Marabu at FESPA 2015

At Fespa 2015, Marabu will be showcasing its complete range of screen, pad, and digital printing inks. The ink manufacturer presents itself as a competent partner for industrial and graphical applications. Customers can also benefit from the combination of the various printing technologies.

At this year’s FESPA in Cologne, Marabu (hall 7, stand M25) will be showcasing its engagement for innovative industrial and graphical applications in the screen, digital, and pad printing market as well as its wide range of liquid coatings. Highlights will be printing solutions for glass, container printing, industrial printing applications for automotive, touch panels and 3C as well as textile and graphical digital printing.

Glass decoration at the highest stage

To achieve high-gloss gold and silver effects, the glass industry generally employs ceramic inks. These are expensive to purchase, and the firing process is energy-intensive and therefore costly. Organic UV inks are cheaper, but do not produce the same glossy effects. In Cologne, Marabu will present an attractive alternative: hot stamping with UV inks. The required image or text is screen-printed onto the glass surface with Ultra Glass UVGL primer, serving as a type of cliche for the hot foil. The foil is transferred onto the pre-printed ink film, either through roll-on stamping or vertical stamping – the foil only adheres to the areas that were primed with UVGL. The result is a high-gloss gold and silver finish at a much lower price.

Marabu’s Ultra Glass UV ink series provide the leading UV screen printing inks on the market. They feature the most comprehensive portfolio of their kind including basic shades, metallics and etch imitations. As a universal ink solution for glass printing, the Ultra Glass UV ink series have proven their strengths in the market for years. Marabu’s UV glass inks can be used even more flexible: In addition to conventional UV-curing with iron and mercury lamps, there is also an Ultra Glass UV-version for UV-LED-curing available –another plus for the Ultra Glass ink series.

Additionally, Marabu will present its Mara^® Glass MGL solvent-based screen printing ink and the new Tampa^® Glass TPGL pad printing ink for glass decoration. MGL is ideal for high-gloss results on flat glass. Durable TPGL ink is suitable for a variety of tasks, and performs especially well on rounded objects such as small glass jars for cosmetics. Both MGL ink for screen printing and TPGL ink for pad printing adhere well to a wide variety of substrates, and ensure brilliant precise colours. These inks were developed in line with the latest standards, and according to strict EU directives and hazardous materials requirements.

Printing on packaging – High-quality, efficient, tailor-made

Marabu’s screen and pad printing inks can be used to create unique designs on packaging of all shapes and sizes. For printing on PET bottle closures, pad printing ink Tampa^® RotaSpeed TPRS or the halogen-free TPHF deliver efficient, cost-effective results for rotary systems. High adhesion and rapid drying mean seamless production processes and finished products that are scratch-resistant, even when packaged in bulk.

The new Ultra Pack LEDC is a LED-curable screen printing ink which delivers excellent results in terms of adhesion, opacity, degree of gloss, and reactivity. It is suitable for container printing and flatbed label applications. The good opacity works especially for full area prints or text.

Inkjet printing directly onto PET or glass bottles opens the door to completely new possibilities in pack-aging designs. Depending on system configuration, it is possible to complete smaller custom jobs or large-volume production runs at very high speeds.

Industrial printing solutions for automotive, touch panels and 3C applications

Screen printing is ideal for detailed dashboard components such as speedometers, switches, and other controls. Mara^® Mold MPC is particularly suitable for plastic elements produced using inmould technology, as it offers exceptionally good adhesion to injection-moulded materials and high resistance to mechanical strain. And using Marabu’s pad printing inks Tampa^® Flex TPF, Tampa^® Star TPR, Tampa^® Pur TPU, and Tampa^® Pol TPY, it is possible to create tailor-made solutions for speedometer needles, display elements, and engine covers.

Membrane switches and keyboards – an integral part of many electronic control units – also place specific requirements on the printing process. Marabu offers solvent-based or UV-curable ink systems like the Ultra Switch UVSW for all common makes of foil.

On many devices, membrane switches are increasingly being replaced by glass touch panels. The combination of electronics with state-of-the-art glass products results in durable surfaces that are easy to keep clean – making them suitable for medical equipment and building-control systems, for example. UV-curable, solvent-based inks such as Marabu’s Ultra Glass UVGL and Mara^® Glass MGL are ideal for printing on touch panels. These highly adhesive screen printing inks feature high resistance to alcohol and chemicals. High-opacity inks such as MG3C and UVG3C are used on 3C devices, such as smart phones and tablets.

Printing onto textiles – Sublimations inks and label-free direct printing

In the field of water-based digital textile printing inks, Marabu presents its versatile Texa^® Jet DX range. The hybrid sublimation ink Texa^® Jet DX-SHE is suitable for traditional transfer printing as well as for direct printing onto pre-treated polyester fabrics. Its full colour brilliance can be achieved on machines with Epson DX4 and DX5 print heads. Especially for transfer printing and optimized for Epson DX6 and DX7 print heads, Marabu has developed Texa^® Jet DX-STE, which is ideal for printing on very thin paper. The wide variety of applications includes all textiles with at least 60% polyester as well as rigid materials pre-coated with polyester.

The use of label-free printing is an interesting application especially for manufacturers of sportswear. Marabu will display its Tampa^® Tex TPX pad printing ink which is certified according to Oeko-Tex^® Standard 100. The direct printing of size specifications, washing instructions or logos onto textiles with Tampa^® Tex TPX keeps up the wearing comfort because no sew-in labels are necessary.

Graphical digital printing

On the Marabu booth, there will be a separate area for graphical digital printing applications including interesting LIVE prints. Part of the presentation will be UV-curable, water-based and solvent-based digital printing inks, including for the first time the solvent-based Mara^® Jet DI-SX Plug&Print inkjet ink suitable for the latest generation of Roland and Epson printers. The health-friendly ink system provides a nickel-free yellow, light black and shiny metallic shades.

Water-based liquid coating protection for digital prints

As a part of the graphical digital printing area Marabu will spotlight their Mara^® Shield product range, comprising UV-curable and water-based liquid laminates. Mara^® Shield liquid coatings can be used as primers, for finishing, as a protective coating for high-quality digital prints, or, in the new UV-CGL shades, for colouring large glass surfaces. In Cologne, the focus is on the glossy, water-based Mara^® Shield WA-FXG liquid coatings, which is especially suited for coating inkjet prints on flexible substrates like fleet graphics and self-adhesive foils. Mara^® Shield WA-FXG can either be applied automatically by Roller Coater or manually using a roller, spray gun, or other applicators.

In the past, Marabu presented its main areas, screen and pad printing as well as digital printing, in two separate halls. The decision this year to focus on one joint stand reflects the trend within the industry: The printing industry is no longer strictly divided into analog and digital applications. Just now, many applications benefit from the combination of screen, digital, and pad printing. At FESPA 2015, Marabu presents itself as a reliable development partner across all printing technologies.

Marabu GmbH & Co. KG

Marabu is a leading global manufacturer of liquid coatings and screen, digital, and pad inks with headquarters near Stuttgart, Germany. Marabu’s track record of innovation stretches back to 1859, featuring many industry-first solutions for both industrial applications and graphic design. With its 15 subsidiaries and exclusive distribution partners, Marabu offers high-quality products and customer-specific services in more than 80 countries. Exceptional technical support, hands-on customer training, and environmental protection are core elements of its corporate philosophy. Sustainable business practices are also key to Marabu’s vision. These have been implemented through a number of initiatives, with concrete results – and the company is committed to maintaining this course of action in future. Marabu has been certified to ISO 9001 since 1995 and to ISO 14001 since 2003.