaging applications.

Ask anybody who has a retrofitted sheet-fed press with LED-UV curing systems and they would vouch that it is the “fastest moving” market opportunity for the technology – especially on the web-fed but no less on the sheet-fed, notably in the packaging industry.

LED-UV combination has its own benefits in commercial applications too. The appeal of LED-UV lies in its high efficiency and cites instant drying, minimal heat transfer to substrates, elimination of ozone and solvents, and long diode life (as On/Off cycles are immaterial for LED-UV and does not affect their life or performance) as LEDUV’s principal advantages.

The ability to “clock” LED-UV exposure so that it is formatted strictly to the area to be printed, instead of illuminating the entire sheet as a conventional lamp, is a saving one can’t ignore. Besides, there is low-heat operation which makes them extremely suitable for “hyper-temperature-sensitive substrates” like plastic. Other rewarding benefits include the low cost of maintaining the exposure units – in which diode life can be as long as 20,000 hours – along with the ease of operation thus simplifying the production routines.

coated grades. It is not just about goodlooking sheets — with LED-UV, production economy and stability enter the picture as well. According to Anil Kumar, a designer who is very active in the UV arena, “My customers who are really cost as well as environment conscious, love it; when they calculate the time and money they’ve saved by avoiding spray-powder clean outs and other issues associated with non-UV drying.

The process is so production-friendly that I have even seen digital presses at work in the same press-rooms as having the LED-UV equipment.”

Considering the other side, it may be noted that today we have cheaper coating products available in conventional UV than LED-UV. Nevertheless, it is just a matter of time before we have more options in LED UV too as it expands into the market to reach a sizeable installation base at our printers – slowly and steadily!

For those printers’ ready to embrace LED-UV curing, there are three probable ways to do it: by buying a new offset press with factoryinstalled units; by retrofitting an existing, non-UV press with them; or by replacing

conventional lamps on an existing press with LED-UV modules. The choice may depend upon feasibility, demand and factors like existing environment, usage and application.

Though technically, the performance of original and retrofit LED-UV systems should be equal “in theory” but one must keep in mind that every integration is unique and that variations — for instance, in the positioning of the UV emission source and the amount of space between it and the substrate — can yield different results.

Machine manufacturers who have their own OEM LED UV include: Heidelberg, Komori, RMGT and many more. Besides, there are many providers of retrofit UV and LED-UV installations in the market, both from China as well as local players. It is advisable to choose carefully to maximise advantages including profit and optimise processes.

To know more about LED-UV, we recommend two resources - www. printuv.com and www.leduv.org.

If the readers have any questions they may email me at jacob. pressideas@gmail.com. We shall be only too pleased to get your queries answered by the experts.

Talking of retrofitting, a press for UV curing can be done with fewer LED-UV units than conventional lamps. A single LEDUV source matches the curing capacity of multiple mercury lamps at a fraction of the energy consumption which in itself is a huge advantage. The technology, besides saving costs, is kinder to “human values” with its low-temperature and odour-free operation.

LED-UV gives designers the colour pop they want without obliging them to print on

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Konica Minolta at IPMEX 2019 Expanding the future of professional printing through comprehensive digital printing solutions under Accurio.

Konica Minolta’s IPMEX participation came under the banner of their “Rethink Professional Printing” theme this year, whereby the company continued to find better solutions helping their business partners & valued customers to transform their print business to greater heights.

IPMEX remains an important platform for Konica Minolta to actively source expertise and experience from customers and involve them in industry-first insights and synergies to digital printing, inkjet printing and label printing.

Key Notes : > Launches roll-to-roll digital label printing solution AccurioLabel 230. > Ideal for professional print providers who want to shift volumes from conventional presses to digital. > Provides end-to-end print solutions – print workflow solution and production, UV Inkjet and Label printers.

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RETHINK is a new branding framework that was introduced by Konica Minolta in 2019. By adopting the “RETHINK” branding, Konica Minolta aims to become a truly digital company with deep understanding into implicit challenges. It strives to rethink the reasons behind their customers’ pain points, which helps them to rethink their own environment and solve problems independently. It rethinks the nature of their customer relationships to better meet their needs and create new value; in light of customers striving for personal transformation in this age of digital transformation.

In pursuing digital printing that offers greater speed, quality and consistency, Konica Minolta continues to expand the future of professional printing through a comprehensive and fully modular group of digital printing technologies and solutions under Accurio.

The line includes digital press suites, state-of-the-art inkjet printers and the software and cloud-based tools for integrating, managing and executing seamless workflow. Automating operations, expanding the possibilities of on-demand offerings, and providing connectivity to prepress and postpress systems, Accurio maximises use of resources, reduces labour and costs, and raises accuracy and productivity.

Konica Minolta leveraged its digital technologies to meet the need for high-mix small-lot production and shorter lead time. It offered solutions to enhance efficiency of printing operations by enhancing the efficiency of the post-press process of varnishing, laminating, foil stamping and die cutting.

AccurioLabel 230 – the latest version in digital toner press portfolio Konica Minolta displayed the range of Accurio line including digital press suites, label printers, the software and cloud-based tools for integrating, managing and executing seamless workflow during exhibitions. One of the new launched products wasroll-to-roll digital label printing solution – called AccurioLabel 230, the latest version in digital toner

press portfolio. It is targeted at small- and mid-range segments and is suitable for label printers, print providers, brand owners, packaging companies and commercial printers.

Being a featured product, the new launch AccurioLabel 230 brings numerous benefits for customers including; productivity, flexibility and stability as it continues to accelerate its presence within digital label printing. The AccurioLabel 230 is ideal for professional print providers who want to shift volumes from conventional presses to digital, or are looking for a complementary solution to balance jobs from other digital presses. It is the answer to the reduction of run lengths, shorter delivery times, personalisation and versioning, and to the production of ondemand print runs. The AccurioLabel 230 offers outstanding productivity, brilliant image quality and surprising ease of use, making it a perfect tool to diversify into new markets and use in conjunction with existing analogue machines.

The enhancements of the Konica Minolta four-colour AL230 include: • Increased speed. The 23.4 meters/ min print speed represents up to 147% increase, with most coated/uncoated papers, PP and PET media now able to be printed at full speed.

• Productivity. Continuous highest quality 1200 x 1200 dpi print runs of up to 1,000 meters can be achieved without the need for recalibration. The time taken between jobs has also been eliminated, increasing productivity further.

• Overprinting. Adding this option allows the AL230 to print seamlessly on preprinted media, for example overprinting of flexo white pre-printed on clear PP labels.

• More accurate print registration. A builtin speed detector for media feeding also cuts paper wastage.

Exhibiting in Hall 1 at Stall No. 1123, Konica Minolta Business Solutions (M) Sdn Bhdpresented at a huge 12mx15m stall consisting of 20 booths. There were live demo for all product displayed at the exhibition.Products on display included: AccurioPRESS C6100, AccurioPRESS C3070 and AccurioPRESS C83HC (AccurioPRESS Colour Production Printer series); Accurio PRESS 6136 (Black & White Production

Printer series); Accurio Label 230 (Industrial Printer series); and Accurio Pro Flux (Production Printer Applications).

Konica Minolta ventured into industrial printing by increasing its range of products to cater to a wider market segment. It provides its customers end-to-end print solutions – print workflow solution (AccurioPro Flux), production printers (AccurioPress series), UV Inkjet printers (AccurioJet KM1, Jetvarnish 3DS with iFoil–MGI) and Label printers (AccurioLabel).

Taking on market challenges with RETHINK approach Keeping in mind the present challenges of digital printing industry in Malaysia – many applications heading towards saturation; fierce competition between suppliers; and price war among solutions providers etc. – Konica Minolta carries the slogan “RETHINK” in its everyday quest for innovation, continues to find better solutions, helping business partners to transform their print business and overcome these challenges. At the same time, it made the most of opportunities like acceleration of digitalisation –technological advancement and new innovations driving demand for digital print solutions. With the acceptance level of digital printing increasing significantly year on year, Konica Minolta catered to these print needs with their end-toend digital print solutions from print workflow solution. Besides that, the demand of shortrun jobs increased giving an opportunity to digital printing as the stability and printing quality of digital print better compared to traditional offset printing.

IPMEX remains an important platform for Konica Minolta to actively source expertise and experience from customers and involve them in industry-first insights and synergies to digital printing, inkjet printing and label printing. Targeting customers from different industries including design house, print for pay, commercial printers, label and packaging companies, it achieved great result from the current edition.

Konica Minolta and environment friendly products Konica Minolta is proud to offer products that are not only compliant with environmental legislation and regulations throughout the world but also meet high environmental standards through various voluntary certifications and eco-labels. International

Energy Star Program is one of the environmental labels that recognised among printing industry. Products that meet certain standards can be registered as Energy Star devices as part of an energysaving program.

Almost all of Konica Minolta’s digital printers meet the energy star standards.

Besides that, Konica Minolta also provides Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS) for all of their printers with information such as the substances contained in a product and handling precautions in order to facilitate the safe handling of chemical products. MSDS are also called Safety Data Sheets (SDS) to comply with international standards.

By having these environmental standards certification, Konica Minolta ensures that the chemical products such as toner and ink, which are consumables for the aforementioned products and printers manufactured by Konica Minolta are environment friendly in the future.

Konica Minolta Malaysia is moving ahead to change into a customer-centric business offering high added value to its customers. It expects their latest print and label technology showcased at IPMEX would not only impress existing/new customers but will also help them increase their business productivity and profitability. Besides that, brand awareness is another impact that it expects to gain after IPMEX 2019. “We will continue to support IPMEX exhibitions. It is the largest international tradeshow for printing in Malaysia. This tradeshow has been able to attract thousands of visitors during these 4 days. It also provides an opportunity for us to showcase our latest print technology and products to the industry. Besides, it also helped us to generate leads and meet new customers, professionals and industry experts during the show,” says CK Lim, Director & General Manager, Konica Minolta.

As is usual, Konica Minolta offered great deals during the IPMEX exhibition.

Recognizing and rewarding their valued customers and partners, Konica Minolta is giving out an opportunity through their campaign to attend Drupa. Apart from delivering new ideas and solutions that help inspire customers and improve the productivity and profitability of their business, Konica also provides a strong technical support network nationwide in Malaysia.

Label converting system opens the access to the folding carton market Digital printing system covers both applications. (- By Dieter Finna)

The ability to produce labels and cartons on the same press enables label printers to expand their product portfolio. The “Carton Edition” of the digital Gallus Labelfire overcomes – as can be summarized after two years of practical experience – the previous process limitations of these applications in narrowweb printing. However, for converters, investing in a hybrid printing system also means breaking new ground and becoming a pioneer in a smart service industry.

The results in the tobacco market show that the hybrid printing system Gallus Labelfire has passed its folding carton aging test. Now the path into further markets is open, especially in the segments Personal Health & Care and Pharmaceuticals.

Ever faster innovation cycles and ever shorter timeto-market increases the number of regional products for brand owners as well as the number of variants for test markets. Trends that label and packaging printers face on a daily basis, seeking solutions for markets where responsiveness is critical. Given the premise of agility and responsiveness, it’s no wonder that it’s a digital converting system that provides a cross-procedural solution for label and folding carton printing. The Gallus Labelfire with “Carton Kit” utilises the strengths of digital printing and is additionally equipped with optimized analogue and digital inline finishing techniques.

The machine equipment Features of the machine configuration include a fiber

breaker for paperboard and a corona pre-treatment for label stock. For the much higher web tension of paperboard materials, the press is stiffened, in other words the modules, on each of which two printing units are located, are clamped with steel straps.

All pulleys are coated and designed for maximum diameter. Combination drying of UV and hot-air was also considered for the use of hybrid effect coatings on a machine designed for UV inks.

The existing flexographic printing units are mainly used for formatless applications such as primers, varnishing or non-digitally producible special effects.

The digital printing unit with eight UV inking units (White + CMYK + GOV) can print colour images in an extended colour space as well as variable data.

Metallic effects are achieved by digitally overprinted cold foil in all shades. Another special feature of the converting system is the Digital Embellishment Unit (DEU) from Steinemann DPE at the end of the processing line. It is used for the digital application of spot varnishes with gloss and matt varnish and – brand new – to achieve tactile effects. Application rates of 20 g/m2 can be applied, which corresponds to a coating thickness of 20 μm, without this process restricting the printing speed of 70 m/min. Even

Key Notes : > Breaking new ground – Carton Edition of the digital Gallus Labelfire. > The Gallus Labelfire with Carton Kit – combines strengths of digital printing and optimized analogue and digital inline finishing techniques. > Its integrated colour management system places the highest demands on the colour consistency of labels and folding cartons.

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Print sample of the Digital Embellishment Unit (DEU) of the Steinemann DPE with large-area spot varnish, spot varnishing with fine elements and simulation of a drip-off effect in the coating. (Source: Steinemann DPE)

industrial printing/general printing

a coating application of up to 50 μm is possible, with a reduction in speed.

In die-cutting, it is possible to choose between a semi-rotary or fully rotary diecutting unit, whereby the maximum speed utilization requires a rotary die-cutting unit.

Extended batch production A comparison of print runs of conventionally and digitally printed labels published by FINAT in 2015 shows that the print run in digital printing averaged 13% of conventional run lengths during the investigation period.

In other words, a conventional order corresponded to six orders in digital printing, divided into smaller batches. Of course, with small print runs, the change efficiency between the jobs is of particular importance.

This is beyond doubt in digital printing.

A digital converting system can therefore make particularly good use of the advantage of extended batch production. In this mode of production, only the print subject changes; the finishing effects, substrate and die remain the same. This enables digital printing to print different variants in smaller editions without additional setup time.

Target markets The Gallus Labelfire “Carton Edition” is currently being used in the tobacco market.

The coloured illustrations of the different variants of a packaging are printed digitally.

The embellishment with metallic effects is done by cold foil and digital overprint or UV flexo printing. This highly refined goods market is driving forward the development of the digital converting system with the aim of producing a completely digital end-toend process. Steinemann DPE’s Digital Embellishment Unit is already achieving inline fascinating and extraordinary results in coating applications and tactile effects in this market, which could previously only be achieved with a separate working step.

Labels and folding cartons in the area of personal care are finished with high quality foil stamping, matt and gloss. (Source: pack.consult)

This also applies to the field of cosmetics and perfume, in which labels and folding boxes are elaborately finished with lacquer.

With a hybrid label printing machine such as the Gallus Labelfire, hybrid coatings with a sandpaper effect or soft-touch coatings that impart a velvety, rubber-like or soft feel to the haptics can be applied in the conventional range. Metallic effects emphasize the exclusivity of the packaging. In this segment too, it would be advantageous to produce labels and folding cartons on the same machine, since the integrated colour management system places the highest demands on the colour consistency of labels and folding cartons.

print runs, the Pharmaceutical segment is also one of the target markets for this hybrid printing press. Due to the high physical resolution of the digital printing unit of 1,200 × 1,200 dpi with a drop size of 2 pl, small characters and letters as well as fine lines and vignettes can be reproduced to zero percent. The colour management ensures colour consistency with high qualitative requirements in the Pharmaceutical sector.

In the near future, the confectionery sector will also be among the target markets. New UV-ink formulations for food packaging are currently under development in this area, which means that this segment can also be included in potential considerations in the medium term.

In terms of the packaging dimensions and

An extremely interesting target market of the “Carton Edition” is Health & Beauty Care, especially in the area of personal care. In this market segment, labels and folding cartons have a high level of embellishment, and the print runs as well as the size of the cartons are very much in line with a digital converting system with a printing width of 340 mm. After a substrate change, the required labels for the primary packaging can also be printed on the machine.

Labels in the personal care sector have a high demand for colour consistency

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Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) are dependent on constantly re-staging their brand image. In the introduction of new products into these markets it is sometimes a matter of avoiding potential supply gaps.

Therefore brand manufacturers accept overproduction of packaging material, because in this phase, consumer behaviour and thus the required print run with respect to the new product is difficult to estimate.

Equally suitable, the pharmaceutical market segment.

It places high demands on colour management and print quality. (Source: pack.consult)

[Quote] “Beauty has to be staged in a sophisticated and at the same time entertaining way at the point of sale as well as on the internet.” Martin Ruppmann, Managing Director of the VKE Cosmetics Association in the foreword to Personal Care 2020

Cost vs. benefit Digitally printed products are not cheaper.

