David Savastano, Editor11.20.17
The National Printing Ink Research Institute’s (NPIRI) annual Technical Conference provides a comprehensive look at the technical and regulatory side of the printing ink industry, and this year’s conference brought some excellent insights to attendees.
Hosted by the National Association of Printing Ink Manufacturers (NAPIM), the 2017 conference covered a wide range of issues, including the growth of digital printing in packaging, legislative challenges in Washington, technical and regulatory issues and new technologies. The conference was held Oct. 10-12 at the Hilton Chicago/Oak Brook Hills Hotel and Conference Center in Oak Brook, IL.
“Our attendance is growing, and shows the priority our companies place on keeping informed,” said NPIRI president Dan Delegge of inksolutions. “This is a big team effort.”
“We are really happy with this year’s technical conference,” said George Fuchs, NAPIM’s director, regulatory affairs and technology. “The presentations were very well received. We had great attendance. The conference committee did an excellent job putting together this year’s program.”
Opening Session
The NPIRI Technical Conference began with a morning short course, “Intro to Ink Formulation and Manufacturing.” The Opening Session followed, with the Keynote Address, “Brand Disruption and Print – How Technology is Changing Brand Image Management,” presented by Paul Nowak of Quad Packaging. Quad’s main business is in folding carton and pressure sensitive labels, and the Quad/Graphics subsidiary uses offset, flexo and digital printing.
“Brand owners are struggling to remain relevant,” Nowak said. “They are learning how digital, offset, flexo and gravure mix. One key for brands is that all colors must be the same.”
He noted that brand owners have to take into account the preferences of their consumers. For example, more than half of seniors and baby boomers have trouble reading small print, and many find the use of colors helpful for reading packages. The use of data is changing brands, as anyone who sees ads come up for products they have previously looked at when they turn on their computer knows.
“You’d be spooked if you knew how much data companies have on your buying habits,” said Nowak.
Digital printing ensures speed to market, and there are a number of factors driving its momentum. The Coke project, printing names on bottles, was a marketing success, and Pepsi developed its own emoji project. Nature Valley regionalizes its packaging through photos of local trails and hikers.
“Micro regionalization was cost prohibitive before digital,” said Nowak. “Digital allows brands to reduce inventory and obsolescence. Variable print enables one-to-one personalization for improved ROI on a campaign. I have no doubt that packaging will get to one-to-one, as it happened in direct mail. This is an interesting time to be in the market.”
Matt Hoekstra of Williams & Jennings discussed what’s happening in Washington in his Legislative Update. Tax reform is of particular note.
“Legislative relationships between the two parties are not very good right now,” Hoekstra noted. “Tax reform is the big priority, as the Republicans can’t afford to not pass it. Republicans must deliver a victory ahead of the mid-term elections.”
Phil Riebel of Two Sides North America discussed Two Sides’ anti-greenwashing campaign, pointing out the advantages and environmental friendliness of printing, and how companies are trying to eliminate paper statements to save money but claiming it is for environmental reasons.
“Surveys show that print is the preferred choice for recreational reading,” Riebel said, adding that younger readers do tend to use digital sources more. “Ninety percent of consumers believe they should have the right to selecting between digital and paper communications, and 83% believe they should not be charged if they choose paper statements. In addition, 72% agree that organizations wanting to switch to paperless statements are doing so because they want to save money, not necessarily to help the environment.”
Jeff Pyper of Lifetouch Services, a school picture and yearbook specialist, discussed his company’s use of printing. He said that the company’s printing mix is about half digital and half conventional.
“We produce 17,500 yearbooks and 5,000 church directories annually, and use 90,000 pounds of ink annually,” Pyper said. “We are seeing increased demand for hard cover yearbooks, and outlived VHS tapes, CDs and DVDs, which were all thought would replace yearbooks.”
Pyper added that Lifetouch is considering increasing its use of conventional printing. “Our average run is 300 copies, and conventional press manufacturers such as Heidelberg have really improved their quick-change capabilities,” he noted.
