Boxmeer, Netherlands - SPGPrints will host the IGI Technical Conference for the wallcover industry at its global headquarters in Boxmeer, the Netherlands, on 17^th and 18^thOctober 2016.

The IGI Technical Conference is an annual two-day event that brings together senior managers from the wallcover manufacturing companies around the world, to learn about trends and technologies affecting the industry and to exchange ideas. It is organised by IGI, the Global Wallcoverings Association. This year, SPGPrints welcomes over 120 delegates to attend presentations on topics including legislation, sustainability and the latest developments in print processes. 

One of the papers focuses on advances in digital inkjet printing – an area where SPGPrints has assumed a leadership position, through significant R&D investments in the past 20 years.

Bas Hoijtink, commercial manager Industrial Applications at SPGPrints, comments: “Digital printing technology has proven to be a game-changer, opening up opportunities for short runs, greater design flexibility, fast turnarounds, simplified supply chains and cost reductions. At SPGPrints, wehave enabled textile printers worldwide to exploit these opportunities by launching a precision inkjet technology that rivals the speed, colour gamut and quality of analogue processes. As visitors to the IGI Technical Conference will discover, we are working to bring this technology to the wallcover industry, too.”  

SPGPrints’ new inkjet technology has proven performance in the textile industry, following a series of successful, ground-breaking machine and ink launches in the last 12 months. These include the single-pass PIKE® printer with production capacity of 13 million metres per year, the JAVELIN® printer, with an annual capacity of two million metres, and a range of inks, all manufactured in-house.

Both PIKE and JAVELIN feature SPGPrints’ unique Archer^® print head technology, providing controlled, clean ink delivery. The nozzles are 4mm from the substrate, compared with the more usual 1.5mm nozzle-fabric distance. This means a wider range of substrates can be run, a reduction of the chance of print head damage. Archer technology enables a gamut wider than the HD-gamut of other digital textile printing solutions.

The printers use an array of Fujifilm Dimatix Samba print heads to cover the 1850mm width with sharp image production. Fine line details, smooth gradients, blotches and geometrics can be accurately printed thanks to variable drop-size capability (2pL – 10pL) at resolutions of up to 1200 x 1200dpi.

SPGPrints is preparing to make this technology accessible to the wallcover industry also. During the conference, there will be working demonstrations of the PIKE printer, giving visitors the opportunity to appreciate the performance innovations of SPGPrints’ inkjet technology at first hand.

SPGPrints’ range of NEBULA inkjet inks for textile applications offers a broad colour gamut, optimised drying and excellent runnability, with all digital printers using Kyocera print heads.  

SPGPrints secured its reputation as the industry leader over 50 years ago with its invention of the rotary screen process that quickly became the dominant technology in textile and wallcover printing.  

Bas Hoijtink concludes: “The IGI Technical Conference is a vital forum for exchanging ideas, making the industry better placed to meet market needs and remain at the forefront of competition. As this year’s hosts, we are delighted to be promoting the discussion about the industry’s next steps, at a time when the emerging digital process opens up new, exciting opportunities. We hope delegates find the visit to both the conference and our Boxmeer mill a valuable and memorable experience.”