by Industrial Print Magazine Staff
Head to Orlando, FL May 6 to 10, 2024 for NPE2024 The Plastics Show. Every three years the Plastics Industry Association holds this event with the goal of promoting plastics, innovation, and sustainability. Over 2,000 exhibiting companies plan to showcase their latest products and services in more than one million square feet of exhibit space.
Held at the Orange County Convention Center, this year’s show debuts keynote speakers. Opening day includes a presentation from Michael Heinz, chair/CEO, BASF Corporation. Heinz touches on the challenges the industry is facing, the importance of collaboration along the value chain, and provides inspiration for the future.
Here, vendors in the digital print space share their plans for the show.
3DT LLC, booth W1167, promotes its newest product, the HeliDyne corona treatment system. It was developed to produce strong bonding on specialized surfaces like wide, thick, porous, hollow, and over-size materials. HeliDyne’s numerous pin electrodes produce a wide band of corona discharge raising the surface tension and functionality on many materials that are difficult to treat, including foam stock, honeycomb boards, and polymer panels.
Ampacet Corporation, booth S22097, is a global producer of colors, additives, and artificial intelligence (AI) automation technologies. LIAD Smart AI automation is on display. Live demonstrations of inline color measurement and correction technologies utilizing fiber optic sensors and Spectro 4.0 color measurement systems are also shown. Adjusting color on demand due to PCR variations during plastic processing is introduced at NPE2024.
Apex-Desco, booth W2151, encourages attendees to check out how to revolutionize their product package. It showcases the DCP-3 3-Color Closure Printer, which delivers vibrant, high-resolution designs on closures in three colors. Also, the C-500 Cylindrical Part Printer is on display, it delivers seamless decoration of cylindrical parts.
ARBURG, booth W3743, exemplifies the advanced capabilities of multi-component injection molding through its ALLROUNDER CUBE 2900. This machinery showcases efficiency and precision, incorporating a fully integrated FOBOHA Cube mold with swift and accurate electric cube rotation, thereby reducing dry cycle time by ten percent. Notably, it achieves a 25 percent reduction in energy consumption compared to hydraulic cube machines. The innovation extends to enhanced cooling and cycle time reduction, employing independent hydraulic core pull movements on each cube face, optimizing cooling time and slashing production cycle time by up to 30 percent.
Cabot Corporation, booth S11005, is a leading global specialty chemicals and performance materials company headquartered in Boston, MA. Its purpose is creating materials that improve daily life and enable a more sustainable future. This year it presents a broad portfolio of specialty carbons, conductive additives, black masterbatch, and conductive compounds, suitable for a range of plastics applications from infrastructure and automotive to packaging as well as agriculture.
Enercon, booth W6643, exhibits one of the industry’s most comprehensive platforms of plasma, flame, and corona surface treating technologies. See plasma treaters in operation and how they improve surface adhesion on all types of plastics, composites, glass, and metals. Learn how the automotive, aerospace, consumer goods, construction, electrical, flexible packaging, medical, window, and door industries use Enercon treaters for adhesive assembly, printing, coating, decorating, potting, and bonding. Discover how Enercon’s Blown-ion 500 plasma treater is breaking barriers for surface treatment effectiveness and throughput. Find out why Enercon’s Flame Pro surface treater is a go-to flame solution. And, see how corona treaters handle all of your film extrusion, solventless laminating, coating, and printing needs.
GTI, booth S30192, highlights its updated portfolio of D65 LED color matching systems. Featured products include the CMB-2540/LED/FS, the MiniMatcher 4e/LED, the MiniMatcher 2e/LED, and PDV-2e/M/LED. The CMB-2540/LED and MiniMatcher-4e/LED both feature five LED light sources—daylight (D50 or D65 LED), 2700K LED, 3000K LED, 4000K LED, and a 315–400nm Black Light Blue LED. Alternate sources are available. The MiniMatcher 2e/LED and PDV-2e/M/LED include three LED sources—daylight (D50 or D65 LED), 2700K LED, and 4000K LED. The D65 LED source is compliant with ASTM D1729, ISO 3668, AATCC Procedure #9, and SAE J361 viewing standards. The 2700K, 3000K, and 4000K LED sources are for reviewing color in an end-use environment and testing for metamerism. The Black Light Blue LED source is used to detect fluorescents and optical brighteners.
