Newsletter

10.04.08  LARGE - LARGER - LARGEST: THIEME 5000 XXL For many years, the screen printing division states that their customers are printing more and more large sizes - no matter whether the substrates are screen printed, digitally printed or offset printed. THIEME is able to meet these requirements: LARGE: In 2001, THIEME realized the needs of the market and built the first screen printing line with a max. print size of 1600 x 2600 mm. LARGER: Three years later, the above format was not big enough! By the construction of the THIEME 5000 XL generation, the print size was increased even more. LARGEST: Last year, THIEME received an order from POSTER PRINT PUBLI, Belgium, and produced a four-colour line with a max. print size of 2600 x 3700 mm. More information:THIEME 5000 XXL

10.04.08  Slim format, slim process THIEME screen printing lines automate the production of decor foils for the ski manufacturer Elan. Since February 2008, eleven special versions of the screen printing model series THIEME 3000 S have been in operation at the two locations of the Slovenian company Elan, one of the world's leading manufacturers of skis and snowboards, producing the unusually long and narrow PE decor foils. More information: Screen printing lines at ski manufacturer Elan

10.04.08  THIEME News Inquiry Results We would like to thank everybody who sent back the questionnaire about the THIEME News. More than 14% of the questionnaires were sent back to us so that we got a representative result. The result showed that you read the THIEME newsletter regularly so that we will continue to send it out in 2008. As in the past, we will send the newsletter as a pdf-file four times a year. We will respect your proposals and do our best to send you valuable information about the different business fields. You will find more information on: Inquiry Results

10.04.08  Improved Availability To improve the availability of our service team, the organisation of the info desk was modified and a further person will be available for you. This will help to reduce waiting times and to connect you very quickly. You can reach our info-desk by the phone +49/(0)7641.583-112 from 8.00 a.m. until 5.00 p.m. Please note that the waiting times will be reduced even more if you inform us about the machine number which is indicated on the type plate of your machine. This enables us to identify the required information about your machine very quickly and to give you an answer within a short period of time.

04.03.08  Werner Thieme celebrates 80th birthday: pioneer and entrepreneur by conviction Werner Thieme, a man whose curriculum vitae has been characterised above all by a pioneering spirit, flexibility and trueness to himself, is celebrating his 80th birthday. After serving his apprenticeship as a fitter, he then worked as a draughtsman before going on to become a wholesale merchant. In 1960, he went out on his own with the foundation of the THIEME Maschinenfabrik OHG, and by 1965 he had founded a second company: Kunststoffe Werner Thieme KG. Today THIEME GmbH & Co. KG, with its two business divisions for polyurethane and printing systems, is regarded as an independent family company which can look back on decades of success on the international market. The special distinguishing feature for success has been flexibility to customer needs. Thus, THIEME has always changed and is still constantly changing to meet the requirements of the evolving markets it services. Now the company founder Werner Thieme is 80 years old and is still fully consumed with pioneering and enterprising spirit. But, in one respect he has always been conservative in the best sense of the word, specifically in the subject of location. Down through all the years he has remained loyal to his home in Teningen, Germany. Second-generation leader Frank Thieme now manages the company. The father remains as an adviser at his son's side and supports him with his vast experience. THIEME is today in an extremely solid position. Specifically, 2007 was an outstanding year with an increase in turnover of €20 million. It is clear that Werner Thieme can look back at his life's work with great satisfaction.

04.03.08  Innovative system concepts for solar screen printing At the Photovoltaic Technology Show, taking place from the 2nd to the 4th of April 2008 in Munich, THIEME will be presenting three innovative screen printing system concepts including two new developments for the production of thin-film solar cells. THIEME already has presented its fully automatic system concept for the coating of silicon wafers at trade fairs last year, with strong interest industry wide. In order to keep up with the increasing growth of thin-film technology, THIEME is extending its product range for the solar industry by two system concepts for the thin-film sector: R2R (Roll-to-Roll) print line for the production of flexible solar cells, as well as a flat bed system for the printing of flat glass. You can find out more about all three screen printing system concepts at the THIEME booth at the Photovoltaic Technology Show, booth no. L9 in hall C1. A fully functioning print line for Si cells is also installed at the THIEME technical centre in Teningen, Germany for demonstrations and tests.

29.10.07  High-precision screen printing with camera-controlled positioning For technical screen printing applications, THIEME has developed a special version of its proven model series THIEME 1000 and THIEME 3000. The flatbed screen printers are now optionally available with a camera-controlled print stock positioning system which automatically corrects position deviations of a tenth of a millimetre within one second. These print systems have two CCD cameras fixed on a robust housing over the print table, which can be set for different print formats on a linear guide. The camera system used achieves a maximum resolution of one half a pixel (0.015 mm), which defines the smallest possible positioning range. More information: camera-controlled positioning.pdf

29.10.07  THIEME customers expand their multi-colour lines Within the past three years, our customers expanded their existing multi-colour lines by additional printing stations. Two examples taken from our statistics: 20% of the THIEME 5000 multi-colour lines produced within the past three years were expanded. 1/3 of the THIEME 5000 two-colour lines produced within the past three years were expanded to four-colour lines. What is the reason?

29.10.07  The service team meets the increasing demands To meet the increasing demands of our customers, the responsibilities of the service team was reorganized according to the individual business sectors. Persons to contact: After-sales service graphic sector: Günter Trautmann After-sales service industrial sector: Uwe Bitzenhofer After-sales service digital sector: Matthias Imbery Spare parts: Andreas Kotterer Application techniques: Ewald König Mr. Uwe Bitzenhofer is a new member of the service team. He is responsible for the co-ordination of the after-sales service for the industrial business sector. His great experience gained within the printing and control technique since many years will be a great advantage for our customers. You can reach our service team by telephone on the following helpline: +49 (0) 7641.583112.