NAPIM Management Committee members Jim Leitch of Braden Sutphin Ink and John Jilek Jr. of inksolutions then gave a briefing on NAPIM’s 2017 State of the Industry report, reporting that inks sales, not including inkjet, were relatively flat, with earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) increased to 5.8% from 4.5% in 2015.
Lawter sponsors the NPIRI Lecture Award, which is given to the top technical paper. Dr. JoAnn Arceneaux of Allnex received the award for her paper, “Redesign of Energy Curable Polyurethane Dispersions for Inkjet Applications.”
“EC polyurethane dispersions (PUD) can be redesigned to meet the requirements of inkjet applications,” Dr. Arceneaux said.
The opening session closed with a series of seven short product presentations, titled the “Fastest 50 Minutes in Tech.” The speakers were Brian Casey of Evonik; Saif Ansari of Keim Additec; Philippe Schlaepfer of Songwon; Ruth Bauer of BASF; Alex Lauke of NETZSCH; Jennifer Rigney of BASF; and Dhara Metla of BYK. The first day’s session closed with tabletop exhibits and the NPIRI reception.
Technical and Regulatory Sessions
On Oct. 11, the NPIRI Technical Conference opened with its Morning Technical Sessions, which were moderated by Scot Pedersen of Siegwerk. Bill Dougherty of Total Specialties USA opened the session with his talk on “The Use of Styrene Maleic Anhydride Copolymer Resins as Additives for Both Water Based Pigment Dispersion and Flexographic Ink Transfer.” Ruth Bauer of BASF then covered “Analysis of Primary Aromatic Amines (PAA) in Pigment.”
“Many PAA are toxic compounds and/or suspected human carcinogens.” Bauer said. “They can be found in azo colorants. The yellow, orange, red and magenta color space is affected.”
To determine PAAs in pigments, BASF developed its own detection method, which is now an industry standard.
“BASF developed a powerful in-house test method to detect PAAs as single substances in organic pigments and shared its knowledge with ETAD within the Analytical Expert Team,” Bauer noted. “It is published as ETAD Method 212, Edition May 3rd, 2016.”
Franck Bardin of Total Specialties USA then discussed “Scriptlane BioLife: A New Generation of Bio-Sourced Printing Ink Distillates,” an overview of Total’s development of a low environmental impact renewable hydrocarbon fluid based on a feedstock of crude palm oil, designed for heatset, sheetfed, digital and textile inks.
“With today quest for even more sustainable solutions for mineral oil-free products, TOTAL Fluides committed to an ambitious R&D program. This led to TOTAL BioLife,” he noted. “It is already positively evaluated and approved by major ink producers.”
BASF’s Charlie Hsu followed with “Effect of Surface Tension and Surface Energy of Waterborne Inks on Resolubility.”
“Surface energy and surface tension play an important role the resolubility of waterborne inks,” Hsu said. “We have to balance resolubility and resistance.”
Dave Maternowski of INX closed the technical session with “Overview of the ISO 9001, 14001 and OHSAS 18001 2015 Standard Changes – Creating a True Business Management System.”
Greg Pace of Sun Chemical moderated the afternoon session, which focused on regulatory concerns. BASF’s Bauer covered the topic of “Pigments for Sensitive Applications,” including food packaging, toys, cosmetics and medical devices. Christina Franz of the American Chemistry Council (ACC) then discussed “LCSA Implementation: What’s Happened, What’s Next, and How to Stay Informed.”
Stephen Divarco, Sun Chemical, discussed “Continual EHS Improvement - Incident Reduction Through Risk Management.” Dr. Divarco discussed targeting at-risk behaviors and the benefits of root cause analysis.
“If we target at-risk behaviors, we will reduce the occurrence of a major event,” said Dr. Divarco. “The 5-Why Root Cause Analysis repeatedly asks why, and you can eventually find the root cause. There is usually more than one root cause for any given problem. The safety guy is there to help you.”
