The First Industrial Print Summit Held At Istanbul Concluded Successfully Last Month

IPS Istanbul 2015, a first of its kind summit for the industrial print sector was held from 6th May to 7th May 2015. It was organized by İFO Fuarcılık, leading global experts, at WOW Istanbul Convention Center, Istanbul. The event witnessed industry stalwarts from the industrial print industry globally converge at one platform to discuss the future of industrial print.

The conference attended by representatives from the graphics sector, followed by ceramics, glass, packaging and labeling sectors. The event also attracted visitors from other many sectors like digital textile printing, printing technologies suppliers, automotive spare parts, outdoor, paper, plastics, textile and white goods sectors.

The first day kick-started with a series of presentations made by Andy Thomas, the Group editor-in-chief of the world-renowned Labels & Labelling Magazine and moderator for the Summit, followed by Peter Buttiens, CEO of ESMA (European Specialist Printing Manufacturers Association), Paddy O’Hara, Technology Director of Industrial Inkjet and Steve Knight, founder of Digital Direct Technologies.

Every presenter had unique insights and thoughts to share on this global forum. Mr. Buttiens addressed the audience about ‘Conventional Printing Trends in Production’ and ‘Analogue Printing vs Digital Printing’. Apart from that, the use of industrial printing, strengths of analogue printing and inkjet printing, allocation of digital and screen printing, the future of screen and digital print markets were also discussed. In addition, Mr. Buttiens also presented his views on screen printing and pad printing, functional, industrial and specific printing metrics in the 21st century.

Paddy O’Hara, an experienced professional in the sector made a presentation titled “Customized and Cost-Effective Production” explaining the benefits of inkjet printing for end users, machine developers and implementers. He focused on industrial printing applications in the fields of laminate, wall paper, flexible packaging, safety applications, brand protection and labeling as well as the development of inkjet in industrial markets, with reference to requirements and examples for various customer applications.   

The first day of the event came to end with a presentation on “Data and Color Management in Industrial Inkjet Printing’’ by another leading expert Mr. Steve Knight. He discussed various markets and applications in industrial inkjet printing and touched upon colour scaling, new challenges, opportunities and data requirements in digital printing.

The final day saw Tim Phillips, Marketing Manager of Xennia Technology make a presentation titled “Performance of Inks Under Environmental Conditions’’ which discussed the increased efficiency and reduced production costs, fast response and quick customization in digital inkjet printing, which are ideal for many applications. Mr. Phillips also discussed ink ingredients, formulation and design strategies and explained the interaction of ink with surface and its impact on printing quality.

XAAR PLC’s Marketing Director Mark Alexander, informed participants about “Sectors-Specific Printing Solutions”. Talking about the global print market, trends and various applications, Mr. Alexander made an analysis of various industries such as ceramics, packaging, labelling, decoration, textile etc.

New developments in 3D printing that has revolutionized every industry was discussed too. Davut Başaran, 3D Digital Factory Manager, Infotron+90 and Ali Can Erk, Founding Partner, 3Durak gave presentations regarding the development in this sector, usage of 3D printing in various industries, position of 3D printing in Turkey and opportunities in this field.

IPS Istanbul 2015 came to an end with a panel discussion in the final session where the panelists discussed the future of industrial printing.