FuturePrint Podcast

#289 - 3D, 4D and Beyond: Chemstream, IACS & IST INTECH Build a Material Jetting Demo for Future Industrial Print Munich

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In this special FuturePrint Podcast, Frazer is joined by three industry leaders who are teaming up to deliver a live 3D material jetting demonstrator at FuturePrint Industrial Print, Motorworld Munich (21–22 January 2026):

Together they unpack:

  • Why partnerships matter: why no single supplier can deliver truly industrial inkjet alone, and how combining chemistry, print systems and curing unlocks robust solutions.
  • What the Munich demonstrator will do: a compact 3D material jetting setup using a recirculating RICOH printhead, IACS InkDoc ink supplies, Chemstream’s object and water-soluble support inks, and IST INTECH’s UV LED curing – all running live on the show floor.
  • Inside the chemistry: how ink formulation in 3D defines colour, mechanical strength, shrinkage, biocompatibility and even controlled release – and why multi-material printing demands carefully matched inks.
  • The critical role of curing: Holly explains why curing strategy is often underestimated, how layer-by-layer UV LED control manages shrinkage and stress, and what happens when you get it wrong.
  • Keeping the head healthy: Jasmine outlines how recirculating ink supply, stable pressure and temperature, and smart control interfaces keep industrial heads running reliably with minimal downtime.
  • From 3D to 4D: Els shares emerging applications such as self-healing bandages and adaptive ergonomic tools, plus Holly highlights very real, right-now examples like printed dentures that address skills shortages and ageing populations.

If you’re interested in material jetting, 3D/4D printing, industrial inkjet integration or cross-vendor collaboration, this episode offers a clear, practical look at what’s possible – and a preview of what you’ll see live in Munich.

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FuturePrint TECH: Industrial Print: 21-22 January '26, Munich, Germany


SPEAKER_01:

Hi there, welcome to this week's very, very special. I'm giving it two verries. It's a very, very sp in fact, it should be three verries. It should be very, very, very special podcast, a future print, because I have three guests, three ladies in my Zoom podcast world. And we are gonna find out a little bit more about what is gonna happen at the Motorworld Munich event, because these three ladies represent three companies who will be doing something in collaboration. So I'm gonna start with Els from Chemstream to give me a little intro of herself. So, Els, great to see you. Thank you for joining us today. Tell us a little bit about you.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, well, uh, my name is Els Monnikens, and uh I'm a senior formulation chemist at Chemstream. Um, I actually have a PhD in medicinal chemistry, and uh, I started working in the graphic arts industry right after my studies, and that is now about 25 years ago.

SPEAKER_01:

Oh, we don't talk about that, we don't talk about how long ago.

SPEAKER_02:

Meanwhile, actually, I have uh 20 years of experience in the design and development of inkjet eggs, yep, uh also of stable nanopigment dispersions and in color matching activities.

SPEAKER_01:

Yep, perfect. And you work for Chemstream, yeah. Just tell us who your Chemstream are.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, well, Chemstream is a small company that uh is somewhere near Antwerp in Belgium, and it is focused on translating requirements into customized chemical formulations. So we look at problems at the molecular level, actually, and therefore we sometimes even use organic synthesis to make our own dispersance or surface modifications of pigments or whatever.

SPEAKER_01:

Brilliant. And and we'll find out a bit more about the detail of it in a moment, but let's just get through the intro piece. Yasmin, we have we have met you before on a podcast, but just intro yourself and then I'll explain how you're all connected. Yasmin.

SPEAKER_03:

Uh hi, I'm Yasmin. I'm the co-owner of IACS. Um, I originally studied textile engineering, um, and after about 10 years of working, I decided to complete a two-year uh MBA evening program. Uh, I wanted to understand the theory behind what I was already doing for years. Uh ISCS is a technology company located near Ghent in Belgium, uh, focusing on industrial inkjet systems, uh, from small printers to ink supply systems and modular tools for industrial production, uh, for example, for marking and coding markets. Yeah, for the uh my role covers sales and marketing, uh, partnerships, and also ISCS growth strategy. Uh overall, ISCS um our focus is supplying industrial inkjet systems for integrators and machine constructors. We help them to achieve reliable low maintenance on-demand printing for their customers, even in the most challenging production environments.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, brilliant. And certainly last but not least, Holly Steedman. Now, Holly, the other two ladies with us are both Belgique, but you are English in Germany.