“Food Packaging in the Spotlight, for Better or Worse” was presented by Eric Greenberg of Eric F. Greenberg P.C.
“When food packing is in the spotlight, it’s almost never good news,” said Greenberg, who discussed the recent story about phthalates being found in Kraft-Heinz’s mac and cheese.
“They said, ‘We do not add phthalates to our product. The trace amounts that were reported in this limited study are more than 1,000 times lower than the level that scientific authorities have identified as acceptable. Our products are safe for consumers to enjoy.’ Kraft-Heinz’s reaction was about as good as it gets.”
Fuchs closed the regulatory session with “Current NAPIM EHS Issues.” Fuchs discussed NAPIM’s Threshold of Regulation Project.
“We have the Threshold of Regulation Project, which we are working on with a former senior FDA official,” said Fuchs. “We believe a wide array of ink formulation components should be suitable for FDA exemption. We are working with CPMA, RadTech, SGIA and the Printing Industries of America on this project.”
During the evening, NAPIM held its annual awards dinner. NPIRI president Dan Delegge of inksolutions presented the prestigious Technical Achievement Award to Mathew C. Mathew of Sun Chemical and the Technical Associate Member Service Award to John Foster of Cabot Corporation.
New Technologies
Moderated by Duane Ness of INX, the closing New Technology session began with “3D Printing on 2D Surfaces,” a talk on Matt Hirsch of Lumii. Hirsch talked about the technology developed by Lumii, which converts 3D content, like light fields, 3D scans, and 3D models, into 2D patterns that can be printed on standard printing equipment.
“Light fields are basically images projected in space,” said Hirsch. “We create computational optics and special patterns for light field displays. We have the only solution that couples 3D content to digitally printed media, producing 3D light field images using existing equipment and materials and that can be viewed without special glasses.”
Hirsch noted that Lumii is seeing potential opportunities in a number of markets.
“We have been approached on tickets and security applications, selfies that can be printed 3D, posters and window hangings,” Hirsch said. “Packaging is another possibility.”
Neil Ivey of Brandwatch Technologies followed with “Creating Added Value to your Inks through the Addition of Covert and Forensic Security Materials,” a look at how inks can be used to help thwart counterfeiters.
Ivey began his talk by discussing the impact of counterfeiting, which is estimated to be a $1.77 trillion global trade, adding that the World Trade Organization (WTO) says 2% of all world trade is in counterfeit goods.
“Gillette razor blades are most counterfeited product in the world,” he noted. “Common counterfeits include pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, tobacco, driver’s licenses, tax stamps, currency, passports. California even seized a shipment of counterfeit Angel Soft toilet paper.”
Counterfeiting is also dangerous. “Up to 82% of anti-malaria drugs in Africa are counterfeit,” Ivey reported. “The FAA says 2% of airline parts installed each year are counterfeit. It is a source of revenue for terrorist groups.”
Ivey categorized anti-counterfeiting measures in inks. Level 1, overt measures, include holograms, watermarks and optically variable inks, which can be easily identified without the need for additional tools. Level 2 includes semi-overt (UV inks) and semi-covert (RFID, microtext) measures that do need a reader.
Level 3, or covert, measures require more sophisticated equipment like lasers that are needed for magnetic inks, IR systems and IR taggants.
“The future of covert materials includes advanced detection techniques, smartphone authentication, greater inkjet integration and camera systems to identify visible properties,” Ivey added. “Ink manufacturers have the expertise to say what will work, and understand additives and pigments.”
Level 4, or forensic, approaches include DNA markers, small DNA molecules added to the ink that have to be checked in the lab. The DNA can be synthetic or organic, and only a small amount is needed. Companies can premix DNA with some of the ink or a compatible additive to make a concentrate.
“Covert and forensic security is extremely affordable and customizable when delivered as part of the ink or other printing vehicle,” Ivey concluded.
