Episode 7 - Industrial Print: Collaboration & Partnerships
Host Richard Darling of GIS is joined by Grant Copson of Cyan-Tec, Aliasgar Eranpurwala of Seiko, and Dean Allen of Nazdar for a conversation on what it actually takes to bring an industrial inkjet system to market, and why so much of that work depends on partnerships most customers never see.
The panel breaks down the three pillars that have to work in tandem for any inkjet system to function: the print head, the ink, and the electronics that drive them, and why the earlier these different partners start talking to each other, the faster a project moves from idea to reality. Aliasgar traces Seiko's print head development from 2014 through to the current metal nozzle plate version, explaining how ink chemistry and print head design have to evolve together, while Dean describes Nazdar's shift towards formulating inks for compliance and durability first, then working backwards to find a system that can deliver them. Grant brings the integrator's perspective, describing how Cyan-Tec's move towards modular and standard equipment builds, rather than starting every project from a blank sheet of paper, has made faster deployment and better reliability possible.
The conversation also gets into some genuinely interesting territory: the surprising success of a high-viscosity chemistry project that looked financially dubious at first, the ongoing and sometimes underrated role of analog processes working alongside digital in hybrid presses, and a shared frustration that when a customer asks for a formulation to be "tweaked" for a new substrate, that's rarely as small a job as it sounds. The panel closes by discussing where collaboration in the industry could still improve, and agrees that building a stronger shared starting point, rather than beginning from zero on every new project, is the clearest way to close the gap between what's possible and what's actually deployed.
Find out more about FuturePrint: https://www.futureprint.tech
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LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/futureprint-tech/
Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/futureprint-podcast/id1567194406