Where is your added value? What all these market segments have in common, is that the design variants of their products are characterized by a rapid change. These

Today, lowest inventory or even “zero stock” is an approach brand manufacturers take, in which they only order as much packaging material as is currently needed for the campaigns. If design variants are tested and a variant runs particularly well, brand manufacturers are dependent on being able to reproduce at short notice, especially if the market behaviour of the end user fluctuates.

Costs for storage and retrieval operations, slow-movers or obsoletes of packaging material are thus largely reduced or completely avoided. From this perspective, the production of packaging material in digital printing, especially small to medium runs, is quite interesting from an economic point of view.

Smart solutions in services The development of a hybrid label printing machine explicitly for folding carton printing

to a converting system with the equipment features shown is driven by practice. More precisely, by a brand manufacturer, that purposely pursues the goal of exploring all the possibilities of digital folding carton printing for its supply chain. The results in the tobacco market show that the hybrid printing system Gallus Labelfire has passed its folding carton aging test. Now the path into further markets is open, especially in the segments Personal Health & Care and Pharmaceuticals.

An enormous advantage when addressing other market segments is that the Gallus Labelfire with “Carton Kit” builds on a converting system that has already proven itself well in the label market. The extended version adds value and gives label printers and converters the chance to take on a pioneering role – single-source labels and cartons, quickly and reliably printed on a single press, in small to medium runs. This is in line with the market requirements of brand manufacturers and also meets the target of lowest inventory levels.

However, the search for further developments in digital printing and digital finishing for a completely digital solution does not stand still. This is what makes the development in these areas so exciting.

Océ becomes Canon Production Printing Canon Inc. and Océ Holding B.V. have announced the official corporate name (trade name) change of Canon Group company Océ to Canon Production Printing.

After joining the Canon Group in 2010, Océ continued to develop and manufacture its printing products under the Océ brand.

Renaming Océ to Canon Production Printing and integrating the Océ products under the Canon brand, will create brand unity across all areas of Canon’s printing business, improve synergies across their portfolio and establish a clear end-to-end, go-to-market approach. The change of the company name comes into effect as of January 1, 2020.

Since its establishment in 1877, Océ has introduced a number of unique copying and printing technologies. Through further integration with the Canon Group, Océ will continue to develop its core technologies and grow its market share as Canon Production

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Printing, in order to accelerate the growth of the Canon Group’s commercial printing business worldwide.

Océ develops and manufactures high-tech printing products and workflow software for

the commercial printing market. The product offering includes continuous-feed and cutsheet printers for high-volume printing and publishing, and large-format printers for display graphics and CAE/GIS applications.

industrial printing/general printing

Breakthrough Recyclable Tube Packaging by Essel Propack Platina and Green Maple Leaf Lamitubes’ innovation herald first of its kind eco-friendliness in the segment.

Essel Propack has announced a major breakthrough innovation in the form of recyclable HOPE barrier tubes. Essel Propack’s Platina 250 and Green GML 300 Lamitubes have been recognized by Association of Plastic Recyclers (APR), USA as meeting or exceeding the strict APR HOPE critical guidance criteria. This achievement is a major step forward in delivering on Essel’s sustainability commitments.

This is a first of its kind breakthrough in the tube packaging market, essentially for brands looking to convert to sustainable barrier packaging formats which are recyclable.

On the occasion of this milestone Essel Propack’s Business Leadership Team mentioned, “We are extremely delighted, as this will open the doors for many such innovations in the near future and we will proactively reach out to every customer to convert to this packaging format and increase the economy of scale to make this an easy adapting solution for every brand.

This will enable Essel Propack to globally participate with customers and help them to achieve their sustainability commitments.”

The R&O team based out of Essel’s focussed innovation facility in Maharashtra worked extensively on several design and formulation options in developing recyclable HOPE barrier tubes. The unique and complex task to the team was to Innovate on sustainable tubes without compromising any of the functional features of the tubes like feel, shelf life, safety and machinability requirements for the various generations of production lines.

After use, the Platina & GML tubes can be recycled in the dominant #2 plastic stream used across the globe for recycling milk cans, Juice bottles etc. Use of HOPE in Platina and GML tubes increases the stiffness of the tubes, enabling down gauging / reducing polymer content and in helping users to deliver on their sustainability commitments.

This innovation comes at a point where consumer product marketers are looking

for sustainability solutions to meet their stakeholder commitments on Reducing, Recycling and Reusing (3 R’s) their packaging. Essel as a responsible tube supplier to Global Consumer Brands will proactively offer this innovation to their Partners not only to enable them to achieve their sustainability targets, but also to fulfil their responsibility towards the society.

Following this development, Essel will be working closely with partners to streamline the value chain of the tube usages and disposal of the same along with the reusability of its contents in different product streams. The company will extensively promote this to Partners, work with local agencies, raw material users where the tube recycled resin qualifies to be out into different product raw material streams. One of such an initiative has been Project Liberty & Etain (PCR) tubes.

As a responsible company, Essel Propack has always strived hard towards achieving better sustainability. Some of the other notable initiatives are: 1. Project Liberty - Essel Propack’s “Project Liberty” is a significant initiative to support environmental sustainability. With the vision to make every tube made by Essel Recyclable, ‘Project Liberty’ is a pathbreaking attempt to recycle multilayer aluminium based lamitubes.

Using proprietary technology, ‘Project Liberty’ allows for the separation of the aluminium and polymers into two distinct and reusable streams, without the use of any chemicals or heat. Once separated, both the Aluminium and Polymer fractions recovered from ABL tubes can be recycled safely.

Essel Propack’s Recyclable Laminated tubes getting its recognition by APR USA, has already achieved a step ahead and over the next few months it aims to focus its development and success with customers.

Essel Propack, is the largest specialty packaging global company, manufacturing laminated plastic tubes catering to the FMCG and pharma space. Employing over 3158 people representing 25 different nationalities, Essel Propack functions through 20 state of the art facilities and in eleven countries, selling circa 7 billion tubes and continuing to grow every year. Holding oral care market share of 36% in volume terms globally, Essel Propack is the world’s largest manufacturer with units operating across countries such as USA, Mexico, Colombia, Poland, Germany, Egypt, Russia, China, Philippines and India. These facilities cater to diverse categories that include brands in beauty & cosmetics, pharma & health, food, oral and home, offering customized solutions through continuously pioneering first-in-class innovations in materials, technology and processes.

2. Etain (PCR Tubes)- Tubes made with up to 25% Post-Consumer recycled resin content, promoting the use of PCR resins, reducing the demand for virgin raw materials.

With unanimous accord that various Innovation must be done for encouragement of plastic recycling, corporate and various associations are taking big moves. With

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Are we on the road to achieving truly sustainable packaging?

Sustainability is the number one priority for Brand Owners now, but they do not want to make concessions on the visual appeal of their product packaging.

While the sustainability of packaging has been an important topic for Brand Owners for several years, the need to implement meaningful solutions has significantly gathered pace in the last year or two. Consumers are rapidly becoming more environmentally conscious, and packaging recyclability is now a major decision factor in their purchasing. Indeed, 48% of consumers in the US said they would definitely or probably change their consumption habits to reduce their impact on the environment, while among millennial consumers, the figure reaches 75%.

Many businesses have publicly declared very ambitious sustainability targets as a result, promising entirely recyclable materials in their packaging production and alternatives to plastic.

BOBST has teamed up with several partners (Dow, Brückner Maschinenbau, Hosokawa Alpine, Elba and Constantia Flexibles) to produce new high barrier mono material flexible packaging solutions designed for recyclability.

Key Notes : > Previously, sustainability was more like a marketing approach with little success. > Today, dedicated R&D budgets target sustainability, biodegradability and recyclability of packaging. > Mixing polymers makes the task of recycling much harder especially recovering individual material from the mix.

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“What we have seen in the last 18 months is very different to what was happening before,” says Eric Pavone, Business Development Director, BU Web Fed at BOBST. “Previously, sustainability was being utilized almost like a marketing approach, but in reality, not much progress was being made. In the last 18 months or so, the pressure has grown to the extent that the industry has really shifted gears and now companies have dedicated huge R&D budgets to the sustainability, biodegradability and recyclability

of their packaging. Many of the self-imposed deadlines are challenging, but there is a real focus on this area now that makes them more achievable” As a result, sustainability is now driving great innovation, and the potential rewards are significant.

Innovative delivery models and changing use patterns are calculated to be worth approximately $9 billion to the plastics industry.

“We need to recover 20 years of engineering” The key challenge for Brand Owners – particularly in the food industry – is producing new packaging materials without sacrificing the security, freshness, appeal and visibility of the product inside.

Most flexible packaging is a combination of several materials, or polymers (e.g. polyester, polypropylene, polyethylene). Multi polymer materials used in flexible packaging are sophisticated formulas, adept at protecting food (for example) from oxygen, water and so on. But mixing polymers makes the task of recycling much harder and, given there is no standard composition of multi-polymer packaging, there is no feasible standard method to unpick and recover these materials.

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“Recyclability really means mono polymer,” says Eric Pavone, “As soon as you mix you have problems. But mono polymers traditionally don’t perform to the level of multi polymer materials. The big challenge we face is that today’s flexible packaging is a highly sophisticated engineered product, which is the result of two decades of innovation and development. We need to recover 20 years of engineering as soon as possible to find mono polymer materials that perform as well as today’s packaging, while also ensuring the same machine efficiency in the whole value chain of packaging. It’s a challenge, but one we are making good progress with.”

Partnerships bring progress BOBST has teamed up with several partners to produce new high barrier mono material flexible packaging solutions designed for recyclability. The project has involved using different high barrier mono-material structures, each one thoroughly tested to guarantee all industry requirements were met in terms of processability, barrier, safety and optical quality. The different types of mono-material standup pouches (MDO PE, BOPE, BOPP and CPP) were first displayed at K 2019 in Düsseldorf, and are the outcome of considerable investment and intense research by the partners.

The partners include Dow, a resin supplier for the first step in the production chain, Brückner Maschinenbau for the production of the biaxial stretched polypropylene and polyolefin-based films, Hosokawa Alpine for the production of MDO LDPE, Elba to convert the finished reels into pouches, and Constantia Flexibles to produce metallized high barrier LDPE standup pouches.

The joint project team is working on these innovations utilizing the BOBST Competence Centers for high barrier, printing and lamination to test the viability of the new materials. The team have been able to leverage BOBST unique technologies to see the production process through and carry out barrier and adhesion tests on the substrates in BOBST laboratories equipped with worldclass measuring equipment.

how – separately we will get nowhere. There are industrial high barrier solutions existing in the world but now we need more and more solutions offerings and adopters, and then we will start to see more industrial-scale offerings.”

Balancing high sustainability with high quality A major focus for BOBST and its partners – now that they have produced a range of mono polymer materials – is to optimize their viability in the packaging production process and ensure the quality achieved today on multi-polymer is achieved.

“These substrates react differently, the parameters are different, so we need to keep moving forward to ensure these materials perform as well in all aspects as the ones we currently use,” says Eric Pavone. “Yes, sustainability is the number one priority for Brand Owners now, but they do not want to make concessions on the visual appeal of their product packaging. So a challenge for us is to bring 100% recyclability without any compromise on appeal. We need material to be scratch-resistant for example, which is challenging with mono materials.”

Innovation on overdrive So, what’s next?

“A major focus for everyone in the industry is developing biodegradable plastics that meet sustainability criteria and can be widely utilized in packaging processes,” says Eric Pavone. “Because at BOBST we have all the relevant technology to be able to test the viability of industrializing new materials from raw material to printed and converted packaging and labels, we can add a lot of value in this area.”

Eric also highlights the potential of paper, which he says has high interest in the industry. Consumers already like paper and because it is a natural fiber, it is degradable and recyclable. But paper does not have the high barrier properties needed of plastic and similar materials, so a lot of current R&D focus is on finding ways to bring the high barrier properties to paper.

Ultimately, packaging must fulfil its primary purpose: to protect the product inside. But as environmental pressures increase, the need for packaging to be completely sustainable and recyclable reaches an equal priority. With the rate of current innovation, it may not be too long before we achieve it.

“This is the first of a new generation of monomaterial laminates,” says Eric Pavone. “We established a group of partners because this is a pressing challenge and we need to work together and pool our engineering know-

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20.1 Billion RFID Tags to be sold in 2019, finds IDTechEx Research RFID Forecasts, Players and Opportunities 2019-2029, the global annual survey of the RFID industry by analysts IDTechEx. The latest report by IDTechEx reveals that in 2019 the number of passive RFID tags sold will increase by 13% over 2018. RFID Forecasts, Players and Opportunities 2019-2029 – the global annual survey of the RFID industry by analysts IDTechEx includes passive RFID tags across the three main frequencies used (RAIN, HF and LF). Of those three frequencies RAIN RFID will see the highest growth from 2018 to 2019 at 20% with HF RFID (including NFC) at 5% and LF at 2%.

In a completely different sector again, the tagging of animals (such as pigs, sheep and pets) is substantial as it continues to be a legal requirement in many more territories, with 580 million tags being used for this sector in 2019.

Revenue growth for RAIN RFID from 2018 to 2019 is 15%, with a total market value for RAIN tags in 2019 expected to be $953 million. HF (including NFC) 2019 tag revenue totals $3,842 million, which includes nonlabel like devices such as contactless payment and transit cards.

In total, IDTechEx finds that the RFID industry including tags, readers, software and services will be $11.6 Billion in 2019 and will reach $15.2 Billion in 2024.

IDTechEx forecast that RAIN RFID tags will increase from 15 Billion being sold in 2019 (these are tag numbers: a higher number of RAIN ICs will be sold in a given year) rising to 41.2 Billion RFID tags in 2024. Dominant applications include tagging apparel, airline baggage and the long tail of many companies reaping the benefits of an established, reliable technology in asset tracking across many different industries.

Key Notes : > RAIN RFID will see the highest growth from 2018 to 2019 at 20%. > In retail, RFID continues to be adopted for apparel tagging above all other applications. > RFID in the form of contactless cards will demand 2.3 Billion cards in 2019.

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Several trends of note in 2019 include the availability of smaller RAIN ICs. NFC for payments continues to grow but NFC outside of payments, while growing, is at single digit growth rates from 2018 to 2019 as strong business cases demanding high volumes of NFC continue to be elusive. However, HF RFID in 2019 has seen the first volume multi-million tag order for flexible ICs that do not use silicon ICs, targeted to ‘close loop’ applications.

IDTechEx Research has analyzed the RFID market for over 20 years. This report provides detailed data and analysis of the entire RFID sector based on an extensive research including interviews with RFID adopters and technology providers in the various applicational RFID markets, giving an unprecedented level of insight into the total RFID industry and what is really happening. “Predominately, our research is conducted through interviews with companies across the value chain (many of whom provide data to us under non disclosure agreements who allow us to aggregate the data into the total) in addition to site visits and conference visits followed by secondary research,” says Rahu Das. “This comprehensive report from IDTechEx gives the complete picture covering passive RFID (for UHF, HF and LF frequencies), battery assisted passive, active RFID and chipless RFID. It provides detailed forecasts and depth unmatched by any other,” continues Raghu Das. The IDTechEx Show! USA 2019, took place recently on November 20 – 21 at Santa Clara, CA.

IDTechEx find that in 2019, the total RFID market will be worth $11.6 Billion, rising to $13 Billion in 2022. This includes tags, readers and software/services for RFID labels, cards, fobs and all other form factors, for both passive and active RFID.

will only be 25% of the value of HF tag sales (including NFC), mainly because HF tags where used for security (such as payments, access etc) have a higher price point versus the cheaper, usually disposable UHF (RAIN) tags used for tagging things.

In retail, RFID continues to be adopted for apparel tagging above all other applications by volume - that application alone will demand over 10 Billion RFID labels in 2019 - which still has some way to go with RFID penetrating only about 10% of the total addressable market for apparel in 2019.

RFID in the form of contactless cards will demand 2.3 Billion cards in 2019, driven by contactless payment, transit and secure access applications. In a completely different sector again, the tagging of animals (such as pigs, sheep and pets) is substantial as it continues to be a legal requirement in many more territories, with 580 million tags being used for this sector in 2019.

