INKJET PENETRATES INDUSTRIAL APPLICATIONS & MARKETS

Transcription

1 INKJET PENETRATES INDUSTRIAL APPLICATIONS & MARKETS Dr Alan Hudd Xennia Technology Ltd Presented at the 20 th Annual Ink Jet Printing Conference Las Vegas, USA, Feb 2011

2 Inkjet penetrates industrial applications and markets The changing industrial landscape Ceramics inkjet has become the dominant technology Functional digital textiles self cleaning fabrics become a reality Solar energy coatings inkjet could be game changing for new applications

3 Xennia helps customers lower operating costs, increase productivity and simplify mass customised production by revolutionising manufacturing processes from inkjet ideas to production reality

4 Xennia develops & supplies digital solutions based on inkjet modules, systems and inks for industrial applications

5 Technology push to market pull

6 The changing landscape Price competition Non-price competition Existing arena Traditional customers New arena Inkjet proposition Courtesy Mr Loek de Vries, Chairman and President, Royal TenCate

7 Product decoration Huge demand for digital decoration of parts on production lines Key drivers are: Reduced costs Print on demand means no need for large inventories Increased productivity Printing system spends the whole time printing Faster response to customer demands New designs can be introduced rapidly Products can be personalised/customised on the fly

8 Key industrial applications I Textiles Digital decoration of textiles: Garment personalisation Reel-to-reel textile production Flags, banners, awnings Soft furnishings Ceramic tiles & tableware Digital decoration of: Ceramic wall/floor tiles Ceramic tableware Promotional items

9 Key industrial applications II Architectural glass Digital glass printing applications: Direct print during manufacture Print polymer laminate Direct print after manufacture Flooring & furniture laminates Digital decoration of: Wood-effect flooring (Direct printing and laminates) Furnishings

10 Key industrial applications III Product decoration Wall coverings Digital decoration of: Consumer wallpaper Commercial wallpaper Commercial vinyl coverings Digital decoration of: Automotive glass/headlamps/fairings/parts Safety/automotive helmets Security wristbands/identity cards Optical fibres, wires and connectors Consumer appliances/products etc.

11 Examples of some key markets Application Market Size Market Requirement Opportunity Textiles (Direct to garment DTG) (Reel to reel RTR) Printed textiles $165Bn DTG printing with rapid turnaround Cost effective RTR printing Fast XY inkjet with UV inks High productivity RTR with aqueous dye inks Ceramics (Tiles) (Tableware) >9500 M m 2 tiles printed annually Yearly equipment sales >$800m Wall/floor tile printing with digital capability Digital ceramic decal printing High throughput fixed array inkjet + ceramic inks XY inkjet + ceramic inks (sampling) Fast XY + decal ink (decals) Glass (Architectural) (Automotive) (Appliance) Printed glass $1.3Bn High productivity production printing Fast turnaround batch printing Ability to print non-flat High throughput fixed array inkjet + high temp inks XY inkjet + PVB inks/uv inks Wall/floor/furniture coverings Wall/floor covering printing $1.6Bn globally Fast high quality digital wall covering printing High productivity digital laminate/decor printing Rigid furnishings High throughput fixed array inkjet + solvent/aqueous inks XY inkjet + UV inks

12 Technology pre-qualifiers Industrial inkjet solutions must have the following: User friendly and powerful software Excellent image quality Good durability of the printed image

13 Inkjet printing software Image processing Geometrical transforms RIP Colour management Printhead-specific data System integration Managing system components Receiving external commands Variable data printing Generating each image Tracking and verification

14 Image quality Goal is: To create images with best possible look To deposit materials with minimum error The quality circle relates: Customer perception (image quality) e.g. sharpness, colourfulness, contrast Physical image parameters (print quality) e.g. optical density, line acuity, dot placement Technology (ink, printheads, printer, etc)

15 Image durability Durability of the printed image is vital Durability must be sufficient for the application Effects on durability from Substrate (material, surface properties, dirt etc) Ink (binders/monomers/oligomers) Process (pre/post-treatment) Adhesion of ink to required substrate Cross-hatch tape/scratch/scuff/abrasion resistance Film hardness Solvent/water/specific chemical resistance Fastness Water/wash/humidity, Rub/crock, Light/UV, Dark/ozone

16 Major application drivers Drivers Ink chemistry Reliability Productivity/Speed Key developments UV/pigment inks Greyscale printheads Recirculating ink technology Inkjet modules Fixed array systems Diagonal printing systems

17 Solution design requirements Reliability Ink/printhead/nozzle Printhead assembly/wires/electronics Ink system/pipework Maintenance station Print verification station Software Motion system UV, motion system etc Cost Build Cost Vs Redundancy of design for reliability Running cost Vs Productivity

18 Ceramic inkjet printer tile industry Earliest inkjet developments started in approx 2002 (Kerajet and Xennia) 2008 a few manufacturers with digital systems operating 2010 more than 10 digital manufacturers Proliferation based on success Digital equipment sales now exceed traditional analogue saleson an annual basis Repeat sales and adoption of inkjet worldwide Inkjet technology is transforming the ceramic tile industry Installed base growing rapidly and especially in China Example: Xennia ceramic inkjet system sales growing + 100% year on year for 3 years

