The popularity of soft touch coating and UV ink supply challenges are on the agenda

• Soft touch coating has emerged as a leading trend for both sheetfed and flexo printers
• Printers seek answers to the current and future global supply chain of key raw materials for UV ink supplies
• Koenig & Bauer (US) continues its staunch support of UV printing as the event’s platinum sponsor for the 12th year

Addressing the growing demand for soft touch coating, Koenig & Bauer’s director of technology Chris Travis will lead a discussion on this topic at the 12th annual Print UV 2019 conference on March 27-29 at the Encore by Wynn resort in Las Vegas. His colleague Dirk Winkler will discuss the ink supply challenge and how Koenig & Bauer is solving it. Koenig & Bauer (US) is a proud platinum sponsor of this important event since its inception in 2007.

Travis will bring his unique and knowledgeable style to Thursday’s afternoon session on soft touch print coatings and how this look can deliver the perception of quality to any print job.

“Soft touch has absolutely blown up in popularity in the past year,” says Travis. “Five years ago, the popular trend was visual gloss, then it shifted to matte, and now printers are clamoring to use soft touch for its tactile feel. It provides a distinct message to any print job, a high-end classy coating. It’s a huge trend in both sheetfed and flexo printing.”

Soft touch is a specialized coating that, when applied, creates a velvety texture on printed materials and increases its tactile appeal. Travis and his panel of experts will outline the key steps in producing this process and answering questions on when to use UV or aqueous, what are you trying to achieve, can soft touch be produced with LED, what kind of substrates work best with soft touch, how to set up the dryer on press, and is it okay to use soft touch as a matte.

On Friday afternoon, Winkler will turn to the urgent matter of ink supply reduction by leading a panel of ink vendors and press manufacturers. With ink and coating suppliers letting customers know that they need to qualify a new product because their raw material supplier in another country can’t ship what is required, printers across the country have been asking about the current global supply chain of key raw materials for inks and coatings. What is going on and why? In this seminar, a complete range of their questions will be answered. What is the China Blue Skies Initiative and what does it mean for printers? How are the new tariffs impacting a printer if its materials are not from China? Why can’t the necessary materials be sourced in North America? Discussion will center on photo-initiators used for EB/UV products. Winkler will address the participants from a press manufacturer’s standpoint. The seminar will conclude by answering what the future will hold and providing some tricks that can be used to predict supply.

“Dirk and I enjoy participating in this annual conference because it brings together the best UV printers in the country where they can learn about the newest trends and how to accelerate their profits in this fast-changing print market,” says Travis. “We join other experienced UV practitioners providing new strategies from sales to manufacturing to the development of innovative new products and services. It’s been gratifying to see how UV has grown from a niche technology into a mainline process and we’re pleased that our company has been such a staunch supporter from the very first conference to encourage, promote, and sustain the growth of UV printing in our graphic communications industry.”

The Print UV Conference is the premier all-in-one conference event for leaders in the global UV printing industry. Commercial, packaging and specialty printers meet annually in Las Vegas to network, engage with printers and leading suppliers, uncover new ideas and growth opportunities, dive deep into core UV processes with experts from multiple fields and hear case studies from successful UV print initiatives around the world.

Koenig & Bauer (US) is located in Dallas, Texas and a member of the Koenig & Bauer Group, which was established 200 years ago in Würzburg, Germany. Koenig & Bauer’s claim, “We’re on it.” gets to the heart of Koenig & Bauer’s values and competencies for all target groups. The group's product range is the broadest in the industry; its portfolio includes sheetfed offset presses in all format classes, post press die cutting, folder gluers, inkjet presses and systems, flexographic presses, commercial and newspaper web presses, corrugated presses, special presses for banknotes, securities, metal-decorating, glass and plastic decorating. For more information visit the company's web site at www.koenig-bauer.com. 

Left to right: Koenig & Bauer’s Dirk Winkler and Chris Travis will lead important discussions at the 12th annual Print UV 2019 conference on March 27-29 at the Encore by Wynn resort in Las Vegas.