“Using new, unique information researched globally by IDTechEx technical experts, we analyze the RFID market in many different ways. Full analysis by each market is given in great detail including in-depth historic data by application type from 2005 to 2018, followed by a forecast from 2019 and every year thereafter to 2024. We additionally give a long term 2029 outlook,” shares Raghu Das.

In total, IDTechEx expects that 20 billion tags will be sold in 2019 versus 17.5 billion in 2018. Most of that growth is from passive UHF RFID (RAIN RFID) labels. However, in 2019 UHF (RAIN RFID) tag sales by value

The research conducted by IDTechEx ultimately provides ten-year forecasts by application area including tags, readers, software and services for the following markets: Retail; Healthcare and medical; Passenger transport/automotive; Land, sea logistics and post; Animals and farming; Airlines and airports; Financial, Security; Manufacturing; Leisure/sports; Consumer products and Other.

IDTechEx find that there are now emerging or established leaders in most positions of the value chain across the different technologies - yet still very few companies have sales of more than $100 million. There are still many opportunities, which are assessed in this report.

“IDTechEx has researched RFID markets, suppliers and technologies since 1999. In addition to the report - in PDF format - you will receive access to the key data contained in tables throughout the report,” states Raghu Das. All report purchases include up to 30 minutes telephone time with an expert analyst who will help buyers link key findings in the report to the business issues they are addressing.

This needs to be used within three months of purchasing the report.

Ordering Information • • • •

After extensive interviews with suppliers,

Electronic (1-5 users) $5,995.00 Electronic (6-10 users) $8,495.00 Electronic and 1 Hardcopy (1-5 users) $6,495.00 Electronic and 1 Hardcopy (6-10 users) $8,995.00

DKSH brings SOMA solutions to Asia - signs an exclusive distribution agreement covering its full range of products for Korea, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and India.

DKSH Business Unit Technology has partnered with SOMA, manufacturer of printing and converting solutions for flexible packaging. The collaboration covers Korea, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and India. DKSH will provide sales, marketing, application engineering and aftersales services for SOMA. SOMA’s portfolio includes flexographic printing presses, slitter rewinders, laminators, plate mounters and die cutters.

Its technology finds application in flexible packaging for food, non-food, labels, shrink sleeves, paper and paper board and aluminum closures. DKSH has partnered with SOMA in Japan since 2017. DKSH will continue the success in other markets by introducing SOMA’s top of the line technology to industries such as in-house flexible packaging production, plastics film producers, printers and converters.

Pavla Kusa, Commercial Director, SOMA stated: “We are excited to expand our partnership with DKSH. DKSH has helped us successfully expand the market in Japan. With DKSH’s deep experiences in new market development and their strong commitment to joint projects, we believe they will be a solid and trustworthy partner for us in other markets, too.”

Hanno Elbraechter, Head Business Unit Technology, DKSH commented: “Flexographic printing method has recently gained increasing acceptance in Asia and contains high growth opportunities. We believe through our systematic market development approach and our local market expertise, we will substantially increase SOMA’s presence, business volume and market share.”

SOMA produces a wide range of machines, including flexographic printing presses, slitter

rewinders, laminators, plate mounters and die cutters. All products are manufactured and assembled entirely in-house and its SOMA Globe Centre runs product and development trials using the latest machines for customers. SOMA serves an international market from its EU based facility in Lanskroun, Czech Republic via sales representatives and distributor network.

DKSH is a Market Expansion Services provider with a focus on Asia. Its portfolio of services includes sourcing, market insights, marketing and sales, distribution and logistics as well as after-sales services. The Group operates in 35 markets with 33,000 specialists, generating net sales of CHF 11.3 billion in 2018.

Windmoeller & Hoelscher runs Flint Group’s nyloflex® plates with great success Windmoeller & Hoelscher and Flint Group deliver most difficult print jobs in top quality at high speed.

K 2019, global exhibition for the plastics and rubber industry, closed its doors after eight extremely busy days in Duesseldorf starting on October 16th, 2019.

The 3,333 exhibitors provided impressive evidence that plastic is still an innovative, indispensable and forward-looking material. The 225,000 visitors showed great interest in recycling systems, sustainable raw materials and resource-saving processes in particular. With this, K 2019 sets a clear signal for the responsible use of plastics.

“It is impressive to see that W&H confirmed our quality aim for superior results on a state-of-theart high speed flexible printing press. With our new flexographic system for solvent plate processing, customers can achieve a new quality level in flexible packaging produced with an open plate processing system.”

- Friedrich von Rechteren

Windmoeller & Hoelscher, specialist for extrusion, printing and converting machines in the flexible packaging market, presented new developments in three areas at K 2019: Efficient production, sustainable packaging and PACKAGING 4.0. While showing highly automated job changes on their new blow film extrusion lines live at the K show, interested customers were also invited to attend print demonstrations with the latest introduced flexographic printing press, the NOVOFLEX II, at the new Technical Center at Lengerich. The NOVOFLEX II is W&H’s promise for maximum productivity through high performance and fast job changes. With a speed of up to 800 m/min, the NOVOFLEX II belongs to the top performance segment.

“With a completely new design of the print deck with a very stiff arrangement of rollers and impression cylinder, we have reduced vibrations and related issues to a new market standard. This enables top

Key Notes : > ThermoFlexX Woodpecker Nano surface structures and Flint plates show their impressive potential. > More than 1,500 visitors witness a new quality standard for high speed flexo printing at live demos during K 2019. > W&H presents new developments in efficient production, sustainable packaging and PACKAGING 4.0.

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quality print results at very high speeds even with critical vibration inducing images,” explains Hermann Veismann, General Manager Business Unit Printing and Finishing, W&H. He continues, “In return, the flexo plates must have exceptional ink transfer capabilities to keep up with the improved design.”

“We immediately realized, that the quality requirements of W&H are one of the most demanding in the market,” adds Dr Uwe Stebani, General Manager Xeikon Prepress. “We started with a joint project team of Flint Group Flexographic and Xeikon Prepress, and really could drive the print quality to a new level for digital flexo plates. Our system solution comprising ThermoFlexX imagers with the breakthrough Woodpecker Nano surface screening technology in combination with the nyloflex NEF plates and UV LED exposure met the expectations of W&H and, thus, nicely contributed

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to the overwhelming success of the print demonstrations.”

Friedrich von Rechteren, Global Commercial Vice President of Flint Group Flexographic, added, “It is impressive to see that W&H confirmed our quality aim for superior results on a state-of-the-art high speed flexible printing press. With our new flexographic system for solvent plate processing, customers can achieve a new quality level in flexible packaging produced with an open plate processing system. Similar qualities could only be achieved with closed

systems available in the market until now.

Woodpecker Nano in combination with Flint Group Flexographic plates, provide significant benefits to our customers with regard to cost and quality and representing a milestone in flexible packaging printing.”

The nyloflex NEF plate is a high durometer plate for flexible packaging and labels and is specially developed for creation of flat top dots as well as reproduction of surface screening. The combination of UV LEDs and UV tubes allow the definition of various dot shapes and shoulder angles

or relief elements. The Woodpecker Nano software enables the output of surface micro structures at imager level, and thus, avoiding the need for costly RIP options. Woodpecker Nano surface screens are perfectly symmetrical and the finest available for LAMs layer digital flexographic plates.

Running the NOVOFLEX II flexographic printing press with a speed of 600 m/min, W&H demonstrated the efficient production of a food style print design “Tortillas” with a unique print quality, high productivity and, consequently, lower total cost of print.

Fedrigoni acquires Ritrama The Rink family to continue owning and managing the US activities of Ritrama.

Fedrigoni S.p.A., an Italian and European producer of specialty papers and high value-added products for packaging and fine printing and self-adhesive labels (“Pressure Sensitive Labels”), has signed an agreement to acquire the Ritrama group, the Italian multinational group specializing in self-adhesive products. Ritrama has manufacturing facilities in Italy, Spain, the United Kingdom, Chile and China.

The Rink family, founders of Ritrama, will continue owning and managing the US activities of Ritrama which are excluded from the sale. However there will be continued collaboration with the rest of the Ritrama group going forward.

This acquisition—the second since Fedrigoni’s acquisition by Bain Capital— reinforces Fedrigoni’s position as one of the top players in the European Pressure Sensitive Labels market, in which it operates through the Arconvert and Manter brands.

The acquisition combines Fedrigoni’s excellence in the production of wine labels (for which Fedrigoni is the second-largest producer globally), and in the production of labels for the food, household and logistics markets, with the advanced self-adhesive technologies of Ritrama, which is one of the top producers globally of labels for the pharmaceutical, beverage and personal care markets. Ritrama, through its graphics and industrial segments, complements Fedrigoni’s portfolio.

This acquisition creates a large global player

in the field of Pressure Sensitive Labels, offering the Group’s customers a full-range of solutions for self-adhesive labels, with an extremely diversified state-of-the-art offer, both from a technological and aesthetical point of views.

“Strong synergies exist between the businesses of Arconvert and Ritrama,” confirms Marco Nespolo, CEO of the Fedrigoni Group. “Both companies operate with excellent results on largely complementary markets, with Arconvert specializing in self-adhesive labels manufactured from specialty papers, and Ritrama focusing on the production of selfadhesive plastic films.”

“Our Pressure Sensitive Labels segment, which is already showing very positive results, will now be larger, broader and more competitive,” continues Nespolo – “in a market that continues expanding in all segments and geographies, on a global level. Ritrama has a healthy, truly Italian, yet international, DNA, just like the Fedrigoni Group.”

“I am very proud of this transaction” – said Tomas Rink, President of Ritrama – “which ensures the Ritrama Group and its organization will continue to grow in a healthy and rapidly-expanding industrial reality, the Fedrigoni Group. Ritrama and Fedrigoni share common values”.

Sessa, Managing Director of Bain Capital and Chairman of Fedrigoni Holding – “which fits our strategy of consolidating the Group’s presence in the fields of Specialty Papers and Pressure Sensitive Labels, both organically and through acquisitions of international operators such as Ritrama.”

Ritrama’s total revenues of approximately Euro 400 million in the year ended December 31, 2018, coupled with Fedrigoni’s total revenues of approximately Euro 1.2 billion in the same period, amount to total revenues of the combined group of approximately Euro 1.6 billion, and position the combined Group among the largest global players in the field of specialty papers for packaging and Pressure Sensitive Labels.

The transaction is expected to close in the first quarter of 2020, and is subject to certain closing conditions.

“This operation marks another important step for Fedrigoni” – commented Ivano

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InForm Etiketten takes gold and overall winner at 1st MPS Label Awards edition Silver awards for Takara Pac from Japan for their Nori Body Scrub label (flexo category winner) and the US location of ASLPrint FX for their Unsorted Wine label (hybrid category winner).

At the first-edition MPS Label Awards held September 25 during Labelexpo Europe 2019, German printer InForm Etiketten was announced Gold Award winner. Their Snow White Gin label was selected for its exceptional print quality and original design.

To commemorate printing excellence of unique label applications, MPS invited customers to submit their finest labels printed on their MPS presses for a chance to win an award. A total of 32 nominated labels were received from MPS customers around the world.

A selection of winners in different categories was made by an independent jury consisting of Dirk Goethals (Business Unit & Sales Manager of Athena Graphics), Gregory Bentley (Global Primary Packaging Director, Global Innovation & Technology Department of AB InBev), and Hans Poortinga (MPS Manager Technology & Expertise Centre).

was skillfully created using alternating front and back label technology, with a die cut mirror-shaped hole on the front label and Snow White printed on the reverse side of the back label.

About the winning label, the jury said: “This label speaks for itself. A true combination of smart design, beautifully considered and executed. The backside printing is both simple and impactful. A highly original label with great shelf-appeal.”

Alternating label wins gold InForm Etiketten’s Snow White Gin label, produced for Eichenberg Manufaktur GbR, was declared gold winner during the MPS Label Awards ceremony.

An image of Snow White gazing into a mirror

Dr. Benjamin Rüdt von Collenberg, COO of InForm Etiketten said: “Winning the MPS Label Award is a great achievement which makes us proud and confirms we are on the right track. I am very happy for the entire InForm Etiketten team, who performs at a high and efficient level every single day.”

In addition to a golden star-shaped award, InForm Etiketten also won a free year of the Summum Service Level Agreement for their MPS EXL-Offset press, worth €7.500.

Offset and flexo combined in one process The award-winning Snow White Gin label was produced on an MPS EXL-Offset press that combines offset with flexo printing technologies. With this hybrid solution, the best suited technology was applied to each part of the label. Flexo was used to print on the glue-side of both the front and back label, with offset printing on the label’s front side combined with hot-foil embossing and relief varnish.

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“To make this special label, the MPS rotary offset printing press is perfect because it combines high offset resolution-particularly necessary to achieve the fine wood grain and texture, together with flexographic printing for register accuracy and printing on the front and back label’s adhesive side in the same working process,” said Rüdt von Collenberg.

The Snow White Gin label was printed on ‘Martéle Blanc’ material from Avery Dennison, at a speed of 30 meters per minute.

Silver awards for ASL and Takara Pac Also announced during the MPS Label Awards were two silver awards, presented to Takara Pac from Japan for their Nori Body Scrub label (flexo category winner) and the US location of ASLPrint FX for their Unsorted Wine label (hybrid category winner).

Hans Poortinga, jury member and MPS Manager Technology & Expertise Centre said: “We are very impressed with the beautiful applications our customers are producing. All nominated labels for the MPS Label Awards had very unique features and were elegantly constructed. I congratulate our first and deserving award winners InForm Etiketten, Takara Pac and ASL Print FX, and look forward to future editions of the MPS Label Awards!”

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InterTech Technology Award for RICOH Pro VC70000 RICOH Pro VC70000 gets recognized for image quality and innovation in media flexibility.

RICOH Pro VC70000 has received the Printing Industries of America’s (PIA) InterTech Technology Award. Judges noted that the Pro VC70000 “was seen as a definite innovation for inkjet production presses,” specifically calling out its ability to print on commodity papers, including coated, with no pre-treatment necessary. Ricoh received the award at the 2019 Premier Print Awards Reception on October 2 in Chicago.

“The judges were particularly impressed by the RICOH Pro VC70000’s image quality and no-pre-treatment-necessary substrate versatility,” said Jim Workman, vice president of PIA’s Center for Technology and Research.

“This marks an important advancement in the performance and capability of high-speed inkjet presses for commercial print work.”

The Pro VC70000 helps users accelerate the transfer of offset print volumes to digital – or work seamlessly with existing offset technology. The press is capable of delivering quality applications traditionally expected from offset, such as high-end catalogues and magazines, with inkjet’s signature affordability, speed and flexibility.

Where it truly shines, though, is in its substrate versatility. Leveraging the industry’s most popular and advanced piezo drop-ondemand printheads, the Pro VC70000 prints at up to 1200 x 1200 dpi resolution (2400 x 2400 dpi perceived) on uncoated, offsetcoated, inkjet treated or inkjet-coated papers without sacrificing speed, as well as the ability to handle media as thick as 260 gsm and as thin as 40 gsm.

brings with it a new set of Ricoh-developed inks and Ricoh-patented dryer technology to further drive savings, quality and fast turns.

The innovative technology creates drying capacity within the press itself, helping to minimize overall footprint without impacting print quality.

“From early on in the design and development process, we knew the RICOH Pro VC70000 would be a game changer,” said Mike Herold, Director, Global Marketing, Inkjet Solutions, Commercial Printing

Business Group, Ricoh. “This press delivers on the promise of inkjet, and it empowers our users to take that progress and leverage it on offset stocks, including coated media, so they can produce in-demand specialty applications, such as retail circulars and glossy catalogs, with inkjet turn times and personalization. It provides all of this with no need for special pretreatment, driving efficiency as well as major cost savings. It’s a new era of versatility, and we are excited to be alongside our customers at the vanguard.”

“Ricoh has been a great partner to us, and their technology advancements are helping us reach new customers, with better print solutions,” said Tom Boyle, Vice President, Sales and Marketing, Heeter. “We can confidently use offset coated stocks on this inkjet press – something that had been a huge challenge for the industry previously – and are very pleased with our Pro VC70000, and our full lineup of Ricoh technologies.”

The Pro VC70000 prints at speeds up to 492 ft/min, producing nearly 130,000 A4/ letter impressions per hour. The platform

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Paramount Labels installs first MPS flexo press Cannock based label printing manufacturer installs their first MPS, plans to install two more.

