drupa is the greatest graphic arts show on earth. This time around – Düsseldorf, May 31 to June 10, 2016 – it will again be packed with the latest printing technologies. Here is a growing list of what visitors can look forward to seeing at the show. Check back in to keep up to date with the latest and the greatest.
Siegwerk looks at inkjet and LED drying. March 14, 2016.
Next generation DataLase digital printing. March 9, 2016.
Near instant drying from adphos at drupa. March 6, 2016
Lüscher rolls out upgrades for drupa March 5, 2016
Evolving Komori to Open New Page. Feb 2 2016.
Automate variable data. Lake Systems Feb 2 2016.
drupa cube partners with The Medici Group Feb 4 2016.
With the motto “We colour the future”, the global printing ink manufacturer Siegwerk will be demonstrating its products and services portfolio at drupa 2016 to address current and future industry trends. Best-in-class ink performance, high product safety, and excellent services are the company’s main pillars to support their customers and meet their individual needs with cutting-edge solutions.
Visitors can get in touch with experts of one of the world’s leading ink manufacturers for packaging printing at Booth A58 in Hall 3 and ask for more information about the services and solutions offered. Siegwerk is a leader in ink systems and varnishes, serving different customer segments such as flexible packaging, tobacco, labels, conventional sheetfed, paper and board, and others.
“As the world’s leading trade show for graphic and industrial print, drupa is an ideal touch point for exchanging information and ideas with our customers,” says Hugo Noordhoek Hegt, President Packaging EMEA at Siegwerk. “We are looking forward to inspiring discussions about new challenges in the market and the expansion of our collaborations.”
As a member of the German Paint and Printing Ink Association (VdL), Siegwerk will support the association’s “Link to ink – The combined know how” program during drupa with presentations about packaging safety and general ink composition given by Siegwerk experts (more information at Hall 3, Booth 3B16).
The future looks digital
Using its expertise in ink technology and its wide application know-how, Siegwerk is today expanding its business into the inkjet ink market – initially, for labels and, secondly for packaging applications too. The company has extended its research and development capabilities and has built a dedicated inkjet laboratory at its Technical Center in Annemasse (France) to drive the development of inkjet inks that meet the requirements for printing process efficiency as well as the functionality of printed materials.
LED UV technology gains importance
An increasing number of printers are opting for LED UV technology regardless of the printing process used. With its potential for eco-efficiency, cost-effectiveness, and productivity advantages, it is definitively one technological advance of recent years that will drive future development in the printing industry.
With Sicura Nutriflex LEDTec, the first low migration LED UV flexo series for food and pharma packaging, Siegwerk is now also addressing the growing demand for low migration products for food packaging applications. Further expansion of applications will enable printers to use LED UV inks for the full range of products. All in all, Siegwerk expects a volume switch from conventional UV to low migration UV inks in the printing market for this year. LED UV curing will be one of the growth drivers.
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Leading inline digital printing company, DataLase, will launch the next generation of its revolutionary digital printing solutions at Drupa 2016.
The new Variprint™ monochrome technology will be demonstrated by the DataLase team on their stand 6A19 in Hall 6 at Drupa, the world’s leading trade show for graphic and industrial print, media and multichannel, held in Dusseldorf, Germany, May 31-June 10, 2016.
Historically, the technology has only been seen in product coding and marking applications, in white, clear and black. Now, the company has extended its intellectual property portfolio and is bringing to market the ability to deliver true real time messaging and variable data on pack with a new selection of monochrome colours – a breakthrough in laser inline digital printing.
The Variprint development delivers a new level of pack differentiation with promotions and key variable data messages able to stand out from traditional coding and marking style graphics in blue, green and red text.
DataLase, which has offices in the UK, USA and Japan, is seeing the development of a range of market applications on a global basis. Its patented laser reactive pigments can be incorporated into a coating, or conventionally printed onto a package. When exposed to a low power CO2 or NIR diode array laser on a packing line, it generates a colour change reaction resulting in a high definition, premium quality digital print.
