There is no doubt that drupa, held for two weeks every four years at Messe Dusseldorf, is the world’s largest and most influential printing show. Typically, nearly 400,000 attendees travel to drupa to see the latest developments.

At drupa 2008, printed electronics (PE) started to make an appearance, as the OE-A (Organic and Printed Electronics Association) hosted a day of talks and a few booths showcased their products. Now, at drupa 2012, PE is enjoying more of a presence, with 17 booths featuring PE manufacturers and suppliers, while the OE-A will again be hosting a day-long conference, scheduled for May 12.

For PE manufacturers and suppliers alike, drupa 2012 offers unique opportunities to showcase what PE can actually accomplish.

Inês Henriques, president of Ynvisible, said that Ynvisible will be present at drupa to showcase its latest interactive solutions for everyday printed items.

“We want people to become familiar with our technology and its capabilities, show how interactivity can be introduced into printed products and the different ways we are making available to achieve this,” Henriques said.

“This is the first time in drupa’s history the event is showcasing printed electronics in the innovation park,” said Stan Farnsworth, director of marketing for NovaCentrix. “Accordingly, we’ll have multiple tools on exhibit at drupa 2012. We’ll have a standard-configuration PulseForge 3200 150mm stand-alone tool operating at our booth, and have scheduled numerous time slots for processing visitors’ samples on-site.

‘We have also partnered with German equipment integrator 3D-Micromac to showcase our newest tool, the PulseForge 3200-X2 model, integrated into a 3D-Micromac modular web print line,” Farnsworth added. “This integrated system will also be operating at the drupa event. We will have a demonstrator in conjunction with Ohio Gravure also on display.”

Thomas Kolbusch, vice president at Coatema Coating Machinery GmbH, noted that Coatema will showcase its Smartcoater.

“The small lab unit has already established a reputation as a versatile roll-to-roll fabrication unit that is characterized by a high degree of adaptability to various process specifications and tolerances,” Kolbusch noted. “Several units have been sold to customers all over the world, among them start-ups, institutes as well as established companies. Especially for the printed electronics sector, the Smartcoater is ideally suited due to its high efficiency, versatility and adaptability. Coatema does not only offer the basic version with the 5-in-1 coating module and the Coatema air dryer, but it can be tailored to the needs of the customer and the requirements of the product.”

Wolfgang Mildner, managing director, PolyIC GmbH & Co. KG, said that PolyIC will show its vision of intelligent and smart packaging with all elements and components which will be available in the future, including displays, logic, RFID, antenna, energy harvesting and interactive elements like touch.

“PolyIC will show how we see the future development, and we will also show the current state of the art and products which are in field trials (PolyLogo) or available as product (PolyTC),” Mr.Mildner added.

“We expect a lot of discussions with the print world on how they see the applications and integration possibilities with today’s technologies,” Mildner said. “PolyIC’s current market and products are focused on touch technology, and are therefore integrated in electronic devices and markets like mobile phones. The printing and packaging world is still our home market, and at drupa, we want to find out how fast intelligent packaging can be developed into real market and business for us for intelligent products.”

3D-Micromac will present a complete production line – microFLEX – for the manufacturing of flexible electronics from the raw materials to encapsulated products for the first time. Beside the integration of laser processing, also printing and coating techniques, like engraving, inkjet printing and slot die coating can be offered.

“The modular design ensures high flexibility regarding different fields of component production for flexible electronics,” said Mandy Gebhardt, head of marketing department, 3D-Micromac AG. “Possible applications that can be processed are flexible solar cells, both on CIS/CGIS and organic standards, printed batteries, RFID labels and rollable displays. At drupa 2012, we will show printing and sintering of copper-nano-inks in a large-area roll-to-roll process with inkjet and rotary screen printing techniques.

“3D-Micromac wants to get an overview of the possibilities of adding functionality to flexible products at the largest show for printing technologies worldwide,” Ms. Gebhardt added. “On the other hand, we want to meet with an interested audience looking for new technologies of 3D-Micromac, which can add new features to the already existing large possibilities in printing.”

Farnsworth noted that preparing for drupa is very different from anything they have prepared for before.

“While our team has extensive trade show and conference experience, this is our first drupa event,” Farnsworth said. “Based on the initial information we’ve received from the show organizers, who are expecting almost 400,000 attendees over the two weeks of the event, and also from discussions with previous attendees and participants, we’re expecting a busy and hectic event.”

Henriques said that Ynvisible mainly expect to create awareness for the company, its products and technology.

