PACKAGING
Today, as well as printed circuit boards and transistors, print can deliver a variety of other mainstream applications, including lighting, LEDs, photovoltaics, and even skincare patches.”
ackaging has been a prime driver in the development of printed electronics, from RFID to QR
codes and other digitally ‘readable’ data. The printing expertise, specialist materials, and conductive inks required to reliably create these ‘intelligent’ functions have long been a speciality of the label production chain. This is an extended value chain which is supported by a single umbrella organisation in Europe, FINAT, the international association for the self-adhesive label industry. Educating and supporting its member companies, as well as the industry in general, on newly-developing technologies, such as printed electronics, is an ongoing focus for FINAT. A recent members-only expert webinar on printed electronics provided a valuable update on existing applications and potential opportunities for printers in the narrow-web flexo market - not just in packaging or labels.
New Directions for Label Printers
music wirelessly through a Bluetoothenabled smartphone or tablet. Touching the artwork on different spots triggers musical chords that are meant to add an extra level of engagement with the new Schwartz products. It is conductive inks that turn the surface area of the paper into an interactive interface. Adding new dimensions such as sound or movement to display print is certainly an innovative way to enhance a consumer’s perception of, and interest in, a product.
OPPOSITE: Today print can deliver a variety of applications, including printed circuit boards. BELOW: The sonic poster features Novalia’s capacitive touch technology.
Presented by Chris Jones of Novalia, conductive print and capacitive touch specialists based in the UK, the webinar encouraged label industry delegates to think ‘out of the box’. “By combining extant mainstream equipment, consumables, and expertise, they can create state-of-the-art printed electronics that, in addition to scannability, bring the dimensions of touch, sound and vision into play to add real additional functionality or even ‘must have’ desirability to a product or its packaging,” explained Chris Jones. “Today, as well as printed circuit boards and transistors, print can deliver a variety of other mainstream applications, including lighting, LEDs, photovoltaics, and even skincare patches, and features strongly in automotive, aviation, architectural and military applications, and in pharmaceuticals and healthcare, toys, music and, of course, brand protection and anticounterfeiting.”
The World of the Smartphone In a world where the majority of the population has a smartphone, the opportunities to link up such instruments to interact, via printed electronics, with what would appear to be simple printed posters or other items is now attracting more and more interest internationally. Outdoor advertising and displays are good examples. As part of the launch for their new Flavour Shots herbs and spices range, Schwartz used a ‘sonic poster’ featuring Novalia’s capacitive touch technology. The paper poster, when touched, plays
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