Digital printing is no longer a new player in industrial production
- Apr 29
- 3 min read
Author:
Luis Venâncio, Technology Development Leader in Industrial Inkjet Printing, Brazil
Digital printing is no longer a new player in industrial production. It has proven its value across multiple sectors; offering flexibility, speed, and reduced time-to-market. Yet, in high-demand industrial environments - especially in single-pass configurations - inkjet still struggles to break through its limitations.
The challenge is not just drop placement, speed, or printhead resolution. Those elements have evolved impressively. The real obstacle lies in the lack of systemic integration. Many of today’s machines are designed as isolated solutions: engineering showcases or modular add-ons to legacy workflows. While they may perform well in labs or demo centers, they often fall short in real production environments - where consistency, robustness, and process control are non-negotiable.
Over the past 25 years, I’ve worked across visual communication, commercial printing, and metal packaging industries. Within the inkjet world specifically, I’ve operated equipment, managed color profiling, automated prepress workflows (including for offset systems), overseen production, and collaborated in the development of coatings for improved adhesion and print performance. This broad exposure allowed me to understand the entire inkjet ecosystem—not just as a set of components, but as an integrated production reality.
My conclusion is simple: what inkjet single-pass innovation needs is not another machine—it needs a new production standard.
From Equipment to Platform
The concept I’m currently developing is based on a platform-driven approach. That means moving away from isolated engineering toward a full production ecosystem mindset. The focus shouldn’t be just on developing a machine—but on enabling scalable, reliable production.
This platform is being structured with metal sheets as the initial substrate—an area where digital printing adoption remains limited despite the potential benefits. The barriers are not solely technological but systemic: curing mismatches, adhesion failures, excessive laydown, maintenance bottlenecks, unstable transport systems, and poor software integration. These gaps accumulate, undermining confidence in inkjet when uptime truly matters.
The proposed platform addresses these challenges holistically. Instead of treating each component in isolation, the system is designed as a cohesive and scalable production flow. Its critical foundations include:
- Surface treatment
- Precise laydown control
- Robust, low-cost transport system - Optimized curing
- Intelligent integration with RIPs and graphic processing engines, reducing setup time and automating job-by-job adjustments
Each of these elements is essential. Laydown, for example, doesn’t just impact ink cost - it affects drying, curing, tactile feel, ink migration (especially in food packaging), and even final appearance. Managing it properly requires more than waveform tuning. It requires a connected, intelligent system that adapts in real time to the substrate, the artwork, and the production context
Why Start with Metal?
Because it’s both technically demanding and commercially strategic. Metal sheets require tight tolerances in adhesion, surface energy, and curing. A solution that performs consistently on metal can more easily adapt to other substrates. Moreover, there’s clear market demand: metal packaging manufacturers are under pressure to reduce waste, offer customization, and deliver faster.
Many of these companies already own digital equipment - but often use it below capacity or for limited applications. The bottleneck is not in the printhead or the ink—it’s in the lack of a truly integrated solution that behaves like a production system rather than a prototype.
Building a New Reference
The ultimate goal is for this platform to serve as a reference model for how industrial inkjet can operate - not only on metal, but also on plastics, laminates, and other semi-rigid substrates. The system is designed to scale, adapt, and integrate into existing operations without requiring disruptive change.
More importantly, it aims to reposition inkjet: not as a specialty solution for short runs, but as a competitive, reliable production method. This shift will only happen when single-pass systems consistently deliver not just image quality - but uptime, predictability, and operational intelligence.
This isn’t about competing with OEMs or replicating technology. It’s about filling a persistent market gap - especially in regions and sectors still dominated by analog processes.
Strategic Ecosystem: Not a Black Box
Another key aspect of this project is its openness. The platform is not being designed as a closed or proprietary system, but as a strategic ecosystem - one that can evolve alongside suppliers, integrators, and end-users. In this way, it follows the model of automation platforms in other industries: based on standardization, interoperability, and shared goals.
By centralizing what needs to be controlled (such as data intelligence) and allowing customization where needed (substrates, curing, production profiles), the system balances flexibility and performance.
This approach is also aligned with current manufacturing trends: shorter runs, faster job changes, greater personalization, and rising demand for traceability. A platform that natively integrates vision systems, barcode/QR reading, and digital connectivity is naturally positioned to support the factory of the future.
What Comes Next?
The platform is now in an advanced stage of structural development, with a roadmap focused on technical and commercial validation. As the project evolves, further details may be shared with those interested in exploring new ways to expand inkjet's role in true industrial scale production.
There’s still ground to cover—but one thing is clear: if inkjet single-pass wants to scale successfully, it must stop thinking like a machine and start acting like a factory.
Luis Venâncio is a Brazilian technology development leader with extensive experience across visual communication, commercial printing, and metal packaging. His expertise includes inkjet production, color management, prepress automation, and coating development. He currently leads the development of a platform-based approach for scalable single-pass digital printing.
Mr. Venâncio a seasoned professional with over 25 years of experience in digital and offset printing, prepress, CTP, and file management, always driven by innovation, operational efficiency, and value creation.
In recent years, he has been deeply engaged in the strategic transformation of the printing industry, with a strong focus on product development, emerging technologies, and high-impact solutions - especially in the metal packaging segment. His work integrates technical expertise, market insight, and digital innovation, with projects aimed at reducing costs, increasing customization, and supporting sustainable production.
To contact Mr. Luis Roberto Venancio with questions, comments, etc. he may be reached via
Email: kksign@icloud.com
Phone: +55 51 991467928
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