Kodak’s Douglas Bugner then discussed “An Expanded Gamut Ink Set for High-Speed Inkjet Printing on Flexible Films and Folding Cartons.” Bugner noted that the extended color gamut most common now is orange, green and blue.
Bugner reported that Kodak found that the best order of laydown was KGCBMOY, with ideal pigment preparations made for Blue (PV23/PG7/PB15:4), Green (PG7/PY74) and Orange (PO34).
Elizabeth Leeper of Daybreak Technologies was up next, with her talk on “Rapid FTIR Press Side Testing to Confirm the Cure of UV/EB Coatings for Packaging Applications,” and Blake Hansen of George Degen Company, Inc. closed the session with “Vegetable Oils in Graphic Arts: An Overview with a Focus on Tung Oil and Castor Oil.”
The National Association of Printing Ink Manufacturers (NAPIM) honored two industry leaders with prestigious awards during the 2017 NPIRI Technical Conference. Below are brief features on each of the award recipients:
Mathew C. Mathew, technical director, Sun Chemical.
John Foster, applications development manager performance materials, Cabot Corporation.
For more information on the award recipients, see the expanded story on the web at www.inkworldmagazine.com.
Mathew C. Mathew – Sun Chemical
After graduating from college, Mathew C. Mathew decided to gain some experience in industry before returning to academia. It proved to be an excellent decision as Mathew, technical director at Sun Chemical, recently was honored with NAPIM’s prestigious Technical Achievement Award for his contributions to the industry.
“I graduated from University of Aston with honors and decided to get some industrial experience rather than continuing with academic research,” Mathew said. “I started as a liquid chemist with Manders in Wolverhampton, England and then moved to Ault & Wiborg in Bristol, England as senior chemist.”
In 1987, Mathew started working at Sun Chemical’s Carlstadt technical center in 1987, and soon was leading the lamination ink lab.
“This was a small group of highly committed people who worked closely with the polymer group to formulate several water and solvent lamination ink systems,” he recalled. “We had seven issued patents in five years’ time. Sun Chemical’s water lamination ink business increased from zero to millions of dollars. There is even a high-performance water lamination system named after me called WB Msquared.”
Mathew said he is deeply honored that he was chosen for the Technical Achievement Award.
“Receiving this award is a tremendous honor, and something I don’t take lightly,” Mathew concluded. “It’s a humbling privilege. It inspires me to work harder and to try to represent our industry in the best manner possible.”
Mathew’s colleagues add that he is an excellent choice for the award.
“Mathew has demonstrated impeccable professionalism and great dedication to his work,” said Richard Bianchi, technical manager- liquid ink applications at Sun Chemical. “He has made significant contributions in the development of inks that meet the needs of the market in his over 30 years with Sun Chemical. His efforts make him a worthy recipient of the prestigious Technical Achievement Award.”
John Foster – Cabot Corporation
For many people, John Foster of Cabot Corporation is synonymous with the carbon black industry. Whether it is his annual lectures at NPIRI’s Summer Printing Ink course, his contribution to NPIRI committees, developing new products or helping his customers, Foster has been a leader in the carbon black industry for more than three decades.
In recognition of his efforts on behalf of the carbon black and ink industries, Foster was honored with the 2017 NAPIM Technical Associate Member (TAM) Service Award.
Foster joined Cabot in 1984 as a technical service/lab manager for inks and coatings, where one of his first assignments was the evaluation of a new carbon black for heatset inks. In 1985, he attended NPIRI’s Summer Printing Ink course at Lehigh University, “where I received my first in-depth training regarding printing inks.” He has since been a fixture at the summer courses, having taught many hundreds of students about carbon black.
Foster said that receiving the TAM award is validation for his efforts on behalf of the industry.
“I am extremely honored that NAPIM chose me to receive this year’s TAM Award,” added Foster. “I have spent many years of my career at Cabot related to the printing ink industry, developing new carbon blacks, providing technical information and support to ink manufactures, presenting at the NPIRI Sumer Course, and representing the ink perspective within Cabot. The TAM Award demonstrates to me that my support of the printing ink industry over the past 30 years has been of value to the industry.”