The DataLase technology can be applied on a variety of primary and secondary packaging materials, to enable the laser to print text, and graphics up to 100mm high and 2m/sec with one laser. The solution enables high-speed printing, which is ideal for in line customised print. In addition, the system is essentially an inkless print solution removing the requirement for consumables at the point of packing and filling or converter.
DataLase CEO, Chris Wyres, said: "Our unique technology platforms have been designed to deliver enhanced flexibility, quality, productivity and consumer interaction. Our solutions are a true breakthrough in the market and will change the way brand owners print packaging and interact with consumers.
“Digital print is growing because it offers a significant advantage over conventional print techniques, delivering capability for responsive and timely customised marketing and promotion on packs and products. Our ground-breaking technology is cost effective and efficient, providing a high added-value solution for today’s print market and meets the needs of brand owners, retailers and packaging converters alike.”
DataLase technology can be used across the FMCG market place from food and beverage, pharmaceutical and medical, to home and personal care applications. The solution is designed to complement the industry’s most dynamic production lines and is actively used today for folding cartons, cans, bottles, labels, flexible materials, cases and other packaging materials.
Whilst coding and marking is still a core application for the technology, the future looks bright for DataLase delivering multi-colour highly effective, flexible inline digital printing capability to maximise brand owner and retailer marketing effectiveness.
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The new adphosNIR® technology, to be showcased at drupa 2016, will help to overcome bottleneck limitations that slow productivity, said the company:
Today, more than ever, known bottleneck limitations are a problem for productivity:
- Limited range of substrates
- Ink coverage (even less than 270%)
- Color density limitations
- Reduced productivity and performance – especially for coated and glossy substrates
- Waviness (cockle and curl) of printed products
- Longer make readies with resulting paper losses
- Substrate over drying which may need remoistening or re-saturation
- Smearing and offsetting which may require an overcoat
To answer these limitations, the adphos Group has developed the next generation of our renowned dryer family with adphosNIR® technology to significantly decrease or eliminate the limitations.
adphosNIR® Technology provides:
- Near instantaneous drying
- Enhanced print quality (higher resolution, color density, brilliance)
- Reduced heating of the substrate
- Flatter books and printed materials
The small footprint of adphosNIR® drying technology allows for easy integration on existing presses, said the company. Contact adphos to learn more or visit the adphos booth C03 in Hall 6 at drupa.
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*Swiss manufacturer Lüscher AG Technologies will showcase latest updates to its XPose! Flex line and the MultiDX!Computer to Plate system at this year’s drupa.
Lüscher, which was taken over by Heliograph Holding in August, also announced plans to redefine its corporate design in line with the new corporate identity.
At drupa 2016, Lüscher will show a new model of its XPose! product line: XPose! FlexLine 330L for 42×60 inch formats. The imagesetter combines a dual optic with 5080/2540 dpi with a unique patented inside drum system.
Also on show will be a further development of the MultiDX! 220: the MultiDX! 320, the all-in-one Computer to Plate system. The new 320 line is equipped with a dynamic autofocus and can be equipped with up to 128 laser diodes to allow processing of larger screen frames. With this system, almost any printing forms such as rotary screens, letterpress, flexo and offset printing plates, flat screens and aluminium and copper plates can be exposed.
In hall 16 at booth no. C07, a qualified Lüscher team will be ready to give expert advice to any interested customer or distributor.
After the takeover of 100% of the Lüscher shares by Heliograph Holding last August, the management of Lüscher has decided to redefine its design by bringing it in line with the corporate identity. The new corporate design will be launched on May 1, 2016. Lüscher manufactures all equipment at its headquarters in Bleienbach, Switzerland. With more than 2400 installations in 60 different countries, Lüscher is a leading global manufacturer of computer-to-plate applications, and also specialises in security printing such as banknotes or security documents such as passports or ID cards demanding high resolutions of up to 12,000dpi.
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Japanese offset press manufacturer Komori will highlight its new platform of print engineering services at drupa 2016 in Dusseldorf, Germany.