SPEAKER_00:

I am indeed, yes. I am half English, half German, it feels like most of the time these days. Yeah. Maybe more German than English.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, sorry to interrupt you. It's IST Intech is who you work for. Just give us a quick intro for yourself. Many people know you, I know.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, so my role at IST Intech is business and technology development director, which basically means I work with our partners, our customers to align curing to the applications. So that's bringing it all together, you know, the technical and the commercial side, and also the applications, and actually providing a solution to the customer at the end. And yeah, IST Intech, we've been developing UV and UV curing systems for industrial printing, coding, and obviously now moving into function materials as that world becomes also more LED oriented. And yeah, we're working with OEMs integrators, but also other partners to make sure you know we're providing the right stable systems for the applications.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, brilliant. Thank you for that. Now, um, ladies, we we we kind of we got the three of you together because you are doing something quite nice and special at the event in Munich. And I am the fact that you're already exhibiting individually, you also have a collaborative uh piece of technology or you're showing something collaborative together. And we want to try and get our heads around what that is and how it looks. So, who's going to explain a bit more about what the demonstrator's gonna show? I think maybe Yasmin, are you gonna tell us more, Yasmin?

SPEAKER_03:

Well, I'm first going to explore a little bit more about part partnership. Okay, let's let's talk about partnerships. Yeah, so why are you working together? Yes. So in our industry, partnerships are absolutely essential. Of course. None of us can succeed on our own. So each company brings very specific uh expertise, and it's only by combining those strengths that we can deliver complete high-quality industrial solutions for our customers. So, and we all work in a technical environment, and we can all talk for hours about our technology, but at the at the end, so seeing is believing. So that's exactly what we wanted to do at the fair in Munich. Uh, the demonstrator shows what happens when all the pieces work together: the print station, the printhead, the ink, and the UV curing process, all acting as one system. And ultimately, it shows how that translates into real benefits for our customers: a consistent quality, high reliability, and a perfect precision. So that's a little bit the goal of the combined solution.

SPEAKER_01:

Yep, got it, got it. Did anyone want to add anything else? Do you want to add anything to that?

SPEAKER_02:

Um, I think it's a lot of stress.

SPEAKER_01:

Stress to bring you together. Oh no, it's not stress to bring you together. It's fantastic fun to bring you together. Just let me understand a bit more about what what you're showing, what you're gonna be showing, what you're gonna be exciting the audience with. Who's gonna talk about that? Else, Holly.

SPEAKER_00:

Um, yeah, so basically we're gonna be having a live demo. We're gonna we've we've put together a printer together. So all of those components we've come together and actually be able to then really show show it, as we said, in in in real life. And uh we will be printing uh uh a three uh material, a jetty material, UV curable material. Um so 3D printing uh this material. Um yeah, so Jasmine, just you wanted to talk a little bit about kind of what what people are gonna see there on the booth.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, what I mean what so I've seen I've already seen some. We had a bit of a a kind of a little bit of a a look at what you're gonna do. You're gonna be doing something very clever, which is kind of 3D link each together. So uh else, explain explain what you're doing.

SPEAKER_02:

We will print uh 3D objects using uh inkjet printing, uh, and we will use uh at the demonstrator one object ink and one support ink, and we will demonstrate how the printed support ink is then also easily washed away after printing.

SPEAKER_03:

Yes, and we will have 3D samples to take away on our boat, so um it's still a secret watts, but okay.

SPEAKER_01:

Sorry, I shouldn't have said, should I? Don't say anything, yeah. Okay, secret 3D things to take away with you. Yes, it could be used as earrings or as something else. Yeah, sorry.

SPEAKER_03:

No, it's fine. Um so perhaps a little bit on the contribution of each.

SPEAKER_01:

Um it's quite a bit about how you're all doing what you're doing. So who's gonna start?

SPEAKER_03:

So well, I think yeah, it the easiest way is that I start. So ISTS delivers the complete print station. Um we designed the system and integrated all the different elements of our partners uh into the single demonstrator. For the printing itself, uh we use our ink docs, uh, two of those ink docs, and we integrate the resource C of one XL uh recirculating inkjet hat.

SPEAKER_01:

Wonderful.

SPEAKER_03:

In this case, printing at uh 300 dpi.

SPEAKER_01:

Els, you obviously are delivering the kind of ink side, aren't you?

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, yeah, yeah. That means uh colorful object ink, of course, and uh water soluble support ink that are nicely fine-tuned to each other.

SPEAKER_01:

Lovely. And then we link obviously to Holly and her UV lamps.

SPEAKER_00:

Yes, we kind of bring it all together in the end because we are curing the the chemistry. Yeah, so obviously we had to optimize the environment for the curing, so make sure the wavelength, the intensity, and the timing was accurate for that. Uh, it's not as simple as as you think, especially with um additive manufacturing uh processes. The curing is really critical to to the outcome. So, yeah, we we helped then tailor the curing parameters. Yeah, and ultimately the finished product is then is ready for use.