Purchased was an 8 colour MPS EB 370 flexo press. Phil Wright, Managing Director of Paramount Labels & Tags said, “We had three 6 colour flexo presses along with a digital inkjet press and various finishing equipment, but we needed to upgrade one of the presses. We started to look at various 8 colour flexo presses, this would help us push our sales team into different markets and also enable us to produce a higher quality print than the existing presses, and also at a much higher speed. This then would enable us to provide a better cost for our customers, by allowing us to put more work through this new press.”

to a choice of 3 manufacturers. We chose MPS because of the presence and reputation that they have in the marketplace in regard to build quality and reliability. We also had very positive recommendations from other label manufacturers that had chosen MPS which also helped when making our final decision.

We looked at the ease of operation and set-up times along with press run speeds and were very impressed by the performance of the press. MPS were very helpful in identifying ancillary equipment that we would need and were a constant source of information when we needed any help during the project. When we first embarked on this project, we set a budget that we really didn’t want to go beyond, MPS were instrumental in making sure that the project respected this and did all they could to ensure that we got the best possible deal throughout the entire process,” Wright continues.

Paramount Labels looked at all the major machine manufacturers that would suit their needs. “Our floor space is limited, which led

Nick Tyrer, Sales Director of MPS Systems UK Ltd. comments: “We are of course delighted that Paramount Labels made MPS their

Paramount Labels & Tags Ltd., based in Cannock, Staffordshire, UK, purchased and installed their first MPS flexo press. The UKbased label printing manufacturer plans to invest in two more MPS presses in 2020.

Phil Wright, Gary Booth, Keith Sanders, Sue Scarlett and Gareth Bramwell from Paramount Labels with their MPS EB flexo press

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chosen supplier. It’s always great to be able to supply a press to a growing company such as Paramount Labels, in a small way you want to be part of the reason that they reach their goals and achieve the success they deserve. It’s been a real pleasure and a privilege to get to know Phil and the team at Paramount, we sincerely hope that they continue their success story and grow as they intend.”

Phil Wright concludes, “The delivery and installation went like clockwork and ahead of time. Within 5 days, we were completely up and running! We do plan to change the other two presses early next year as part of our £2 million investment plan and would install another MPS press.”

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Xeikon opens Innovation Center in Shanghai - where visitors and customers will have the ability to test a variety of applications and options for new revenue streams and business growth.

Xeikon has opened a state-of-the-art Innovation Center in Shanghai. Designed to support the expanding Chinese markets, the facility will be a dedicated and welcome place of interaction where visitors and customers will have the ability to test a variety of applications and options for new revenue streams and business growth. Xeikon continues to develop new and innovative solutions for the label and packaging markets to meet the current challenges in today’s fast moving and evolving world of consumerism. The Shanghai Center will be equipped to house the latest Xeikon equipment and technologies, and Xeikon staff will be on hand to offer expertise, guidance, and demonstrate creative solutions and applications for a significant variety of markets and sectors.

Klaus Nielsen, General Manager Xeikon Asia, states, “We are seeing unprecedented global growth in the desire for digital printing solutions for labels and packaging. We are very pleased to be able to open this important Innovation Center in Shanghai and bring our technology to this region.

Xeikon’s high technology facility will play an important role in the development of our business in China and will support our Chinese customers in helping them to make considered decisions when investing in Xeikon’s digital technologies. We would like to thank our teams in Shanghai for conducting such a successful grand opening event.”

will be given to customers looking for advice and expertise on new ideas to transform their business models. Importantly, Xeikon’s Shanghai teams will help in finding the most appropriate equipment and solutions to take Chinese businesses to new levels.

Technology in the new Innovation Center The new center will be fully equipped with Xeikon’s front end workflow software – the X-800, as well as a Xeikon 3500, a digital label press for folding carton production using dry toner technology for food safety compliance. Designed for versatility and fast delivery of short runs and more complex jobs, the 3500 prints at 1200dpi with a max. of 516mm x 1000mm. This flagship press can address multiple applications in multiple segments.

Nielsen concludes, “With over 30 years of experience pioneering digital label and packaging technologies, Xeikon has much to offer the Asian markets. With the opening of this much awaited center, visitors will now be able to experience ‘real-life’ examples and test the latest solutions using Xeikon’s certified dry toner technology. They will be

able to discover the true creative quality of the end-products and the opportunities in different sectors that this can offer them to differentiate and grow their business. The opening of this Innovation and Technology Center in Shanghai is going to help develop business both for Xeikon and its Chinese customers.”

The Xeikon Innovation Center is located inside the Shanghai Printing and Publishing College.

Xeikon, a division of Flint Group, is a long-standing innovator in digital printing technology. Xeikon designs, develops and delivers web-fed digital colour presses for label and packaging applications, document printing, and commercial printing. As an OEM supplier, Xeikon also designs and produces plate makers for newspaper printing applications. In addition, Xeikon manufactures basysPrint computer-toconventional plate (CtCP) solutions for the commercial offset printing market. For the flexographic market, Xeikon offers digital platemaking systems under the ThermoFlexX brand name. Headquartered in Luxembourg, Flint Group employs some 7900 people.

During the event, visitors were welcomed

by Benoit Chatelard, President and CEO of Xeikon. Also, Klaus Nielsen, General Manager Xeikon Asia, thanked everyone involved for their part in making the opening possible. Jackie Chen, Sales Manager Greater China, conducted a demonstration of the Xeikon 3500 digital press driven

by Xeikon’s powerful and intelligent front end – the X-800. The Innovation Center has been designed to bring the latest Xeikon digital technology to China. It has been planned as a technology hub for handson interaction and a ‘go-to’ demonstration center where personal care and attention

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UCIC invests in Digital with EFI Nozomi corrugated printer Saudi-based United Carton Industries Company achieves breakthrough advancement in digital print for corrugated packaging with EFI’s LED inkjet printer. migration to digital printing will also increase UCIC’s overall production capacity for point of sale displays. The Nozomi is especially beneficial in how it will empower UCIC to better handle shorter runs and changing customer demands.

UCIC decided to purchase the Nozomi for several reasons: “We were highly impressed with the dual feeding feature of the printer and the three different printing modes,” said UCIC Supply Chain Vice President Ali Jariwala. “We expect the collaboration between UCIC and EFI to be fruitful.”

United Carton Industries Company (UCIC), one of the leading players in Saudi Arabia’s packaging industry, is achieving a breakthrough advancement in digital print for corrugated packaging with the installation of EFI’s Nozomi C18000 six-colour, single-pass LED inkjet printer. UCIC plans to enter new market segments, expand its customer base, and create a competitive advantage in the region with the new printer.

“UCIC’s priority is to meet customer expectations, which are constantly increasing due to ever changing market conditions,” said UCIC President Mohnish Rikhy. “New technologies such as digital printing with EFI’s Nozomi C18000 printer help us meet these demands and stay ahead of the competition.”

Founded in 1990, UCIC focuses on high quality corrugated solutions for customized packaging needs – with a capacity of about 400,000 metric tons or 1.2 billion boxes on average per year. The Nozomi C18000 printer will enable UCIC to begin transitioning HD flexo work produced in the company’s five plants in Saudi Arabia to digital. The

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The Nozomi C18000 offers three modes to optimize print quality and ink consumption: PHOTO mode allows matching of over 90% of PANTONE Colours in six colours with no ink consumption limit, specifically aimed at high-end colour reproduction; POP mode reduces the colour gamut slightly but delivers the best quality while reducing ink consumption; and ECO mode works with a restricted colour range and the lowest possible ink consumption. These print modes allow UCIC to address a wider range of production needs.

The 71-inch (1.8-meter) wide EFI Nozomi C18000 prints up to 246 linear feet (75 linear meters) per minute, printing up to 10,000 35x35-inch (890x890-mm) boards per hour two-up. Its single-pass, piezo inkjet imaging system delivers accurate, high-fidelity colour, including excellent, consistent reproduction on solid areas. The Nozomi is also the leading single-pass corrugated production device in terms of power consumption efficiency after having achieved the Fogra ISO 20690 Standard. UCIC’s new printer includes a six-colour configuration of Genuine EFI Inks (CMYK, orange and violet) for superior-quality, expanded-gamut imaging with matte, satin or glossy finishes.

The Nozomi printer is driven by the Fiery NZ1000 digital front end (DFE), which provides outstanding print and colour quality, with extensive features to make print results truly exceptional. It gives users more ways to automate and manage workflows and flexibly schedule jobs. The Fiery DFE also provides blazing fast performance for cost-effective production on short and long runs, as well as on variable and versioned jobs.

The EFI Nozomi C18000 is part of a complete ecosystem for corrugated manufacturing available from EFI, with leading edge inks, Fiery DFE technology and a complete EFI Corrugated Packaging Suite business and production management workflow.

industrial printing/general printing

Elephant Dung As Paper Raw Material Elephant waste is one of the animal waste material being used to produce paper in many parts of the world.

Eco Maximus is a Sri Lanka based manufacturer of handmade paper and what makes its paper special is that the raw material for the paper is animal waste, that too elephant dung. Maximus is one of the known names globally that uses elephant waste to manufacture handmade paper or other value added products. It’s been doing so since 1997. Interestingly, an elephant can contribute as much as 200 pounds of dung per day. In other words, we can say, it can convert 300 pounds of foliage into 200 pounds of raw material for paper in one day.

Eco Maximus was an early producer of elephant dung paper, and the first in Sri Lanka. Today, it creates a range of stationery and souvenirs, which are sold in the local market and in 30 other countries around the globe.

Generally, paper is made of paper pulp, which comes chiefly from wood. Billions of trees are cut to meet global paper demand.

Though paper in itself is an environmentally friendly, renewable and biodegradable product, it is a major contributor of deforestation.

Paper can be produced from waste or also be recycled; and therefore, we have many other source of raw material meeting smaller demands of global paper market. Elephant waste seems to be an effort in that direction.

and thus become odourless. It is boiled and mixed with off-cut (paper strips), and the pulp formed is poured into a thin metal mesh. Then it is pressed, dried, ironed, cut, levelled to turn into smooth sheets of paper for creating different stationery items.

Just like Maximus in Sri Lanka, Taman Safari Part in Indonesia is another site that processes elephant dung for various uses. It processes as much as 2.5 tons of elephant dung daily to use as compost and many other sorts of goods including gift shop goods. The elephant dung is chiefly sourced from zoo and paper made from that is used for items like books, posters and photo frames that are printed with safari-themed print and sold in the gift shop.

In India, we have Haathi Chaap which uses cotton cloth scrap as main raw material along with elephant dung. This cotton rag is collected from large textile mills across the country. Otherwise, this waste would

have ended in landfills to decompose on its own. An assortment of Haathi Chaap brand products are made from these papers by Papeterie. Mahima Mehra came up with the idea of Papeterie when she found a mound of dung during one of her visits to Jaipur’s Amer Fort. It struck her that the dung looked like some fibrous raw material for paper pulp.

About one and a half year of experimenting with various methods and refinements, she came up with her first sheet of paper made from elephant dung. With a sizeable fan following she currently exports her products to many countries.

Despite this innovative and sustainable idea of using waste to useful end, the scarcity of raw material is still an issue to expand it.

Only domestic environs and certain zoos can be utilized for collecting of dung and collecting dung of wild elephants is not much practicable. It still has found its niche.

The process is simple – elephant dung is collected when it has already dried in hot tropical sun

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Ricoh introduces new series of intelligent A4 colour systems The four new A4 colour MFPs that are available now include the Ricoh IM C300, IM C300F, IM C400F and IM C400SRF. Ricoh is launching a new series of intelligent A4 colour systems that are tailored to the requirements of the digital workplace. The model series is introduced as part of the Dynamic Workplace Intelligence concept and works with Ricoh’s Always Current Technology. This technology enables the functionalities and technical features of the systems to be flexibly expanded and adapted to the respective customer requirements.

Thanks to this added value in terms of scalability, security, sustainability and userfriendliness, Always Current Technology supports people in working smarter. The systems offer great flexibility: users can download and install new applications, functions and updates directly on their system as soon as they are available.

Resources can be scaled as needed while security functions and software can be kept up to date. In addition, Ricoh Intelligent

Support ensures that software updates can be carried out quickly and remotely to further increase the availability for users.

The four new A4 colour MFPs that are available now include the Ricoh IM C300, IM C300F, IM C400F and IM C400SRF. These systems print at a speed of 30-43 pages per minute. Each model has printing, scanning and copying functions, and the IM C400SRF also offers finishing functions.

All systems work with Ricoh’s new Smart Operation Panel, which is equipped with an improved processor. This enables faster switching between applications and responsive operation via touchscreen.

Olivier Vriesendorp, Vice President of Product Marketing, Ricoh Europe, explains: “Companies of all sizes have to adapt to changes and process information at an

unprecedented speed. We have been supporting customers in this transformation process for over 80 years and developing solutions that meet their needs. These new intelligent systems enable our customers to install the right applications for them at any time - so they can work smarter and more effectively. ”

Siegwerk announces changes in Board of Management Change of Board responsibilities for Asia and Americas regions by Seigwerk.

Siegwerk, global providers of printing inks for packaging applications and labels, has announced a change of business responsibilities in its Board of Management.

With the recent leadership changes in the Board of Management, Siegwerk will create synergies between regions to drive future business performance and to further strengthen the company’s offerings and services for customers in the global packaging and printing markets. Herbert Forker, CEO and former President Canada, USA and Latin America at Siegwerk, has taken over responsibility for India, China and South East Asia from Ralf Hildenbrand, who in return has assumed responsibility for the Americas from Herbert Forker. The leadership changes were effective October 1, 2019.

During the past 10 years, Ralf Hildenbrand developed a successful growth strategy for Asia and its sub-regions and led the region to its current outstanding level of performance with dedicated teams serving customers

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with best-in-class solutions and services.

Given the strategic importance of Asia, it is an obvious move to have these now maturing regions report directly to the CEO - while at the same time leveraging Ralf Hildenbrand’s experience in organization and business development for the Americas.

By combining Canada, USA and Latin America under one roof as the “Americas” region, Siegwerk plans to be better facilitate the future learning exchange across the entire region.

Ralf Hildenbrand will also continue to drive the global development of Flexible Packaging in his role as Global Flexible Packaging Business Unit

Coordinator – as well as leading the Global Technology team including Sustainability, Circular Economy, Product Safety and the Brand Owner Collaboration.

Continuing as Board members in the current roles are Dr. Oliver Wittmann, CFO, and Dr. Jan Breitkopf, President EMEA.

industrial printing/general printing

Ricoh to inspire print innovators at drupa 2020 Ricoh will be present with its largest ever range of transformative print solutions at Dusseldorf.

Ricoh is set to show Print Service Providers (PSPs) how to Love The Way Ahead and enjoy a successful transformative print journey by presenting its biggest ever portfolio of versatile solutions at drupa 2020.

The world’s largest printing trade show runs from June 16 to 26 at Messe Düsseldorf, Germany.

Taking 1800sqm in Hall 8a, Ricoh will also encourage PSPs to embrace Henkaku (the Japanese vision for innovative change) by highlighting ways they can apply pioneering technology and innovative thinking to support evolution and growth.

Leading solutions on show that deliver on this emboldened mindset and demonstrate Ricoh’s long history of collaborative development will include the: • Pro VC70000high speed inkjet press.

Among its own developed technology is the 43 patent holding, award winning dryer and new extended gamut inks.

• Expanded application benefits of the enhanced Pro C7200 and Pro C9200 sheetfed colour presses that feature new paper handling capabilities.

• Latest version of Ricoh ProcessDirector,

plus Ricoh Supervisor. Both software solutions are designed to streamline production while a solutions studio workflow will detail how they elevate efficiency.

Ricoh’s hugely popular commercial and industrial solutions will also be on show, including the Buyers Lab award winning Pro L5160 dual CMYK large format production printer and the versatile SGIA award winning Ri 1000 Direct to Garment printer. These, together with some new developments still under wraps, demonstrate a credible commitment to transformational innovation.

They incorporate innovative research and development focused on helping PSPs future proof their print production.

Dedicated zones will feature real life applications from a wide array of Ricoh systems delivering inspiration around the imaginative creativity possible. A live endto-end workflow will provide real time insight into optimum production possibilities.

