Consumables
Neschen at ICE Europe 2009: Hall 3, Stand 3-D01
Tuesday 08. September 2009 - From adhesive application to top coating for printable media
Bückeburg coating specialist, Neschen AG, is showing its high performance films and other industrial coating solutions at the International Converting Exhibition in Munich. Modern self-adhesive products and high-quality coated media for a variety of applications will be on display on Stand 3-D01 in Hall 3 from 24th to 26th November.
“The ICE exhibition is an ideal platform for Neschen to bring its suppliers, purchasers, dealers, advisors and developers up to date about our new products and current market developments and for us to make new business contacts” said Frank Seemann, Marketing & Communications manager at Neschen AG.
This year, Neschen AG will be 120 years old. The traditional company, which has its head office in Bückeburg, has many years experience in adhesives application. “We coat strip materials consisting of films, papers, textiles and non-wovens with water-based or solvent-based adhesives, hot melts and heat-reactive adhesives coatings and lacquers” said Frank Seemann, Marketing & Communications manager at Neschen AG. Neschens coating professionals are masters when it comes to the technologies which are commonly used for adhesive application. “Our 30 staff in R&D develop individual, customised solutions which can be quickly introduced.”
Neschen has the relevant know-how both from the numerous customer projects it has already undertaken and from a wide product portfolio in the documents, graphics and technical coatings business areas. With sites in the key markets in the USA, England and Germany, delivery times and routes are short.
Know-how transfer: from self-adhesive protective book films and films for printing and advertising technology to technical coatings
Examples from the documents sector are self-adhesive protective book films (filmolux) and paper-based repair tapes – the name Neschen is well known to almost every librarian. Millions of book spines have already been repaired using Neschen materials. In the graphics sector, there are also numerous applications for coatings (self-adhesive plotter films, coloured films and self-adhesive films for digital printing e.g. for advertising technology and adhesive films for the automotive industry etc.) are ordered and used all over the world. Latest example: the digitally printed textile-fibre wallpapers from Erfurt. By using a special CA coating (Colour-Alliance certificated), the Erfurt digital textile wallpapers can be designed and printed individually on large-format inkjet printers. Since plastic-coated wallpapers possess properties which are unpleasant for the customer (they can sometimes be full of pollutants, contain plasticisers and give off aromatic and acrylate vapours which may be harmful to health) Erfurt uses a textile which is based on special cellulose and textile fibres combined with polymer binders not containing PVC or releasing plasticisers.
Neschen is now the market leader in top coatings for digital printing. “Because we are committed to the Colour Alliance, a large proportion of digital printable Neschen media are provided with the CA top coating – which guarantees that the quality is uniformly high” said Frank Seemann. With top coating, different substrates are “bonded” to a coating which accordingly shows different properties, e.g. the top-coating inkjet. The coating machine is set to top coating and the CA layer applied. The materials are then optimised for printing and therefore produce consistently high-quality printing results.
Over the years, Neschen has consistently expanded its extensive know-how in adhesive development and application to other industrial products. Frank Seemann: “With “technical coating”, we have now established a division for adhesive application which caters for industrial applications alone”. There are many example applications – here are just a few. Neschen has developed a so-called “dot adhesive” for the office sector. By inserting small adhesive spots in the coating, mounting photos, for example, is now childs play. The adhesive is reversible and can be easily removed and corrected. On the other hand, there are incision films which are used in medical technology and are designed to make sure that the operation is carried out cleanly and safely. Then there are the coated furniture films which are used successfully in the manufacture of kitchen furniture etc. Provided with a high gloss lacquer coating, the hardness and scratch-resistance of this special décor film makes it suitable for deep drawing, which means that the furniture film can be made to fit the shape of the furniture exactly.
Development with the customer
These types of special applications can only be developed in close collaboration with the customer. A team of 30 developers and experienced application technologists makes sure that the customer quickly gets an economic solution for his application problem. “New coatings for book protection, printing, advertising and technical applications are developed in close collaboration with our customers” said Frank Seeman. An interdisciplinary committee ensures compliance with the documented and ISO certificated QM guidelines. It is only then that the committee (which includes external specialists) will release a new product. The results are reproducible and scaleable. “At Neschen, scalability means that we can develop the desired solution with the customer and then manufacture it on a small scale so that he can start production,” explains Frank Seeman. “Our production plants in the USA, England and Germany are ready to go into mass production at any time.”