Second conference to highlight inkjet label and packaging printing breakthroughs

The Inkjet Conference, with 2015 the second annual event in the series, focuses on all aspects of inkjet engineering and chemistry. The invited speakers will present the progress in printheads, inks, software, electronics, chemistry and integration knowhow, all of which continue to drive today’s and future trends ultimately leading to a digital production process that challenges the conventional product marketing.

More than 400 attendees are expected for the two-day event, with a two-track program featuring 50 technical presentations in total. This will include presentations covering: an agreed standard method for inkjet drop measurement, by Dr Steve Hoath from the University of Cambridge; meeting industrial printing requirements, by Barry McGregor from Fujifilm Specialty Ink Systems; workflow, by Raimar Kuhnen-Burger from EFI; UV curing of inkjet printed packaging containers, by Dirk Exner from Phoseon; and the shared future of mercury arc and LED UV curing technologies, by David Lyus from GEW. Dr Ian E Clark from Intrinsiq Materials will also present on low cost copper-based conductive inkjet ink for printed electronics. See the full, tentative, conference progam here.

The Inkjet Conference is organized by the European Specialist Printing Manufacturers Association (ESMA), a non-profit organiza­tion based in Belgium that represents manufacturers, printers and consultants from screen, digital or pad printing technology and includes members from machinery, software, inks, consumables, chemicals and substrates segments. ESMA represents 65 members and its objectives are to raise value for its members through technical conferences, projects, committees and education. The Inkjet Conference has been developed in partnership with drupa.

‘The narrow web sector has witnessed recent important players challenging the market with new digital solutions,’ said ESMA CEO Peter Buttiens. ‘The movement towards digital starts to include traditional brands, as well, which only shows how mature the digital inkjet technology has grown in the last couple of years.’

‘Each successive generation of machines shows higher performance and more integration to a digital workflow,’ added Steve Knight, CEO of Digital Direct Technologies and co-founder of the event. ‘Now we are starting to see direct to object printing which – when fully implemented – will revolutionize the production process. Thankfully it is not just labels and packaging that are fuelling the core technology. Inkjet has already proven itself in large scale industrial applications and is widely used in the production of ceramic tiles, textiles, display graphics, newspapers or transactional mailing.

‘As technology enables a new print process, we see different challenges face the printer. The business of tomorrow will not look like the business of today. The business of tomorrow will be more IT centric with database management and workflow automation at its core and with inkjet printing being part of an automated manufacturing process. For those willing to take advantage of the opportunities offered by inkjet there is a bright future,’ concluded Knight.