“Since last drupa our portfolio of services and solutions has been significantly expanded to support creative print service providers,

industrial printers and Sign and Display specialists as they transform their operations to meet the increasingly broad requirements of their clients,” states Eef De Ridder, Vice President, Commercial and Industrial Printing Group, Ricoh Europe. “It now includes everything from productive high speed colour inkjet and versatile enhanced sheetfed technologies to responsive large format latex and flexible wide format solutions, as well as simple to integrate Direct to Garment (DTG) systems. All are supported by our carefully curated suite of software solutions designed to simplify, streamline and smoothly manage today’s increasingly diverse production workflow.

“With all of these, and by applying our knowledge and insight, we can help PSPs shape their successful future, create new opportunities, access new markets, overcome production challenges and speed up processes. We want to fully support their successful print journeys so they can Love The Way Ahead. We want to help them thrive using real world solutions with gamechanging technologies. We look forward to demonstrating that at drupa.”

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photokina 2020: A visit to the motherland of imaging Cologne delegation travels to Japan.

“Japanese companies have decisively shaped the development of imaging technologies, just as they have also shaped the leading trade fair of the industry, photokina.”

- Gerald Böse, President and CEO, Koelnmesse

Key Notes : > Delegation from Cologne and PIV once again strengthened the bond during a visit to Tokyo. > Top exhibitors confirm their commitment to phototkina 2020 in a personal discussion. > The support from the motherland of imaging is indispensable for the success of photokina.

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The twinning arrangement between Cologne and Kyoto has been in place since 1963. It is characterised by an active exchange ranging from sports to art and culture. The economic relations are also close: the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, with Cologne as its largest metropolis, has long been one of the most important locations in Europe for Japan. More than 600 companies have settled here. photokina is also an integral component of the good connection with Japan. A delegation of the City of Cologne, Koelnmesse and the association of the photo industry (PIV) once again strengthened this bond during a visit to Tokyo.

The Mayor of Cologne, Henriette Reker, the President and Chief Executive Officer of Koelnmesse, Gerald Böse, and the Chairman of the PIV, Kai Hillebrandt, were warmly welcomed at a celebratory reception in the German Embassy in Tokyo by Ambassador Ina Lepel and high-ranking company representatives.

Also among the guests were many representatives of the Japanese imaging industry, which can look forward to a big year in 2020: the Olympic Games are taking place in Tokyo and, thanks to outstanding photo and film technology, people around the world can experience these up close. Many millions of snapshots and selfies by spectators and athletes will

travel around the world in the social media. This is made possible by the achievements of imaging, the latest developments of which can be seen shortly before the start of the Olympic Games at photokina in Cologne.

Manufacturers once again promise a fireworks display of new products at photokina “For many years, photokina has been the ideal platform for us to present our product innovations.

The Imaging industry is facing big changes and challenges these days. In 2020, we will also be coming to Cologne with big expectations in the new photokina format and are looking forward to

industrial printing/events

the leading trade fair of the industry, photokina, for almost 70 years. In this time, we have mastered many challenges together, because the enthusiasm for images continues unabated. We are currently once again facing major changes. Which is why I am all the more pleased to have received many positive signals during this trip, showing how important photokina remains for industry representatives here in Japan.”

contributing with great innovations,” says Yosuke Yamane, Director Smart Life Network Business Division at Panasonic.

Go Tokura, Chief Executive Officer Image Communication Business Operations at Canon confirms: “As the imaging industry is at a significant turning point, we expect photokina to be a leading show of the worldwide photo and imaging industry.

Canon is eager to introduce new products and concept products at photokina, thereby contributing to the industry’s success.”

Yosuke Aoki, Senior General Manager of the Marketing Division at Sony Imaging Products & Solutions shares these positive

expectations: “Sony is very glad to be part of Photokina again next year. Photokina 2020 gives us the opportunity to present our latest innovations and to maintain a direct dialog with all Digital Imaging Lovers. Sony is looking forward to seeing you all in Cologne.”

Dynamic market development requires a dynamic trade fair platform For Gerald Böse, President and Chief Executive Officer of Koelnmesse, the support from the motherland of imaging is indispensable for the success of photokina: “Japanese companies have decisively shaped the development of imaging technologies, just as they have also shaped

Kai Hillebrandt, Chairman of the photo industry association (PIV) emphasises the chances of a leading trade fair in times of transformation: “One thing is in any case clear for us: as dynamically as the market development is presenting itself, so dynamic must a trade fair concept and a trade fair platform also be. We, as an association, are convinced that photokina, as the leading trade fair of the industry, still offers the best prerequisites for this. Because, only at photokina in Cologne can we present all new products of our industry to a world of international specialists within a very short period of time and disseminate these worldwide via the media.”

Koelnmesse – Global Competence in Digital Media, Entertainment and Mobility Koelnmesse is an international leader in organising trade fairs in the Digital Media, Entertainment and Mobility segments. Trade fairs like photokina, DMEXCO, gamescom, gamescom asia, INTERMOT and THE TIRE COLOGNE are established as leading international trade fairs. Koelnmesse not only organises trade fairs in these areas in Cologne, but also in other growth markets like, for example, China, Singapore and Thailand, which have different areas of focus and content. These global activities offer customers of Koelnmesse tailor-made events in different markets, which guarantee sustainable and international business.

The next events: • •

•

photokina - IMAGING UNLIMITED, Cologne 27-30 May 2020 THE TIRE COLOGNE - Empowering the entire business, Cologne 09-12 June 2020 gamescom - The world’s largest trade fair and event highlight for interactive games and entertainment (25 August trade visitor and media day), Cologne 25-29 August 2020

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“Infinite Possibilities, Smart Production” Heidelberg shows end-to-end packaging solution in China for Asian Market.

The participants had the opportunity to visit an open house at the factory of MK Masterworks in Tianjin.

There the visitors took a plant tour and watched the presentations of Powermatrix 106CSB and 106FC and Diana Easy 85 etc.

Heidelberg Asia-Pacific hosted its Packaging Day at Qingpu factory under the theme, “Infinite PossibilitiesSmart Production”, on 10 September. Over a hundred visitors from all over the Asia-Pacific region attended the event at the Heidelberg Print Media Center in Shanghai, China, where they demonstrated strong interest in Heidelberg’s integrated solutions and received comprehensive answers to the growing needs in the industry where cost pressure is increasing, run lengths are constantly declining and lead-times are growing shorter all the time. Brand owners and consolidated groups are acting globally, changing the nature of printed products by increasing the variety and functionality of print, customization, versioning and personalization. Heidelberg offers its customers a wide product portfolio with comprehensive automation and integration. “We are continuously enhancing the Smart Print Shop, and offering our customers a consistent packaging workflow with complete end-to-end box production.

One of the solutions for this is our cloud-based webto-pack platform called ”Boxuni” that was recently launched by our customer, Xianjunlong Colour Printing Co. Ltd., and Heidelberg. The platform connects printers, packaging designers and print

buyers,” explained Thomas Frank, Cluster Head, Asia-Pacific, during his welcome speech.

Prinect workflow is the foundation of “Smart Print Shop” and the start of the entire presentation of the day. “The packaging printers from the region were clearly impressed with Heidelberg’s fully integrated Smart Packaging workflow. Key highlights included quick-and-easy box design, impressive 3D rendering with finishing effects, carton board samples printed on the Versafire and contrasting colours to offset in addition to powerful cost savings from ganging and multicolour printing technology. And with the help of Prinect’s end-to-end workflow solutions, we are helping packaging printers produce faster, smarter and more productively than ever before,” Brian Kow, Prinect Business Development Manager in AsiaPacific, confirmed.

With the new configuration of the Speedmaster CD102-8+L UV, push-to- stop/navigated printing was demonstrated for the first time at the Qingpu factory. Navigated printing enables operators to make complex job changes easily with the support of automated job changes through Intelliguide

Key Notes : > More than 100 visitors from all over the Asia-Pacific region attended Packaging Day at Heidelberg Print Media Center in Shanghai, China. > The latest end-toend packaging solutions with equipment, software, consumables and service were presented in live demos. > Following Packaging Day, MK Open house continued to attract customers with its latest post-press packaging solutions.

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Push-to-Stop and Navigated Printing were demonstrated for the first time in Heidelberg’s Qingpu factory with the new configuration of the Speedmaster CD102-8+L UV.

industrial printing/events

Software on the Prinect Press Center XL 2 and Wallscreen. Douglas Mooney, in charge for further developing Heidelberg’s sheetfed business in Asia-Pacific said, “This time, we highlighted the flexibility of the CD102 with special applications such as in-line embossing effects, UV/drip-off coatings and multicolour schemes by producing two jobs, chocolate boxes and pharma packages.”

The Speedmaster CX 75, a true multitalent, produced two jobs showing the customer benefits in packaging printing with quick and easy job change, small footprints and userfriendly printing. The printed sheet by CX75 was colour-matched to the one printed by the digital Heidelberg Versafire press in the demo. A Speedmaster SX74-4-P, a perfecting press printed one-over-one pharma package inserts.

After printing, MK’s Promatrix 106CS die cutter processed the printed sheets of chocolate boxes to demonstrate fast job changes and high productivity. To finish the package production process, MK’s Diana Eye and Diana Go folder gluers were demonstrated.

Heidelberg Lifecycle products were also a key part of the demonstrations. Customers were given an overview of Heidelberg’s service capabilities, highlighting the global

The event started with the Prinect Smart Print Shop presentation delivered by Brian Kow.

parts distribution and the worldwide biggest network of highly trained and skilled technicians. The benefits of remote service and predictive monitoring to maximize up times and ensure press reliability were explained in a very impressive manner. A wide variety of Saphira consumables are used on every job. Supporting complex conventional, UV and muliticolor jobs on paper, board and foil substrates, Saphira inks, coatings, blankets, plates and chemistry all worked together flawlessly to ensure the success of the rapid job changes and minimum waste sheets achieved during the event. Customers witnessed for

MK’s latest packaging solutions, Promatrix 106CS, Diana Eye and Diana Go impressed the customers.

themselves the perfect print quality that only Saphira products can achieve in when working together with Prinect software and Speedmaster equipment.

On the following day, the participants had the opportunity to visit an open house at the factory of MK Masterworks in Tianjin.

There the visitors took a plant tour and watched the presentations of Powermatrix 106CSB included MasterSet, Powermatrix 106FC included MasterDrive, Diana Easy 85 included Diana Inspector, Digimatrix 60FC and Laser Cut 340.

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Wolfram N. Diener becomes new President & CEO at Messe Düsseldorf Erhard Wienkamp is the new Managing Director Operative Trade Fair Business.

Messe Düsseldorf board appointed Wolfram N. Diener as the new President & CEO and Erhard Wienkamp as the new Managing Director Operative Trade Fair Business. In his new position, Wolfram Diener succeeds Werner M. Dornscheidt, who will retire at the end of June 2020 after almost 17 years at the helm of the Düsseldorf trade fair company.

Diener will take up his post on 1 July 2020.

Erhard Wienkamp will succeed Hans Werner Reinhard, who left the company on 30 September 2019, as Operative Managing Director on 1 January 2020.

Werner M. Dornscheidt is convinced by the new management team: “Markets are shifting, the world is becoming more international, more digital and more complex.

With their many years of trade fair experience worldwide, Wolfram N. Diener and Erhard Wienkamp are the ideal torchbearers to lead Messe Düsseldorf into the future. They stand for both renewal and continuity.”

The Board of Management at Messe Düsseldorf has become leaner as a result of the personnel changes. Alongside Wolfram N. Diener as President & CEO, Erhard Wienkamp will be the only Managing Director Operative Trade Fair Business. Bernhard J. Stempfle, responsible for finance and technology, completes the management team. Lord Mayor Thomas Geisel welcomes this restructuring. Commenting on this the Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Messe Düsseldorf said: “Messe Düsseldorf will

Erhard Wienkamp

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have a streamlined, powerful and above all expert management team that will give the company the necessary agility to face the future in these times of digitalisation, global challenges and growing responsibility.”

Wolfram N. Diener will continue to be responsible for the operational projects he has managed since joining the company in 2018: the Global Portfolio Health and Medical Technologies with the trade fairs MEDICA, COMPAMED and REHACARE International, the Global Portfolio Metals and Flow Technologies with the trade fairs GIFA, THERMPROCESS, NEWCAST, Valve World Expo, METEC, wire and Tube, the Portfolio Beauty with the leading trade fairs BEAUTY DÜSSELDORF and TOP HAIR – DIE MESSE, the Portfolio Glass Technologies with the trade fairs glasstec and tasc, the Portfolio Occupational Safety & Health with A+A – Safety, Security and Health at Work, as well as the Portfolio Caravanning & Outdoor with CARAVAN SALON DÜSSELDORF and TourNatur.

In addition he will be responsible for the Global Portfolio Plastics & Rubber with the world leading trade fair K and also for the departments International Business, Corporate Communications, Protocol and Events, Human Resources, Legal and Insurance, Internal Auditing as well as Affiliates and Subsidiaries.

A graduate of business administration,

Werner Dornscheidt

Diener was responsible for the Asian trade fair operations of Messe Frankfurt (H.K.) from the end of the 1990s as Managing Director.

In 2001 he joined the management at the Shanghai New International Expo Centre.

After various management positions with Asian trade fair and congress companies, he successfully worked as a member of the management board at UBM Asia in Hong Kong until 2018.

Erhard Wienkamp takes over the projects of Hans Werner Reinhard as Managing Director Operative Trade Fair Business: the Global Portfolio Processing & Packaging with the world’s leading trade fair interpack, the Portfolio Wine & Spirits with ProWein, the Portfolio Print Technologies with drupa, the Portfolio Retail & Retail Technologies with EuroShop and EuroCIS as well as the Portfolio Boating & Watersport Events with boot Düsseldorf. He also takes on the departments Corporate Strategic Development and Market Research. A Executive Director at Messe Düsseldorf since 2002, Erhard Wienkamp will continue to be responsible for Partner and Guest Events, Official Participations, Special Events and International Trade Fair Management.

An economics graduate, Erhard Wienkamp joined Messe Düsseldorf in 1993 after working in the Foreign Trade Department of the Federation of German and Foreign Trade (Bundesverband des Deutschen Groß- und Außenhandels) in Bonn and the

Wolfram Diener (Photo Credit: Messe Duesseldorf, Andreas Wiese)

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German-Argentinian Chamber of Commerce in Buenos Aires. As Project Director at Messe Düsseldorf, he was initially responsible for the leading international trade fairs K and interpack, among others, later heading up the foreign division. Commenting on this Erhard Wienkamp said: “For more than 25 years I have been a driving force behind the development of Messe Düsseldorf. I am delighted to be able to use my national and international trade fair experience as a Managing Director Operative Trade Fair

Business for the company.”

Diener is also pleased with his new role: “The Düsseldorf trade fair organisers have an unbeatable brand profile that can be made even more successful in the future driven by internationalisation and digitisation. I am delighted at the confidence shown in me to carry out this vision responsibly with the help of an outstanding team.” In his role as new President & CEO he would like to focus further on the international trade fair portfolio,

the optimisation of the exhibition centre at the home base, on corporate responsibility and digital transformation.

With a revenue of around EUR 294m in 2018, the Messe Düsseldorf Group has maintained its position as one of Germany’s most successful trade fair companies. The group runs a global network of 77 international offices for 141 countries, including 7 international subsidiaries.

Sistrade launches V.12 version of MIS|ERP at Labelexpo Europe 2019 New feature enhancement helps simplify, accelerate and improve production processes allowing companies to be part of Industry 4.0.

Participating at the 40th edition of Labelexpo Europe, Sistrade launched the new V.12 version of MIS|ERP Sistrade. During the four days of the fair, hundreds of visitors from various nationalities came to Sistrade stand, looking for a specialized system for printing industry companies that operate in the area of labels and flexible packaging.

The newly launched version of MIS|ERP V.12 software includes the following features and enhancements helping to simplify, accelerate and improve all production processes allowing companies to be part of Industry 4.0: • Multi-layer parallel process with a clear definition of the internal routing process integrated with the planning module and data collection module, as well as a full reorganization in flexible packaging graphical process for a better data visualization and the incorporation of cylinder management workflow to send/

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receive cylinder to/from engraver.

Scheduling module is more intuitive and dynamic allowing anticipation of production changes.

The revised data collection interface is now more simple and user-friendly but at the same time more accurate and easy to follow with the increased use of highcharts.

