The 62nd Annual National Printing Ink Research Institute’s (NPIRI) Technical Conference, which began Oct. 9, offered attendees a look at key issues, technical advances, regulatory matters and new technologies.

Hosted by the National Association of Printing Ink Manufacturers (NAPIM), the first two days of the 2018 NPIRI Conference covered a wide range of issues, from the packaging needs of brand owners and the many challenges faced by purchasing executives to tariffs and new regulations. The conference was held Oct. 9-11 at Pheasant Run Resort in St. Charles, IL.

Before the conference started on Oct. 9, NAPIM held “Intro to Ink Formulation and Manufacturing,” a three and a half hour short course on ink basics. It was taught by Les Watkins, Lisa Fine, Jerry Napiecek, James Ford and Joe Cichon.

The NPIRI Conference began in the afternoon, with the Keynote Talk given by Ron Osborn, principal scientist at Mars Wrigley Confectionery. Osborn noted that food packaging maintains the safety and quality of food as it moves through the distribution chain from manufacturer to consumer. However, the packaging materials cannot have adverse effects on the food itself.

“Food contact material cannot be transferred to the product, and can’t alter taste, odor, texture or composition of the product,” Osborn said. “Consumers have higher expectations, and expect full transparency.”

“Critical Supply Chain Issues” was the focus of Jeffrey Shaw of Sun Chemical. Shaw emphasized that companies have to make sure they are ready. “We are living in a world where things are changing very quickly,” he added.

The key is doing risk management. “We evaluate for alternatives,” Shaw noted. “Not having an alternative is not acceptable. You have to understand the variables, have to discuss these with your customers and be transparent. We meet with our suppliers as you can’t solve all of these problems on your own. Doing what’s always been done is not an answer.

“When you are doing contingency planning, you have to manage with a scalpel,” Shaw added. “’One size fits all’ does not work. Every issue or event requires its own solution. You must construct Plans B, C and D and be ready to change now. The objective is to keep our customers and sites operational.”

David Forgue of Barnes, Richardson & Colburn, LLP focused on “Global Import/Export Considerations,” a look at trade agreements, tariffs and regulations.

“The State of the Industry Report,” a look at the present and future of the printing and ink market, was presented by Bryce Kristo of INX International and John Jilek Jr. of Inksolutions. The NPIRI Lecture was next. Natasha Banke of INX International Ink was honored with this year’s award for her paper, “Residual Building Block Chemicals in Raw Materials and Finished Printing Inks – a Risk Assessment Approach to Manufacturing and Detection Limits.”

The first day of the NPIRI conference concluded with six Supplier Spotlights, presented by Dhara Metla of BYK; Charles Douglas of Lubrizol Advanced Materials; Dr. Saif Ansari of Keim Additec Surface USA; Bill Dougherty of Total Cray Valley; Charlie Hsu of BASF; and Sanjay Monie of Orion Carbons.

NPIRI breaks down its second day into two sessions. Moderated by Joe Cichon of INX, the morning session was focused on technology, and began with “Top Trends in the Graphic Communications,” presented by Jim Workman of Printing Industries of America. For high-speed inkjet printing, Workman noted that Videograph brought to market the first commercial inkjet printer in 1969. “In the late 1990s, computer-to-plate was the hot news,” he added. “Much has changed.”

Pierre Boulangue of Ferro Corporation gave a talk on “Benefits of Pure Pigments: An Azo-Based Solution.” “There is a trend in the market to get purer, safer, more reliable raw materials,” Boulangue said.

Luke Ackerman of the FDA/Center for Food Safety and Nutrition then presented “FDA MS-DART Analytical Technique Update.” His talk was followed by “Confessions of a Lifetime Inkaholic,” a substitute talk by Les Watkins of US Polymers/Accurez. Watkins said it is important for the ink industry to stand tall. “Just because ink is a small part of the spend does not diminish its importance at the table,” Watkins said. “Without it, the whole process doesn’t work.”

“Compostability Evaluation of Inks,” presented by Ron Walling and Greg Geil of Advanced Materials Center, Inc., concluded the morning session.

The afternoon of Oct. 10 featured five regulatory talks, moderated by Dr. Juanita Parris of Sun Chemical.

“Update on California’s Proposition 65,” presented by Natalie Rainer of Keller and Heckman, discussed the law and the efforts of California’s Office of Environmental Health Hazards Assessment (OEHHA).

“Lead is the number one source of enforcement. Styrene was listed in April 2017,” Rainer added. “N-Hexane is going into effect in December 2018, and vinyl acetate is being considered.” BASF’s Rachel Staran focused on “The Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) and the Lautenberg Chemical Safety Act (LCSA).”

“The TSCA Reset requires US manufacturers and importers to report to EPA any chemicals in US commerce between June 21, 2006, and June 21, 2016,” said Staran. Brian Rutherford of PIA MidAmerica then gave a talk on “The Cost of OSHA Compliance or How to Save $100,000 Before Lunch.” Rutherford focused on fines and penalties assessed by OSHA, and simple ways to fix the problems, whether it is simply buying a tape measure or printing out and filling out OSHA forms.

Greg Pace of Sun Chemical discussed “International Life Sciences Institute (ILSI) Committee: Overview and Activities,” and was followed by Peter Walther of Siegwerk, who covered “Food Safety Alliance for Packaging (FSAP) Current Activities.” Milind Pradhan of Ramboll closed the Regulatory session with his talk on “Health & Safety Management System (H&SMS) Standard ISO45001.”