2015 Ink Report

When mentioning the growth prospects of a mature market, most industries forecast low single-digit gains and little in the way of research and development. Those markets have, for the most part, peaked in what they have to offer and do little more than maintain the status quo as newer technologies rise up around them.

This traditional image of the mature market does not hold true for the wide/grand-format ink industry, however. New advancements and continual demand are driving the market forward.

“Although we consider the signage segment to be a mature market, users continue to find new and innovative ways to fulfill customer needs and drive sales for all signage printing manufacturers,” commented Matt McCausland, product manager, Epson Professional Imaging.

“This market seems to be maturing, and with that comes the demand for innovative products,” stressed Adam Larson, global portfolio manager – Premium Films with 3M Commercial Solutions Division. As an example, he notes Hewlett-Packard’s latex printer technologies. “Products are being developed faster, and ink is becoming more cost effective,” he observed.

SunJet, the inkjet division of Sun Chemical, reports that it grew strongly in the past year, expanding its product and technology portfolio to meet the demands of existing and emerging markets. “We have seen continued growth in wide and super-wide formats in the graphics market, and this has been due to better use by OEMs of the available technology,” stated Peter Saunders, business director – Digital, Sun Chemical. “Presses are faster, produce better quality output and are more reliable than in the past.”

At FESPA in Koln, Germany, the focus was on productivity, Saunders added. “There has been a maturing of the market, which helps develop confidence in the technology and leads to investment commitments and increased use of digital assets at the printer.”

Speed and Curing

“The industry is evolving mainly due to the rapid pace of advancement in printing technology,” explained McCausland. “Print manufacturers have continued to push the envelope with regard to print speeds and ink configurations, which has led to end users upgrading hardware at a faster pace.”

For example, he noted, Epson’s new SureColor S50675 has a new every day production speed of 240 sqft/hr, while the S70675 gives customers the ability to print with metallic silver ink. “As print technology advances, customers will continue to find ways to leverage that technology to drive sales,” he remarked.

While Ken Hanulec, vice president of marketing, EFI noted that EFI’s core business is in and around display graphics, “as the presses become faster, you can start to go after some of the industrial applications,” he stated.

EFI started a program in Scandanavia where there is the capability to print on architectural cement panels. Each panel is roughly 4x8-feet and weighs about 400 pounds. “We print on the panel using a unique ink set that has a 30-year outdoor warranty. These are panels they literally put into the side of a building,” he explained. “That’s an example of using the same high-speed press that produces the point-of-purchase display that is seen in Home Depot or Walmart or the local grocery store.”

Hanulac added that EFI has customers who do indoor architectural glass panels, “where you can print on the glass, and it’s got a very high life expectancy,” he commented. Wallpaper is also another application that is coming to fruition, he adds.

“So, there are all of these other applications that - because the presses are finally fast enough and the ink technology has evolved - you have great durability, great vibrancy, great color saturation and adhesion,” he stressed. “And the number of people aware that these industrial applications even exist is literally a percentage of one percent. So this is nothing but a blue-sky opportunity.”

With faster presses comes the need for inks that can adhere well under these conditions to various substrates.

“Performance is the key attribute our customers are looking for, and it is at the forefront of what we offer,” Saunders continued. “Ink performance is always the key.”

SunJet is working with its OEM partners to increase the speed of output in wide format printing to compete with offset at higher run lengths. “The equipment is running faster, and inks need to cure on the wide range of substrates used at production speeds that are now achieving up to 1000 sqm/hr,” offered Saunders.

Adhesion is always a challenge as well, according to Hanulec. “So, you’re imaging to virtually any substrate, you’re curing at a very high rate of speed, you have this opportunity, if you can stick to it, to have a great solution,” he stressed. “EFI has worked with its chemists and engineers on the curing side of things to co-develop an ink that not only looks great, sticks great and cures great, but has great longevity outside.”

Hanulec noted that one of the benefits of the EFI press is that you can print on a very thin substrate up to 5cm or two inches thick. “It could be paper, metal, plastic, wood, glass, bubble wrap, synthetic materials. While it’s not necessarily hard to put that stuff through a press, it’s hard to print on it, cure it and have it last.”

