Sustainability, regulatory and technical issues and new technologies are at the forefront of concerns for the ink industry and its suppliers, and the 63nd Annual National Printing Ink Research Institute’s (NPIRI) Technical Conference, hosted by the National Association of Printing Ink Manufacturers (NAPIM), offered attendees a comprehensive look at these and many other issues.

Before the conference started on Oct. 15 at The Drake Hotel in Oak Brook, IL, NAPIM held its “Intro to Ink Formulation and Manufacturing,” a 3.5 hour short course on ink basics led by Les Watkins, Lisa Fine, Jerry Napiecek, James Ford and Joe Cichon. From there, a variety of speakers from the ink, printing, raw materials, equipment and regulatory industries offered their insights into may key topics of the day.

The NPIRI Conference formally began in the afternoon. Dr. Juanita Parris of Sun Chemical, NPIRI's president, served as the moderation of the session, which began with the Keynote Speaker, David Sullivan of Sappi. Sullivan covered “A Communicator’s Guide to the Neuroscience of Touch,” a look at the benefits of the haptic feel of printing.

“Our senses are activated by print - sound, touch, smell, vision. People understand and remember what they read on paper better than what they see on the screen,” he noted.

“Companies have suffered a real negative financial impact when retailers stopped printing temporarily,” Sullivan noted. “Digital media, when used with print, is very effective, and drives more revenue and profit.

“Media decision-makers have hundreds of cable stations, thousands of Internet sites to spend their dollars on - we have to keep reminding them about the effectiveness of print,” Sullivan concluded.

Sullivan also cited Dr. David Eagleman, who created videos for Sappi and cited for studies.

“There were nine billion paper catalogs mailed last year,” Dr. Eagleman noted. “Online sales decreased when a number of catalogs were cut; for example, 75% of Land’s End online sales are driven by catalogs. Also high quality coated paper leads to higher favorability rating, better recollection.”

Laura Rowell of Sonoco and Lee Marcoe of Lake County Press then gave their thoughts on sustainability in “Sustainability from a Printer’s Perspective.”

“We were selected as a top sustainable company in South Carolina, and a packaging company typically doesn’t do these things,” Rowell noted.

Rowell took a look at the goal and the challenges of reaching the circular economy.

“The Circular Economy is a commitment to 100% reusable, recyclable or compostable plastic packaging by 2025. There is a new goal of everything [having] to be recyclable, yet there is no clear definition of recyclability. How do you design for recyclability in an environment where even cereal box recyclability is being questioned?” Rowell added.

In terms of ink, Rowell said that the inks need to be recyclable, and there are concerns about polymer fillers.

“There is a lot of interesting research on nano plastics,” Rowell reported. “Polymer fillers can get into a water stream. You may need to develop a solution for this. There is a lot of interest in watermarking and deinking. Ink is no longer a small part of the problem, but it can be a large part of the solution.”

Marcoe was up next and said that the 50-year-old commercial printing firm is seeing growth in the litho market as well as targeted mailing with data mining. He said that compliance is critical for ink companies.

“We push compliance documentation on our supply chain,” Marcoe added.

Martin Habekost of Ryerson University Graphics Communications Management (GCM) followed with his talk on “Material Science at Ryerson University.” Headquartered in Toronto, Ryerson University has 47,000 students. Habekost noted that unlike many university graphics art programs in North America, Ryerson University’s GCM program is growing, with 670 students.

“We have more students than ever,” he added.

Habekost highlighted two GCM classes: GCM 240: Material Sciences for Print, an introduction to paper, offset ink and fountain solutions; and GCM 854: Advanced Materials Sciences, which focuses on material and ink testing.

“State of the Industry Report” was discussed by John Jilek, Jr. of Inksolutions and Bill Giczkowski of INX International Ink Co.

Jilek noted that the US Census reported that there were 362 locations and 10,336 employees in the ink industry in 2016, down from 397 locations and 11,284 employees in 2014, while Giczkowski reported that US commercial printing establishments have dropped from 35,321 in 2004 to 25,521 in 2016.

