A talk outlining the issues behind technology adoption in inkjet end-user markets, and assessing the technology being developed to overcome this.

1. DECORATING THE WORLD
WITH INKJET
Dr Tim Phillips
Xennia Technology Ltd

2. Background
Xennia is a leading industrial inkjet solutions provider
16 year history of technology development
World class reputation underpinned by a strong IP portfolio
Unique combination of inkjet chemistry and engineering expertise
Headquarters and manufacturing facility in UK
Sales offices in India, China and Brazil
Awarded Queen‟s Award for Enterprise in 2010
Offering reliable inkjet process solutions:
Inkjet modules and inks for OEM partners
Printing systems and inks for end users through distributors

3. The continuing industrial inkjet story

4. Why inkjet?
Non-contact
Deposit directly on to fragile or 3D surfaces
Build composites and 3D structures
Digital control
Alter deposition patterns at will
Equally suited to short or long runs
Deposit only where needed
Functional materials
Organic, inorganic and biomaterials
Solutions, colloids and emulsions
Deposit what you want, where you want, when you want!

5. Inkjet adoption
Labels
Textiles (apparel) Ceramics (tiles)
Graphics
Textiles (interiors)
Furnishing
“Crossing the Chasm” – Geoffrey Moore

6. Adoption of industrial inkjet
Digital graphics is a mature industry
Ceramic tile printing approaching mainstream
Digital equipment sales now exceed analogue sales
Total 10,000 printing lines installed worldwide
By end of 2012, 17% of this total will have converted to digital
By end of 2015, expect more than half to have converted to digital
Other markets at an earlier stage
What are the reasons for this?
What is the „chasm‟?
Source: Ceramics World

7. Market sizes
Excluding WF graphics at $6.3B currently

8. Ceramic printing
Mainstream application with many competing suppliers

9. Crossing the chasm
Why are some industries slower than others in adopting digital?
Market pull – how compelling are the digital advantages?
Economics – cost, availability of investment, etc
Technology – how well are the market needs met?
Communication – does the market understand the benefits?

10. Solution requirements
Industrial inkjet solutions must have the following:
Excellent image quality
Good durability of the printed image
Required productivity
Production reliability
User friendly and powerful software

11. Design - leveraging the inkjet advantage

12. Design – a key driver
Consumers (and their suppliers) don‟t buy technology
They buy designs!
The end result is key – technology is a means
The key market pull is demand for
Image variation/randomisation
Natural effects
Colour gradients
High quality/detail
Other new possibilities
New developments in printing technology enables new designs

13. Adoption of digital
Requires a paradigm shift in design-led thinking
Part of the “chasm”
Manufacturers have many years of experience with existing printing
Design to the strengths (and weaknesses) of existing technology
Attempting to reproduce existing designs is missing the point
And the opportunity

14. Inkjet vs. Analogue
Achievable colour palette generally wider using inkjet
Colour toning is achieved on the substrate using inkjet
Colour separation is carried out in software
Screen printing colour separation: 8 different colours = 8 different screens
Inkjet adds value to the end product
Software enables to produce a wide range of designs
Software randomly selects designs from one very large image
Natural looking end product = increased value
New printing technology leads more interesting designs
If used properly

15. New developments in inkjet technology

16. Printhead technology
Advanced print head design is allowing inkjet to become mainstream
Major manufacturers Xaar, Kyocera, ToshibaTEC and Spectra Dimatix
Fulfilling the demand for
High quality
High productivity
Increased reliability
Advanced technology to support complex ink and fluid chemistries

17. Printheads
Xaar 1001 GS12
Kyocera – high speed UV/aqueous Double colour intensity
Double colour head Double speed
Source: http://global.kyocera.com/news/2012/0801_aoik.html Source: http://www.xaar.com/uploads/xaar_datasheet_1001_issue3_lo[1].pdf
Spectra Dimatix Starfire SG-1024M-C
Binary and greyscale TTEC CF1L
Recirculating Double colour intensity
20-30 picolitre drop size, 400 dpi Double speed
Ceramic and other decorative applications
Source :http://www.fujifilmusa.com/press/news/display_news?newsID=880302
http://www.fujifilmusa.com/shared/bin/PDS00078%20Rev00.pdf

