The Dusseldorf exhibition centre will welcome a host of industry names, more than ever before when Interpack opens its doors in six weeks time.
Visitors to the show have always been the brands and their production staff charged with finding machinery to place their product in a box, jar, bag or bottle. The decoration of the primary container has been of little interest.
Digital printing is changing that and this has drawn more companies with print technology to the show that ever before. This includes inkjet machines from Screen and Fujifilm for digitally printing flexible packaging; inkjet arrays and printhead technology from Ricoh, IIJ, HP, Konica Minolta, Astro Nova, Riso, Koenig & Bauer Coding and Epson. Most will showing how their marking technology is able to produce the new QR code style barcodes that are being introduced across supply chains.
Linx for example is introducing a new continuous inkjet printer that suits large character marking for porous materials including cardboards and paper and able to print graphics and logos as well as text. The new generation of barcodes will be to the fore at Domino Printing Science where the focus will be on marking and coding rather than label presses.
Printing presses will be present. Heidelberg may not have a press on show, but will be emphasising its plans to become a major force in packaging with announcements around interfaces with with third party suppliers – a recognition that equipment will remains in use for many years – and thus its position as a systems integrator beyond the printing stage.
The printing technology will be covered by Speedmaster for sheetfed print, the Boardmaster for high speed flexo printing for boards and barrier coated papers and Gallus for label printing.
Koenig & Bauer will have a similar portfolio from litho to flexo, digital and direct to product printing, though the stand will be branded as the Koenig & Bauer Coding, the part if the business that is currently under review.
Screen will have an inkjet press on the floor, the TruepressJet PAC520, configured for printing sachets and other barrier coated packaging and will discuss the larger flexo to digital PAC830 press. This comes up against Fujifilm’s FP790, the inkjet press for flexible packaging which was saved from the cull of inkjet presses for European commercial printers. The promise is that there will be a raft of new features to discuss as well as how the press can take on flexo print of less than 8,000 metre and less than 22,000 metres for jobs moving from gravure.
Kyocera Nixka is also promising developments in inkjet for packaging, but without further details.
The key software for packaging design and prepress technology will be present. Hybrid Software is making its debut appearance with Smart PDF, and an AI system for processing incoming orders to simplify what are complex processes.
Esko is linking with Videojet demonstrating how data can be moved seamlessly from prepress to the final package.
Interpack takes place at the Messe Dusseldorf, 7-13 May.
