Press Release

ITW SECURITY’S UNICHROMA RIBBON & MATICA’S S7000 CARD PERSONALISATION PLATFORM DELIVER FULL COLOUR PERSONALISATION FOR POLYCARBONATE CARDS
September 28, 2017, London, UK –

ITW Security Division has developed the latest generation of Unichroma™ dye diffusion thermal transfer (D2T2) ribbons for Matica Technologies’ S7000 high volume card issuance platform, enabling it to deliver full colour image printing across the latest polycarbonate and hybrid card substrates.
The Matica S7000 is the ultimate in a-la-carte central issuance systems and can be configured to perfectly match the most demanding card issuance programs, while at the same time easily supporting any upgrades that may be required in the future for increased performance or additional functionalities. Integral to many government card projects is the requirement to add the cardholder’s image, however printing on some of the latest card substrates can present a technical challenge to standard D2T2 printing.
ITW Security’s Unichroma™ ribbon technology acts as a colour primer to both improve the appearance of D2T2 printing on some plastics and enabling its use on others, such as PC, without requiring special, expensive card stocks. Unichroma™ is supplied on the same thin PET carrier ribbon as D2T2 dyes and applied directly to the surface of the card as a clear, colourless, dry coating, by the S7000 thermal print head module. It ensures low-cost colour personalisation, due to its ability to be selectively applied to the card’s surface only where colours are needed, leaving the remainder of the card area unmodified. This minimises the cost per card and enables use with a wide selection of over-laminates to achieve the desired performance characteristics.
ITW Security Division worked extremely closely with Matica to integrate the Unichroma D2T2 ribbon for the S7000 thermal print module. Commenting on the successful development with Matica Bob Carey, ITW Security Division’s Business Unit Manager said,

“Throughout the design process, both companies worked hard to successfully integrate the Unichroma™ ribbon technology within the S7000 thermal print module and deliver the capability to add a full colour image to the ID card. PC or hybrid cards are growing in volume and with this latest personalisation option for driving licences or government ID cards, their security can be dramatically increased”.

Ricard Ferrer, Global Marketing Director at Matica Technologies concluded,

“We are extremely happy with the Unichroma™ ribbon from ITW Security Division which now enables the S7000 to print colour photographs combined with laser engraved personalisation, optimizing both ID card security and ease of authentication for our customers. It is an excellent example of ITW Security & Matica working together and enabling a novel solution to help address this market issue”.

Ends

About ITW Security Division
www.itwsecuritydivision.com
The ITW Security Division was formed in 2012 through the coming together of the management teams, technologies and resources of CovidTM, Fasver® and Imagedata™. Leveraging the strengths of these brands, the ITW Security Division today offers the secure document market a single source supply for high security laminate documents and dye diffusion (D2T2) ribbons.
As an independently operated division of Illinois Tool Works Inc. (ITW), a Fortune 200 company, we have the financial resources necessary to continually invest in new technology, research and development. This global footprint and view has enabled us to supply products to more than half the world’s countries from our secure facilities in the UK, France and USA.
At ITW Security Division we understand that the foundation for secure materials begins with highly secure manufacturing facilities. We manufacture products from start to finish in one of our secure facilities enabling us to meet the ‘under-one-roof’ production requirements demanded by many governments.
Our products and technologies driven by our CovidTM and Fasver® brands have developed a global reputation for highly advanced security solutions. Overt, covert and forensic security technologies are customised to the specific requirements of each document program to enable the widest combination of personalisation methods and substrates for passport and ID card issuance worldwide.

About Matica Technologies
www.maticagroup.com
S7000 Information – www.maticagroup.com/products/s7000
Matica Technologies Group is a fast-growing and innovative global company with a strong international network. The company offers a vast range of solutions, from centralized issuance systems and mailers to desktop ID card printers, for secure ID and payment applications such as credit and debit cards, pre-payment cards, national ID and corporate ID cards, passports, healthcare cards and transportation cards among others, covering all vertical markets.
With strong presence in the finance market, Matica offers a comprehensive product portfolio for Financial Instant Issuance, including all personalization technologies: colour and monochrome direct-to-card and retransfer printing, high-quality laser engraving, embossing/indenting with tipping/infiller, and integrates all encoding technologies such as magnetic stripe, contact and contactless cards and dual interface cards.
Headquartered in Munich, Germany, the Matica Group operates around the world through its offices in Italy, Germany, France, Singapore, China, the USA and the UAE, and supports its thousands of customers with its global network of Certified Resellers, Value Added Distributors and Integration Partners.

For ITW enquiries please contact:
Joanne Ogden – Global Sales Manager
Tel: +44(0)7557 283631
Email: jogden@itwsecuritydivision.com