Sistrade Dashboard Builder, just as its name suggests, provides a tool for creating your own KPI dashboards in table or chart, in order to monitor the progress of the entire sales, stocks or productions processes.

production process resulting in less waste and more profit, thereby improving the company’s environmental impact and contributing to a reduction in energy, raw material consumption and waste. ” Sistrade is an international information systems engineering and consulting company, with offices and branches in various countries. During 19 years of its activity, Sistrade currently has customers in more than 24 countries on 4 continents.

Sistrade is a company certified in ISO 9001 and NP 4457 standards (Quality and innovation).

According to the Sistrade team present at Labelexpo Europe, “Companies from various sectors of the printing industry (labels, flexible packaging, packaging) are more aware that new technologies are playing an important role in companies, they realize that MIS|ERP software is able to improve the company’s

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MPS breaks sales records at Labelexpo Europe Successful introduction of ‘Beyond the Machine’ and wider hybrid EF SYMJET press.

MPS reports a rewarding Labelexpo Europe 2019 in Brussels with surpassing the number of press orders received on show, the successful introduction of the ‘Beyond the Machine’ concept showcasing four key processes that extend beyond the printing press, and debut of a wider EF SYMJET hybrid press that drew crowds during live demonstrations.

Successful presentation of ‘Beyond the Machine’ In this year’s show, MPS chose to focus not only on machinery, but also on services and processes that provide key support. This was physically displayed by placing a – fully equipped – press in the middle of the stand, surrounded by four ‘islands’: Applications, Service, Productivity and Connectivity.

Inge Smolders, Manager Marketing Communications of MPS explained: “MPS is known for manufacturing equipment of the highest quality. But instead of packing our stand with machines, we came to Labelexpo Europe with a different message this year: to communicate that we’re much more than just a machine builder.

“By delivering best-in-class Service,

guaranteed Productivity, outstanding Applications and up-to-date Connectivity innovations, we prove that an MPS press is only a tool that helps printers achieve the best and complete lifecycle performance from their investment.”

Debut of wider EF SYMJET hybrid press Also unveiled at Labelexpo Europe 2019 was the new, wider version of the hybrid EF SYMJET, an inkjet/flexo platform built with an exclusive partnership with Domino. The MPS EF SYMJET press is now available in 340 mm/ 13” and 430 mm / 17” widths and can be equipped with multiple flexo units, lamination and embellishing units, diecutting and many more converting options.

During live demonstrations, a combination of nine labels were printed with various embellishments including digital cold foil, hologram- and lenticular 3D effects, de-lam re-lam and micro texts.

Atze Bosma, CEO of MPS: “Productivity is one of our focus processes that extends ‘Beyond the Machine’. With the new 17” width, we are offering our customers higher productivity, more flexibility and the possibility to open new markets and even more options

Well-visited live demonstration of the Beyond the Machine concept

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for applications. This is a great addition to our portfolio of flexo, hybrid and offset presses for labelling and packaging.”

Record international flexo and hybrid press sales LabelexpoEurope 2019 concluded in celebration for MPS with a record number of twelve press sales, in a combination of EFS&EFA flexo presses, EXL-Packaging and EF SYMJET hybrid equipment.

Atze Bosma, CEO of MPS proudly said: “We are extremely pleased with the number of press sales signed during Labelexpo that breaks our previous record. A mix of flexo, hybrid and packaging presses were sold to printers in Europe, Asia, Africa and North America.”

industrial printing/events

MSFL meets expectations at the highest level at Labelexpo - Max Speciality Films Displays in-line coated BOPP label films for superior adhesive and print receptivity for UV flexo.

However, label products will always have their rightful place. Such expositions offer multiple benefits to all the stakeholders and help us converge to make future ready solutions. Though, there are many small and big platforms to meet the customers and exhibit your solutions, Label Expo has always been a holistic congregation of visionaries,” continues Ramneek.

For MSFL (Max Speciality Films), Labelexpo Europe 2019 participation was a rewarding experience. The company showcased its innovative solutions to its existing as well as new customers at the show. “It was truly a rewarding experience to exhibit our innovative solutions to our existing and new customers at Labelexpo Europe 2019. It was an insightful exposure for the team and a learning curve for all of us individually,” comments Ramneek Jain, CEO of MSFL. “We met our expectations at the highest level as we showcased ultra-high film clarity for thicker transparent label films. In addition, we also displayed our in-line coated BOPP label films for superior adhesive and print receptivity for UV flexo. And last but not the least, we presented WAL films for high speed bottling applications. It was a holistic platform for us to showcase our label product offering that will have a far-reaching impact on various packaging applications,” he elaborates.

Ramneek says that there was a generous number of representations from the Indian business community as exhibitors, entrepreneurs, and visitors alike. “And why not after all India has been the game changer for the industry in more ways than one and the Global markets are aware of this fact and benefiting from the cost effective yet innovative solutions from the east,” he states.

“Labelexpo is a great exposition of ideas, innovations and organizations at the global level. The market dynamics are always changing and will remain fluid in all times.

Labelexpo Europe 2019 has been a fairly successful outing for MSFL. They offered custom solutions to a lot of new small and medium size customers from across the globe. “It was heartening to see the response we generated, and we have garnered leads that we will pursue to add about 30-40% to our overall sale of label products,” declares Ramneek.

Sharing his Labelexpo experience he says that he found a lot of change in the packaging industry especially from the perspective of product technology that is sustainable and recyclable. “Innovative solutions across the globe are changing the benchmarks and exciting solutions are being created across the packaging industry. We witnessed solutions custom made for the very aware customer who seeks processes

and stringent guidelines to be delivered along with the products. There is a lot of creativity at disposal and new trends of efficiency and capability that offer enhanced appeal to the products.”

“I am very hopeful and confident that no matter which way the market tilts, the packaging industry is robust and is heading towards a revolutionising era built on sustainable label solutions, which is the key and the most critical part of packaging and adds immense value in the realm of brands that are fighting for visibility and better shelf life,” concludes Ramneek.

MSFL will be extremely focused on the leads generated during the exposition and are working closely to offer custom made solutions. Poised to stay on the path of their strategy of innovation and make some course correction based on the experience collected from the LabelExpo, they look forward to participating in the Label Expo scheduled to be held next year in India.

Commercial Print Conference 2020 The Commercial Print Conference is taking place on 19-21 February 2020 at the Crowne Plaza Hotel, Rue Ginestre, in Brussels. Sign up now to secure your seat!

Shaping the Future of Print will allow you to: • Connect with industry professionals, academics and the European Commission • Learn from experts about issues ranging from sustainability, competitiveness, commercial print trends to advances in the field • Visit the European Parliament to get an insight in the work of the institution • Get inspired by companies’ successes in the commercial print sector Meet the Speakers that include: Emmanuelle

Maire – Head of Unit ‘Sustainable Production, Products and Consumption’, DG Environment, European Commission; Sean Smyth, Smithers – Jannick Schmidt, University of Aalborg (Denmark); Mark Davies – European Letterbox Association (UK); Markus Hoffmann – Leonard Kurz Stiftung (Germany); Miguel Delcour – KVGO (The Netherlands); Paul Verspoor – Intergraf Environmental Consultant; Dr Jörg Eggers – BVDA (Germany); and Annete Dales – Multicopy (The Netherlands).

To attend the event, completed Registration Form may be sent to Intergraf. Intergraf has reserved a limited number of rooms at the Crowne Plaza which can be booked through the link provided on the registration form which can be downloaded online.

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industrial printing/events

Toray and Codimag collaboration brings productivity to Label Converters Waterless offset with the Codimag VIVA 420 press and Toray plates expands range of applications, competes favourably with flexography.

For more than two decades, waterless offset printing pioneer Toray and narrow web press manufacturer Codimag have sustained a deep partnership that has helped extend the environmental, quality and productivity advantages of waterless offset printing to a growing number of narrow web applications, including labels, cardboard, film, in-mould labeling, shrink sleeves, security printing and more. At Labelexpo Europe 2019, the two companies displayed the latest results of this collaboration, providing label printers/ converters with proof that by migrating all or some of their production from flexography to waterless offset printing, they can substantially improve both quality and bottom line.

“In 1999, when we decided to move from letterpress to offset to improve the quality of our printing and reduce tooling costs,” says Benoit Demol, Codimag CEO, “we believed that waterless offset was the best solution for our market for two reasons: 1) it has all the advantages of offset in terms of quality and range of substrates that can be used; and 2) it doesn’t have the inconvenience of offset around maintaining ink/water balance.

We obviously needed to work with Toray when we made the change because they are the leading provider of waterless offset plates, and they have helped us a great deal to develop our presses, including waterless offset applications and settings such as temperature control.”

Both Toray and Codimag are pleased with the advances that have been enabled by the Codimag VIVA 420 press with Aniflo and Toray’s new IMPRIMA LJ waterless offset plates. “The VIVA 420 is a new generation of narrow web press,” Demol adds. “We have

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increased the press speed to 85 meters per minute, which is the equivalent of a flexo press with inline die cutting, we have improved web guiding, and we have reduced waste and set-up time even more than previous presses due to the combination of Aniflo, which we introduced in 2007, and an improved web motion system. Now you can change over jobs in as little as five minutes with less than 30 meters of waste. In addition, waterless offset plates are much less costly than flexo plates.”

Demol points out that the new Toray IMPRIMA LJ waterless offset plates are not only chemistry-free for increased environmental sustainability, but they are much more durable as well. “This is essential” he says, “because when you are printing longer runs as we are with the VIVA 420, you need plates that are of higher durability. They are a perfect match for all aspects of the label market.”

“Although we do have partnerships with other press manufacturers,” Mitsunori Hayashi, Director at Toray, explains, “Codimag supports us in the label market.

We share the goal of being able to print high-value products in an eco-friendly way, and we believe that it creates new business opportunities and also draws volume from

the less sustainable flexo process. It makes a great deal of sense to work together as we not only continue to grow the waterless offset label market in Europe, but also in China and South America.”

Hayashi reports that even though the IMPRIMA LJ plates have only been on the market for a few months, the company is receiving high praise from customers for their chemistry-free nature, and also for the higher resolution and more durability they offer. “In many cases, the customers are looking for more projects with shorter runs, but they are also demanding higher quality. Plus, environmental regulations around the world are becoming more stringent, creating even more opportunity for waterless offset and eco-friendly presses like the VIVA 420.”

Both companies continue to work on more improvements and new solutions moving forward. “As we move toward drupa 2020,” Hayashi states, “our collaboration will be even tighter and more important.”

Demol concludes, “drupa 2020 will be another good opportunity to collaborate again with Toray and educate label printers about why they should switch to waterless offset – for the same reasons why waterless offset was chosen in other markets including newspapers, plastic cards, and security applications: waterless offset can print on any substrate with very high quality and productivity, minimal waste and a significantly smaller environmental footprint. drupa 2020 will be an excellent venue to bring the latest developments and engage printers of all types by sharing with them the advantages and opportunities that waterless offset printing brings.”

industrial printing/events

Heaford exceeds sales expectations at Labelexpo Europe - reports record number of orders – both from new as well as existing customers.

JM Heaford, supplier of mounting and proofing solutions for the tag and label, flexible packaging, corrugated and gravure markets, has exceeded its expectations for sales at Labelexpo Europe with a record number of orders taken at a show and more expected.

According to Sally-Anne Heaford, Managing Director of JM Heaford, the Heaford stand at Labelexpo was consistently busy over the four days. Discussions at Labelexpo have already led to the sale of nine Heaford flexographic plate mounters, with the Heaford FTS once again proving to be the popular ‘best in show’. “With Labelexpo being the main event for seeing latest technology in label production, many visitors were drawn to the stand by the Heaford Label AutoMounter,” she notes. “Mounting plates autonomously without an operator in sight, it was undoubtedly our star of the Show and attracted a significant volume of new interest and we now have several project discussions ongoing.”

Another key highlight of the Heaford stand at Labelexpo 2019 was the Heaford FTS plate mounter. Its reputation for fast Return on Investment has made the FTS an increasingly popular choice worldwide in recent years.

Three models were exhibited – two for cylinder and one sleeve-dedicated – offering speed, easy operation and repeatable accuracy through semi-automation. Options on display included pre-register systems, precision plate cutter, rotary plate cutter, pivoting tape applicator and fixed/rear tape applicator options.

to order Heaford solutions at or immediately after Labelexpo, three are first-time Heaford customers, according to Graham Harrison, International Sales Manager at Heaford.

“These new customers found us through word of mouth, and this is especially gratifying. So many of our machines just run and run, and we often don’t hear from the users unless we proactively contact them,” he comments. “The fact that word of mouth recommends us time and again means that the signature Heaford passion for build quality and applied design continues to meet the needs of our customers on a long-term basis. This was supported by the fact that we also enjoyed visits from many satisfied customers who dropped by the stand purely as a courtesy to say hello and share positive feedback.”

Bóna Labels of Nové Zámky, Slovakia, is one such new customer. A family firm specialising in printing self-adhesive labels for clients principally in cosmetics, food and beverages and the chemicals industry, chose to order Slovakia’s first ever Heaford EES plate mounter. This mounter is designed with the same emphasis on build quality, accuracy and longevity for which Heaford equipment is renowned and is intended to provide a reliable footing for companies to achieve fast and precise plate mounting speed. The EES

minimises press downtime by eliminating the unreliable practice of mounting “by eye”.

“With new orders from the Ukraine to Portugal, Russia to Morocco, Labelexpo Europe has once again drawn a broad spectrum of visitors with a vast array of production requirements,” comments David Muncaster, Heaford’s Director of Operations and Business Development. “Whether new customers or existing relationships, those we met at Labelexpo all had one thing in common, they were all looking for top technology that would help them adapt, grow and prosper while supporting their local industries.”

Headquartered near Manchester, UK, JM Heaford was founded in 1983 as a manufacturer of gravure proofing equipment.

The company’s ethos of providing flexible, tailored design and production solutions saw it diversify with the addition of flexographic proofing and mounting devices. Among these were the world’s first machines for mounting flexo plates using microdot technology. A recipient of several international awards for design and manufacturing excellence, Heaford continues to manufacture from its Manchester base, assisted by agents in more than 100 countries.

In total, seven FTS mounters were ordered at or immediately after Labelexpo. Heaford FTS models are scheduled for first ever installations in Morocco and Turkey, while an existing customer in Russia chose to install two additional machines. For Penta Adhesiv of Portugal the choice of a new Heaford FTS 700 mounter was a vote of confidence in a trusted supplier to help advance production throughput for conventional flexo alongside its growing digital demand.

Amongst the eight companies who chose

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Grand Opening of Golden Signage Sdn Bhd GSSB launches their full range of services jointly with Hesperus Printing Sdn Bhd and Laser Cut Generation Sdn Bhd.

Eugene was the man behind establishing the retail brand signage for multiple branches across Malaysia. To provide complete solutions and better services to GSBB’s clients, he has also expanded the business to establish two subsidiaries – Hesperus Printing Sdn Bhd and Laser Cut Generation Sdn Bhd.

Key Notes : > Innovating first-ofits-kind lightbox and customized LED screen signage. > Adopting eco-friendly technologies like HP water-based inks which are gentle on the environment. > Partnering HP Latex Printing Technology to move towards more sustainable POSM and signage production.

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(from left to right) Ms.JenFon Chu (Sales & Marketing Manager, Label and Graphic Materials) & Ms.Elle Cheng (Marketing Manager, South Asia Pacific Sub Saharan Africa, Avery Dennision Materials); Mr. Andy Chin (Vice President, Marketing, Mr.D.I.Y. Trading Sdn Bhd); Mr.Eugene Ching (Founder, Golden Signage Sdn Bhd); MS. Kareen Lee (South East Asia Regional Sales Manager, Large Format) & Mr. Stephan Kim (SEA Regional Manager, Large Format Production & Textile, HP); and Mr.Dickson Lee (Senior Manager, Commercial & Industrial Department, EPSON)

Golden Signage Sdn Bhd (GSSB) provides a onestop advertising service – from design, fabrication, and installation and also provides service of maintaining all types of indoor and outdoor signage solutions locally and internationally. With over five years of experience in the signage and advertising field, GSSB continues to expand their services with innovation and stays above competition with high

quality products and top-notch services. They offer a full range of services and in-house production which includes design, printing, laser cutting, fabrication and installation.