18. Software
A digitally defined image gives limitless possibilities – software is key
Product detection
Detects position and orientation of product, aligns image
Product recognition
Prints image specific to the product – e.g. tile relief
Integration with rest of production line
Images, product codes etc can be defined in real time
Direct to print from the internet
Cutting supply chains
Reduced labour costs
Local production

19. Ink
Ceramic applications
Wider colour gamut
New colour possibilities
Combination of ink and glaze
Special effects
Textile applications
High colour gamut dye inks
Ink specific to substrates of interest
Other applications
Reduced irritability UV curable inkjet ink
Lower temperature conductive inks
Source: http://www.ricoh.com/release/2012/0906_1.html,
http://www.novacentrix.com/about_us/news_events_3_0_2.pdf

20. Key applications for inkjet

21. What can be printed on?
Established:
Paper/Cardboard
Vinyl
Moving to the mainstream:
Industrial plastics
Ceramics
Natural and synthetic textiles
Growing demand:
Architectural glass
Appliance and automotive glass
Metals
Printed electronics etc

22. Ceramic tile market
Worldwide ceramic tile output > 9,500M sq m (2010)
Production focussed in Asia and EU (2009 numbers)
Asia 65.1% (+7.1% from 2008)
EU 12.6% (-24.8%)
Central/South America 10.5% (-0.8%)
Other Europe (incl. Turkey) 4.6% (-10.4%)
Equipment sales in 2008 > $800M
Source: Ceramic World Review 2010

23. Ceramics market drivers
Shorter product lifecycles and print runs
Natural randomisation
Desire for greater product differentiation
Bevelled edges
Textured surfaces
Customisation and personalisation
Wider range of tile types
Different firing regimes for different materials
Thinner tiles use less material (inkjet is non-contact)
Cost reduction – reduced inventory
Higher yield
Better quality

24. Ceramics market need
Market requirement for ceramic tile printing
Printing system
High productivity (>900 m2/hr)
High reliability (>98% up time)
Cost effective
High quality (300+dpi, greyscale,)
Good colour performance (4+ colours)
Inks
Excellent colour performance when fired
Good reliability in system
Lower operating costs

25. Textiles market
RTR digital textile market 2010
Hardware $137m (6% growth)
Ink $454m (15% growth)
Printed output value $1.3Bn (13% growth)
DTG digital textile market 2010
Hardware $184m (23% growth „opportunity for ~10,000 high end units‟)
Ink $145m (32% growth)
Printed output $2.45Bn (35% growth)
Systems from
Mimaki, Roland, Mutoh (low end)
Robustelli, Reggiani, Konica Minolta, Osiris (high end)
Inks from Huntsman, Dupont, Xennia, Dystar, BASF, Kiian, Sensient etc
Source: IT Strategies Spring 2009

26. Textile market drivers
Drivers towards digital printing
Reduced time to introduce new designs (few hours versus several days)
Lower energy consumption
Lower water and materials consumption
Reduced cost to introduce new designs (no requirement to make screens)
Competitive for shorter runs
Example: lower cost below 1,200m for 8 colour screen versus typical digital
Current typical digital cost €3-5/m2
Average run length decreasing
Now below 2,000m, was 3,500m in 1994
Promise of even lower digital costs, lower at all run lengths
Huge potential for digital textile printing
Source: Gherzi

27. Textile market requirement
Market requirement for RTR textiles
Printing system
High productivity (>300 m2/hr)
High reliability (>98% up time)
Cost effective
High quality (600+dpi, greyscale, 6+ colours)
Inks
Excellent colour performance (competitive with analogue)
Excellent fastness performance (competitive with analogue)
Ink costs that give printed cost < analogue for required run length

28. Decorative laminate market
US decorative laminate sales $6.4Bn in 2009
Forecast to rise 3.3% p.a. to 14 Bn ft2, $8.9 Bn in 2013
Global market > $21.2 Bn in 2009, Europe ~ 28.5%
Asia Pacific sales projected to exceed US sales by 2012
US demand breakdown (2008)
29% low basis weight papers
13% decorative foils
22% saturated papers
16% vinyl films
18% high pressure laminates
2% edge banding
Source: Pira Industrial Inkjet 2009, Freedonia Group

