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Printed antennas for wireless communications: NFC and RFID

Printed Antennas are a common form of Printed Electronics used to enable wireless communication. Printed Antennas for wireless communications are more common than you might expect, and this will only increase in the future. 

The most common types of printed antennas are NFC and RFID technologies. But what are the differences between these two? What are they used for and how are they manufactured? In this blog, we will look closely at both forms of wireless communication.

Screen Printing Techniques for Printed Electronics: 5 points of comparison

Flatbed screen printing is a well-known technique for Printed Electronics. A somewhat less familiar solution for these applications is the rotary screen printing process. 

Although both techniques work differently, they have many similarities. However, they also both have their unique advantages. For example, seamless printing is not possible with flatbed screen printing, while it can be done in a rotary screen printing process. 

But what is the best solution for your manufacturing process? What are the most relevant differences for your printing process and which technique can help you to improve your Printed Electronics best?

Flexible Electronics: Printing Flexible Circuit Boards and more

As more and more electronic devices are (partly) produced through Printed Electronics, flexibility becomes increasingly important. Flexible Electronics are a well-known phenomenon in the printing world, but which manufacturing method creates the best results for your printing line? And how do you take the environment into account? 

Whether you print Flexible Circuit Boards or any other form of Flexible Electronics; every print method has its advantages and disadvantages. In this blog, we will list the most important benefits and drawbacks of Rotary Screen Printing for Flexible Electronics.

Electrically Conductive Inks for Printed Electronics

For printed electronics, the function of your application often determines the printing process you use. To get the functioning right, the printing process should be chosen carefully. There are several possible solutions, but the perfect combination of ink and printing technique is different for each application. Like the application you print, the ink often has a specific function as well. For example, electrically conductive inks are inks that can conduct electricity. 

The optimum solution is a combination of costs and performance. How can you find the solution that fits your printing needs best? To understand this, we first need to focus on which challenges might determine your choice.

Printing Biosensor Test Strips - 6 reasons why Rotary Screen Printing enables more test capacity

The COVID-19 pandemic put immense pressure on societies worldwide, and because of that, the demand for more and faster testing capacity became greater than ever before. Pharmaceutical companies strive to make rapid test devices as available to the public as possible, but innovative technologies for Printed Electronics are necessary to do so. 

Biosensor Test Strips are an innovative technology, but with the short-term demand for millions of test strips for a virus that’s still relatively new, companies are facing a challenging task. Rotary screen printing might be the solution for this challenge. In this blog, I will explain how this printing method can solve the increased global demand for more test capacity.

[The Link] How to improve your Rotary Screen Printing process without changing the printing process itself

In rotary screen printing, several factors influence the quality of your printing results, such as the printing paste and the screens you use. The price you pay is — of course — also related to these factors. There is good news about that. SPGPrints introduced a way to reduce process costs and improve product quality, without having to change the process itself. This will increase your competitiveness in the printing business.

We developed RandomScreen® Eco specifically to be both economically and technologically advantageous. The most important adjustment? This screen allows more control on the print process and paste deposition than standard 125mesh screens. It brings other interesting features like a random adjustment of the holes and superior stability. In this blog, I will explain how this contributes to your printing results and whether this suits your printing process.

[The Note] What is the break-even point for rotary screen printing and digital textile printing?

The difference in costs between rotary screen textile printing and digital textile printing is interesting, to say the least. This counts especially for companies that combine both printing methods or printing companies that are in a transition phase to digital printing.

In a previous blog, we mentioned that rotary screen printing becomes more economical as the run lengths get longer. This raises an interesting question. Is there a break-even point at which the costs of digital and rotary screen printing cross? And if so, does that mean rotary screen printing is always the better choice for run lengths beyond this break-even point? In this blog, I will explain which factors determine where this break-even point occurs.

[The Note] Digital pigment printing: the eternal promise or a close reality?

Approximately half of all printed textile volume in the world is printed with pigment printing. Almost all of this pigment printing is done conventionally, with rotary screen printing. Digital pigment printing is still very rare. Why is that? 

Although digital pigment printing is likely to become major technology in the future, we are not there yet. There are 3 major drawbacks that need to be solved in order to make digital pigment printing profitable. In this blog I will explain what makes digital pigment printing challenging to execute.