Extending the Potential for the Digitally Printed Ceramic Surface

The digital laser printed transfer system offers the potential to change the qualities, speeds and economies of commercial ceramic production; this potential has not yet been exploited by the UK ceramics industry. The focus of the proposed research project is extending the use of laser printed transfer systems by exploring the use of new materials, methods and economies within a commercial context. The research will help revitalize the UK ceramics industry and so support regeneration across the UK in locations where ceramics manufacturing is situated.
The UK ceramics industry is suffering from a major recession and faces ongoing competition from East Asia. Digital laser printed ceramic decoration offers a new set of possibilities for revitalizing the UK ceramics industry. Alongside the opportunities for developing new aesthetic and design approaches, the technology holds the potential for increased speeds, scales and economies of production.
Directly printed digital inkjet technology is now used in the decoration of some flat ceramic tiles. In contrast, ceramic objects such as tableware, figurines and other ornament forms with complex surfaces are still decorated by the older and indirect system known as ceramic transfer printing. Whilst it is possible to use laser printing to produce ceramic transfers, this has remained a marginal technology in the UK, used only for single print or small batch production jobs; the current market model is a bureau-based service. Due to the limited resources and current client base of the bureaux, there has been a lack of investment in developing the process for large-scale manufacturing.
The proposed project aims to resolve this issue by building a consortium of innovators to explore the potential of this technology in large-scale manufacturing. Staff in the Ceramics and Glass programme at the Royal College of Art have arranged a collaboration with the inventor and patent holder of the laser printed ceramic transfer process, Michael Zimmer of MZTT, and the high-value ceramic manufacturers, Royal Crown Derby.
Professor Martin Smith of the RCA, an expert in combining ceramics and print, will be Principal Investigator for the project. Dr Steve Brown, whose PhD (funded by the AHRC) was focused on potential applications of digital print to complex ceramic objects, will be the primary researcher on the technical side. Dr Peter Oakley, who has previously conducted ethnographic research on the introduction of digital technologies in manufacturing industries, will be the Co-Investigator, undertaking the ethnographic fieldwork and an analysis of the social implications of adopting this technology. The project will be delivered over a period of 24 months, with the RCA researchers working closely with the technical staff in both industrial partners as well as with Royal Crown Derby's marketing staff and network of collectors.
A strong industry-facing dissemination programme, including workshops, exhibitions and a symposium, will showcase the project's technical findings. The intention is to reach industry leaders, creative designers and technical staff with a direct or tangential interest in digital printing applied to ceramics. In addition, a series of academic and public events and outreach activities, coordinated with RCA partners, will provide opportunities to inform academics, educators, graduate students, school pupils and other individuals interested in digital innovation. The planned publications will provide a long-lasting record which will be of use to policymakers whose remit covers the commercialization of digital technologies as well as to academics working on the take-up of new technologies and digital printing.

The main immediate impact beneficiaries will be companies working in the UK's ceramics industry, through the dissemination of the findings and opportunities to view and handle the material evidence produced during the course of the project. Specific dissemination events are being held in order to reach managerial and key technical staff working in these companies. The technical information will also support further innovations incorporating laser printed transfer systems into other commercial contexts, partially through a demonstration of its feasibility, but also in terms of identifying the strategies that need to be deployed in order to overcome barriers to adoption.

The project intends to test the viability of using a digital technology within an industry established in the UK but under strong external pressures. Either outcome - confirmation of its immediate potential or identification of barriers to adoption - will assist strategic development in this sector.
The ethnographic material gathered regarding the manufacturers' and consumers' perspectives on the technology and the products created will support policy development, helping policy-makers working on the adoption of new (and especially digital) technologies, the commercialisation of emerging technologies and the regeneration of the UK's manufacturing base. It will also inform those working on regional regeneration projects where manufacturing or the creative industries are considered part of the regeneration strategy. The project will, therefore, indirectly support not only commercial ceramic manufacturing and the workforce that relies on it for employment, but other related fields of manufacture.

The project will, as part of its structure, be piloting a research methodology that integrates technical innovation with consumer responses towards the products created. It will therefore provide a framework for other similar scaling-up or commercialisation of emerging technology projects that focus on other technological processes. The record of this framework will be captured in a project summary paper and explained in more detail in the written ethnographic outputs; the merits and potential pitfalls of this approach will therefore be available for industrial partners to refer to in future.

The exhibitions and outreach activities presenting the project's technical findings will assist universities, schools and museums to improve their offer by informing key staff: lecturers, curators, teachers and outreach workers of the potential of digital technologies in relation to ceramic manufacturing.
The open graduate student presentation will enable any attending graduate students studying in any institution to gain technical insights into the process and its possible commercial applications.

The schools outreach activities will inform young participants about the opportunities digital manufacturing can offer creative practitioners; it will also demonstrate the extent to which technology and creativity are intertwined in manufacturing practice and so enthuse potential designers and technologists about following either as a career path.