The label and narrow web industry will be on hand at Labelexpo Americas 2018, which will be held Sept. 25-27 at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center in Rosemont, IL. More than 400 exhibitors will show the latest in new technologies in printing, with more than 40 ink suppliers also highlighting their newest products. As always, ink company leaders are getting ready for the three-day show.

“Labelexpo Americas is ‘The Show’ for us as a supplier to the North, Central and South American markets,” said Ed Dedman, flexo technical support/product manager, Zeller+Gmelin. “There is literally no other place where we can reach our customers and prospects for this hemisphere, so yes, it’s extremely important to us. With that said, we also expect to see visitors from around the world, so we’re ready, with booth representation from our company headquarters in Germany.”

“We are always focused on finding the optimal solution that exactly meets the individual requirements and needs of every single customer,” noted Dave Hiserodt, president CUSA at Siegwerk. “That’s why platforms like Labelexpo are ideal touchpoints for us to share ideas and discuss newest challenges and requirements with our customers and other industry experts.”

“Labelexpo is the hotspot for the label industry and a cornerstone event for us. At the Americas show, the combined Flint Group divisions will be showcasing our broadest ever portfolio of innovative solutions for the label industry,” Flint Group CEO Antoine Fady said.

Flint Group will present technologies from different product groups – Flexographic, Narrow Web and Digital Solutions – Xeikon – that include prepress and pre-production, digital and conventional print, converting and delivery. The company will also present Flint’s 14th annual Print Awards.

Flint Group Narrow Web will show its latest developments in LED curable inks, food-compliant flexible packaging, and color management solutions, while Digital Solutions – Xeikon will highlight the Xeikon PX3000, the first UV inkjet press based on Xeikon’s Panther technology. Xeikon will also feature its toner-based Xeikon 3030 digital press with a custom finishing line specifically developed for the North American market.

Siegwerk will address upcoming trends during Labelexpo. Visitors to the trade show can ‘explore the future’ with Siegwerk’s experts to discuss label and package printing innovations, trends and learn more about the company’s inks and services.

“At Labelexpo we will give visitors insights into our newest ink developments,” said Tom Hammer, head of technical marketing at Siegwerk. “We will debut our new Sicura Flex ORBIS ink series, a new generation of UV flexo inks especially developed for pressure sensitive paper, film labels as well as unsupported films and shrink sleeve applications.”

Sicura Flex ORBIS offers high color strength and low viscosity for an improved print performance at higher speeds. It is a monochromatic base ink series that provides a wider expanded color gamut that increases productivity. “We will also commercially launch a new water-based lamination system called HyperLam, as well as a new system of metallics called Aqua Sparkle X at the show,” added Hammer.
 
Food safe ink solutions are more in demand than ever, which makes migration optimized ink systems one of the largest growing areas in the ink industry. Siegwerk offers an extensive UV ink portfolio for food compliant applications. “All our low migration UV inks offer outstanding printing properties, optimal curing results, and safe fulfillment of legal requirements. They show a high degree of strength and resistance for different packaged products and are suitable for printing at high production speeds,” Hammer said.

Siegwerk reported a gradual volume switch from conventional UV to migration optimized UV inks, such as Sicura Nutriflex 39-10, over the last years and expects LED UV curing to continue being one of the growth drivers. With its Sicura Nutriflex LEDTec products, Siegwerk offers a migration optimized LED UV flexo series for food and pharma packaging.
 
“The Labelexpo crowd is always looking for a product with that something extra so they can separate themselves from the competition. I think it best describes the products we are exhibiting this year,” said Jim Lambert, INX International’s VP of digital sales – ink and hardware.

Lambert reported that INX will be displaying a range of inks and printers, including Prodigy EBGA, its new EB Low Migration system using Uteco’s GAIA printer, which just received SGIA’s 2018 Product of the Year honors. The company will also show AquaTech water-based Tag & Label inks and coatings, as well as INXhrc water-based inks, which are eco-friendly, fast drying inks.

On the press side, INX will show its new single-pass UV digital label press NW340 printer. The complete solution includes high-quality inks and expandable modules to help printers meet the increasing demand for high quality, short-run digital printing.
  
Among the products it will showcase, Zeller+Gmelin will highlight its 17 Series LED Flexo, its second-generation of the series, which is duo-curable, working well with both LED and traditional mercury-type curing systems; the 32 and 37 Series, which offer high performance, high strength, excellent curability and great on-press performance at a lower price point and are designed for  labels, shrink sleeves, pouches, cartons, and more; the 30 and 36 Series for Low Migration applications; and the new 41, 42 and 43 Series Water-based Inks.

“For years, Zeller+Gmelin has claimed ourselves – and, we believe, rightfully so – as the industry’s UV inks specialists,” Dedman said. “Our UV systems have set the standard for strength and performance for many years, but our marketplace has now changed; customers want a ‘one stop shop’ for their ink needs, so we have now added these three new WB systems to our portfolio. The 41 Series Film inks, 42 Series Thermal inks, and 43 Series Label inks all offer extreme pH stability, excellent print performance and operator friendliness.”

Andrew Wasserman, managing partner for CYNGIENT, said that Labelexpo 2018 is an exciting time for CYNGIENT.

“It is our first Labelexpo and we truly see a real opportunity to interact with industry leaders to exhibit CYNGIENT’s capabilities and new products,” Wasserman added. “CYNGIENT is truly looking forward to continuing our education and development efforts to the narrow web industry.”

