Presented in conjunction with the 2016 SGIA Expo, Las Vegas. Symposium sessions run concurrently with the 2016 SGIA Industrial Printing Symposium, allowing Symposium registrants to attend sessions from either event.

Get a firsthand look at the latest technical advancements and production processes that are driving this growing industry. Symposium attendees will:

• Experience two days of educational sessions focused on a wide range of topics.
• Discuss new and innovative applications directly with suppliers and industry experts at the Symposium and on the trade show floor at the Expo.
• Benefit from critical networking opportunities with industry peers from around the world.

Materials that come in contact with sensitive contents must fulfill strict legal requirements to guarantee the safety of foods or cosmetics and, in turn, consumers´ health and wellbeing. This includes provisions governing the transfer of substances from the FCM into the food or cosmetic product. This transfer of substances (migration) is only permitted in quantities that do not endanger human health, change the food´s composition or negatively impact the food´s organoleptic characteristics (like taste or smell).

The risk of substances migrating from the printed to the unprinted side of a so-called „contact material“ into the content like foodstuff or cosmetics must be considered before the conformity of a material can be estimated.

There are different types of migration:

InPrint Show, in partnership with IT Strategies, has launched an industry survey to highlight key trends and insight for the continued development of industrial print production.
The survey and report features analysis on growth opportunities for new markets and tackles the challenges confronting a sector under intense pressure for high quality production in challenging and changing manufacturing conditions. All members of the industrial print community are invited to download a free copy of the report by completing the online form which can be found at: http://www.inprintshow.com/italy/english/industrial-print/white-paper/

On Thursday 24th March I ran a webinar focused on the results from a survey that we conducted in January. Joining me on the panel were Mark Hanley of I.T. Strategies, Paul Jenkins of ThePackHub, Ralf Ehrlich of PAS, Tim Phillips of IMI Europe and Marvin Jensen of CyconJet. I thought the panel collectively gave some excellent insight using the results as triggers of discussion.

The idea of the survey is to give us some insight on the state of the market, the pace of growth and the areas where we could perhaps see opportunity. On top of this the idea was to give us a clue as to what the key issues are. Of course it is nice banging the ‘growth drum’ whilst crowing about the potential of industrial print. However it is somehow more useful to discuss the challenges. Because where there is growth, there are growth pains. It is clear that industrial printing clearly also has some issues of its own. 

There was a time when embossing meant creating a special die-cut stamp for a letterpress machine that would impress the design onto a paper substrate. There’s definitely still a place for these traditional techniques, however, with digital UV technologies from Roland DG, the art of adding textures and embossed effects to all manner of media and surfaces has never been easier or more impressive.

The following close-up examples of raised textures and embossed designs were created with Roland VersaUV LEC Printer/Cutters, LEJ Hybrid Inkjet and LEF Benchtop Flatbed Printers.