Digital printing has come a long way from its early days. The possibility of printing ceramic tile, wood grain, thermoformable parts and more is now a reality, and InPrint showed many of these new possibilities.
 
Organized by Mack Brooks Exhibitions and co-located with the ICE USA converting program, InPrint USA highlighted digital printing technologies from April 25-27 in Orlando, FL. More than 3,400 verified registrants came to the co-located shows.
 
InPrint made its first appearance in the US, looking to build on its presence in European. It was co-located with ICE, which was held in the US for the fourth time. InPrint USA’s goal was showing industrial specialty, screen, digital, inkjet and 3D technology print solutions.
 
Ink companies were well represented at InPrint USA, including Afford Inks; Agfa Graphics; Dubuit America; EFI; FUJIFILM; INX International Ink; Kao Collins; Marabu North America; Nazdar Ink Technologies; Proell, Inc.; Sensient Imaging Technologies SA; Staedtler Industrial Products; Sun Chemical – SunJet; and Wikoff Color. Ink manufacturers highlighted some new technologies that showed the path forward to new markets for inkjet printing.
 
Flexible and printed electronics were also on the schedule, with a session I moderated, featuring Dr. Harry Zervos, principal analyst and business development manager for IDTechEx, Sensor Films president Pete Hessney and imec Florida GM Bert Gyselinckx. The speakers offered excellent insights into the overall market, the potential for inkjet printing and new developments, respectively.
 
“ICE USA is where people come to see converting equipment and we definitely had more equipment on the show floor than ever before, 225 pieces to be exact,” said Melissa Magestro, EVP of Mack Books Exhibitions Inc. “This is definitely the place to come to see the latest technology and products, and the addition of InPrint on the show floor created great additional value.”
 
“We are very excited about how well InPrint USA has been received,” said Marcus Timson, co-founder of the InPrint show. “There is definitely a need in the largest manufacturing market in the world for a show dedicated to educating and offering solutions for industrial print applications.”
 
EFI showed numerous possibilities for printing, highlighting applications ranging from fully inkjet printed bicycle helmets, furniture, doors, simulated marble sinks, wood grains and blister packs no longer needing cards.
 
“We are here to show new applications for our technology,” added Steve Emery of EFI. “It’s all application-driven now. People see these samples, and they say they didn’t know it could be done through digital printing.”
 
“These markets didn’t exist,” EFI’s Mike Pliers noted.
 
Fujifilm showed its latest developments, including its Samba 4300 Series Printbar System and Fujifilm LED UV inks. Hamid Shirazi of Fujifilm was happy with the show.
 
“What is different here is the clientele,” Shirazi said. “In Milan, the emphasis was on fashion and apparel. Here it is dye sublimation and T-shirt printing. This opens up new subsections. The show has been very good. The foot traffic is comparable to InPrint in Milan.”
 
“A lot of companies are looking for complete solutions,” Shirazi noted. “We bring our Fujifilm companies together, whether it is our print engines, printers and inks, and that is a huge benefit for customers. There is a lot of interest in water-based flexible packaging inks, with primers allowing printing on hydrophobic films, as well as lots of opportunities for pigment-based inks.”
 
 Sensient showed its Sensijet SX technology, its pigmented aqueous ink for printing onto non-porous and semi-porous substrates. The pigmented, water-based inkjet inks
 
“We are showing Sensijet, our new water-based pigment inks for semi-porous and non-porous substrates,” said Adam Stack of Sensient. “It eliminates solvents and is Nestle compliant. Conversations have been really good.’
 
The next ICE USA and InPrint USA shows will be held in Louisville, KY April 9-11, 2019.
 
INX Digital showed a wide range of technologies, including its CP100 UV digital cylindrical printer, on which the company printed decorative bottles for attendees.
 
“We have repositioned the CP100 to be a proofing device specifically for the metal deco market,” said Jim Lambert of INX. “We are working to perfect color calibration, and extended the color gamut to include orange, green, white and clear. All of the major can producers are looking at it.”
 
INX also showed its JetINX Sled for testing, and had companies using it to test out their inks at InPrint.
 
“Our JetINX SLED test printer allows us to test different inks on different substrates,” Lambert said. “We’ve had people here testing our UV inks on substrates. Having the ability to show our hardware and ink at the same time is great, as the ink can be fine tuned for speed, printhead, chemistry and substrate.”
 
Lambert said that InPrint was a success.
 
“We have met a lot of end-users here,” Lambert noted. “The people here are the people who make the decisions.”