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Gorazd Golob

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
gorazd.golob@jpmtr.org

The news section of the Journal: Topicalities

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Novel device for determining the effect of jetting shear on the stability of inkjet ink 

Patrick A.C. Gane^1,2, Monireh Imani¹, Katarina Dimić-Mišić¹ and Enn Kerner³

E-mails: patrick.gane@aalto.fi; monir.imani@aalto.fi; katarina.dimic.misic@aalto.fi; enn@trykitehno.eu

¹ School of Chemical Engineering, Department of Bioproducts and Biosystems, Aalto University, 00076 Aalto, Helsinki, Finland

² Faculty of Technology and Metallurgy, University of Belgrade, Karnegijeva 4, 11200 Belgrade, Serbia

³ International Circle of Educational Institutes for Graphic Arts, Technology and Management (IC) / Grafitek, 13512 Tallinn, Estonia

Abstract

Inkjet printing is a rapidly expanding technology for non-contact digital printing. The focus for the technology has changed from office printing of text and image documents increasingly toward wider applications, including largescale printing of on demand books and packaging or ultra-small-scale functional printing of microscopic volumes of precious/rare materials formulated for use in precisely printed digitally defined patterning arrays, such as printed diagnostics, flexible electronics, anti-counterfeiting, etc. For efficiency, as well as resource management and conservation, predicting the stable runnability of an inkjet ink remains largely a key unknown. Today the only way to know often means simply trialling it, which at best takes time, and at worst incurs costs rectifying possible equipment damage. We propose a mechanically driven displacement device providing constant high-shear flow rate through an extended capillary. This differs from a standard capillary viscometer, which is commonly pressure driven only and lacks the ability to mimic consistent volume flow inkjetting. The novel method is used to study the aqueous colloidal stability of polymer solution, latex polymer suspensions and complete pigment-containing inks, including a reference pigment only comprising suspension. The results reveal the tendency to build agglomerates, determined by dynamic light scattering particle size distribution, optical and electron microscopy. Liquid phase parameters, including surface tension, and suspension intrinsic viscosity are also studied. Repeated application of high shear is seen to act as a milling process for pigment and agglomerate building tendency for latex binder. Consequences for ink jettability are discussed.

Keywords: ink jettability, ink stability, nozzle blocking, shear-induced aggregation, ink flow testing

JPMTR-2015 Original scientific paper | 143
DOI  10.14622/JPMTR-2015
UDC 667.5-026.16:004.356

Received: 2020-11-26
Accepted: 2021-02-23

Yellowing of UV varnishes with focus on its temporal behaviour and correlations between intensities and degrees of polymerisation

Tim Stiene¹, Daniel Bohn¹, Tobias Enk¹, Florian Wahl² and Peter Urban¹

E-mails: stiene@uni-wuppertal.de; dbohn@uni-wuppertal.de; toenk@uni-wuppertal.de; florian.wahl@gsb-wahl.de; purban@uni-wuppertal.de

¹ University of Wuppertal, School of Electrical, Information and Media Engineering, Rainer-Gruenter-Straße 21, D-42119 Wuppertal, Germany

² GSB-Wahl GmbH, Buchenteich 1, D-73773 Aichwald, Germany

Abstract

This work discusses the curing-induced discolouration of UV varnishes, the so-called ‘yellowing’. A study of 47 market available acrylic-based UV varnishes from five manufacturers shows that all varnishes exhibit significant yellowing. In order to clarify if yellowing can be exploited for monitoring the cure of the varnishes, three varnishes are analysed in detail, including one low-migration and one photoinitiator-free self-initiating formulation. For this purpose, the applied varnishes are measured with respect to yellowing as well as their actual polymerisation degrees. Both measures are checked for correlations to develop a novel method for monitoring the degree of polymerisation based on colourimetric measurements. Additionally, the temporal behaviour of the yellowing is determined as it is of significant importance when considering a practical usage of the yellowing approach.

Keywords: UV curing, temporal yellowing, discolouration, colourimetry, FTIR-ATR spectroscopy

JPMTR-2102 Research paper | 144
DOI  10.14622/JPMTR-2102
UDC 678.7:667.6|535.3:543.4

Received: 2021-01-18
Accepted: 2021-03-15

Scenario planning development for a multi-national printing ink company facing digital disruption in Indonesian print media industry

Bambang Catur Suhariyono, Yos Sunitiyoso and Ahmad Yuniarto

E-mails: bambang_suhariyono@sbm-itb.ac.id; yos.sunitiyoso@sbm-itb.ac.id; ahmad.yuniarto@sbm-itb.ac.id

School of Business and Management, Institut Teknologi Bandung, Ganesha 10, Bandung 40132, Indonesia

Abstract

The rapid development of digital technology gives disruptive influences on the value of goods or services. New media communication technology offers media convergence that provides accessible speed, flexibility, and updated information. The existence of print media has become less common in the market. This affects all print media industry suppliers, including a printing ink company. The company will get decreasing revenue, especially if most of its current revenue comes from print media ink sales. Digital disruption is a certain thing, but uncertainty in print media arises because of the pros and cons of using digital devices for children’s education, the freedom of online journalism that provides doubtful information, and the emergence of community media. The printing ink company also needs to prepare itself by making a strategy for the future that is full of those uncertainties. In this case, scenario planning can help the company to manage the uncertain future so that they can quickly adapt to the changes or the critical situations in the future and manage the complexity of turbulence, uncertainty, novelty, and ambiguity, that happen in the current Covid-19 pandemic. The key focal issue of this research is how digital disruption in the print media industry in Indonesia will affect a multi-national printing ink company over the next five years. The research involved experts from a multi-national printing ink company, a magazine publisher, a university, a digital printing consultant, a business consultant, and a disrupted public transport provider. Through intensive focus group discussion applying iterative reframing and re-perception, many driving forces were identified, two critical uncertainties were defined, and a scenario framework was created. The four scenarios came up as the result of the interaction between limited or widely available global ink supply and changes in people’s behavior from conventional to digital media. These scenarios describe future challenges for the print media industry in Indonesia that are very dynamic. The company must be able to respond to emerging scenarios and adapt the strategies accordingly.

Keywords: future scenarios, uncertainty, pandemic, business strategy, management

JPMTR-2101 Case study | 145
DOI  10.14622/JPMTR-2101
UDC 667.5:005.521:655.1(594)

Received: 2021-01-11
Accepted: 2021-02-16

Coming face to face with innovation and digitisation: the case of book printing in Spain

Marta Magadán-Díaz and Jesús I. Rivas-García

E-mails: marta.magadan@unir.net; jesus.rivas@unir.net

Universidad Internacional de La Rioja, Faculty of Business Administration and Communication, Av. de la Paz, 137, 26006 Logroño, La Rioja, Spain

Abstract

This paper deals with how technological change and digitization in the Spanish book printing sector are challenging existing business models and encouraging printers to modify their product portfolio and core competencies. This research analyzes the impact of digitization on the business models of Spanish book printing houses. The case studies conclude that: a) book printing houses, although aware of the necessary digital transformation, continue to maintain the traditional business model alongside the new one, b) customers are the main driving force for digital transformation in book printing houses, c) there is a trade-off between cultural and environmental policies as drivers of the paradigm shift in book printing houses and d) the digital context is a motivating factor for book printing houses to integrate vertically downstream.

Keywords: core competences, cultural policy, digital transformation, book printing house, business model

JPMTR-2008 Case study | 146
DOI  10.14622/JPMTR-2008
UDC 655.1(460)004.91(02)

Received: 2020-05-04
Accepted: 2021-02-16