“Komori is evolving from a specialist printing press manufacturer to a print engineering service provider (PESP),” said Yosuke Fujimaki, manager of Komori’s Solution Business Promotion Department. “We will expand the new potential of printing by offering offset presses, digital printing systems, printed electronics, materials and equipment.”
The company's theme of Open New Pages aimed to offer new business opportunities to its customers, he said.
“Komori will evolve in innovative ways by aiming for ‘connected print. We will create new value and richer communications by not only connecting our customers’ various processes but also by connecting our customers to Komori’s diverse functions using the latest technologies, such as the cloud."
Komori will exhibit a lineup of hardware at drupa 2016 that includes offset presses, digital printing systems and postpress equipment, along with software products for the integrated control of these systems and K-Supply products that support quality and productivity.
“Through the technologies and solutions presented in the Komori booth, we will show our commitment to becoming the business partner of customers that is capable of improving their margins and increasing their productivity,” Fujimaki said.
Komori Corporation will exhibit under the theme ‘Open New Pages’ at drupa from Tuesday, May 31 to Friday, June 10, 2016 at Düsseldorf Fairgrounds. The Komori booth will be at HALL 15, D04.
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Automate variable data integrity and print quality inspection. Lake Image Systems
Lake Image Systems, a leader in variable data integrity and print quality inspection for the packaging, labels, and commercial print industries, is pleased to announce that they will be exhibiting at the drupa 2016 trade fair on stand #11B42.
The company is presenting a full suite of integrated, tailored solutions to help customers in all segments of the graphic communications market, to produce error-free printing, automate inspection requirements and reduce waste to drive profitable growth.
Lake Image Systems will feature its latest portfolio of powerful solutions for Document producers, Label printers and Packaging converters to automate variable data integrity and print quality inspection requirements. Four industry applications zones will be demonstrated at the show. These include:
Zone 1: Digital Packaging: With variable data, digitally printed on packaging is on the increase, Lake Image will be showcasing its latest range of solutions for reading, grading and verifying barcodes, QRcodes and text elements as well as for detecting print defects such as streaks, hickies & voids and print registration issues for a variety of flexible packaging applications
Zone 2: Variable Data Labels & Security Printing: Variable data and barcodes on labels such as tax stamps, pharmaceutical and authentication labels are now critical for many anti-counterfeit and traceability applications such as track and trace systems. Similarly, many security documents and paper have unique identifiers which need to be tracked and verified to prevent criminal activity and ensure process integrity during complex, multi-step production processes. Lake Image will demo its industry winning Discovery MaxScan solution for inspecting, reading, tracking and verifying variable codes on a variety of challenging substrates including highly reflective tax stamps for out of sequence, missing or duplicate labels as well as for positional and print defects issues. The Lake Image Discovery software tools provide 100% quality inspection and print data integrity for all label presses and applicators at speeds exceeding 300 metres per minute.
Zone 3: Transactional and Direct Mail: The full Discovery platform will be demonstrated, including a comprehensive range of verification, inspection and integrity software tools to ensure mission critical documents and mailings are always 100% correct. Sequence check, data matching and presence/absence software tools provide variable data verification from page to page printing including duplex operations. Inspection tools detect print defects such as print registration, colour deviation and print quality. Integrity tools such as Batch Control, File Audit and File Look-Up, verify that each and every printed page is produced with the highest levels of integrity compared to the original customer data job files. Discovery tools can be invoked conditionally by detecting triggers in the data, an image or a code printed on the document. Combining multiple tools enables complex inspection tasks to be performed when required and is saved with the specific job.
Zone 4: Loyalty, Gaming & Plastic Cards: A variety of inspection solutions will be on display including card number verification, missing/duplicate card detection, scratch off verification, pin number legibility, pin & account number reporting, sorting/batching and database integrity reporting. Other requirements such as card/carrier matching & magnetic stripe reading are also available.
