Innovation Meets Application: Highlights from C-Marx, INX, Polytype, Koenig & Bauer Kammann & Plasmatreat at K Show 2025
FPTV spent time with each of these innovators and captured film live from the show floor and you can view by clicking on the above graphic
At K Show 2025 in Düsseldorf, an uncanny mix of high-precision digital print, functional coatings, additive manufacturing, and surface treatment drew attention across the halls. During my show walk, I paused at five standout exhibitors — C-Marx, INX, Polytype, Koenig & Bauer Kammann, and Plasmatreat — each illustrating how printing, decoration, and surface engineering are converging into new industrial paradigms. I spent time with each of these innovators and captured some film live from the show floor and you can view by clicking on the films below!
C-Marx: “Printing Beyond Colour”
C-Marx anchored its presence around its new C-Print Inkjet Module, demonstrating just how far digital additive deposition has advanced. On their stand, they produced individualized plastic nameplates featuring raised lettering to show off the system’s combination of precision, flexibility, and speed. Futureprint
What impressed was the module’s flexibility: it supports multiple ink types (UV, aqueous, nanoparticle, conductive, resinous and more) and can be configured for single- or multi-pass use. It is compatible with a broad range of substrates — plastics, glass, ceramics, coated metals, textiles — making it more than just a decorative tool. Futureprint
C-Marx positions itself not simply as a printer vendor but as an integrator: its software control (the C-Print Control system), engineering expertise, and system integration support bridge the gap between design and full-scale production. In a show environment crowded with decoration systems, their demonstration stood out for combining variable data, fine detail, and material compatibility in a single pass, aligning well with “smart manufacturing” trends.
In this film below, we caught up with Peter Ueberfuhr of C-marx to explore the C-Print Inkjet Printing Module — a high-precision, fully configurable system redefining what industrial inkjet can do. On the stand, C-marx demonstrated personalised plastic nameplates with raised lettering, showcasing digital print’s precision, flexibility, and ability to deliver customisation at speed. Supporting UV, water-based, solvent, conductive, and nanoparticle inks, the C-Print prints both decorative and functional layers — all at up to 100 m/min and 1200 DPI. Compatible with major printhead technologies, the C-Print embodies C-marx’s ethos of “Printing beyond colour” — proving that industrial inkjet is moving from decoration to functional, high-value additive manufacturing.
INX: Ink & Coating Innovation
INX International also made waves at K by emphasizing sustainability, formulation innovation, and expanding their digital ink portfolio. According to their events calendar, they were present at K 2025 to showcase new screen and pad printing inks. INX International Ink Co.
While their stand details were less publicized, INX’s reputation suggests their focus likely spanned functional coatings, specialty inks (for plastics, coatings, direct-to-object), and possibly low-migration or more eco-friendly variants. Their strategy often lies in pushing formulation boundaries that enable new decoration or functional layers — a necessary complement to hardware advances in this space.
In this first film below, the FuturePrint team visits INX International Ink Co at K-Show 2025 and talks with Stefano Rogora to explore how the company is driving sustainability in ink formulation and packaging applications. From toy-safe inks to innovative solutions for food containers and cosmetics, INX demonstrates its commitment to safety, compliance, and circularity through its GENESIS range of reusable inks.
In this second film below at K, Stefano Rogora explains how INX delivers tailored inkjet chemistry solutions for a wide range of applications and print technologies. With global production facilities in Japan, Europe, and the USA, INX provides consistent quality and local support — helping customers find the perfect formula for every printing challenge.
Polytype: Decoration for Packaging, Tubes & Containers
Polytype made its presence felt in the decoration machinery sector, emphasizing direct-on-product printing across tubes, bottles, jars, closures, and other containers. polytype.com+1 Their booth (4C50) likely served as both demonstration and consultation space for converters seeking decorating solutions. polytype.com
Their technology base spans offset, flexo, screen, and digital decoration, but a key message at K was the push into hybrid workflows and combining analog robustness with digital flexibility. polytype.com Given the pressure in packaging for shorter runs, personalization, and faster changeovers, Polytype’s offerings struck a chord with converters looking to adapt.
