Improved Laser Printing Equipment for Ceramics ILPEC

'Improved Laser Printing Equipment for Ceramics' builds on the results of the AHRC funded project: 'Extending the Potential for the Digitally Printed Ceramic Surface' (AH/M004333/1). The new project will offer immediate incremental improvements to the ceramic laser printing equipment currently available to ceramic tableware and giftware manufacturers and ceramic design studios. The project will also act as a longer term stimulus by identifying the technical specifications for the next generation of machines that will be directly dedicated to the needs of UK ceramics companies and related creative industries.
The value of laser printed ceramic technology has been proven in limited contexts: it is now widely employed to print small runs of ceramic transfers used to decorate tableware, giftware and artworks. More recently leading UK ceramic companies have started to recognise the technology's true potential and its commercial disruptive capability. This new appreciation is due in part to the AHRC funded research project conducted by the Royal College of Art. This has demonstrated that the new technology offers a range of aesthetic and economic opportunities unattainable with screenprinting, currently the dominant means of creating the large runs of ceramic transfers used to decorate high-value ceramics i.e. porcelain and bone china. As a truly digital technology, laser printing also holds the potential for complete integration of digital design development and the actual print processes.
One unanticipated outcome of the project was that the project team identified two key technical barriers to wider take-up of current laser ceramic printing technology. Whilst the laser print machines currently available were adequate for the requirements of office printing, two aspects of these laser printers' construction have proved to be weak links in the context of high volume, multi-colour accurate ceramic transfer printing. First is the inability of the current toner delivery system to handle the large quantities of different coloured mineral pigments needed for large runs of ceramic transfers. The second is the poor registration accuracy of the printer's paper feed mechanism.
This project will develop the improved machine parts needed to successfully print high volumes of high-quality multi-colour ceramic transfers. The new parts for and improved toner delivery system and more accurate paper feed system will be iteratively developed using digital modelling and 3D printing or laser cutting. The final designs for these parts will be published as open source CAD files on the RCA Repository, allowing other users to create the parts themselves using the same techniques.
The project will also assemble an industry working group to look beyond the currently available technology and define the requirements for a next generation, purpose-built, ceramic pigment digital laser printer. Drawing on the combined expertise of the working group, the project team will draft a comprehensive set of specifications that will respond to the needs of ceramics manufacturers and related industries that could use such machines. It is envisaged that the existence of the working group will also facilitate active partnerships amongst companies in complimentary areas and assist in the dissemination of both projects' outcomes across the members' own professional networks.
The open access CAD files will offer immediate material improvements to current printers and the specifications will inform the next generation of specialised digital laser printers. Both these will be available through the RCA's repository and disseminated through a dedicated RCA project webpage. The project team will also present the project's results at trade shows, conferences and ceramic festivals as well as through articles in relevant trade and academic publications.

The Commercial Sector:
The main immediate impact beneficiaries will be companies working in the UK ceramic industry, including, but not limited to, the members of the Follow-on Funding project industry working group. This will be immediately delivered through the open access availability of the new toner feed and registration systems, which will allow commercial companies to undertake large-volume accurate print runs. This extended capability, combined with direct access to the research team's work on developing new print methods that are more responsive to the medium's demands and aesthetic possibilities (a key outcome of the previous AHRC funded project), will give these companies a competitive advantage over overseas competitors.
Additional beneficiaries will be companies working in related creative industry sectors that share the use of ceramic pigment printing, but who do not currently employ laser printing techniques, and who could adopt the technology if improvements were made. These include the glass decorating and metal decorating industries, for whom an improvement in scales, speeds, economies and visual aesthetics would also boost production capabilities and market potential.
New start-ups and SMEs in the creative industries and manufacturing more generally, who are looking to laser printed ceramic technology as a market opportunity beyond the bureaux model for the delivery of ceramic transfers, are part of both the sectors mentioned above. The improvements in equipment function that the project will deliver will support and benefit this growth sector (see 'Innovation Through Craft: Opportunities for Growth', Craft Council 2016)
The project's gathering of diverse industry specialists to engage in roundtable discussions focussing on the next generation requirements for a made for purpose ceramic laser printer will provide clear definitions and specifications for further developments to be made to the technology. This knowledge will reach beyond the ceramic sector to benefit commercial companies from other fields such as: mechanical and software engineering as well as toner and transfer paper manufacturers.

Individual Technical and Managerial Professionals:
The creation of the project working group will facilitate the creation of professional contacts across different parts of the UK's digital printing community that currently have little opportunity for direct engagement. Members of the group will therefore personally benefit from the networking and partnership building the project will encourage, over and above the opportunity to extend their subject knowledge in relation to the technology in question.

Policy Makers:
The textual outputs of the project, including: the new machine specification, executive summary, project website and academic papers will all include a section contextualising the project's aims and results. By building on the material from the previous project: "Extending the Potential of the Digital Ceramic Surface", these outputs will offer an extended, comprehensive view of industrial perspectives on, and concrete developments in, digital printing technology for the ceramics industry stretching over the past three years. The project will therefore provide sound and referenceable evidence for policy makers engaged in activities related to industrial manufacturing, the digital economy, the creative industries and urban regeneration or development projects (especially the creation or support of urban creative quarters).

Individual Practitioners in the Creative Industries:
Individual artists and designers working within the disciplines of ceramics, glass, metals and printmaking will benefit from the advances in capability and capacity that the improvements will bring. The improvements in the toner feed system and the registration capability will open up new more sophisticated possibilities for artists in the areas of advanced colour saturation and precision printing.