Neil Porter from the CPI explained printed electronics

 

At its second gathering this year, BPIF Labels presented a selection of speakers who gave an insight into various areas of the label printing industry. One of these focused on the work done by the Centre for Process Innovation in the field of printed electronics and it sparked a lively debate. By Neel Madsen.

 

In his opening speech, BPIF Labels’ chairman John Bambery said that although digital label printing is still creating a lot of interest – it is estimated between a third and half of all label printers now employ the technology – conventional printing is still in the majority, but there is room for both. He went on to talk about his recent experience as a judge at the FlexoTech Awards 2012 and praised the sophisticated process that flexo printing has become. ‘The quality we saw in the entries would have been unimaginable 10 years ago,’ he said.

 

Presentations

As always, the association had arranged a varied programme giving both suppliers and printers an opportunity to present their products and their views.

RotoMetrics’ European technical director, Bo Meyer, discussed the challenges of thin release liners when die-cutting, while Martin Hill, key account manager, presented Kodak’s full portfolio of solutions for the label printer including new developments in flexo platemaking technology, such as Flexcel NX and Spotless. Mike Englander from Durst covered digital printing technology, discussing types of inkjet applications and substrates. He said that although the number of substrates that now work with the company’s presses has increased, manufacturers are only just beginning to understand what is needed from substrates in terms of inkjet printing.

BPIF Vision in Print’s Matthew Peacock gave a presentation where he discussed how to make ‘green’ pay. He explained that avoiding waste is a fundamental principle of lean management and that ‘any material or activity that does not add value from the customer’s perspective is defined as waste.’ After outlining the seven types of waste, he likened the production of labels to a river journey, starting at Enquiry Springs, through Estimate Brook, via Order Processing Meanders, Print Process Rapids and Kit Capital Reservoir to end up at Dispatch Falls and Profit Resort. This illustrated how long the journey is for a printer before profit is in the bank and included case studies of how waste can be reduced.

 

Circuit printing

The talk which attracted most attention came from Neil Porter, innovative technical print manager at the National Printable Electronics Centre, a division of the Centre for Process Innovation (CPI), which is located at the North East Technology Park, in Durham. Mr Porter has 25 years’ experience in the label printing industry and moved to his current role in 2011. He talked about opportunities in printed electronics and said that any label printer can start using conductive inks on their standard presses today without any modifications needed.

The centre produces prototypes and demonstrator units, and is funded partly by the government and partly via private finance. It is part of the emerging printable electronics industry in this country, which is generating a lot of interest from brand owners, currently mainly in the areas of brand protection and interactive posters, but there are also many possibilities of incorporating the technology into labels and packaging.

Using conventional printing presses, Integrated Smart Systems (ISS) are functional items produced by the combination of electronic components with circuits. These are printed with conductive silver and carbon inks, and could include applications such as point of sale material, toys, games, novelty items, smart packaging and sensors.  

The ISS line at the centre comprises a Nilpeter MO-4/FA-4 combination press which can be configured with litho UV, screen UV and WB, flexo UV, solvent and WB, and gravure solvent units as needed, and also includes de-lam/re-lam, UV lamination, cold foil and die-cutting stations, complemented by a DEK 248 flatbed conductive adhesive screen printer and Esko Kongsberg i-XE10 digital cutting table, amongst others. The centre has recently been running trials with Kodak Flexcel NX plates and silver flexo inks.

When asked what type of commercial products the centre is looking at, Mr Porter said that there is still a lot of development work to be done. A group of design students are working with Proctor & Gamble on projects, and prototypes for other companies are being produced. He passed round a sample, a temperature device, and further described the capabilities of the centre’s Europlacer Iineo pick & place component attachment tool.

‘Printed electronics are still teetering on the brink of entering mainstream commercially available products. The technology is there, but we still need to identify the areas where it can be used to its best potential. This really is an opportunity for converters to add value and make money,’ concluded Mr Porter.

 

Converter experience

Steve Lakin from HP Indigo spoke about new business opportunities for the label printer and the products HP offer. This was followed by an entertaining account of life with an HP Indigo press from managing director of Label Apeel, Stuart Kellock, who said in his introduction, ‘I am not a converter, I am a printer. I don’t convert, I create, and digital print technology has made me a printer.’

According to Mr Kellock, the advent of the digital era has not done away with the skills of real printers, but there are significant cultural differences and the expectations of the people involved in running a digital press differ wildly.

The company installed an HP WS6000 in 2010 along with a Digicon finishing line, and it has been the experience that this investment has given it the leverage to offer customers more and making it valuable to them. But he was keen to point out that it is not simply a case of purchasing the press, plugging it in and pressing start.

Mr Kellock said, ‘The quality of the operator must reflect the quality of the work you are aiming to produce. We have invested a lot in training our staff and this has paid dividends. Running a digital press is like making love to a beautiful woman, a delicate touch is needed. This is not just a printing machine.’

The day was rounded off by Dr William Llewellyn from AWA Alexander Watts Associates, who explained the history of the pressure-sensitive industry cost index. Several indices are produced to demonstrate the cost progression for each material component based on a scale using a cost index of 100 as of January 2007, and reflect movement in raw material costs.  

The index started out as a project for the Swedish label association and was expanded in 2011 when other national label associations joined. It has become an important industry benchmarking and index analysis tool of European pressure-sensitive label materials and there are plans to produce a similar index for North America.

The seminar was followed by a networking dinner.