Inkcups, booth S22065, exhibits its high-speed digital cylindrical printer, the Revolution. This printer offers full-color 360° graphics, exceptional print quality, and speed. At the event, the Revolution demonstrates decorating 12 oz. stadium cups with its automatic loading and unloading capabilities. Additionally, the Revolution features integrated pretreatment, as well as remarkable speed, printing up to 600 parts per hour. Additional machines on display in the Inkcups booth include the benchtop cylindrical inkjet printer the Helix ONE, as well as the X5-T UV flatbed printer.
Innovative Digital Systems (IDS), booth S18201, encourages attendees to print more, which is the main theme of its booth at the NPE show. A new UV rotary printer developed for the rapid and full-color decoration of plastic tubes and other small plastic vessels will be launched at the show. Plus, IDS unveils a new automatic load/unload system, designed to maximize the output of its UV rotary printers. As always, versatility is also on full display as a complete range of UV rotary and UV flatbed printer options are stationed in the booth.
KEYENCE Corporation, booths S11151 and S34129, is a worldwide developer and producer of factory automation and quality inspection equipment that includes—automation sensors, vision systems, laser markers, digital microscopes, and metrology systems. The innovative products meet customer requirements in every manufacturing and research industry.
Koenig & Bauer Kammann, booth S21083, specializes in providing cutting-edge decorating equipment tailored for direct printing on three-dimensional glass, plastic, or metal containers. Offerings include both traditional screenprinting products as well as innovative digital inkjet capabilities. At NPE it displays articles both screen and digitally decorated using various techniques. It features plastic articles that have been digitally decorated using a unique embossing process with multiple designs. It also has articles of all shapes, including articles with handles that have been decorated using digital technology.
Leister Technologies, LLC, booth 12038, showcases the FUSION 1 extrusion welder. It offers a compact and slim design. A double-sided rod intake offers increased flexibility, and an attachable handle ensures increased agility in the welding process. An integrated LED light illuminates the welding zone. The FUSION 1 is ideal for plastic repairs and in pipe, tank, and container construction.
LogoJET, booth S27206, is a UV direct-to-substrate printer manufacturer that provides five-star customer service experiences to businesses that want to print in house. Specializing in high-quality printing on all substrates including plastics, products range from small and mid-size to the new Strata Series large format printers, all including a three year warranty.
Mantle, booth S27055, designs and produces a metal three-dimensional (3D) printer built specifically for precision tooling. Mantle’s printer accelerates product development by automating how precision tool components are made. The metal 3D printing technology delivers the accuracy, surface finish, and tool steel properties required for demanding tooling applications. Tools made with Mantle’s technology have produced millions of parts while reducing tooling lead times and costs and helping manufacturers solve labor shortages.
Plasmatreat, booth W7479, focuses on pioneering advancements and forward-thinking initiatives in plastics manufacturing. With its Openair-Plasma technology, it presents a safe, efficient, and environmentally friendly alternative to conventional surface treatments for plastics. Trade show visitors can experience a demonstration of treatment and printing on polypropylene, which is a material with a low surface energy making it challenging for inks to adhere properly. Plasmatreat demonstrates how its technology can enhance the surface tension to greatly improve printability. In addition, watch real-time demonstrations of various plastic materials and learn how to test and measure surface readiness.
In May
NPE2024 promises to be worthwhile event. We look forward to reporting on all the product announcements as well as interesting conversation occurring at the show. And if you can’t make this year’s expo, plan ahead—the next one takes place in 2027!
Apr2024, Industrial Print Magazine