However, there is good news. “Print has recovered,” Giczkowski noted. “Printers have adjusted their business models, while most of the digital printing that has displaced conventional printing is behind us. Books, magazines and newspapers are doing relatively well.”

Charlie Hsu of BASF then discussed “A Sustainable Solution for Lamination Packages – Raw Material Selections for Water-Borne Inks,” which earned the prestigious Lawter Series Award for best paper.

“Liquid inks are 50% flexible and 50% paper & board,” Hsu reported. “Ninety percent of paper & board is water-based, while flexible packaging is 83% solvent-based. Dry food products use standard performance products. Liquid products require medium performance lamination, and retortable food packaging requires high performance, including high-temperature sterilization. The material is cooked with the packaging. The ink has to have very good bond strength and survive the heat and humidity.”

Hsu noted that additives can play a critical role in lamination bond strength.

“Wetting agents show a drastic improvement in lamination bond strength,” Hsu observed. “Acrylic emulsion polymer (co-binder) with lower MFT has better lamination bond strength.”

Jerry Napiecek of Colorcon, No-Tox Products then hosted the speaker showcases, which featured Dhara Metla of BYK, Dr. Ingrid Meier of Evonik, Dr. Saif Ansari of Keim Additec Surface USA, Dave Hamel of Fluid Imaging Technologies, Charles Douglas of Lubrizol, Markus Webber of EMD, Jake Dagen of Netzsch and Jennifer Rigney of BASF.

NPIRI featured two sessions on Wednesday, Oct. 16. Moderated by Napiecek, the morning session centered on technology, starting with Darren Gapen of WestRock. Gapen noted there’s been a lot of plant closures and consolidation in the various paper and paperboard industries.

“The SBS market remains steady after recent volatility, as backlog have remained mostly flat since April 2019, with production up and pricing flat YOY. Prices have increased $50/ton in April,” Gapen reported. “The CUK market remains stable amidst recent softening, with production flat-to-slightly up, operating rates down and pricing up YOY. WestRock and Graphic Pkg. prices have increased $50/ton in February 2019. The CRB (coated recycled board) and UCB (uncoated recycled board) markets continue to soften with backlogs receding from their two-year highs to just over three weeks.”

Sanjay Monie and Mahesh Panta of Orion Engineered Carbons then offered “Carbon Black Update.”

“The biggest challenge we are facing is feedstocks supply; we compete with other markets like fuel oils,” said Monie. “Low sulfur fuels are now required for the shipping industry and is putting pressure on our industry – looking at alternative feedstocks. Demand is strong and supply is tight. There is a need for new developmental products, and we are staying ahead of the curve.”

Barry Cullens of Hockmeyer Equipment then discussed “Dispersion Technology Update.”

“We have developed three new machines, the NexGen 20 which is our largest; Vacuum Inline Rotor Stator, and the Lab Max Mill,” said Cullens. These are the only inline recirculation mill using vacuum instead of pressure to pull material through the mill chamber. Vacuum pulls the agglomerates apart and creates internal pressure. The most important part of particle reduction is getting your incoming particle size down to a small enough point so you can use smaller media.”

Rachel Schwen, Sherwin-Williams Performance Coatings Group – Color, followed with “Color Communication Do’s and Don’ts.”

Schwen observed that color measurement improves color matching. She then compared the merits of densitometers, spectrophotometers and colorimeters.

“Densitometers don’t measure color,” Schwen noted. “45/0 instruments are very sensitive to differences in gloss. Spheres are the most widely applicable. Multi-angles ae very useful for foil, metallic or mica. Small handheld colorimeters are good for replacing fan decks or finding the closest possible color.”

Schwen noted that communicating color properly is essential. When designers say “Make it pop” and “It looks great on my computer but why didn’t it print out like on my computer,” it isn’t very precise.