Hosted by the National Association of Printing Ink Manufacturers (NAPIM), the 2017 conference covered a wide range of issues, including the growth of digital printing in packaging, legislative challenges in Washington, technical and regulatory issues and new technologies. The conference was held Oct. 10-12 at the Hilton Chicago/Oak Brook Hills Hotel and Conference Center in Oak Brook, IL.
“Our attendance is growing, and shows the priority our companies place on keeping informed,” said NPIRI president Dan Delegge of inksolutions. “This is a big team effort.”
“We are really happy with this year’s technical conference,” said George Fuchs, NAPIM’s director, regulatory affairs and technology. “The presentations were very well received. We had great attendance. The conference committee did an excellent job putting together this year’s program.”
Opening Session
The NPIRI Technical Conference began with a morning short course, “Intro to Ink Formulation and Manufacturing.” The Opening Session followed, with the Keynote Address, “Brand Disruption and Print – How Technology is Changing Brand Image Management,” presented by Paul Nowak of Quad Packaging. Quad’s main business is in folding carton and pressure sensitive labels, and the Quad/Graphics subsidiary uses offset, flexo and digital printing.
“Brand owners are struggling to remain relevant,” Nowak said. “They are learning how digital, offset, flexo and gravure mix. One key for brands is that all colors must be the same.”
He noted that brand owners have to take into account the preferences of their consumers. For example, more than half of seniors and baby boomers have trouble reading small print, and many find the use of colors helpful for reading packages. The use of data is changing brands, as anyone who sees ads come up for products they have previously looked at when they turn on their computer knows.
“You’d be spooked if you knew how much data companies have on your buying habits,” said Nowak.
Digital printing ensures speed to market, and there are a number of factors driving its momentum. The Coke project, printing names on bottles, was a marketing success, and Pepsi developed its own emoji project. Nature Valley regionalizes its packaging through photos of local trails and hikers.
“Micro regionalization was cost prohibitive before digital,” said Nowak. “Digital allows brands to reduce inventory and obsolescence. Variable print enables one-to-one personalization for improved ROI on a campaign. I have no doubt that packaging will get to one-to-one, as it happened in direct mail. This is an interesting time to be in the market.”
Matt Hoekstra of Williams & Jennings discussed what’s happening in Washington in his Legislative Update. Tax reform is of particular note.
“Legislative relationships between the two parties are not very good right now,” Hoekstra noted. “Tax reform is the big priority, as the Republicans can’t afford to not pass it. Republicans must deliver a victory ahead of the mid-term elections.”
Phil Riebel of Two Sides North America discussed Two Sides’ anti-greenwashing campaign, pointing out the advantages and environmental friendliness of printing, and how companies are trying to eliminate paper statements to save money but claiming it is for environmental reasons.
“Surveys show that print is the preferred choice for recreational reading,” Riebel said, adding that younger readers do tend to use digital sources more. “Ninety percent of consumers believe they should have the right to selecting between digital and paper communications, and 83% believe they should not be charged if they choose paper statements. In addition, 72% agree that organizations wanting to switch to paperless statements are doing so because they want to save money, not necessarily to help the environment.”
Jeff Pyper of Lifetouch Services, a school picture and yearbook specialist, discussed his company’s use of printing. He said that the company’s printing mix is about half digital and half conventional.
“We produce 17,500 yearbooks and 5,000 church directories annually, and use 90,000 pounds of ink annually,” Pyper said. “We are seeing increased demand for hard cover yearbooks, and outlived VHS tapes, CDs and DVDs, which were all thought would replace yearbooks.”
Pyper added that Lifetouch is considering increasing its use of conventional printing. “Our average run is 300 copies, and conventional press manufacturers such as Heidelberg have really improved their quick-change capabilities,” he noted.