“Printing manufacturers are now incorporating white, green, orange and metallic ink and changing printer heads to improve resolution and increase color gamut,” stated Larson. “There’s also been a focus on productivity with UV and latex printers now curing instantly, which allows the customer to laminate immediately and provide a faster turnaround.”

“A continued emphasis on the need for inks that do every application type continues to challenge ink manufacturers,” concured Larson. “For example, in our (3M) space, we have seen our OEM printer manufacturer partners continue to move towards UV technology because of the industrial nature of the solution, instant cure, and other reasons. But because UV inks are generally not flexible/conformable, it put the responsibility on 3M, the ink developer and manufacturer to develop an ink that is conformable and can do car wraps, which pushed the envelope for UV inks.”

Saunders notes that most of the inkjet inks Sun Chemical sells are wide-spectrum conventional UV curing technology, however, he acknowledges that they are seeing significant growth in UV LED. “There is significant regional demand for UV LED, and many bigger players in the market are looking at UV LED because of its environmental benefits. Over the years, as lamp and ink technology have advanced, at SunJet we have developed a series of graphic inks that fully cure with LED UV exposure,” he commented.

EFI has over 500 LED presses installed in the world in over 50 countries, according to Hanulec. “LED simply means you’re using light to cure something as opposed to heat, which offers a tremendous benefit as heat is the enemy of any process,” he commented. “Because they use LED, it’s a much more stable process. You can print on much thinner substrates, use a lot less energy than if you used heat, so it’s a greener solution overall. We believe LED is very, very popular, and it continues to grow.”

“We also see aqueous ink technology as a great opportunity for the future,” added Saunders. He notes that, in the very near future, the company expects aqueous to move mainstream. “We believe it has the potential to leapfrog solvent inkjet inks.”

At FESPA in May, SunJet launched its Aquacure ink technology, which is a hybrid of the benefits of water-based ink, low film weight, very low odor, a preferred health, safety and environment profile, and UV technology that delivers durability and reliability in the print systems. “SunJet’s UV curing inkjet inks are able to meet these requirements in cooperation with our OEMs and their customers,” offered Saunders.

But, while McCausland acknowledged that the textile and UV segments have become much more prominent over the course of the past year, he still sees solvent as the backbone of the signage industry. “Because of the long history of solvent in the signage market, users continue to demand fast, reliable solvent-based printers to meet their growing list of needs,” he stated.  

“Productivity and reliability continue as core customer needs for any signage printer, but we have seen a dramatic increase in the demand for high-quality output from signage printers. This demand for quality in the outdoor signage market has only accelerated the need for solvent inks over their aqueous- and UV-based counterparts,” he continued.

Legislative Influences

In addition to technology issues, legislative changes are a constant challenge for the industry as a whole. Europe, in particular, has a great deal of legislation in place, and it is a continually changing landscape.

“There are always changes as to what can go into the ink - what’s environmentally friendly and what’s not. There is a lot of ambiguity around those specifications, and those specifications change. So, it’s a challenge just to continually to track and monitor and make sure you are complying, because redesigning an inkset is not a trivial matter and it’s something we take quite seriously,” stated Hanulec.

Saunders agrees. “The regulatory environment is something we monitor very closely, and through the REACH process, some raw materials used in inks have been reclassified. We intend to continue our lead in product stewardship globally, ensuring that our customers, the OEMs, can supply products globally with confidence. We will be working hard as the Globally Harmonized System (GHS) of classification and labeling for hazard identification is adopted more widely in 2015,” he stressed.

As a major supplier to the packaging industry, Sun Chemical understands the legislative requirements and needs of the food packaging sector, the company notes. “As digital presses are used in more and more applications, we have had to ensure that our inkjet inks meet the needs of the users and converters for major brands,” remarked Saunders.

As such, Sun Chemical has developed a range of low migration UV inks. “Some of the critical factors of this range of inks include: sub ppb (parts per billion) for materials where low migration is required, compliance with European standards (Swiss Ordinance), EUPIA compliance, and following good manufacturing practices,” Saunders added.