29. Furnishing laminate decoration
Requirement for high throughput printing
Flexible laminates – papers and films
Also direct printing onto wood, MDF etc
Laminates
Solvent or aqueous inks (aqueous preferred)
Compatibility with existing lamination process vital
Direct printing
UV (or solvent) inks
Edge banding
UV inks
Requirement for colour matching/metamerism

30. Decoration market drivers
Currently dominated by screen and flexo
Drivers towards inkjet
Move beyond commodity designs
Experimental fashions
Customised surfaces – logos & murals
Customisation and short runs
Market requirements
Flatbed digital printing of rigid furnishings up to 1.5 x 1.0 m
UV ink
Continuous printing of flexible laminate films/decor paper (~2m wide)
Solvent/aqueous ink
Source: Pira Industrial Inkjet 2009

31. Wall covering market
Overall wall coverings market forecast to reach $26 Bn by 2015
Boosted by recovering world market and expansion in residential construction
UK: wall covering expenditure £315m, compared with £440m on ceramic
tiles (2009)
Down 6.5% on previous year
Source: Durability and Design, 2011

32. Wall coverings
Requirement for high throughput printing
High quality
Economic
Flexible
Paper substrates
Solvent inks
Aqueous inks (preferred)
UV inks(?)
Flexibility to print various designs/patterns
Customised wall murals

33. Wall covering market drivers
Currently dominated by flexo and gravure
Drivers towards inkjet
Faster introduction of new designs
Experimental fashions
Customised printing – murals etc
Shorter run lengths
Market requirements
Continuous printing of paper & vinyl wall coverings
Solvent/aqueous ink
Source: Freedonia

34. Glass decoration market
Worldwide fabricated glass market $66Bn in 2010
Standard flat glass plus value-added - laminated, insulating etc
Growth 5%
Applications
Construction/architectural (65%)
Automotive (25%)
Speciality (furniture, mirror) (10%)
Printed glass market $1.3Bn
Mainly architectural and appliance (plus automotive)
Mainly screen at present
Source: Pilkington Glass Report 2009

35. Glass decoration
Fixed array production system for high volume
Flatbed scanning system for small batches
Print onto:
Glass during manufacture
PVB film prior to lamination
Glass after manufacture
All need specific inks
Firing ink
PVB compatible ink
UV inks

36. Glass decoration drivers
Drive to value-added products
Environmental, safety including earthquake, hurricane
Design
Dominated by screen printing at present
Market requirements
Flatbed digital printing of single sheets up to 2m x 4m (or larger)
UV ink
Continuous printing of glass during production
Ceramic ink

37. Decoration and functionality combined
- Digital Fabrication

38. DigiNova – EU project
Key objective: Determine the current status and assess and promote the
expected potential of Digital Fabrication for the future of materials
research and manufacturing in Europe
Identify most attractive innovative product categories for applications of
new materials and processes in 20 years time
Digital Fabrication can be defined
as a new kind of industry
that uses computer-controlled tools and processes
to transform digital designs and materials directly into useful products.

39. Architectural glass
Digital decoration and functionality = powerful combination
Architectural glass
Etch effect printed
glass
Self cleaning
IR blocking on glass
to regulate
temperature

40. Ceramic tiles
Ceramic tile flooring
Natural effects
Self cleaning
Printed relief

41. Sun awnings
Sun Awnings
Digital decoration and digital finishing
Vibrant designs
Antimicrobial coating
Dirt repellent

42. Apparel fabrics
Apparel fabrics
Multi functionality
Single sided application possible
Two sides can have different functions
Patterning – place function where you want it
Vibrant designs
Hydrophobic
coating
Functional
devices

43. Summary
Demand for high quality, flexible designs favour digital
Paradigm shift needed in design led thinking
Advances in technology open doors to new industrial applications
Digital decoration combined with digital functionality will transform the industry
Digital printing to account for 18% of all industrial print by 2016
Source: Pira Industrial 2011