NAPIM Management Committee members Jim Leitch of Braden Sutphin Ink and John Jilek Jr. of inksolutions then gave a briefing on NAPIM’s 2017 State of the Industry report, reporting that inks sales, not including inkjet, were relatively flat, with earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) increased to 5.8% from 4.5% in 2015.
Lawter sponsors the NPIRI Lecture Award, which is given to the top technical paper. Dr. JoAnn Arceneaux of Allnex received the award for her paper, “Redesign of Energy Curable Polyurethane Dispersions for Inkjet Applications.”
“EC polyurethane dispersions (PUD) can be redesigned to meet the requirements of inkjet applications,” Dr. Arceneaux said.
The opening session closed with a series of seven short product presentations, titled the “Fastest 50 Minutes in Tech.” The speakers were Brian Casey of Evonik; Saif Ansari of Keim Additec; Philippe Schlaepfer of Songwon; Ruth Bauer of BASF; Alex Lauke of NETZSCH; Jennifer Rigney of BASF; and Dhara Metla of BYK. The first day’s session closed with tabletop exhibits and the NPIRI reception.
Technical and Regulatory Sessions
On Oct. 11, the NPIRI Technical Conference opened with its Morning Technical Sessions, which were moderated by Scot Pedersen of Siegwerk. Bill Dougherty of Total Specialties USA opened the session with his talk on “The Use of Styrene Maleic Anhydride Copolymer Resins as Additives for Both Water Based Pigment Dispersion and Flexographic Ink Transfer.” Ruth Bauer of BASF then covered “Analysis of Primary Aromatic Amines (PAA) in Pigment.”
“Many PAA are toxic compounds and/or suspected human carcinogens.” Bauer said. “They can be found in azo colorants. The yellow, orange, red and magenta color space is affected.”
To determine PAAs in pigments, BASF developed its own detection method, which is now an industry standard.
“BASF developed a powerful in-house test method to detect PAAs as single substances in organic pigments and shared its knowledge with ETAD within the Analytical Expert Team,” Bauer noted. “It is published as ETAD Method 212, Edition May 3rd, 2016.”
Franck Bardin of Total Specialties USA then discussed “Scriptlane BioLife: A New Generation of Bio-Sourced Printing Ink Distillates,” an overview of Total’s development of a low environmental impact renewable hydrocarbon fluid based on a feedstock of crude palm oil, designed for heatset, sheetfed, digital and textile inks.
“With today quest for even more sustainable solutions for mineral oil-free products, TOTAL Fluides committed to an ambitious R&D program. This led to TOTAL BioLife,” he noted. “It is already positively evaluated and approved by major ink producers.”
BASF’s Charlie Hsu followed with “Effect of Surface Tension and Surface Energy of Waterborne Inks on Resolubility.”
“Surface energy and surface tension play an important role the resolubility of waterborne inks,” Hsu said. “We have to balance resolubility and resistance.”
Dave Maternowski of INX closed the technical session with “Overview of the ISO 9001, 14001 and OHSAS 18001 2015 Standard Changes – Creating a True Business Management System.”
Greg Pace of Sun Chemical moderated the afternoon session, which focused on regulatory concerns. BASF’s Bauer covered the topic of “Pigments for Sensitive Applications,” including food packaging, toys, cosmetics and medical devices. Christina Franz of the American Chemistry Council (ACC) then discussed “LCSA Implementation: What’s Happened, What’s Next, and How to Stay Informed.”
Stephen Divarco, Sun Chemical, discussed “Continual EHS Improvement - Incident Reduction Through Risk Management.” Dr. Divarco discussed targeting at-risk behaviors and the benefits of root cause analysis.
“If we target at-risk behaviors, we will reduce the occurrence of a major event,” said Dr. Divarco. “The 5-Why Root Cause Analysis repeatedly asks why, and you can eventually find the root cause. There is usually more than one root cause for any given problem. The safety guy is there to help you.”
“Food Packaging in the Spotlight, for Better or Worse” was presented by Eric Greenberg of Eric F. Greenberg P.C.
