IST America: UV’s Multi-Faceted Solution

Errol Moebius, president and CEO of IST America

While much recent interest has been paid, in recent years, to the development of LED UV as a reliable curing technology for offset printing applications, Errol Moebius, president and CEO of IST America, shares that system choice is not an either/or. “We’re looking at solution development,” he said, from IST’s booth at the recent PRINTING United Expo. “There is a lot of thought and discussion about wanting to cure something, but that brings questions.” He says, in some cases, combination curing systems – for instance mixing traditional UV curing with LED-UV – can bring the best performance at the best levels of efficiency.

LED-UV has become a mainstream curing technology choice in the commercial printing segment and is offered by major press manufacturers. Moebius says IST manufactures curing modules for OEM offset press manufacturers, and also for individual customers through its IST Intec solution. While he says he receives a lot of questions from PSPs looking to retrofit offset presses with LED-UV, he adds that the PSP must understand which curing system is correct for its intended use. It needs to match the application.

Traditional or LED?

The development of UV-curing systems, Moebius says, is ongoing. In LED-UV curing, he says IST is working to further strengthen the technology’s capabilities. This includes adjusting light sources to increase the rapidity of full curing and looking at the curability of some inks and coatings, as well as surface tensions. Today, traditional UV offers a much wider spectrum of UV curing rays than LED. Because of this, he says combo systems are often a needed option.

LED UV curing, Moebius says, has many recognized advantages: it’s more sustainable, and has a lower cost of operation given its longer lamp life and lower energy use compared to traditional UV systems. Further, LED holds an advantage because of its low levels of heat generation. This can give access to new materials, such as synthetics. Further, he says LED is, “lighter, more nimble. It can get into smaller equipment now – [resulting in] smaller, more compact systems.”

For packaging applications, Moebius says, UV curing is well established, and a strong focus is on sustainability. “How much more efficient and lower cost can we make production?” he asks. Further, materials come into play – curing system developers need to respond to the substrates converters are using today, which include, “paper to plastic to recycled stock.”

IST’s Diversity of Knowledge

But the UV curing industry is not focused only on the printing industry. IST, Moebius says, also focuses on other industries including flooring, aerospace, automotive, medical, and water purification. He says that as an industry, UV is ever changing. This includes, for instance, moves into 3D printing, adhesives, and glues. “So many things are changing,” he says, “so we have to respond to the market.” He adds that IST has a strong knowledge base and can use that to put solutions together. “We stand on the edge of being a solution provider for today and in the future … continuous research and development are underway.”