How Do You Print a Golf Ball? – July 2016 M&A Activity

Xaar, an inkjet technology company based in Cambridge, UK that manufacturers inkjet printheads for industrial printing acquired EngineeredPrinting Solutions, formerly known as Pad Printing Machinery of Vermont. The acquired company sells inkjet equipment designed for industrial printing (i.e. printing of physical products), but is primarily known for its focus on the highly specialized industrial printing process technically known as tampography or “tampo” printing, more commonly just called “pad printing.” 

At its heart, tampography is a gravure process in which the image is formed by smearing ink across an etched plate with recessed image areas, after which a “doctor blade” scrapes the excess ink off the non-etched areas. A soft silicon “pad” is pressed onto the inked plate and in turn impressed onto the object to be printed. Originally developed to print wristwatch faces, tampography is an incredibly flexible process, used to print on all types of irregularly shaped 3-D objects, including medical devices (syringes, catheters), computer keyboards, wine corks, automotive parts (turn signal handles), toys, and yes – even dimpled golf balls.

As with much of the printing industry, inkjet technology is having a disruptive impact in the industrial printing segment, and pad printing is no exception. Xaar’s acquisition of Engineered Printing Solutions brings to it not only the US company’s existing industrial inkjet business, but also will serve as an entrée for Xaar into the acquired company’s extensive roster of customers that potentially can utilize inkjet printing to decorate many of the objects previously only printable by tampography.