“We want to get our technology out there, especially to professionals within the graphics industry, and particularly to those scouting for something new to bring to their customers and/or products,” Henriques added. “There is no better place to do this than drupa. The feedback we will get from these professionals will also be valuable, as we plan our future technology and product development efforts. By combining traditional printing and electronics to design and deliver interactive end solutions which bring added functionalities to everyday items, we also hope to contribute to an increased interest in printed electronics and its different technology areas.”

Kolbusch said that the Printed Electronics Pavilion at drupa will be a good platform to show the potential of PE, and will also provide an overview of the developments in the field so far.

“There will probably be a mix of visitors: people who will get in touch with the issue for the first time, and those who are already involved in it,” Kolbusch added. “We expect a lot of interesting and fruitful discussions about R2R plants, and also extensive production lines like the one we just installed in Finland. The live demonstration with the Smartcoater allows it also to present concrete solutions to a broad-based audience of industry professionals – above all from user industries.”

Farnsworth noted that most of the attendees will not be very knowledgeable about the technical aspects of printed electronics.

“Accordingly, we are prepared to help our booth visitors understand in a broad sense the space of printed electronics and then specifically the concept and role of our PulseForge photonic curing tools and Metalon conductive inks,” Farnsworth said.

The OE-A is hosting “Future of Print: Printed Electronics” on May 12, 2012, featuring a series of talks on some of the latest developments in PE.

“As the world’s leading trade show for the printing industry, drupa is an extremely important marketplace that enables us to inform the printing industry about this revolutionary technology,” said Dr. Klaus Hecker, OE-A’s managing director. “We are observing substantial growth of the interest of printers and packaging industries in this new technology.

“For the first time, printed electronics is an official ‘Special Topic’ at drupa this year,” Dr. Hecker added. “This clearly shows the growing interest in this new industry. This year, more than 30 companies from the printed electronics value chain will exhibit.”

The program features topics such as touch screens, organic photovoltaics, OLEDs, intelligent packaging, sensors, medical applications, e-readers and crossmedia applications.

The following talks are scheduled, starting at 10:15 a.m.:
• Conductive Polymers for New Applications – Dr. Stephan Kirchmeyer, Heraeus Precious Metals GmbH & Co. KG.
• Lighting, Solar Cells, Displays and Sensors: Enabled by Printing – Dr.W.A. Pim Groen, Holst Centre.
• Roll-to-Roll Printed Electronics with PolyLogo – Wolfgang Mildner, PolyIC GmbH & Co. KG.
• Printed Intelligence Products and Their Commercialization – Prof. Arto Manninen, VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland.
• Plastic Logic Reader – A First Product Application of Printed Organic Electronics – Dr. Peter Fischer, Plastic Logic GmbH.
• Touchcode – A New Communication Standard – Sascha Voigt, Printechnologics GmbH.

The OE-A is also collaborating with the special show “Printed Electronics” at drupa innovation parc in hall 7.0. The OE-A booth is in hall 7.0/E20.

Dr. Hecker added that the presentation of production equipment, smart packages and materials by OE-A members will certyauinly be highlights for visitors.

“We will present at our booth a number of applications that have resulted from collaboration with our international member companies, from interactive books and intelligent packaging to sensors, displays and flexible solar cells,” Dr. Hecker noted. “Visitors to the OE-A booth will receive a comprehensive industry guide on printed electronics, including the OE-A roadmap and a credit-card sized energy self-sufficient flashlight.”

PE manufacturers are curious as to the reaction they will see at drupa 2012.

“Following the event, I’m curious to see the volume of follow-up discussions,” Mr. Farnsworth concluded. “It may be like nothing we’ve seen to date.”

The following companies are among the companies that have booths at drupa 2012:
• 3D-Micromac AG – Hall 07 / E19
• Altana AG – Hall 07 / E25
• Applied Laser Engineering Ltd. – Hall 09 / E33
• Ardeje – Hall 06 / C75-3
• bielomatik Leuze GmbH & Co.KG – Hall 11 / A06
• Ceradrop – Hall 07 / E30
• Coatema Coating Machinery GmbH – Hall 07 / E22
• Daetwyler Graphics AG and Ohio Gravure Technologies Inc. – Hall 17 / C22
• GRT GmbH & Co. KG – Hall 07 / A07
• Heraeus Noblelight GmbH – Hall 3 / C35
• Kurz Stiftung & Co. KG, Leonhard and Poly IC – Hall 03 / D70 and Hall 06 / C37
• Muhlbauer AG– Hall 11 / D35
• Novacentrix – Hall 07 / E21
• OE-A (Organic and Printed Electronics Association) – Hall 07 / E20
• Organic Electronics Saxony – Hall 07 / D22
• Pröll KG – Hall 03 / E54
• Thieme GmbH & Co. KG – Hall 03 / A73-1
• VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland – Hall 07.1 / D51
• Ynvisible S.A. – Hall 07 / C25.