by Laura Franceschi27   Marzo   2014

Digital colour for the third millennium

Over the last few years, digital decoration for ceramic tiles has been deeply influenced by technological innovation. If ten years ago digital printing machines were just a few and could be found mostly in Spain and Italy, today printers are all over the world. These ten years ceramic tile manufacturers have had to re-think the way color is designed and used during production. A further change is coming from “materiality” and product customization, which are bound to shape the digital process: 2014 will see a definite digitalization of the whole glazing line.

“Today all digital applications are aiming at giving tiles a ‘natural look’” – explains Paolo Casarini, project manager at System Group. “Through the application of thick glazes we give tiles a structured, shiny or gloss finish. The constant attention given to transparency and opacity of products ultimates decoration printing. The constant work of research done by dye manufacturers and production plants together has turned into real projects”, Casarini goes on. “Speaking of materiality, the only technique that probably has taken root in the industrial production is that of “affundant”. As to product customization, digital technology has made possible to design and create products in a way which was unthinkable of until a few years ago. Digital application is good for efficient and productive solutions but its costs have had to be taken into consideration”.

Paride Pini, Chairman at Poligraph, is of the same advice. The need to enrich products as far as materiality is concerned  “has swifted ceramic tile production towards digital printing”. When digital technology made its appearance in the ceramic world, most of graphic research was concentrated on ‘photography’. “Nowadays, however, possibly due to the high volume of images circulating, sometimes even looking excessively alike, what is sought for is a higher quality product. That’s why silk screening and glaze application are the only strong points for companies wishing to distinguish themselves”. Digital technique has greatly enhanced decorative solutions for ceramics. “What now becomes crucial is to enhance quality: comparison with natural materials is not just a matter of similarity, but also of difficulty to tell a tile from a stone – Pini points out. And that happens because the tile surface is crucial for the creation of an excellent product”.
 

Antonio De Carlo, sales manager at Assoprint (SRS), points out that “’digital tiles’ have already changed the production process, with a reduction in time and costs of research, and a continuous project-product exchange. The fertile exchange of information, requests and suggestions going on between  laboratories and the technical offices of printers, graphics, inks and ceramics areas greatly contributes to the improvement (both in terms of quality and quantity) of digital printing for ceramic tiles. Such a similar change is certainly easier to be carried out when distances are kept at a minimum, as it happens in our industrial district”.
“Digitalization – says De Carlo – traditionally confined to decoration,  is now invading the whole production process. As for digital technique, highly qualified technicians as well as managing staff are prerequisite”.

Marco Ferrari, product manager at Siti B&T, insists on this aspect. “The importance of research on material effects has followed two paths: on one hand the introduction of new digital printers dedicated to the creation of effects and synchronized with the other digital technologies on the line; on the other the introduction of a control system so as to coordinate presses and printers along the line, synchronizing traditional decorators with the new digital ones. The aim is to design new lines with just digital printers on shorter and more functional lines, with a reduction in costs and space and with a promptly reported production. The already existing lines can be modernized by replacing traditional machinery with digital printers or by leaving the old ones while introducing the new ones. The aim is to enhance automation and have more synchronized applications, widening the range of possibilities and controlling results”.

Digitalization of printing process allows, among several productive benefits, a considerable reduction in the lenght of lines, making them easier to manage through an automated and ‘scientific’ control. “Producers of digital technology for ceramics have set up new and innovative machinery where digital glazing will be synchronized with digital printing,  downtime will be at a minimum, and production will be more reliable – says Alberto Bassanello, sales manager at Durst. Digitalization therefore helps in the creation of really unique custom tailored products and offers a more effective and accurate production at lower costs. Furthermore, technological change over the last few years has modernized the way of thinking production through the implementation of advanced systems that enable production in small quantities. New printers therefore have a stable ink supply which guarantees stability while avoiding waste. The latest Research&Development innovation are ‘thick printers’, able to confer to ceramics a particular surface on demand”.

“Research can be the starting point for a new future for digital technology – says Erminio Guiducci, business director at Intesa. Up to now inks have not been able to give ceramics real deepness and body as they could not swift more material onto the surface. The need to have such ceramics has brought Intesa and Sacmi Group to join their efforts in such direction. For the first time a water based glazing system for industrial production has been developped. With this printing technology, which is intellectual property of Sacmi Group, the process of digitalization of the glazing and decoration line can be completed. The new production lines will have few bases able to manage the whole glazing and decoration process in a synchronized way. This new production process combines traditional ink jet systems with new glazing applications and will enable more effective and functional working shifts, guaranteeing in real time a complete control of production”.
 

Digital glazing is the true manufacturing innovation, designed and created with the joined efforts of all participants. It opens the door to a new “product ceramicity”, a product designed and produced in smart factories, ready for greater competitiveness.