The future of IST METZ GmbH is green. With its focus on energy efficiency, Nürtingen’s UV system manufacturer will be further establishing its expertise at the printing trade fair drupa from 3 to 16 May in Düsseldorf: New, energy-saving units and LED technology will be the topics addressed at the 416 square-metre trade fair stand, which will also display the UV specialist’s new trade fair slogan “more³”.

With its mission statement “more than UV”, IST METZ GmbH has been referring to its broad spectrum of services for more than ten years now. There is a new trade fair slogan this year, right on time for the printing trade fair drupa: “With the term ‘more³’, we are updating our corporate philosophy of ‘more than UV’. We see ourselves as a full service provider of solutions for UV technology, and not just a system manufacturer. Furthermore, we have managed to integrate our product label for particularly energy-efficient UV units into the new slogan – that’s what the ‘e³’ stands for,” explains Dirk Jaegers, Managing Director of IST METZ, regarding the trade fair visit.

Printing demonstration: a journey through time with UV
The company is all set to impress visitors at drupa 2012 with its “energy efficient equipment”. “By using two printing presses for the printing demonstration at our trade fair stand, visitors will be able to see with their very own eyes just how energy-efficient and thus environmentally friendly our UV drying is,” continues Jaegers. For the demonstrations, the team from IST METZ has come up with a special theme: The 35 years of IST will be told using the journey of UV technology and contemporary events. This will involve the printing of all the parts of a tangram puzzle game on a Heidelberg Speedmaster XL 75-5+L. The cardboard of the outer packaging can be cured using just one lamp LE UV thanks to the use of highly-reactive inks and varnishes, while the playing instructions will be produced with UV inks on transparent PET film with a strength of 250 μm. A plastic effect results from the combination of offset and flexo printing. The shell of the playing pieces is made from Tyvek, an extremely durable material that proves difficult to process using conventional printing procedures. However, with UV, this has become the starting point for surprising, new applications. The use of UV technology ensures there is a consistently high print quality and facilitates immediate processing of the end results, while using less material and requiring lower levels of energy.

New, energy-saving product series
Visitors to the stand will also be able to find out about the two new product series from IST: The BLK-6 is a newly developed UV system, designed to meet application requirements in rotary printing. When compared to conventional UV systems, extraordinary progress has been made in drying performance here without any increase in UV lamp output. This means greater productivity with reduced operating costs.

The intelligent IPS control system governs all functions and components of the UV system. The BLK-6 systems are fitted with a UV online sensor as standard, which is integrated into the UV unit and facilitates the measurement of UV radiated power. The BLK-6 is also extraordinarily efficient. Instead of three BLK-2 type units (with 200 W/cm) as before, now the same excellent drying results can be achieved with just two new BLK-6 units (with 180 W/cm). Operating costs have been considerably lowered thanks to a significant reduction in current consumption.

New products for label printing
IST METZ is also focussing on the efficient use of energy in label printing with the innovative UV system MBS-6. Thanks to the completely redesigned URS Duo reflector geometry, just one lamp output of 120 W/cm is required to achieve the same drying results as those from lamp outputs up to 200 W/cm. The energy saved has a direct impact on the customer’s electricity bill. “This has been possible due to optimally designed control systems, a new reflector geometry and, of course, the use of highly efficient UV lamps in the drying units,” says Dirk Jaegers.

With more than 500 employees worldwide, the international UV system manufacturer wants to set new standards in the fiercely contested UV market: After establishing the versatility of UV technology, IST METZ is now proving that the era of high-consumption units is finally over. This has recently been seen in the inkjet printing sector: IST METZ GmbH will be holding practical demonstrations at drupa, highlighting the high-performance of UV LEDs in the area of drying.

Using an inkjet printing press from manufacturer m print, IST METZ will be demonstrating an integrated solution for the drying of UV inks on self-adhesive materials. This involves an IST MBS-5 LI end-of-press drying and a VTwin Plus LED pinning system from strategic partner Integration Technology Ltd. (ITL). Self-adhesive banderoles for bars of chocolate will be manufactured on the machine.

IST boasting large product portfolio
IST METZ will be more than prepared for the visitors with its large product portfolio in Hall 2, Stand B20. “We are confident we will be leaving a lasting impression on the approximately 400,000 trade visitors coming from all over the world,” says Dirk Jaegers.

The company has already enjoyed success at previous drupa events: Taking part in the world’s largest event held every four years, IST METZ GmbH has always been the only UV drying system manufacturer with its own printing demonstrations at the trade fair stand. That there will be two printing presses operating simultaneously this year on the approximately 416 square-metre stand will no doubt cement its position as one of the leading exhibitors. Dirk Jaegers: “With this trade fair appearance, we will be successfully showing everyone what we do and underlining our position as the leading manufacturer for the years to come.”