SPEAKER_01:

For people to walk away with. Um, let's just talk about material jetting. Um, so which what in kind of what way are the inks, the print hairs, the UV curing, kind of how does it all fit? Explain that. Else, just explain to us.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, if we talk about inks, uh of course they have to be reliable in their printing performance on specific print head that is chosen, chosen. Um and if they are pigmented or contain particles, yeah, of course they have to have a very stable distribution of particle size uh to prevent any nozzle clogging. Um and also they have to be consistent in their drop formation pattern. But besides that, uh it's uh in 3D printing or material jetting, uh, it's important uh important to know that the composition of the ink formulation actually dictates the potential functionalities of the printed parts. So that can, of course, be color, uh, the usual thing, but also the physical properties or mechanical strength of the parts will depend on the formulation itself. Sometimes also optical properties and even the internal stress of the object uh that become. Uh, also safety matters like the size or the mobility of the used ingredients will impact the biocompatibility or cytotoxicity of the printed parts if that is needed. And um, yeah, you can even make it more functional uh so that actually there is a release of functional molecules from the printed parts, and then we call this more like 4D printing, you know. But if if you really do multimaterial printing, then each ink also has to be really fine-tuned to each other, so that no there are no nasty side effects that pop up uh due to very different surface tension or uh variable curing requirements of those formulations or a very different levels of of internal shrinkage of the co-printed inks. So uh, but actually, as I as we already said before, the ink does not stand on itself, it's really the result uh will depend on on the used print and curing strategy as well, and the the the also the post-curing process or procedure afterwards.

SPEAKER_01:

And I I guess from that then comes the importance of UV curing and the kind of you know getting that right. Holly, just explain more. It's kind of you know, there's challenges, and then there's obvious impacts that you get from this. So tell us a bit more about that.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, I mean it's often underestimated the curing part in the process, as always. You know, I've said this many times before, you know. But yeah, it's not just about curing that that product, it's about how you cure it, especially in in building up the layers, you know. For example, you if you have to manage the shrinkage, which is critical to the deformation of the of the layers, which can then ultimately obviously if that's not correct, that creates stress, and then the parts are distorted or they're cracked. And you can imagine, you know, in in the world, some of these parts are really used nowadays in, for example, even in um air in aero application.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, you don't want that to go wrong, do you?

SPEAKER_00:

No, you don't you don't want to crack it in your crack in your part, do you? So yeah, so there's a little bit more to it than you than you think. So we have to to have manage that those those curing between those layers, make sure that it's not over cured or undercured, and uh yeah, make sure obviously the ink is compatible with the formulation, with the wavelength. So there is many challenges and a little bit more to it than people people think.

SPEAKER_01:

It's getting that kind of perfect deposition, isn't it? Perfect layer deposition, really. Yeah. Yasmin, did you want to add anything there?

SPEAKER_03:

Well, yes, the total, the end result will be a compact, reliable, full industrial print system and designed to keep recirculating inkjet hats performing at their best. This is really important. Um so we use two ink docs for that, and um what makes the system now unique is its recirculating uh design, of course. It keeps pressure and temperature stable, minimized nozzle blocking, and delivers consistent print quality at very little downtime. Also, it's compact and modularity of the product, and it's ease of use and ease to maintain. So user-friendly icons are used for the interface, and the communication goes via standard uh TCP IP connections, and we have a bespoke client server communication protocol.

SPEAKER_01:

Yep. Okay. Ums, you mentioned the word uh 4D printing or the words 4D printing, um which I know that's quite uh people see as quite important, quite interesting, interesting. So 4D printing using material jetting, tell us a bit more about that. Tell us about what kind of potential uh applications, explain a bit more about it.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, well, uh if you talk about 4D uh printing applications, uh that actually is the if one combines actually different stimuli responsive photopolymers, for instance, so that structures can be created that change shape, for instance, or proper their properties or a function over time when exposed to an external stimulus like heat, light, pressure, or pH. That's typical for the printing. Uh now this can be done in uh optical, biomedical or dental applications. Um I found a few of those uh examples in literature, and one I like a lot is um self-healing bandages, uh like uh biomedical device. Uh so you you could print uh multiple photopolymers together and include one that degrades over time, and so its shape of the the object could then change uh to conform to the body, the inside of the body, and it could release drugs in a controlled manner based on stimuli like temperature or the pH. So that that kind of um with science fiction in the past, but it's becoming reality uh in the near future, I think that kind of stuff.

SPEAKER_01:

I like that. I like the sound of that. That's interesting, isn't it? Exactly as you say. Yeah, the potential is amazing, isn't it? Potential possibilities of this.