Wasserman said that CYNGIENT will be highlighting a wide range of new products at Labelexpo Americas 2018.

“Our recent partnership with MPS and Imageworx brings to market the first 3D optic lens inline to produce multi-dimensional labels, which could be used for security and promotional labels without having to wear 3D glasses,” said Wasserman. “It is truly groundbreaking. In addition, we recently launched our newly developed UV Flexo shrink sleeve slip wet tee shirt coating,  to assist in eliminating moisture bubbles, that are common when applying a full body shrink labels to a glass bottle. Our UV, LED HYPERcure COLD FOIL Adhesive is best in class when it comes to shrink sleeve, in-mold and various films applications when printing holographic and dark colored foils for shrinkability, detail, speed and cure.  Our UV Flexo HYPERcure structural adhesives have been developed for a destruct bond between various unsupported films that require extreme bond strength between layers.”

Nazdar Ink Technologies will present its range of inks developed for narrow web at Labelexpo Americas 2018, including UV and LED flexo, UV offset and UV letterpress inks, durable UV coatings, water-based flexo, UV and LED rotary screen inks, and UV and LED overprint varnishes and adhesives.

“Labelexpo Americas is a great opportunity for businesses in the label and packaging markets – and those considering moving into them – to meet us and discover why our inks and coatings are used worldwide,” said Mike Harjung, Nazdar VP, Narrow Web Products.

IIMAK will introduce iiColor Match for thermal transfer ribbons (TTR) at Labelexpo Americas, Sept. 25-27 in Rosemont, IL. This enables label converters to supply brand owners with thermal transfer ribbons in any exact color match.

“Color thermal transfer provides an option to end users for printing short-run color labels with existing equipment,” said Amy Schmitt, director of marketing for IIMAK. “This exclusive color matching service opens new doors for our reseller partners to add value and provide labeling solutions for personalization, customization, and branding.”

ACTEGA North America will be introducing its ACTExact next generation UV ink system; two new Aquaprint water-based, injection in-mold coating products; its special effect inks and coatings, including MotionCoat; and its ACTDigi digital primers.
 
“ACTEGA will launch Aquaprint, a globally recognized water-based coating technology for in-mold labels,” said James Zawicki, senior marketing manager, labels and flexible packaging at ACTEGA North America. “This technology has been transferred from  ACTEGA Terra in Germany. Manufacturing has been expanded to North America. The two products we will be highlighting provide great gloss and excellent rub resistance. ACTEGA ACTDigi primer coatings are designed to run both in-line and near-line for most of your digital press jobs. We have products designed to run on most digital presses. The next generation ACTExact UV ink system is designed for standard printing or for shrink applications.”

FUJIFILM North America Corporation, Graphic Systems Division will highlight its new GraphiumX UV digital hybrid inkjet press among its new printing and ink technologies during Labelexpo Americas 2018. The company will also show its Graphium Printbar UV inkjet imprinting bar system, the Edale FL3 flexo press (which FUJIFILM now represents in North America) and the 300 Series LED UV Flexo Inks series.

“Fujifilm is eager to showcase its innovative line-up within the packaging segment at Labelexpo Americas 2018,” said Steve Bennett, VP packaging solutions, FUJIFILM North America Corporation, Graphic Systems Division.

Exhibitors who will be showing ink at Labelexpo Americas 2018 include:      

• ACTEGA North America (Booth 711)
• AEBO Science Technology Co Ltd (Booth 2009)
• Ako Printing Technology Shanghai Limited (Booth 1346)
• Angstrom Technologies (Booth 3804)
• Armor USA, Inc. (Booth 1441)
• Braden Sutphin Ink (Booth 130)
• CYNGIENT (Booth 6634)
• DNP ImagingComm America (Booth 1421)
• Dragon Foils Limited (Booth 2028)
• ECKART America (Booth 947)
• Edwards Label (Booth 458)
• EFI (Booth 155)
• Engineered Printing Solutions (Booth 1547)
• Flexo Label Advantage Group (Booth 1557)
• Flexocleaners (Booth 938)
• Flint Group Narrow Web (Booth 728)
• Fox Valley Technical College (Booth 3808)
• Frimpeks (Booth 1429)
• FUJIFILM North America Graphic Systems Division (Booth 5621, 5623)
• Graymills Corporation (Booth 1616)
• HP (Booth 3226, 3429)
• hubergroup USA (Booth 704)
• ICP Industrial (Booth 1241)
• IIMAK (Booth 535)
• Interactive Inks & Coatings (Booth 150)
• Kor-Chem, Graphic Arts Division (Booth 6127)
• INX International Ink Co. (Booth 121)
• Kao Collins Inc. (Booth 6524)
• LabelPack (Booth 3543)
• Magnum Inks & Coatings/Magnum Magnetics (Booth 1045) 
• Matsui International (Booth 159)
• Mouvent (Booth 5200)
• Natural Ink (Booth 152)
• Nazdar Ink Technologies (Booth 547)
• NeuraLabel Printing Solutions (Booth 6555)
• Polymeric Group (Booth 3608)
• PrismaLux Technologies (Booth 5925)
• Prototype & Production Systems (Booth 6445)
• Siegwerk Environmental Inks (Booth 5923)
• TTR Euroworks (Booth 3819)
• Wikoff Color (Booth 1011)
• Zeller+Gmelin GmbH & Co. KG (Booth 1015)
• Zhejiang King Label Technology (Booth 1852)


David Savastano is editor of Ink World magazine, a sister publication to L&NW.