Printer Consortium in Yorkshire, UK, Set to Launch Commercial Printable Electronic Products
YORKSHIRE, UK—09/07/10—A consortium of Yorkshire printers and designers, led by Print Yorkshire, that is focusing on the development of products incorporating printed electronic elements claims it is very close to a commercially produced and a commercially acceptable product.
The project is said to be entering its final phase. Final print trials will be carried out in the next two weeks, then designs finalized and production of the commercially orientated product will begin. The project is scheduled to end in November of this year.
The consortium successfully bid for funding from The Northern Way (an umbrella body set up by the three northern Regional Development Agencies) in a process administered by Printable Electronics Technology Centre (PETEC) in Sedgefield, County Durham.
Members of the consortium included Evolution, award winning Sheffield printer; RPS2000, a Leeds screen and digital printer; and Colour Heroes, North Yorkshire designer and publisher. The technical know how is provided by Cambridge-based interactive printed media company Novalia.
The most technically challenging aspect of the project has been to find suitable litho inks. Novalia’s Chris Jones said: “Even with my ink experience I have been left scratching my head sometimes.” At the last team meeting, PETEC’s Chief Executive Tom Taylor offered support and assistance to relieve any bottlenecks with this aspect of the development.
Print Yorkshire’s Project Manager Mike Hopkins comments on gaining funding: “We were in fierce competition for this funding but I think the panel liked the fact that we included in our consortium SME (small and medium enterprise) commercial printers, who are the cornerstone of the printing industry and most likely to achieve the maximum adoption of the technologies.”