What will be the key to inkjet’s sustained success? There are of course many factors, but for Fujifilm’s Steve Wood, one crucial element is being in it for the long haul. During his career he has been witness to the highs and lows, the successes and failures in the digitisation of analogue markets, and as Commercial Director of Fujifilm Ink Solutions Group, he knows that to enable applications of the future the next big developments must come from ink chemistry. We look back at Fujifilm’s FuturePrint Leaders Summit presentation, Enabling Ink Technology.

In Fujifilm’s Leaders Summit session, Steve Wood concedes that, perhaps in comparison with some other aspects of inkjet technology, ink development itself has been somewhat behind the curve. “What we must do now as an industry and as ink formulators is to focus on how we deliver fit for purpose solutions to drive this technology forwards,” says Steve.

Another major factor in inkjet’s long-term success? It’s a theme we have seen recurring throughout the FuturePrint events of the past year and in particularly interesting ways during the Leaders Summit: collaboration. Steve explains: Of course there are core understandings,  printheads. complex chemistry, delivery systems and software, but actually it's around collaboration, and working together to deliver the solutions, because on their own and individually, they won't succeed.”

Fujifilm’s commitment to collaboration is further evidenced by Steve’s confirmation that the business is keen to work with other printhead manufacturers. “We're absolutely open to working with many printhead vendors around the world, because what we want to do is tailor solutions to make it mainstream. In order to do that, it's quite clear that there are various options in the market in terms of the characteristics that a printhead can deliver, and we want to be working with all printhead vendors to ensure that our products are replicable for lots of different market applications. From our perspective, we're open to working through multiple channels to look for the best applications.”

So, collaboration between each element of the inkjet printing process is crucial to the technology’s success, but is ink chemistry commanding more attention than ever? With hardware so mature, Steve argues: “As a core component, ink has an increasingly important role to play in determining the viability and success of technology being adopted. We believe that at this point, ink and ink technology is the enabler to make the next generation of applications possible.”

Looking at that next generation of applications, Steve Wood highlights the importance of knowing how different applications can place vastly different demands on the ink, even if they seem similar. Steve explains: “The head technology could be different, the speed, the cost requirements could also be different, so it's absolutely fundamental to understand the application in detail to ensure the products are as suitable as possible for the final application.”

During the Leaders Summit presentation, Steve Wood also takes the audience through some of the key challenges facing ink technology and development today, and what Fujifilm Ink Solutions is focusing on in order to overcome and solve these challenges, as well as offering some unique insights into future plans. You can enjoy the full session, Enabling Ink Technology, here.