19 Ceramic tile market Worldwide ceramic tile output > 9,500M sq m (2010) Production focussed in Asia and EU (2008 numbers) Asia 58.8% EU 19.4% Central/South America 9.8% Other Europe (incl. Turkey) 5.2% Equipment sales in 2008 > $800M Difficult economic conditions in 2008 Good recovery now Inkjet growth accelerating Source: Ceramic World Review

20 Ceramics market drivers Key market drivers are: Shorter product lifecycles 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) Shorter print runs Cost reduction Reduced inventory and higher yield Quality

21 Ceramics market need Market requirement for ceramic tile printing Printing system High productivity (>900 m 2 /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

22 Printing cost Print run cost ( /m 2 ) Typical analogue versus digital print run costs Analogue run cost ( /m2) Digital run cost ( /m2) Print run 1000 length (m 2 ) Comparison of printing costs for analogue and digital

23 Key advances for ceramics Advanced pigmented inks Ceramic pigment dispersion technology Stable and reliable jetting Fixed array Ultimate productivity in single pass printing Need excellent reliability Recirculating technology Recirculating printheads and ink systems High ink/printhead reliability Variable image technology Print each image differently on the fly

24 Example of a ceramic tile inkjet printer Fixed array, single pass recirculating system Features Variable image printing Print speed 29 m/min (different modes available) High resolution (300 or 600 dpi, 8 level greyscale) Multi-colour decoration (4-6 colours) Print widths 560 mm or 720 mm High reliability from recirculating technology Optional maintenance station Hope Ceramics Inkjet tile printer Foshan, China

25 Textile market Over 21Bn metres printed globally Market value $165Bn Overall growth 2% CAGR Technology (2007) 40% rotary screen printing 40% flatbed screen 19% other traditional 1% digital Regional mix 50% Asia,15% Europe, 11% North America Digital printing growing rapidly (20% CAGR) Source: Gherzi Research 2008

26 Digital textile 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 for ~10,000 high end units Ink $145m (32% growth) Printed output $2.45Bn (35% growth) Systems Mimaki (and Mimaki based), 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

27 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 below1,200m for 8 colour screen versus typical digital Current typical digital cost 3-5/m 2 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 2008

28 Textile market need Market requirement for RTR textiles Printing system High productivity (>300 m 2 /hr) High reliability (>98% up time) Cost effective (Cost ( )/productivity(m 2 /hr) <2000) 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

29 Inkjet is independent of run length Inkjet competitive for short runs Long run cost due to ink price Competitive at all run lengths inks for mass production

30 New concept m Two print bars printing complementary patterns WO 2009/056641

31 New concept Reciprocating diagonal continuous single pass printing

32 Diagonal printing High productivity All nozzles are used efficiently Continuous substrate motion Quality Greyscale high resolution printing Disguise missing nozzles & head variability through software algorithms Redundancy in software, not spare nozzles No banding Maintenance without stopping line Same proven technology as XY systems High reliability printheads Flexibility to vary time spent on maintenance

33 In action

34 Inkjet textile finishing Inkjet printers for textile finishing processes Standalone Integrated in existing finishing lines Dust cleaning unit Textile Finisher UV IR Conventional Dryer Conventional Dryer Printing blanket

35 Textile value chain Current textile production technology is labour intensive Process automation will reduce labour content in costs Variable costs currently high for inkjet Inkjet machines will consume tons of ink Economy of scale dictates lower ink prices No fundamental reason for prices being higher Low cost location becomes less important Logistics will be the key component to control

36 Digital finishing Major benefits of digital finishing provided by inkjet Benefits Multi functionality Single sided application possible Two sides can have different functions Patterning Functionality applied efficiently to textile surface only Highly consistent coat weight Environmental and energy savings Not influenced by underlying substrate variations Not influenced by bath concentration and dosing variations

37 Inkjet finishing Inkjet approach to digital finishing Modelling droplet interaction with textile and patterning processes Pragmatic experimentation with new functionalities Monitoring of textile and the jetting process Applications Slow release technology Digital dyeing Hydrophobic coatings UV Antimicrobial

38 Functional materials Hydrophobic Comfort of cotton material on skin side Water and dirt repellent function on outside UV/EB cured coatings More rapid, compact in-line processing More energy efficient than thermal curing Antimicrobial New functional materials possible to create effect Selective deposition, efficient usage Single sided, patterned to required areas

39 Examples of functional materials

40 Inkjet for manufacture Use inkjet to: Coat Create manufacturing processes Manufacture products Inkjet printing difficult materials Pigments (including inorganic), phosphors, metals Polymers Functional materials Key inkjet ink technologies Pigment and polymer dispersion Solvent based and UV cure chemistries

41 Renewable energy Concerns about Sustainability Global warming Pollution Lead to increasing trend for clean, renewable energy Solar photovoltaic Solar thermal Wind Tidal Geothermal Solar photovoltaic and wind have greatest potential Renewable energy proportion still very low (0.8% in 2002)