Eugene Ching, Founder of GSSB, believes in innovation and keeps creating new products for clients. “An innovative signage always attracts

industrial printing/textile printing

people’s attention and even if they don’t enter the store immediately, the image sticks in their mind,” he says.

One of the innovative products he refers is the first-of-its-kind lightbox and customized LED screen signage. The solution allows clients to customize their signage to have moving parts and have different items appear on the LED screen at the same time. GSSB also launched a new signage using the Epson EB-700U Ultra-short Throw Laser Full HD 3LCD Projector. This projector can be rotated in any direction without any loss in image brightness and is able to project a large screen within narrow spaces.

“I strongly believe in environmentally sustainable business operations. This is the direction I want my company to follow and so far we’ve done that by adopting ecofriendly technology and bringing eco-friendly products to the market to reduce wastage,” shares Ching. He has done this through usage of HP’s water-based inks which are gentle on the environment and do not contain toxic chemicals found in other types of inks.

GSSB partners HP Latex Printing Technology to move towards more sustainable POSM and signage production. Enabled by HP Latex Printing Technology, GSSB automates file receiving from customers, content validation, production and remote monitoring of printer’s performance and maintenance.

GSSB is also certified by Avery Dennison, the global expert in material science and manufacturing. This certification assures the performance of the prints with a wide range of qualified components and printer platforms. The result is that the signages produced by GSSB and certified by Avery Dennison have striking day and night colour consistency. Whether it’s day or night, the signages can be seen clearly.

Mr Eugene Ching, Founder and Director of Golden Signage Sdn Bhd, has nearly two decades of experience in the signage and advertising field. Before establishing his own company, his line of work allowed him to work on signage fabrication and installation for many big names in the banking industry and multiple tyre brands.

In 2015, he founded Golden Signage Sdn Bhd with a clear mission – to provide high quality, innovative and reliable products with

excellence service to its clients. Eugene was the man behind establishing the retail brand signage for multiple branches across Malaysia. Eugene who worked with Mr. DIY believes that innovation is important to help his clients stand out. In practicing his belief, he has designed an innovative signage for Mr. Toy, combining light box and customized LED.

collaboration with HP optimizes our work flow

To provide complete solutions and better services to GSBB’s clients, he has also expanded the business to establish two subsidiaries – Hesperus Printing Sdn Bhd which focuses on printing on all kinds of materials and Laser Cut Generation Sdn Bhd focusing on laser cuts for signage; whether it’s acrylic, metal or any type of surface.

ICS Performance Guarantee by Avery Dennison

solutions and efficiency,” says Ching.

“Besides, our technology also enables striking day and night colour consistency. We are able to produce signage that retains the same colour and brightness through day or night, thus drawing continuous attention of people despite light conditions.”

GSSB’s partnership with Avery Dennison means all its products and services are certified Integrated Component System (ICS) Performance Guaranteed by Avery Dennison.

This assures the performance of the prints with a wide range of qualified components and printer platforms.

Environmentally responsible As a thriving business, GSSB advocates reducing the impact on the environment and preserving natural resources. This is mainly done through the use of HP R Series Latex water-based inks which are gentle on the environment and does not contain toxic chemicals found in other types. It is safe for places with sensitive environment indoors, especially schools, theme parks, toy shops, hospitals and other such environs.

Product innovations GSSB has constantly introduced innovative indoor and outdoor signage solutions to the market since its inception. Products like lightbox with customized LED screen moving display and 3D box-up signage are enabling customers reap rich benefits. Besides, the recently launched new signage using the

Focusing on producing long lasting prints and signage which reduces wastage because of the longer product life-cycle, GSSB adopts latest technologies to stay on the top. For example, with Industry 4.0 (HP R Series Latex Printer) automated production technology, it not only integrates file receiving from customers, but also content validation and production and remotely monitors the printers’ performance and maintenance. “Our

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industrial printing/textile printing

Epson EB-700U Ultra-short Throw Laser Full HD 3LCD Projector can be rotated in any direction without any loss in image brightness and is able to project a large screen within narrow spaces.

One Stop Centre GSSB offers a full range of services and in-house production which includes design, printing, laser cutting, fabrication and installation. Clients can also opt to create a variety of outdoor signage, billboards and vehicle stickers.

Golden Signage Sdn Bhd started operations in 2015 and within one year it had

established Laser Cut Generation Sdn Bhd. The very next year in 2017 it had established Hesperus Printing Sdn Bhd. Technology acquisition too happened more or less in the same order at GSSB – with their 9 colour Eco-solvent EPSON printer coming in 2016; partnership with Avery Dennison starting in 2017; acquiring HP Latex 1500 Printer in 2018; adding two more units of HP Latex R2000 Printer in 2019; and partnering with HP to be awarded Environmental Excellence Certification in the same year.

surface, GSSB has completed over 500 projects since establishment. Having completed over 1,000,000 square feet of printing, it has expanded to 3 companies providing full-range service and operates in 5 countries.

Printing on all types of materials including sticker, acrylic, metal, wood, fabric, tiles, glass, brick and practically any type of

Roland IU-1000F large-format UV-LED flatbed printer Roland DG announces new IU-1000F large-format UV-LED flatbed printer with ultimate performance.

Roland DG Corporation, manufacturer of wide-format inkjet printers and printer/cutters worldwide, has announced its first IU-1000F large-format UV-LED flatbed printer designed to meet the diverse needs of sign and display shops with break-through performance.

As life cycles and requirements for communication tools such as outdoor and indoor advertising, event decorations, and store displays become shorter and more diverse, the sign and display industry is increasingly becoming onestop shops offering quick response. Under such challenging circumstances, high performance large-format UV flatbed printers that enable a more efficient production process and are capable of printing on various materials for a wide range of applications are attracting greater attention than ever before.

According to Kohei Tanabe, the President of the DP Business Division, the IU-1000F boasts break-through speed and quality while also eliminating the need for mounting and drying processes. “It is a powerful solution for the sign and display or print production business that seeks more efficient and faster-turnaround production capability. By offering increased productivity, material compatibility, image quality, ease of use, and all the other aspects of this product, I am confident that the IU-1000F will achieve increased profitability for printing businesses,” he said.

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Equipped with 12 high-performance printheads in a staggered 3-row arrangement, the IU-1000F can print up to 635 x 1,800 dpi with variable droplet technology which can simultaneously fire 3 sizes of droplets at high speed. Printing time for a typical 4 x 8’ (1,220 x 2,440 mm) size rigid board averages about 15 boards per hour in the everyday “Standard” print mode for typical point of purchase display applications. About 10 sheets can be printed even in the “Quality” print mode that provides high image quality.

corrugated polypropylene board, aluminum composite plate, and even on metal and glass that are generally difficult to adhere to by using primer ink.

The IU-1000F employs UV-LED flatbed printing technology to print directly on various material types, including rigid boards up to 2,510 x 1,310 mm size and 110 mm thickness. The exclusively-developed, high-performance UV inks cure immediately, enabling the IU-1000F to print on a wide range of substrates, including acrylic, PETG, PVC board, foam board, PC, wood,

In addition to CMYK, the IU-1000F supports White and Gloss inks to create a wide variety of applications, from producing impressive and highly-profitable sign graphics to custom-designed interior decoration.

Moreover, it features a number of new functions that support efficient performance, including an ionizer that removes static electricity, a flexible flatbed mechanism that can handle materials of various sizes from one large board to multiple small panels, and media alignment pins for easily aligning materials to be printed.

The IU-1000F gets unveiled at major exhibitions of large format printing solutions.

Sales will start in Europe, North America and Japan from the first quarter of 2020.

industrial printing/textile printing

Roland DG customers win nine SGIA Golden Image Awards 5 of its customers have won a total of nine SGIA Golden Image Awards in a variety of categories at PRINTING United 2019 in Dallas.

Wide-format inkjet printers and printer/ cutters manufacturer, Roland DG Corporation announced that 5 of its customers have won a total of nine SGIA Golden Image Awards in a variety of categories at PRINTING United 2019 in Dallas. The judging panel was impressed with the creativity, colour accuracy and image quality of the entries printed on Roland DG inkjets.

Specialty Graphic Imaging Association (SGIA) is the trade association for professionals in the industrial, graphic, garment, textile, electronics, packaging and commercial printing communities looking to grow their business into new market segments through the incorporation of the latest printing technologies. SGIA’s annual Golden Image Awards competition recognizes standout work produced by digital imaging and screen-printing professionals, encompassing a wide range of applications made possible by specialty imaging technologies.

“The things our talented end users can do with their Roland printers never cease to amaze me,” said Andrew Oransky, President and CEO of Roland DGA, Roland DG’s USbased sales and marketing subsidiary. “It’s an honour for Roland DG to play a key role in their success by providing tools that help them bring their creative visions to life.”

Kohei Tanabe, Roland DG President, Digital Printing Business Division said, “I am delighted that the industry’s leading organizations have recognized work created from our inkjet printers, including the TrueVIS series, which produces outstanding graphics,

and the VersaUV series, which enables high-value-added specialty printing. We will continue to provide products and solutions that create excitement for our owners and a sense of accomplishment when people react to their output graphics with ‘WOW!’” Below is a list of Roland DG customers that earned SGIA 2019 Golden Image Awards: • Gold Award Winner – Interior Design (Digital); Customer: Gamut Media; Products: VersaCAMM eco-solvent printer/cutter • Silver Award Winner – Wallpaper (Digital); Customer: Gamut Media; Products: VersaCAMM eco-solvent printer/cutter • Silver Award Winner – Building Graphics (Digital); Customer: Gamut Media; Products: VersaCAMM eco-solvent printer/cutter • Silver Award Winner – Retail Displays/

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Exhibits (Digital); Customer: Gamut Media; Products: VersaCAMM ecosolvent printer/cutter Silver Award Winner – Interior Design (Digital); Customer: Vivas Banners Inc.; Products: TrueVIS eco-solvent printer/ cutter Bronze Award Winner – Fine Art (Digital); Customer: Bonny Lhotka; Products: VersaUV flatbed printer Bronze Award Winner – Decals/Labels/ Stickers (Digital); Customer: ARB Digital; Product: VersaUV benchtop flatbed printer Honorable Mention – Unique Applications (Digital); Customer: Sassy Squirrel Ink; Product: VersaUV benchtop flatbed printer Interior Design (Digital) - Gold Award Winner - produced by Gamut Media; Interior Design (Digital) - Gold Award Winner - produced by Gamut Media

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What’s next in inkjet and the many reasons to adopt - By Régis Thienard (An inkjet specialist owning various inkjet patents and one of the JETVarnish inventors. He is a graphic industry specialist and consultant with a strong passion for printing and print-machine design) The overriding message for drupa 2016 was that inkjet is now ready for “prime time” across a growing range of applications and well positioned to displace conventional printing methods. In 2016 we were supposed to “touch the future” and in 2020 we should really “embrace it” properly. For 2020, everyone is guessing that drupa will signal the victory of non-impact printing. For me, 2020 will be another inkjet drupa. The success of inkjet derives from and is embedded in the very nature of the technology which can be looked at across its key elements.

With Printhead suppliers like Memjet, Kyocera, Fuji, Xaar & Konica Minolta delivering higher resolution, higher speeds and lower costs, new horizons are opening up. Inkjet machines are serving numerous markets from labels to large format, textiles, packaging and industrial printing. Drupa will show some revolutionary machines. We see that there is almost no limit for inkjet.

Key Notes : > In 2016 we were supposed to “touch the future” and in 2020 we should really “embrace it” properly. > The future of printing is set for digital and for inkjet. > We are at a clear tipping-point for inkjet to become the dominant technology at drupa 2020.

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Contactless printing Today, digital printing eliminates most of the inefficient downtime of a printing press, there are almost no more intermediate steps. The print service providers become more productive, they increase their responsiveness and they contribute to inventory reduction for their customers.

The future of printing is set for digital and for inkjet.

Xerography and offset can’t go where inkjet can go with very large widths, printing on objects and fabrics.

Inkjet technology allows printing without contact, eliminating the risk of distortion of the image or deterioration of the substrate.

No market is standing still for manufacturers and they all are redoubling their ingenuity to manage those tiny

drops of ink. Whether it means the ejection-height compared to paper, the fragility of the heads in terms of friction, their interchangeability, the speed of inkejection coupled with the preciseness of each drop’s shape, the size and quality of the pigments, limitation of ink penetration into the substrate, or the improved drying of uncoated paper, etc…

We see many printhead suppliers (Memjet, Kyocera, Fuji, Xaar, Konica Minolta to name but a few) delivering higher resolution, higher speeds and lower costs. This all opens up new horizons. While heads previously only had moderate resolution and speed with limited application usage, we are witnessing an incredible development of new heads across many suppliers delivering high throughput and

industrial printing/textile printing

software is helping to remove imperfections in printhead engineering.

the entire supply chain, fabrics with health sensors (tension, dehydration, etc…)

The recently invented Industry 4.0 – which refers to machines which are augmented with wireless connectivity and sensors, connected to a system that can visualise the entire production line and make decisions of its own – is very much aligned to the principles of inkjet.

Variable data, agility and flexibility

Colour in abundance

print resolution. Therefore, there are a lot of inkjet machine suppliers serving numerous markets from labels to large format, textiles, packaging and industrial printing.

The growth here is significant and I am convinced that we are at a clear tipping-point for inkjet to become the dominant technology at drupa 2020. We will witness some revolutionary machines and see that there is almost no limit for inkjet.

Software, Artificial Intelligence and 3D printing While the printhead itself requires advanced technologies, the inkjet magic taking place is also thanks to other key ingredients recently available such as 3D printing, advanced software and Artificial Intelligence. These components are the ultimate tools to help in perfecting the inkjet machines, thus advancing their flexibility and accuracy beyond expectation. Some printhead manufacturers like Bobst Group Mouvent are using 3D printing technologies to integrate all the components into a small space, with the highest level of precision, delivering compact head-clusters for use across numerous technologies. Almost as simple as Lego bricks!

Adjacent technologies are truly accelerating the ongoing development of inkjet, itself invented many years ago. New algorithms help digital press builders in the search for nozzle failure, in the detection of air bubbles inside the head’s ink tank, in achieving a constant ink-ejection rate coupled with the fineness of each drop, or with fly ink shotcorrection by diverting to the jet adjacent to the missing jet, etc… In short you can say that Artificial Intelligence in advanced

With presses having up to 12 colours and drop-size varying by a factor 10, all colours are printable as the gamut is at the top of any printing system. It is no longer the human eye that judges and compares between the original and the output, it is the system which applies its own patterns. The recent announcements of Landa, in achieving close to 97% of Pantone and claiming that spot colours may eventually become something of the past, are setting the scene for drupa 2020 where we all expect inkjet to be the star of the show. The recently announced BOBST DigiColor technology also heralds the twilight of spot colours. All such announcements will please brand owners who will no longer have to rely on the mood and subjectivity of a press operator.

Application versatility Inkjet technology has the potential to print on almost any substrate – from textile to packaging incl. direct to shape on many substrates. Current inkjet technology has not established a landmark across literally all that is printed, but there is no doubt that it will evolve further. In some areas inkjet is still in its infancy, for example in embellishing.

Companies like MGI, KURZ, SCODIX are opening up new areas and this is just the beginning. Inkjet is increasingly seen as an evolutionary driver of printing techniques and such evolution enables the printing of increasingly complex materials. The contactless nature of inkjet opens up myriad new markets such as glass, ceramics, tiles, even printed circuit-boards. We can be sure that drupa 2020 will bring such new applications to life. The motto “embrace the future” could well become “embrace inkjet as the future”. Disruptive innovations are on the move!

I expect drupa to showcase digitally printed books with integrated augmented reality and printed electronics, connected packaging delivery advanced safety features across

Brand owners and their agencies are expecting, even demanding, more personalization and late stage customization.

They all wish the package to be the product.

Some major players like Philip Morris International (PMI) expect digital printing to be at the core of their packaging production.

Digital enables any packaging-item to be unique and done in 7 days rather than 18 months, as they recently claimed. Moreover, as ‘data’ becomes the backbone of Industry 4.0, digital printing and inkjet will by its nature cope with this new reality so whatever is printed can be all the same but also can be all different.