Polytype is also integrated with Matthews Engineering (under whose umbrella it now operates), allowing access to a larger platform and synergies in surface treatment, coating, and large-format machinery. matthews-engineering.com
In the film below, FuturePrint speaks with Clay Oliff, President and CEO of Polytype America, about the company’s rich printing heritage and its transition from analogue to advanced digital technologies. With over a century of innovation, Polytype continues to push boundaries in direct-to-shape printing for packaging — from bottles and cans to cosmetic and industrial tubes.
Koenig & Bauer Kammann: Flexible Digital Packaging Printing
Koenig & Bauer Kammann (as part of the Koenig & Bauer group) made one of the more ambitious statements at K: the ethos of “Infinite Flexibility for Your Packaging Vision”. koenig-bauer.com On display was their new K4 DP digital printing press, aimed at printing directly onto glass, plastics, and metal bodies — particularly cylindrical or conical packages. koenig-bauer.com
The K4 DP is meant to allow fast job changes, high-resolution variable graphics, and high precision even on curved surfaces. koenig-bauer.com Beyond that, Koenig & Bauer also showcased laser cleaning (TAC S Evo) and UV laser coding for traceability and marking. koenig-bauer.com
That mix of print, cleaning, and coding under one umbrella resonates with today’s demand for integrated production lines in packaging, where decoration, cleaning, coding and finishing must all interact seamlessly.
In this film, live from the show floor in Düsseldorf, we talk to Tim Schelle and take a first look at the K4 DP from Koenig & Bauer Kammann - a fully digital, direct-to-shape system built for maximum flexibility. It handles glass, plastics, and alternative materials with near-no limits on shapes or geometries, and can run as a semi-automatic line or fully automated with integrated in-/outfeed. Watch the machine workflow end-to-end — part detection, pre-treatment, and high-resolution digital printing up to 720 dpi — all managed by a single handling system for fast changeovers and short runs.
Plasmatreat: Surface Activation and Plasma Innovation
Plasmatreat stood out as a navigator between substrate and function. Their theme — “Unique Performance and Long-term Reliability Thanks to Plasma Technology” — signals their role as enabler of better adhesion, surface functionalization, and treatment of challenging materials. k-online.com
At K, they demonstrated plasma-based solutions to overcome adhesion issues on low-surface-energy plastics, enabling more durable coatings, printing, or bonding. k-online.com Their processes can activate, clean, or functionalize surfaces without chemicals — a strong fit for sustainability-conscious production lines.
Given the push toward hybrid decoration processes and multifunctional coatings, Plasmatreat’s value is in pre-treatment that ensures downstream layers (inks, adhesives, coatings) perform reliably, even under stress or harsh environments.
In this film below, live from the Plasmatreat stand FuturePrint catch up with Bas Buser and get a quick look at plasma pretreatment on a plastic 'dolphin' part. The visible green plasma shows how the process cleans and activates the surface to improve adhesion for downstream printing, coating, or bonding. Compact, fast, and inline-ready — it’s a neat alternative to wet chemical primers.
Concluding Thoughts
Walking through K Show 2025 with these five booths in focus paints a clear picture: industrial printing and decoration are no longer just about imagery or aesthetics. The lines between function, surface engineering, digital flexibility, and integration are blurring.
C-Marx demonstrates how digital additive deposition can deliver decorative and functional layers in one go.
INX underlines how chemistry innovations push the envelope for what inks/coatings can do.
Polytype positions itself as a bridge between converters and high-end decoration machinery.
Kammann emphasizes hybrid digital systems for full-body, variable printing plus coding/cleaning.
Plasmatreat reminds us that surface treatment remains foundational — without effective activation, even the best ink or print system won’t deliver reliable performance.