42 Solar energy generation Huge potential for energy generation 840 W/m 2 reaches Earth s surface during daylight e.g TW strikes continental USA All electricity needs met with 10% efficient devices covering 2% of area (Interstate highways currently cover 1.5% of area) Solar energy harvesting Thermal heat from sun heats water Used for hot water and swimming pools Photovoltaic energy from sun used to generate electricity Can be used for any purpose

43 Solar photovoltaics Types of photovoltaic (PV) (solar cells) available Conventional (inorganic) 1 st generation crystalline Si 2 nd gen poly-si, a-si, CdTe or CIGS Input energy creates electron-hole pairs Separated by internal field Generates photocurrent Organic (small molecule or polymer) Heterojunction design incorporates: Electron transport layer (ETL) and hole transport layer (HTL) Input energy creates excitons ETL/HTL interface drives dissociation into electrons and holes Standard materials P3HT and C 60 derivatives

44 OPV schematic P3HT bandgap 1.9 ev PCBM LUMO-P3HT HOMO separation ~ 1eV Carrier mobilities 10-4 cm 2 /Vs Device efficiencies >4% Christoph Brabec and James Durrant, Solution- Processed Organic Solar Cells, MRS Bulletin, 33, 670 (2008)

45 Solar photovoltaics Key figures of merit for PV Efficiency Percentage of incident energy converted into electrical energy Includes collection efficiency as well as conversion efficiency Cost Measured in $ (or )/W p Current typical cost 2-8$/W p Need to reduce significantly Lifetime Minimum 3-5 years Desirable years

46 Key cost drivers Key to reducing cost of PV Lower cost materials Lower cost manufacturing Continuous Additive (no waste) Flexible

47 Manufacturing techniques Traditional semiconductor techniques Thermal/electron beam evaporation CVD/MOCVD etc Other coating techniques Spin coating Spray coating Printing Flexo/gravure printing Screen printing Inkjet printing

48 Traditional techniques Thermal/electron beam evaporation Material is heated and evaporates Deposits onto substrate and layer grows CVD/MOCVD Material made into volatile compound Compound decomposes to deposit material Spin coating Material in solution spun on flat surface Uniform coating with evaporation of solvent Spray coating Solution sprayed on surface Solvent evaporates

49 Technology comparison Technology Applicability Scalability Productivity Materials Wastage Thermal evaporation (vacuum) CVD (low pressure) Spin-coating Inorganic/ small molecule Inorganic/ small molecule Polymer/small molecule Film quality Process type Multiple layers? Low Low (batch) Moderate High Subtractive Yes but slow Low Low (batch) Moderate High Subtractive Yes but slow Low Low (batch) Poor Medium Subtractive Yes but slow Spray-coating or doctor blade Screen or gravure printing Inkjet printing Polymer/small molecule Inorganic/ polymer/small molecule Inorganic/ polymer/small molecule High High Poor Low Subtractive Yes Medium Very high Moderate Medium Additive Yes but damage? High High Good Medium Additive Yes Gas phase versus solution phase deposition

50 Low cost manufacturing Inkjet has the potential to allow low cost manufacturing of PV Can create a new market dynamic for solar energy production Need to deposit PV materials Contacts

51 Applications for low cost PV Low cost, flexible PV allows Lower cost of conventional power generation PV Easier installation Return on investment reasonable for mass market Enable new applications not currently possible/significant Power generation for mobile devices Power generation for signage Power generation in clothing

52 Applications example Sestar Technologies LLC SolarTurf PV incorporated into synthetic grass Light absorbing layer can be coloured Absorbing grass is green! Make compatible with existing consumer products Allows power generation from existing areas Lower cost of lighting public and private areas

53 Applications example Sestar Technologies LLC SolarFabrics PV incorporated into clothing Military and civilian Absorbing materials in all colours Allows power generation from clothing Powering phones, radios, ipods, GPS Powering active camouflage

54 Applications example Sestar Technologies LLC SolarFabrics PV incorporated into tents, awnings, etc Multiple colours Allows power generation to campsites, homes and buildings Powering portable devices Lower cost of lighting public and private areas

55 Market size Photovoltaic market growing significantly 20-25% per annum $30Bn industry generating 32GW Faster introduction impeded by costs Impact from Subsidies Regulations (e.g. specified renewables percentage) Emissions taxes Low cost solutions have massive potential

56 Outlook Potential Solar power generation everywhere! Based on low cost production Challenges Increase efficiency OPV ~ 1 / 3 efficiency of conventional Increase stability OPV relatively unstable

57 Outlook Thin film (2 nd gen) market share in the global solar PV market Grew from 2.8% in 2001 to 25% in 2009 Set to increase its share to ~38% by 2020 Impact of lower cost technologies already clear Significant share from emerging technologies expected 2015 Source: GBI research, F-Forecast

58 Outlook Inkjet deposition ready to replace conventional techniques 2008: First organic solar cell fabricated with inkjet Commercialised inkjet PV production in 2009 Report 1.5m wide, 40m/min Inkjet printed electronics expected to grow 62M in ,079 in 2013 Source: Plus Plastic Electronics, Pira International

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