Costs Many claim that the limit of inkjet is linked to the cost of ink. Today, the manufacturerresearch required to produce inks involves ongoing investments, especially as printheads are constantly changing and ink formulations must be adjusted. Whilst it’s true that the development of inks for inkjet is more costly than for offset or flexo, it is just a question of time for inkjet to become more affordable and when its production volume surpasses offset inks it could indeed be at cost-parity.

Sustainability The acceleration of inkjet adoption also derives from the fact that it can be waterbased with all the associated environmental benefits. HP in corrugated printing is making major claims about the sustainability of their inks especially for food packaging. Others will follow with water-based inks, as recently shown for example at Labelexpo 2020 by the Bobst Group with their up to 100 meter/ minute Mouvent label press.

As I said in the introduction, drupa 2020 should embrace inkjet like never before.

Inkjet is still a relatively new and fastdeveloping technology, the innovations taking place now and the ones to come will make it the dominant technology across all key printing applications and even beyond.

So, as you prepare your trip to drupa in Düsseldorf, be open-minded and seek out especially the things that were not hitherto possible, because they will very soon be the ‘new normal’!

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Print Make Wear is set to return to FESPA Global Print Expo 2020 Linking to FESPA’s new co-located event, sportswear Pro, Print Make Wear to spotlight sportswear manufacturing.

Print Make Wear will address every step in the garment production process, starting with colour utilising CAD / CAM, design and prepress, production workflows, grading and nesting, progressing to printing, drying, cutting, sewing, welding and embellishment, culminating in packing and retail display.

Key Notes : > Print Make Wear to showcase the tools to facilitate customised, sustainable, ondemand production. > To recreate a live endto-end production process for sports and athleisure garments. > To host a series of tours led by FESPA’s textile ambassador, Debbie McKeegan.

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FESPA’s fast fashion factory feature, Print Make Wear, is set to return to FESPA Global Print Expo 2020 (24 – 27 March, IFEMA – Feria de Madrid), this time with a focus on sportswear production.

welding and embellishment, culminating in packing and retail display. The feature will act as a physical link between FESPA Global Print Expo 2020 and Sportswear Pro 2020.

Linking to FESPA’s new co-located event, Sportswear Pro, Print Make Wear will showcase the tools to facilitate customised, sustainable, on-demand production. The feature will recreate a live end-toend production process for sports and athleisure garments, as well as hosting a series of tours led by FESPA’s textile ambassador, Debbie McKeegan.

This year’s edition includes two workflows running side by side. The first one will exhibit direct-togarment (DTG) printing onto blank sportswear and athleisure garments, where visitors will be able to order and customise a men’s running shirt or women’s racer back vest and leggings. The second workflow, dedicated to roll-to-roll printing, will replicate the whole garment production process from web-to-print to final delivery, with sample fabrics printed, cut, sewn and packaged on-site. The final printed samples will be displayed in a retail display and worn by models on the show floor.

“Print Make Wear proved to be FESPA Global Print Expo 2019’s most attended feature and it’s not difficult to see why – it’s a vibrant forum where you can immerse yourself in all aspects of garment printing, from design to print and finishing,” says Debbie. “We want to give our visitors the opportunity to see first-hand how digital print technology, software and automation can revolutionise the production of sportswear and define potential new routes to market.”

As with past editions, Print Make Wear will address every step in the garment production process, starting with colour utilising CAD / CAM, design and prepress, production workflows, grading and nesting, progressing to printing, drying, cutting, sewing,

While Print Make Wear will convey the benefits of print on-demand and customisation in contemporary garment production, sustainability will also be a key area of focus.

“Sustainability is an essential component for future manufacturing technologies across multiple industries and the same goes for sportswear manufacturing,” Debbie explains. “As the key driver within our industry, sustainability will be heavily reflected across the whole of Print Make Wear. We’ll be highlighting how

industrial printing/textile printing

on-demand manufacturing helps significantly reduce waste. In addition, the majority of fabrics being printed onto are organic in source or recycled textiles and the physical elements of the feature build will be reutilised at future exhibitions.”

Further enhancing the visitor experience will be a comprehensive guided tour programme, making it easier for visitors to factor Print Make Wear into their busy event schedule.

The tours will provide an in-depth look at all the components that go into DTG and roll-to-roll production, as well as highlighting how they can tackle customers’ requirements for on-demand customisation. Daily expertguides tours can be booked in advance via the FESPA Global Print Expo 2020 website.

There will also be a series of ‘Experts in Conversation’ sessions that cover a range of topics, including: • Best practice for colour management in apparel production • Fashion technology and automation • The positive impact of sustainable textile production • The biggest challenges within sportswear production

Print Make Wear is the perfect feature for showing our visitors the points in common between these two exciting industries.

We’re confident that, whatever their level of knowledge or investment in garment printing, visitors to Print Make Wear in Madrid will gain a much deeper understanding of the opportunities for process improvement and differentiation.”

Neil Felton, CEO of FESPA, concludes: “Sports apparel and fast fashion are two of the most dynamic growth applications in our textile printing community. Also, as evidenced by our research, a lot of the trends currently affecting sportswear manufacturing are reflected in specialty print. With this in mind,

Winners of the second “New & Next university competition” Participants in the “New & Next university competition” for textile design come from across the globe.

The UK, Pakistan and Switzerland – these are the winners of the second “New & Next university competition” at Heimtextil (7-10 January 2020). Three renowned universities from these countries won this year’s design competition in the run-up to the 50th edition of Heimtextil out of a total of 18 international submissions.

Following the successful launch of the “New & Next university competition” at the last event, the 50th edition of Heimtextil also offered budding textile designers the chance to submit their work via their university and secure an exclusive presentation area at the fair. Out of a total of 18 submissions from around the globe, three universities prevailed: the University of Bolton from the UK, the Indus Valley School of Art and Architecture from Pakistan and the Lucerne School of Design & Art from Switzerland.

Representatives from the universities and their students will present the award-winning works at the renowned “New & Next” area in hall 3.0.

The three universities were selected by a five-member jury of experts: ‘The works produced by the students from these universities impressed us with their creative approaches and reinterpretation of traditional craftsmanship’, says Hervé Francois, General Manager of Mitwill Textile Europe in France and member of the expert jury. ‘But we also

“Aromatic Screens” by Hibba Saqib from the Indus Valley School of Art and Architecture, Pakistan, was one of the winning designs of the Heimtextil “New & Next university competition”.

found the use of natural materials to be extremely innovative and in keeping with the zeitgeist’. As well as Hervé Francois, the jury also included Xavier Comman from Hermès International in France, Aziza Grill Mariotte and Lutz Walter from the European federation EURATEX, Belgium, and Prof. Tina Moor from the Lucerne School of Design & Art in Switzerland.

New & Next area: start-ups showcase young design The “New & Next” area has been

synonymous with the promotion of newcomers at Heimtextil for many years now. Under this title, Heimtextil presents young labels that are being represented at Heimtextil for the first time. Over a dozen newcomers with fresh design ideas are expected to attend in January 2020. In the ‘Textile Design’ product segment in hall 3.0 in particular, young studios inspire with exciting designs. New & Next participants will also be offering creative design products for furniture and decorative fabrics as well as bed and bath in halls 4.2 and 12.0.

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Printing on both Rigid and Flexible: Welcome the HP R Series Revolution The HP Latex R Series is the latest Revolution that transforms rigid and flexible printing in ways that were never ever possible.

At FESPA 2019 in May, HP Latex R Printer Series (HP Latex R1000 and HP Latex R2000) was already celebrating its First Anniversary milestone. The revolutionary HP Latex R is a hybrid series combining both flexible and rigid sign and display printing capabilities in just one device.

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• The ability to print on both rigid and flexible substrates opens a whole new world of possibilities for printers. HP’s revolutionary new Latex R Printer Series offers customers the ability to showcase their products or services in unique and inventive ways with the glossiest white and the most vibrant colours on rigid substrates, to speak the least.

The Latex R Printer can open up new avenues in Retail, Decoration, Window Graphics, Outdoor Signage, Exhibition & Events as well as Vehicle Wraps & Graphics for customers; they can transform almost any surface with HP Latex Printing.

Key Notes : > With HP Smart Services, the HP Latex R Series printer is ready to run from day one. > Automatic processes, less interventions and fewer errors make it a true ‘Smart’ Printer System. > It’s time you print white like you never have before.

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The Latex R Printer can open up new avenues in Retail, Decoration, Window Graphics, Outdoor Signage, Exhibition & Events as well as Vehicle Wraps & Graphics for customers; they can transform almost any surface with HP Latex Printing. Here are some of the examples: • In Retail – they can expand into high-value applications with amazing colours and the glossiest of whites on backlit, corrugated cardboard, rigid poster, and even mirror and melamine; one technology gives colour

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uniformity across campaigns, so no more print and mount.

In Decoration – they can achieve glossy white beyond compare on new substrates like wood, aluminum, glass, ceramic, and acrylic while preserving the gloss and feel.

In Window Graphics – they can set themselves apart from the competition with high-opacity white that resists yellowing over time for applications on transparent and coloured media.

In Outdoor Signage – they can create amazing signage with durable and flexible waterbased HP Latex Inks that provide high adhesion and outstanding scratch resistance, so they can assemble and cut without chipping.

In Exhibitions & Events – they can offer brand colour consistency across rigid and flexible using one printer; HP Latex Inks produce odourless prints, ideal for indoor applications.

In Vehicle Wraps & Graphics – they can grow their business with highquality, easy-to-install vehicle wraps; HP Latex Inks produce prints that come out dry, enabling instant lamination.

The revolutionary HP Latex technology combines more advantages into one technology than other

industrial printing/textile printing

available technologies in terms of application versatility, quality, productivity as well as endto-end sustainability. HP Latex Inks enable printing of scratch-resistant, durable prints on a variety of substrates. Besides, with the high efficiency curing system, prints come out dry and ready-to-use. The HP Latex printheads and the spectrophotometer enable printers get the colour, quality, and consistency they want. Moreover, the Latex Optimizer and Optical Belt Advanced System enable high quality even at the highest productivity levels.

Sustainability is ensured with water-based inks and recyclable HP ink cartridges.

Odourless prints can now reach new indoor spaces, previously untapped by the use of solvent and UV inks.

olors, both on exible.

P Latex R series printer, you can igid or exible substrate with And with new vibrant HP ut on rigid, you can transform to set yourself apart from your

HP Latex Overcoat is an anti-scratch agent protecting the prints from everyday exposures. The new modular design allows the amount of overcoat applied to be tuned for top performance across multiple substrates, or not used at all when laminating. HP Latex Optimizer is designed to rapidly separate and immobilize the pigment colorants from the water-based ink vehicle at the print substrate surface, producing sharp text and image detail. Further, a water-based pigment-ink technology now brings the vibrant HP Latex colour gamut to rigid using a thin ink layer that preserves media gloss and feel.

Outstanding White Whites that fade to yellow are becoming a thing of the past with white HP Latex Ink, an industry breakthrough. With the new HP Latex R Printer Series, customers can transform their business all while adding value to new applications. That includes the glossiest of whites on new substrates like wood and acrylic. It’s time you print white like you never have before.

pigments that are three times the size of the coloured ink particles and twice the volume.

Therefore, now, working with white ink has just got easier – HP’s white ink solution has an innovative system that recirculates the white ink – both within the ink delivery system and at the printhead. (Removable HP Thermal Inkjet printheads are stored in the offline rotating chamber, for no clogs and no waste between jobs.)

Its automatic processes, less interventions and fewer errors make it a true ‘Smart’ Printer System. It features • automatic printhead maintenance, nozzle checks, and compensations; automatic measurements, multi-sheet printing, crash sensor etc.; and assisted loading of flexible, with skew correction.

• Guided and assisted workflows for easy learning – touchscreen, intuitive interface; animations and videos for new users; and a few clicks printing.

The glossiest of whites across media.

Whites that fade to yellow are becoming a thing of the past with white HP Latex Ink,¹ an industry breakthrough. With the new HP Latex R-series printer, you can transform your business all while A True Hybrid adding value tohybrid new applications. That includes HP Latex R Series Printer is a true solution, for printing rigid and flexible media Latex printers withlike HP PrintOS the glossiest of whites onHP new substrates on one single device with a fast changeover.

PrintOS is HP’s print production operating wood and acrylic. It's time you print white like yo you never have before.

HP Latex Ink present the glossiest of whites – the white ink lays smooth, even, and flat so it takes on the shape of the media. It reflects light directly and uniformly, for a high gloss consistency. On the contrary, UV-curable ink lays unevenly, hides media texture, and can reduce gloss and colour. Whereas, White HP Latex Ink is highly-resistant to photochemical reactions and doesn’t contain photoinitiators or optical brighteners (unlike UV-curable inks) thus resisting yellowing over time. The Ink achieves a very opaque, visually strong white by using exterior grade titanium dioxide

nting. More uptime.

g designed for more d more new business. With the series, you can maximize et production peaks — without quality. Finally, a printer with and preventive services. That time with less intervention.

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industrial printing/textile printing

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system with web and mobile apps that help printers work smarter and simplify their production. HP Latex printer owners can access this open, secure cloud-based platform virtually anywhere, anytime.

They can further gain visibility into print performance through real-time insights with HP Print Beat. This enables them to make faster decisions, continuously improve operations, and better collaborate with partners and colleagues.

Business growth with HP Applications Center Now with access to even more content providers, printers can enhance their webto-print solutions by allowing customers to easily design large-format applications.

These powerful, cloud-based solutions with fresh, new navigation easily integrate into customers’ website and also: • Let customers step into signage applications like rollups, banners, and stickers in the HP Signage Suite.

• Give clients the ability to create unique designs for decorative applications in the HP WallArt Suite.

• Understand actual and historical data about print production down to a daily

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resolution of performance.

Get a detailed and aggregated view of the fleet, printer status, uptime, ink, and substrate consumption.

Monitor the status of the printers through the web or mobile app, virtually anytime, anywhere.

Automate production of more common applications with unattended job reception, order management, and RIP integration.

Get print-ready PDF files according to specifications and provide customers with installation instructions and order confirmation.

Peace-of-mind with Smart Serviceability With HP Smart Services, the HP Latex R Series printer is ready to run from day one.

Customers can access tools that enable a quick response time and help maximize their uptime. Besides, they get a quick start with onsite HP Ramp Up and other services, and continue building knowledge and skills, with interactive online resources, like the HP Latex Knowledge Center and Learn with HP. Also, they can get fast and effective help directly from HP experts, with time-saving remote diagnostics, Virtual Remote Guidance and HP Expert Now. With proactive and preventive maintenance kits and services, they can keep their HP Latex R Series printer in optimal printing condition. And, with the HP Service Center app, they can easily track the status of their all service activities and enjoy a single point of access to all HP service tools and processes.

Thus, with the new HP Latex R Printer Series, modern printing solutions providers can

transform any rigid or flexible substrate with amazing colours. And with new vibrant HP Latex colour gamut on rigid, they can transform new substrates to set themselves apart from the competition. Here are a few testimonials by HP Latex R Series customers:

“Buying the R-Series machine was really exciting for us to stay ahead of the curve and be part of something new. Compared to current technology, adhesion is superior, colour gamut is increased, the print quality is spot on. The HP Latex R2000 Printer allows us to continue to push the boundaries for our customers.” - Adam Parnell, Easy Signs “The new HP Latex R2000 Printer is a perfect addition for us. The big advantage of the new machine is the absence of smell. We have a larger colour gamut which is also a great effect. The opacity of the white is just amazing. A huge advantage.” Ronny Kuss, Kuss Medienproduktion “When I see this machine in action, see the results that it gives and the amount of substrates on which it can print, it’s another world. It’s a before and after in digital printing. With this machine, there are markets that previously were impossible to do.” Carlos Calo, CdeC

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industrial printing/events Calendar

Events Calendar Heimtextil Date: 07 Jan -20 to 10 Jan-20 Venue: Messe Frankfurt Frankfurt, Germany

drupa 2020 Date: 16 Jun -20 to 26 Jun-20 Venue: Dusseldorf Germany

Print Technology 2020 Date: 13 Aug -20 to 16 Aug -20 Venue: Kuala Lumpur Malaysia

Readers are required to confirm the dates of the exhibition from the organizers. This is a reader service provided by PRESSIdeas and the company cannot be held responsible for any error or omission.

If your event is not listed in the above list, kindly write to us at info@pressideas.com with subject as event and we shall gladly be including the same as above.