Programme

Agenda and Content

DAY 1

INKJET CHEMISTRY OVERVIEW
Primers and inks | Plastics-specific chemistry

INKJET PHYSICS OVERVIEW
Printhead landscape (piezo, thermal and others) | Ink channel design | Fluid dynamics | Waveform generation and meniscus behaviour | Drop formation | Grayscale formation | Data path and printhead electronics 

FLUID DELIVERY
Ink supply landscape | Meniscus and pressure control | Recirculation vs. gravity

TECHNOLOGY ECOSYSTEM
Hardware, process, integration | Plastics printing machine overview | Machine design and modularity | Market segments 


DAY 2

PRE-TREATMENT
Surface behaviour, energy and tension | One-time vs. multiple treatment | Flame and silane treatment | Influence of primers and additives | Ink adhesion strength and ink detachment | Hydrophobic vs. hydrophilic | Corona and plasma treatment

PRINTHEADS, INK CHARACTERISATION AND FUNCTIONALITY 
Manufacturer overview | Object geometry (linear vs. helical jetting) | High resolution vs. high laydown | Waveforms | UV and water-based and solvent inks | The White Ink Dilemma | Ink composition and density | Surfactants, PIs and cosolvents | Temperature sensitivity | Safety and sustainability | Degassing and filtration 

DROP WATCHING
Drop placement | Strategies for missing nozzles and image stitching | Grayscale generation vs. binary printing modes | Drop formation and waveform


DAY 3

INK FORMULATION
Solvent, UV and water-based ink formulation | Components and additives | Pigments (organic, inorganic) and dyes

CURING AND DRYING
IR and nIR | UV and UV LED | Curing issues by reflection around the object or in machine | Dosage and output | Wavelength influences

IMAGE QUALITY AND COLOUR MANAGEMENT
RIP overview | Colour gamut (CMYK vs. EG printing) | Spectrophotometers and light reflection on plastics | Traditional vs. spherical light sources | Printer linearisation and profiling | Ink saving strategies | Ink-surface dependencies and artefacts 


DAY 4

PATENTS AND INNOVATIONS, MARKET AND TRENDS OUTLOOK
Selected patents and innovations from inkjet printing on plastics | Haptic lacquers and layering techniques | Helix vs. segmented print | 3D object printing software | Mergers and acquisitions | Supplier ecosystem

PERSPECTIVES OF THE PLASTICS INDUSTRY
Insights from the industry

SUSTAINABILITY
CO2 reduction with UV LED curing | Energy consumption | De-inking of organic vs. inorganic inks | Bio-plastics | Eco-solvents

PROBLEM SOLVING, OPEN DISCUSSION
Pre-treatment | Ink wetting, adhesion and robustness | Filling lines | Filled goods | Lip contact lines | Stitching and pinning | Printhead motion control Printing irregular shapes | Printhead motion control

 

Programme

2-5 December 2024, Selb, Germany

Monday, 2/12/24

13:00-13:30 Lunch and welcome
13:30-15:00 Inkjet chemistry overview
15:00-16:30 Inkjet physics overview
16:30-17:30 Fluid delivery
17:30-18:00 Technology ecosystem

 

Tuesday, 3/12/24

09:00-10:00 Pre-treatment
10:00-11:00 Printheads, ink characterisation and functionality, filtration
11:00-12:00 Drop watching
12:00-13:00 Lunch break
13:00-17:30 Practice sessions in groups: Surface treatment, Ink characterisation and filtration, Ink supply and drop watching
18:00 Social evening

 

Wednesday, 4/12/24

09:00-09:40 Ink formulation
09:40-10:20 UV curing
10:20-11:00 (N)IR drying
11:00-12:00 Image quality and colour management
12:00-13:00 Lunch break
13:00-17:30 Practice sessions in groups: UV curing, (N)IR drying, colour management

 

Thursday, 5/12/24

09:00-10:00 Patents and innovations, market and trends outlook
10:00-10:30 Perspectives of the plastics industry
10:30-11:00 Sustainability
11:00-12:00 Problem solving and open discussion
12:00-13:00 Certificates and (take-away) lunch

 

For whom

The ESMA Academy is targeted towards companies who:
• want to obtain a well-founded overview on digital printing technologies, especially on piezo inkjet, in order to make an educated decision to what extend inkjet technologies could be integrated into their production process.
• want to obtain basic inkjet know-how in order to plan a possible introduction of inkjet technologies into their organisation and facilitate their investment decisions.
• are planning to start with inkjet or have already installed inkjet equipment in their organisation but are still at the very beginning of the learning process.

Tutors

Oliver Baatz, Pall
Jochen Christiaens, ImageXpert
Oliver Kammann, K-Flow Consulting
Dominik Malecha, Kunststoff Institute Lüdenscheid
Adam Strevens, Neatjet
Tri Tuladhar, Trijet


ESMA Certificate

Participants will receive a certificate after attending all sessions.

Organised by ESMA

ESMA is the knowledge platform for industrial, functional and specialist printing technologies.

 

Successful track record

Inaugurated in 2017, ESMA Academy courses have been successfully completed and highly valued by almost 200 alumni. During theory and practice sessions, internationally recognised and impartial tutors share their expertise in the state-of-the-art industrial print technology. Now we launch a series of application-based courses to explain the potential of digital inkjet printing for various market segments. 

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