Consumables

INX inkjet and sustainable packaging solutions to provide new growth opportunities

Monday 16. October 2023 - Paul Edwards, the new Vice President of the Digital Division at INX who will be attending his first PRINTING United Expo, says a broad product portfolio presents a tremendous opportunity for people engaged in and making the transition to digital printing.

With industry developments leading people to make key investments, INX International will offer PRINTING United Expo visitors plenty of options to help grow their business. Sustainable packaging inks, premium inkjet and screen printing inks, and digital printing systems will be prominently displayed in booth B1944 during the October 18-20 event at the Georgia World Congress Center.
“My expectation is it will be an exciting show for people who are looking to enhance the profitability of their business and want to implement new technology to grow their sales. Our products will appeal to end-user print shops, those looking at OEM high quality ink for their printer ranges, and integrators wanting to accelerate their time to market in the development of new printing systems,” remarked Edwards.
“To that end, we will feature high performing inks for display graphic applications. We also have products for growing markets such as industrial Direct-to-Object printing and the packaging industry, including the Corrugated market. To complement our digital inks, we have the technical capability to provide integrators with proven print system components and subsystems.”
Several of INX’s Triangle brand premium digital inks that run on some of the world’s largest multi-pass, high-speed inkjet printers will be featured. Triangle GSU, HIP, and HSI are high performance, fast curing UV inks. Together with UV-LED Curable VHS inks, they offer significant cost savings and are formulated to meet GRACoL standards and G7 targets with sharper printability.
HIP is used on five different HP Scitex model series printers, HSI runs on Inca Onset flatbed printers, and VHS works with Vutek HS120 and HS 125 series printers. The Vutek GS hybrid model series handles GSU inks, and all are supported by INX Digital’s Worldwide Outdoor Durability and Ink Train warranties. INX experts will also discuss Agfa Tauro, a new high value inkjet solution and service program that is expected to be introduced in early 2024.
In addition to developing inkjet inks and coatings for alternative, custom, industrial, OEM, and specialty applications, INX’s technology-driven digital hardware and integration capabilities provide print operators with cost effective solutions. The JetINX Printhead Drive and Ink Recirculation system serves as a catalyst to help develop complete printing systems such as the NW350 UV Digital Label printer.
John Sweeterman, Sales Manager of Digital Ink Technology for North and South America, says INX’s role as a worldwide manufacturing leader will help printers navigate pending and future federal regulation and guideline changes.
“INX is focused on solving tough production, ink, and application requirements. Since last year’s PRINTING United Expo, our parent corporation Sakata INX, has and continues to develop new low migration, low odor, UV and water-based inkjet ink systems that address the most stringent regulatory and application challenges,” stated Sweeterman.
“We are very fortunate to have global OEM partners as we develop highly differentiated inkjet inks and other applications to meet today’s demands in the digital market. With our R&D chemistry capabilities and global manufacturing locations, INX is set to help and support our customers meet all of their regulatory, applications and logistics challenges.”
The packaging industry is a good example, with brand owners having encountering many challenges during an impressive growth phase in recent years. To combat counterfeit products that have proliferated in the marketplace, INX introduced a proprietary digital security ink with VerifyMe, Inc. in mid-2022.
VerifyInk is a specially formulated, covert ink technology that is integrated into VerifyMe’s variable authentication, serialization, and track and trace technology. Run on continuous inkjet (CIJ) printers, it can be printed on paper and flexible packaging labels including shrink, apparel and fabric, metal caps, rigid plastics, glass or direct-to-object, such as wine bottles, using conventional and digital printing methods.
“VerifyInk impacts the safety and efficacy of the final packaged product. It ensures the product inside the package was produced by the original manufacturer and is not a copy,” said Edwards. “From a safety perspective, this assures customers they are receiving the quality of the product they expected, manufactured by the correct GMP process, and containing the ingredients aided by the regulations in place.”
Edwards said digital inks for corrugated packaging is another area INX will highlight at the show. BECB-06 is a UV Curable premium ink formulated to be low odor and meets Swiss Ordinance requirements. Run on Barberan Jetmaster 2.0 series printers for corrugated board applications, it offers good jetting performance and up to six-color printing with a wide color range. It is available in four colors plus orange and violet.
Edwards also said from a sustainability standpoint, attendees will have several eco-friendly solutions to consider in booth B1944, beginning with bio-renewable INXhrc natural-based inks. These high performance inks contribute to a circular economy by reducing the carbon footprint of packaging materials used for flexographic, offset, and gravure printing.
Genesis washable inks make it easier to recycle plastic films and contribute to the circular reuse of materials. Earlier this year, INX introduced Ecostage GB-XA Oxygen Barrier coatings that address food safety and preservation issues, and improves sustainability and recycling efforts. The transparent, chlorine and metal-free coating allows mono-material packaging to replace multi-layer packaging for specific food applications, and makes it easier to recycle.
Also new at PRINTING United Expo are screen printing solutions for glass and plastic bottles.
Developed with future-oriented raw materials, RUCOINX 937LED inks correspond with common industrial standards including the EuPIA Exclusion Policy, REACH Regulation for Substances of Very High Concern (SVHC), and the Global Automotive Declarable Substance List (GADSL). It is also compliant with the current European standard EN 71-3. Designed for multi-color screen printing, RUCOINX 937LED provides high process reliability with excellent adhesion and scratch resistance immediately after UV or LED curing.
RUCOINX 945UV/MA inks are used for baby bottle decoration and printing on the outer surface of food packaging made of PET. Dishwasher, sterilization, water, and stream-resistant, this ink offers low migration and is formulated without barium, ITX, benzophenone, 4-methylbenzophenone (4-MBP), and Bisphenol A. Reports indicate it produces high gloss with excellent printability on all standard, high speed screen printing machines.
“RUCOINX 937LED inks offer superior durability and are specially formulated to resist damage when filling glass containers,” says Jeff Morris, Director of Business Development for INX. “These inks develop full cure and resistance properties within 15 minutes after printing. RUCOINX 945UV/MA inks are certified low migration and suitable for sensitive applications like baby bottles. Printers have the option since they are available in both standard mercury vapor and LED curing formulations.”