“When food packing is in the spotlight, it’s almost never good news,” said Greenberg, who discussed the recent story about phthalates being found in Kraft-Heinz’s mac and cheese.
“They said, ‘We do not add phthalates to our product. The trace amounts that were reported in this limited study are more than 1,000 times lower than the level that scientific authorities have identified as acceptable. Our products are safe for consumers to enjoy.’ Kraft-Heinz’s reaction was about as good as it gets.”
Fuchs closed the regulatory session with “Current NAPIM EHS Issues.” Fuchs discussed NAPIM’s Threshold of Regulation Project.
“We have the Threshold of Regulation Project, which we are working on with a former senior FDA official,” said Fuchs. “We believe a wide array of ink formulation components should be suitable for FDA exemption. We are working with CPMA, RadTech, SGIA and the Printing Industries of America on this project.”
During the evening, NAPIM held its annual awards dinner. NPIRI president Dan Delegge of inksolutions presented the prestigious Technical Achievement Award to Mathew C. Mathew of Sun Chemical and the Technical Associate Member Service Award to John Foster of Cabot Corporation.
New Technologies
Moderated by Duane Ness of INX, the closing New Technology session began with “3D Printing on 2D Surfaces,” a talk on Matt Hirsch of Lumii. Hirsch talked about the technology developed by Lumii, which converts 3D content, like light fields, 3D scans, and 3D models, into 2D patterns that can be printed on standard printing equipment.
“Light fields are basically images projected in space,” said Hirsch. “We create computational optics and special patterns for light field displays. We have the only solution that couples 3D content to digitally printed media, producing 3D light field images using existing equipment and materials and that can be viewed without special glasses.”
Hirsch noted that Lumii is seeing potential opportunities in a number of markets.
“We have been approached on tickets and security applications, selfies that can be printed 3D, posters and window hangings,” Hirsch said. “Packaging is another possibility.”
Neil Ivey of Brandwatch Technologies followed with “Creating Added Value to your Inks through the Addition of Covert and Forensic Security Materials,” a look at how inks can be used to help thwart counterfeiters.
Ivey began his talk by discussing the impact of counterfeiting, which is estimated to be a $1.77 trillion global trade, adding that the World Trade Organization (WTO) says 2% of all world trade is in counterfeit goods.
“Gillette razor blades are most counterfeited product in the world,” he noted. “Common counterfeits include pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, tobacco, driver’s licenses, tax stamps, currency, passports. California even seized a shipment of counterfeit Angel Soft toilet paper.”
Counterfeiting is also dangerous. “Up to 82% of anti-malaria drugs in Africa are counterfeit,” Ivey reported. “The FAA says 2% of airline parts installed each year are counterfeit. It is a source of revenue for terrorist groups.”
Ivey categorized anti-counterfeiting measures in inks. Level 1, overt measures, include holograms, watermarks and optically variable inks, which can be easily identified without the need for additional tools. Level 2 includes semi-overt (UV inks) and semi-covert (RFID, microtext) measures that do need a reader.
Level 3, or covert, measures require more sophisticated equipment like lasers that are needed for magnetic inks, IR systems and IR taggants.
“The future of covert materials includes advanced detection techniques, smartphone authentication, greater inkjet integration and camera systems to identify visible properties,” Ivey added. “Ink manufacturers have the expertise to say what will work, and understand additives and pigments.”
Level 4, or forensic, approaches include DNA markers, small DNA molecules added to the ink that have to be checked in the lab. The DNA can be synthetic or organic, and only a small amount is needed. Companies can premix DNA with some of the ink or a compatible additive to make a concentrate.
“Covert and forensic security is extremely affordable and customizable when delivered as part of the ink or other printing vehicle,” Ivey concluded.
Kodak’s Douglas Bugner then discussed “An Expanded Gamut Ink Set for High-Speed Inkjet Printing on Flexible Films and Folding Cartons.” Bugner noted that the extended color gamut most common now is orange, green and blue.