SPEAKER_00:

I was just gonna say some of these applications actually really make a difference to people's lives. It's not just a decorative, you know, it's not just for printing a pretty packaging here, you know, it's a real, real life-changing um yeah applications.

SPEAKER_01:

Is there anything else another one?

SPEAKER_02:

I asked you, yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

Sorry, Else.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, another one I like a lot is uh like uh um customizable tools. So like uh I read about uh a tool with uh ergonomic grips so that they they adjust to the user's hand based on pressure and temperature. Brilliant uh that that kind of stuff.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, yeah. Amazing stuff, isn't it? Holly, did you want to add in a thing?

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, I mean, we had one project basically where they're printing dentures.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, like it.

SPEAKER_00:

And it's this sounds not so glamorous as some of those other applications, but the reality is um it's the same problem in in many industries. There's a problem with labor. You know, they're they're having less and less people who are qualifying to be these dental technicians that manufacture these dentures. And obviously, we've got an aging population. You know, more people need dentures, but there's less people making them. So um that was an interesting project um where they're actually then customising, they do a scan and they're actually then printing the dentures. And obviously, it's also also improvement for people often because it's cover it fits them better than the um the normal the normal dentures. So it's yeah, lots of very interesting and also very relevant to our kind of to our global situation and how things are changing.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, yeah, that's right, isn't it? These these pieces of technology really help can support big trends, those macro trends that are gonna impact on all of us, really. So absolutely. Um Yasmin, did you want to add anything there or or or should we just come to you? No, okay, fine. Uh so I just wanted to uh just clarify for people. So you're gonna be showing this, or you're gonna be doing this as a demonstrator in Munich in in January uh 2026. So that'll be really interesting to see. Um you I know you can't tell us too much about what you're gonna be showing, but uh are you able to tell us a little bit about the kind of collaboration and where you think it might this partnership maybe uh offers opportunities to people within industry?

SPEAKER_03:

Well, I think our 3D printer demonstrates how strong partnerships can reinforce the European tech industry. Each of us focuses on our core expertise, and by integrating those strengths, we create uh new, reliable, high-quality, easy-to-maintain systems. It all comes down to cooperation and communication. Uh, when partners work closely together, the customer gets the best possible result, and that's how we compete globally and deliver good, uh real added value to our customers.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, I think you're right. Actually, quite nice to be doing a podcast where I'm the only man in the podcast, because actually our industry, the print industry, is dominated by a lot of men, isn't it?

SPEAKER_00:

Maybe I didn't notice, you know. Have you noticed? No, I've never noticed it, yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, interesting. Yeah, I mean, if we were talking about say hairdressing, then this would be absolutely I would be the odd one out, surely. Um just to finish off, uh, any final closing remarks? Anyone want to just add something in terms of what people may see when they come to Munich? Um, Els, did you want to add anything?

SPEAKER_02:

Uh not really.

SPEAKER_01:

You don't have to, you don't have to. You can just say I'm very pleased to be working with this group, and I'm looking forward to the event.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, actually, I I I can only say that I'm really looking forward to January next year. Um then we will have this demo up and running, and I would love to share our uh demonstration and info with nice and interested people there.

SPEAKER_01:

Love it, love it, love it, love it. Exactly right, Holly?

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, just a final thought, you know. I've been working with BingJet for a long time, and it's a funny thing, you know, everyone always thinks it's so simple. And especially as we gain more knowledge and as we gain more experience, you know, you you don't want to risk oversimplifying it. And that's where these relationships and these collaborations really come in, you know, because it's especially in these kind of complex complex applications, because it's not just about the one thing, it's not just about print head or the chemistry, it is about the whole process. Yeah. So I, you know, just to emphasize the fact that working together is is always, in my opinion, the best way to bring Inkjet to forward in new applications.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, I absolutely agree. Listen, um, thank you very much, ladies. So I really appreciate you giving us your time this afternoon to have a little chat and to give us a little bit of insight. We're all looking forward to seeing you there, seeing you January 21st, 22nd in Munich at Motorworld with your demonstrator, exciting the world with some interesting applications, which I've seen some of them already, and they are very interesting. Uh, you can use them in lots of different ways, I'm sure. Um so yeah, thank you, Els.

SPEAKER_00:

You're welcome.

SPEAKER_01:

Thank you very much, Yasmin. Bye. And thank you, Holly.

SPEAKER_00:

You're welcome. See you, Munich.

SPEAKER_01:

And we'll see you uh very soon.

unknown:

Bye.

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Frazer Chesterman

Host
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Marcus Timson

Host