710206A novel Hybrid Cylinder Technology for use in the Gravure Printing IndustryClosedGRD Proof of ConceptInnovate UKThe printing industry forms part of the UK’s 5th largest manufacturing industries & employs circa 140,000 people (BPIF). The packaging printing market is a growth market globally, set to increase from $540bn in 2008 to $800bn by 2020 (ERA 2011), with consumers buying more packaged products worldwide than ever before. Gravure printing is used by the majority of UK & EU flexible-packaging materials producers. Compared to other printing forms, Gravure can produce millions of impressions without suffering image deterioration; it produces correct colour tone reproduction & uses less energy per meter squared than alternative methods. Currently, Gravure & Flexography are the preferred methods of printing, constituting 45% & 50% of the global mkt. The gravure printing industry is hampered by the expense & turn-around time of the engraved copper coated hollow steel cylinders. Due to the ongoing trend to smaller print runs, high emphasis is on reducing time required for job changes. In this regard, gravure is currently outmatched by flexography printing. Whilst gravure cylinders have an average delivery time of 5 days, flexography printing forms are available within 24 hrs at much lower cost. KC now seek to explore the technical & commercial feasibility of developing a novel Hybrid Cylinder Technology (HCT) that will help provide a future for the Gravure printing industry. HCT is based on the electroplating of conductive polymer thermoplastic to create an innovative functional metal coated plastic material for use as gravure printing cylinders. This will involve the investigation into various blends of conductive polymers and their compatibility with different electroplated metals in a variety of forms. The project will result in a basic prototype of an electrically conductive thermoplastic polymer with surface electroplated copper suitable for use as Gravure printing cylinders with a variable/changeable diameter. Further prototyping will follow with expected market introduction in 2014