25.10.07  Exhibition EU PVSEC, Milano: Visitors are highly interested in THIEME products For the first time, THIEME showed a machine for the partial screen printing of silicon wafers, which was developed together with company Sieghard Schiller GmbH & Co. KG. The innovative printing machine was exhibited on the THIEME booth at the European Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conference. This show took place by beginning of September 2007 where THIEME had a booth of 150 m² space. The international visitors who were experts in their fields were highly impressed by the fully automatic screen printing line for the smooth transfer of the compound. The printing line is conceived as rotary cycle system with specially developed printing nests, integrated material transport systems, inline quality control systems and effective paste curing. These features offer many advantages to the customers thanks to an economic production process.

25.10.07  New assistant for the industrial business sector The sales team of the industrial business sector employs a new person: Mr. Oliver Beck supports the sales team since July of this year. Mr. Beck has many years' experience with the sale of technical products. His special know-how gained within the automobile supplying industry is an excellent basis for the support of the THIEME customers coming all over the world. After a very intense training, Mr. Beck is busy within the international sale of the THIEME industrial screen printing machines as well as the technical and commercial handling of business projects. You can reach Mr. Beck under the following telephone number: +49 (0) 7641 583 450. E-Mail: obe@thieme-products.com

26.07.07  THIEME - a Competent Partner for Screen Printing THIEME was very pleased to welcome a large number of visitors on their booth during the whole period of FESPA 2007 in Berlin. But not only the high number of visitors was fascinating: Many orders were placed directly on the exhibition like the order on a two-colour line THIEME 5000. THIEME is very happy about the excellent feedback and the visitors' high interest in the THIEME screen printing machines.

05.07.07  Caution: fake! THIEME exposes Chinese product piracy at the FESPA exhibition. What was otherwise a very positive appearance at FESPA 2007 for THIEME the exhibition was tarnished by a clear case of product piracy: a court injunction was necessary to force a Chinese exhibitor to remove a copy of a THIEME squeegee mechanism from its stand. More information product piracy.pdf

01.06.07  Always clean and ready to print The THIEME belt driven feeding table ensures clean print surfaces and thus better printing results on almost any material. A lot of screen printers have been waiting for this option: the free-standing belt table allows cleaning of the printed substrate both in fully automatic systems and in manual sheet feed systems. The new belt table especially designed for use with the large-format screen printing multicolour lines in the THIEME 5000 XL series will be shown for the first time at FESPA 2007 in Berlin. More information Always clean and ready to print.pdf

01.06.07  Company VCOUTINHO bet's on high graphic technology The 4-colour THIEME 5070 XL installed as the most modern screen printing multicolour line in Portugal. Company VCOUTINHO in Porto invested in a fully automatic 4-colour screen printing line THIEME 5070 XL with UV curing. With the objective of printing large format substrates this line is fully electronic controlled and equipped with the latest generation of servo driven technology, VCOUTINHO follows the worldwide trend to invest in the most up to date multicolour equipment. More information about the THIEME 5000 XL: THIEME 5000 XL.pdf

01.06.07  Erwin Halbweiss retires Mr. Erwin Halbweiss, who worked for more than 28 years at THIEME, left our company at end of March for his retirement. Mr. Halbweiss was responsible for the Spare Parts Division and consulted with customers all over the world. Thanks to his detailed knowledge about all the THIEME screen printing machines even those they are no longer produced, Mr. Halbweiss was a very experienced member of staff and highly respected by customers and the company alike. We would like to thank you on behalf of Mr. Halbweiss for the great confidence you had in him during the past years. Mr. Andreas Kotterer who has supported the service team since end of 2006 will now be your contact for spare parts. You can reach Mr. Kotterer on the following telephone number: 0049.7641.583-112, E-Mail: ako@thieme-products.com The spare parts orders can also be sent online under: Spare Parts

01.06.07  Screen printing! without limits We would like to invite you to FESPA 2007 which will take place from 5 to 9 June, 2007 in Berlin. The FESPA mode is: Screen printing! without limits. THIEME will show you all the possibilities of modern machine techniques in hall 2.2, booth No. B430. We will focus on the optimisation of the printing process and the increase of productivity. The most successful multi-colour lines THIEME 5000 XL are represented by the THIEME 5060 XL. The fully-automatic line with UV-intermediate dryer and stacker are the absolute highlights regarding print quality and efficiency. Intelligent technical details offer very short set-up times and contribute to compete in spite of many changing products. Further, we will show you the well-approved THIEME machine concepts with additional modules to increase the productivity. Please take the opportunity and inform yourself personally. We would be very pleased to welcome you !

01.06.07  THIEME will take part at the Glass Processing Days in Finland Conference - Exposition - Workshops This important international glass conference will take place in Tampere from 15 to 18 June, 2007.We would be very pleased to welcome you on our information booth in the exposition tent during the seminar breaks ! Our experts Christian Schweickert and Rolf Schmidt will be at your disposal for any information you may require regarding screen printing on glass. You will find additional information on GPD

01.06.07  6-colour print at CONSTANTIN'S "Open House" During this event and for the first time in Europe, large format substrates were screen printed in a six-colour process on a fully automatic THIEME 6-colour line under real production conditions. In order to highlight the advantages of this technology, CONSTANTIN S.A. organized along with his partners THIEME S.A.S as printing machinery manufacturer and VFP INK TECHNOLOGIES / TRIPETTE AND RENAUD as ink supplier a two days "Open House" in its plant at the end of March. Numerous leading screen printing companies took part at this event, which was a great success from a technical point of view but also for its conviviality. More information: Open House.pdf