中文Europe’s biggest conference for industrial inkjet and other emerging printing technologies, Industrial Print Integration (IPI), returns for its fifth edition on 24-25 November 2026 in Neuss, Germany. Bringing together companies and institutions developing the next generation of industrial print applications, the 2026 programme explores three key trends: the rise of functional printing for electronics and smart surfaces, advances in high-viscosity jetting enabling thicker and more functional inks, and the growing convergence of industrial printing and additive manufacturing. For a sector that has spent years proving inkjet can decorate, the agenda signals a shift toward printing that does something.
Six keynote presentations will explore these developments from a range of perspectives. Bernd Zipper (Zipcon) will examine how AI is transforming print procurement and supply-chain management – a theme echoing across the whole print industry this year. A collaboration between Axalta, Dürr Systems and Xaar will showcase a robotic vehicle-painting system combining digital print technology with advanced coatings, a striking example of inkjet leaving the substrate and entering the factory finish. Jon Harper Smith (Smithers) will provide strategic market analysis, while Jan Schrooten (Antleron) will demonstrate multimaterial 3D-printing platforms for patient-centric biomedical solutions, highlighting the convergence of printing and additive manufacturing. Witold Nawrot (XTPL) will showcase ultra-precise dispensing technology for one-micron interconnections, and Johanna Rimböck (EV Group) will present inkjet solutions for next-generation AR/VR optics.
Technical sessions will delve deeper into the technologies driving new industrial applications. Topics include customised print systems for functional printing on diverse substrates, printhead designs optimised for high-viscosity inks, and advanced ink formulations. The programme will also address UV-LED curing and IR drying for industrial environments, big data and AI for process optimisation, sustainability in manufacturing, direct-to-shape printing for complex geometries, plasma treatment for challenging materials, and sustainable 3D-printing approaches leveraging industrial printing technologies. The breadth is the point: industrial printing is no longer one technique but a toolbox applied wherever a precise, patterned deposit of material adds value.
On 23 November, a pre-conference programme will offer a tour of the Epson Experience Center in Neuss, where attendees can explore innovations in printhead technology, robotics and automation through interactive demonstrations. The programme will also include Ink Delivery System Training and a preview of a new ESMA Academy course on inkjet for functional applications, with a particular focus on printed electronics. The full course will launch in April 2027, a sign that the knowledge base around functional inkjet is being formalized into teachable curriculum rather than held inside a few vendors.
IPI 2026 will also feature a networking tabletop exhibition, with a long list of exhibitors confirmed: Agfa, Arranged, Barbieri, ChemStream, ColorGATE, CRM Group, Cyan-Tec, DoDxAct, Droptical, Dr. Hoenle, Duo-Technik, Epson, ETH Zurich, European Centre for Dispersion Technologies, Evonik, Fiery, Fraunhofer IPA, Fujifilm Dimatix, Fujifilm Speciality Ink Systems, Global Inkjet Systems, Hahn-Schickard, Hakko, Hybrid Software, IACS, ImageXpert, iPrint, IST INTECH, KAO, Kelenn, KNF, Konica Minolta, Meteor Inkjet, Micor, Nazdar, Neatjet, Plasmatreat, Polytype, Quantica, Ricoh, RISO Kagaku, Roki, SAT, Seiko Instruments, Sitech, Soliton, Sudarshan, Sun Chemical, Tigres, Trijet, University of Hasselt, University of Lille, Wuxi Broad Chemical, Xaar and Zschimmer & Schwarz. That roster – spanning chemistry, optics, printheads, curing and academia – is the industrial-inkjet supply chain in one room.
The full programme and registration are open at ipi-conference.com, with a 50 per cent discount available for first-time attendees. For the specialist printing community, IPI has become the venue where the decorative and the functional branches of inkjet meet, and the 2026 edition arrives as printed electronics, smart surfaces and 3D convergence move from lab curiosity to commercial line. Neuss in November will show how far industrial printing’s frontier has moved.
Source: Specialist Printing Worldwide – “IPI 2026: Industrial Printing’s Next Frontier Revealed” (2 October 2026).
The convergence threads are the ones to watch. High-viscosity jetting lets inkjet lay down functional, not just decorative, layers, which is what turns a printer into a materials-deposition tool for electronics and smart surfaces, and the link to additive manufacturing means the boundary between printing a pattern and building a part keeps thinning. The keynotes make that concrete: a robotic vehicle-painting system from Axalta, Dürr and Xaar, biomedical multimaterial printing from Antleron, and one-micron dispensing from XTPL are not trade-show novelties but commercial programs with named partners. For the industrial-inkjet supply chain gathered in Neuss, IPI 2026 is where the decorative and functional branches compare notes, and the exhibition floor – spanning chemistry, optics, printheads and curing – is the clearest map of who is building the next frontier.
When printing deposits function, not just colour, the frontier moves from the page to the product, and Neuss in November is where that shift is mapped in detail.
The pre-conference Epson Experience Center tour and the new ESMA Academy inkjet course signal that the knowledge is being formalized into teachable curriculum, which is how a specialist field scales its workforce instead of hoarding it inside a few labs. For attendees, Neuss offers both the strategic map and the hands-on proof, and the first-time-attendee discount is a deliberate invitation to the next generation of industrial-printing engineers.
