The second FuturePrint Virtual Summit will be taking place from October 12th to October 16th. Phoseon Technology is a FuturePrint Virtual Summit Content Partner, and we caught up with the team to discuss the innovative solutions they will be presenting during the Packaging and Labels programme, why they are relevant to attendees, and where the market is heading.

Why has your business made the decision to participate in the second FuturePrint Virtual Summit? 

Phoseon has decided to participate in the FuturePrint Virtual Summit because of our significant involvement in the printing industry, offering UV LED curing solutions for all printing applications from flexographic and digital label printers, small and wide format digital printers, screen printers, 3D printing, and others.

This event brings excellent networking opportunities along with education on the latest printing technologies in the market today. Attending this virtual summit will be an excellent way to gain valuable insight from leaders in the printing industry. We are especially interested in the following topics:

Sustainability

LM printing and process control = quality

Improved productivity

Industry 4.0 and digitalisation

Who will be representing you at the FuturePrint Virtual Summit and what is their responsibility and experience?

Herman Horters - Herman is responsible for business development for flexographic printing applications in the Narrow, Middle and Wide Web segment.  He actively collaborates with ecosystem partners to assist addressing the needs for converters and brand owners using the UV LED printing process technology.  Herman has been involved in a wide array of printing processes for many years and brings great insight to the printing industry.

Can you provide a brief overview of your chosen topic and why it will be of interest and relevance to Summit attendees? 

The chosen topic is “Packaging and Labels” because the UV LED curing solutions that Phoseon offers new capability and new opportunities for these types of applications. UV LED curing technology offers benefits to printers and converters worldwide, offering significant advantages over traditional mercury based curing.

Phoseon offers UV LED curing solutions for a broad variety of packaging for flexographic and narrow web, enabling high-speed printing on a wide range of materials such as labels, packaging and decorative printing. The intense output, low heat, and reduced energy usage of Phoseon UV LED systems has enabled printers and converters to decrease material and operating costs while providing customers with superior products.

UV LED curing can be utilised for printing on flexible films, boxes, cartons, corrugated containers, and a wide variety of other packaging materials. UV LED curing shows measurable advantages in higher productivity, lower energy usage, while utilising thinner substrates with improved adhesion along with and clear environmental benefits. Customers that own UV LED curing printers have discovered they can print on a wide range of materials while printer manufacturers are finding they can design smaller devices with the smaller UV LED systems, as these pose fewer heat dissipation challenges.

For low migration applications, process stability is the key to consistent, reliable low-migration printing.  UV LED systems ensure every packaging run receives the same consistent, uniform UV output for repeatable results. The term low-migration (LM) describes a process for UV-cured packaging to ensure all materials utilised do not transfer through the package in quantities that would affect the final product safety, odor, or taste. To meet LM requirements, Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) must be used to ensure consistent, stable process control.

Tell us more about the product and the specific market it serves.

Phoseon Technology recently introduced the industry’s smallest, highest-powered member of their air-cooled product line, the FireJet™ ONE. These premium 20W/cm² UV LED curing lamps are designed primarily for the inkjet, flexographic and screen printing markets where high power in a compact form factor is a key requirement.

What is unique about this product? How will it make a difference for customers?

This lamp has it all - high irradiance and power, uniform output and flexible scaling in a small and efficient package. This allows Phoseon’s customers to offer game-changing solutions to their respective markets. The FireJet ONE lamps, in widths from 75 to 375mm, scale simply by placing units next to one another, daisy-chaining them together. Phoseon’s unique optics ensure consistent uniformity at the substrate surface. The FireJet ONE is simple to integrate by being a fully self-contained unit. The lamps can be controlled using PLC signals to provide instant on-off, intensity control and other primary functions. Phoseon’s products differentiate themselves through superior performance and real-world reliability for any curing environment. UV LED curing technology delivers significant benefits, including increased production speeds, cost reduction through energy savings and is environmentally friendly, with no ozone emissions generated.

How do you see the market developing in the next six months, and what will be your focus? 

Phoseon predicts that printers worldwide will continue to transition from traditional mercury-based UV curing methods to adopt UV LED curing technology because of all the significant advantages it offers.  Not only does UV LED curing bring new applications that were not possible before, it brings significant process improvements and offers a much more environmentally sustainable process.

You can learn more about the FuturePrint Virtual Summit here.

You can learn more about Phoseon Technology here.