“drupa is an important event for us, and offers the perfect stage to present our full portfolio of solutions for improving print quality, variable data integrity and waste reduction, and illustrates our commitment to working with our customers to grow their businesses” commented Martin Keats, Managing Director at Lake Image Systems Ltd. “We will be demonstrating our broadest array of industry targeted solutions ever which effectively addresses all the inspection needs for today’s blended conventional and digital production environments, Our application and technology experts will be on the stand throughout the show to ensure visitors get all the information they need.”
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The primary partner for the delivery of content this year at drupa cube is Johansson's international innovation firm The Medici Group. Founder and CEO Johansson wrote the 2004 book The Medici Effect and since then has been a go-to expert for concepts of thinking and acting outside fixed limits, or the ‘out-of-the-box’ principle.
“Global brands such as American Express, IBM, Nike, Volvo and The Walt Disney Company have already been drawing on the strategic expertise of The Medici Group and now drupa is doing the same,” said Sabine Geldermann, director at drupa. "With The Medici Group, we have precisely the right partner at our side for drupa cube. A consistent approach to change management is absolutely necessary to master the challenges in the print, packaging and media sectors.”
In his opening keynote on 31st May, Johansson will talk on the drupa theme Touch the Future and ‘Intersectional Thinking’. A core question that will be addressed is, What happens when technological revolutions meet an industry that has been around for a millennium? Other speakers will include Silas Amos (Founder of Silas Amos Ltd. Design Thought), a designer and strategic partner for several firms in the FMCG industry, and Shane Wall, Chief Technology Officer at HP and Global Head of HP Labs.
There will also be a mix of the following sessions across the eleven days:
Business Evolution: Twelve 30-minute slots are aimed primarily at decision-makers in the printing industry who are focusing on increasing efficiency and profits within their companies. Accordingly, both "best practices" and business models, as well as investment strategies and human resources management will be discussed. Already on the list of speakers are: Ronan Zioni/HP, Neil Falconer/Print Future, Ulbe Jelluma/Print Power and Chris Bondy/RIT's School of Media Sciences.
Technology: Eleven 30-minute slots will focus on technological innovations and their new areas of application. How can these innovations be integrated into existing workflows and what will be the consequences? These and other topics are aimed at decision-makers and management at printing firms, and will also appeal to all other drupa visitors who have an interest in technology. One special event of note is the three one-hour "Gladiator Sessions" comparing two converging technologies where the pros and cons are discussed with a moderator. The following speakers have already committed to participate: Chris Bondy (RIT’s School of Media Sciences /USA), Joanna Stephenson (DataLase/UK) and Lilach Sapir (Massivit 3D printing/Israel).
Intersectional: These six sessions, led by The Medici Group, will focus on “Innovation @ the Intersection” and will encompass the six highlight topics of drupa 2016 (multichannel, print, functional printing, 3D-Printing, packaging production and green printing). In each interactive lecture slot, several of these highlight topics will be combined with one another using specific application examples, such as functional printing & packaging print, 3D printing & sustainability or multichannel & print.
C-Level: The four invitation-only slots in this programme segment are aimed at a fixed, defined subscriber group at management level as well as at exhibitors and visitors. These C-level sessions will directly follow the four keynotes and are formatted as interactive workshops where strategic insider knowledge is conveyed. The keynote speaker whose talk precedes each session will act as the moderator.
The strategic and creative design of the programme and on-site implementation have been entrusted to London-based brand experience agency FreemanXP. "Just as Gutenberg revolutionised communications by converging the spoken word with print, we are seeing new crossroads that are spawning unimaginable results in every sector. Be it personalisation of printed products, 'fabbing' or even human organ printing, drupa is a showcase for how we 'Touch the Future' of print. With The Medici Group, drupa Innovation Partner 2016, we have evolved the drupa cube experience to encourage conversation and convergent thinking that will lead to the co-creation, re-imagination and re-invention of the future of printing," added Jordan Waid, Vice President Brand Experience, FreemanXP EMEA.
A provisional programme will be online from February; the complete programme is scheduled to be online in March. An extra special feature: participation in the cube programme is free of charge for drupa visitors, included in the daily ticket price of € 65 (or € 45 for the online ticket).
More information here.