Bugner reported that Kodak found that the best order of laydown was KGCBMOY, with ideal pigment preparations made for Blue (PV23/PG7/PB15:4), Green (PG7/PY74) and Orange (PO34).
Elizabeth Leeper of Daybreak Technologies was up next, with her talk on “Rapid FTIR Press Side Testing to Confirm the Cure of UV/EB Coatings for Packaging Applications,” and Blake Hansen of George Degen Company, Inc. closed the session with “Vegetable Oils in Graphic Arts: An Overview with a Focus on Tung Oil and Castor Oil.”
The National Association of Printing Ink Manufacturers (NAPIM) honored two industry leaders with prestigious awards during the 2017 NPIRI Technical Conference. Below are brief features on each of the award recipients:
Mathew C. Mathew, technical director, Sun Chemical.
John Foster, applications development manager performance materials, Cabot Corporation.
For more information on the award recipients, see the expanded story on the web at www.inkworldmagazine.com.
Mathew C. Mathew – Sun Chemical
After graduating from college, Mathew C. Mathew decided to gain some experience in industry before returning to academia. It proved to be an excellent decision as Mathew, technical director at Sun Chemical, recently was honored with NAPIM’s prestigious Technical Achievement Award for his contributions to the industry.
“I graduated from University of Aston with honors and decided to get some industrial experience rather than continuing with academic research,” Mathew said. “I started as a liquid chemist with Manders in Wolverhampton, England and then moved to Ault & Wiborg in Bristol, England as senior chemist.”
In 1987, Mathew started working at Sun Chemical’s Carlstadt technical center in 1987, and soon was leading the lamination ink lab.
“This was a small group of highly committed people who worked closely with the polymer group to formulate several water and solvent lamination ink systems,” he recalled. “We had seven issued patents in five years’ time. Sun Chemical’s water lamination ink business increased from zero to millions of dollars. There is even a high-performance water lamination system named after me called WB Msquared.”
Mathew said he is deeply honored that he was chosen for the Technical Achievement Award.
“Receiving this award is a tremendous honor, and something I don’t take lightly,” Mathew concluded. “It’s a humbling privilege. It inspires me to work harder and to try to represent our industry in the best manner possible.”
Mathew’s colleagues add that he is an excellent choice for the award.
“Mathew has demonstrated impeccable professionalism and great dedication to his work,” said Richard Bianchi, technical manager- liquid ink applications at Sun Chemical. “He has made significant contributions in the development of inks that meet the needs of the market in his over 30 years with Sun Chemical. His efforts make him a worthy recipient of the prestigious Technical Achievement Award.”
John Foster – Cabot Corporation
For many people, John Foster of Cabot Corporation is synonymous with the carbon black industry. Whether it is his annual lectures at NPIRI’s Summer Printing Ink course, his contribution to NPIRI committees, developing new products or helping his customers, Foster has been a leader in the carbon black industry for more than three decades.
In recognition of his efforts on behalf of the carbon black and ink industries, Foster was honored with the 2017 NAPIM Technical Associate Member (TAM) Service Award.
Foster joined Cabot in 1984 as a technical service/lab manager for inks and coatings, where one of his first assignments was the evaluation of a new carbon black for heatset inks. In 1985, he attended NPIRI’s Summer Printing Ink course at Lehigh University, “where I received my first in-depth training regarding printing inks.” He has since been a fixture at the summer courses, having taught many hundreds of students about carbon black.
Foster said that receiving the TAM award is validation for his efforts on behalf of the industry.
“I am extremely honored that NAPIM chose me to receive this year’s TAM Award,” added Foster. “I have spent many years of my career at Cabot related to the printing ink industry, developing new carbon blacks, providing technical information and support to ink manufactures, presenting at the NPIRI Sumer Course, and representing the ink perspective within Cabot. The TAM Award demonstrates to me that my support of the printing ink industry over the past 30 years has been of value to the industry.”