“We need to use ICC profiles when possible, clearly identify color space expectation (sRGB, CMYK, Pantone, CIELAB), and use specific language (saturation, hue, etc.),” she added.

Schwen also noted that there is a trend toward more LED lighting than traditonal tungsten lighting, adding that instrument manufacturers are now adopting this in their software packages.

“UV LED Curing Insights,” given by Jennifer Heathcote of Eminence UV, closed the Technical Session.

“LEDs are designed to emit in a very narrow, intense band,” said Heathcote. “395nm is most used by the ink industry, with 385nm also popular. Greater irradiance promotes faster line speeds and greater through cure. UV LED technology offers a greater range of product configurations. Desired line speed and proper cure has to be matched to wavelength, irradience and energy density.

“The power of LED technology is that we can control elements of curing like irradiance that we could never do with mercury lamp technology,” added Heathcote. “LED technology has all this great potential that has yet to be tapped. As we start to understand what it is doing, that is when innovation takes off. People who use LED are not going back.”

After lunch, Duane Ness of INX International moderated the Regulatory session, which began with CPMA’s David Wawer’s talk on “TSCA Risk Evaluation Method.” Wawer went through the process which Pigment Violet 29 was put through as one of the first 10 TSCA risk evaluations.

“We had to discuss with the EPA on how PV29 was used in commerce,” said Wawer. “They concluded that PV29 is used as an intermediate in making inks and was not on the shelves of stores. EPA concluded PV29 does not present an unreasonable risk to injury to human health and environment under its conditions of use. In a short period of time the final risk evaluation will be published.”

Wawer noted that the EPA is looking for exposure data for workers, and companies downstream will be asked about the substances.

“One of the things we were asked was for relevant worker exposure data provided by downstream industries,” Wawer said. “Companies that use the substances are going to be approached by the EPA.”

Eric Hobbs of Ogletree Deakins then discussed “OSHA Compliance Update.” Hobbs covered topics ranging from post-incident drug testing and safety incentive programs.

Jonathon Graunke of INX International Ink Co. covered “Understanding Today’s Supply Chain Requirements/Expectations,” offering advice on innovation as well as interesting case studies testing for BPA and other substances.

“Customers drive replication, which helps create supply chain certainty,” Graunke said. “Everything we do is regulatory these days.Innovation is difficult, and you have to decide what to work on and how to communicate it. Most innovation seems to stall as people easily accept no for an answer.”

“The EuPIA Exclusion Policy applies stricter rules than legally required to manufacturing and distribution of printing ink materials,’ he added. “It is completely a hazard-based approach. It does effectively ban materials that are reclassified. Minimized means to use the minimum quantity necessary to achieve the desired technical effect.’

James Bailen, also of INX, offered his insights on Smart Manufacturing in his presentation on “Industry 4.0: A Connected Digital Factory.”

“NIST defines Smart Manufacturing as fully integrated, collaborative manufacturing systems that respond in real time to meet changing demands and conditions in the factory, the supply network and in customer needs,” Bailen noted. “Big Data sits at the top of the building blocks of Industry 4.0, along with. Industrial Internet of Things, Augmented Reality, Autonomous Robots, Data Analytics, Cyber Security, Digital Twin Simulation, and System Integration.

“What is our end goal? We want a facility with real time analytics and digitally connected factory visualization,” Bailen concluded.

“Food-Contact Printing Inks: Comparing the U.S. and EU Regulatory Framework,” by Rachel Bond of Keller and Heckman, LLP closed the Regulatory Session.

“There are different legal requirements for printing inks in food packaging in the US and Europe,” Bond noted. “Brand owners and their products are under tremendous scrutiny of chemicals, and customers may impose additional requirements.”

On the evening of Oct. 16, NAPIM presented the prestigious Technical Achievement Award to Sheree Eberly of INX International Ink Co. and the Technical Associate Member Service Award to John Jilek Jr. of Inksolutions LLC.

Eberly is sheetfed manager at INX International Ink Co. Jilek is VP of sales and marketing at Inksolutions LLC.