Periodic Reporting for period 1 - SUPPLEPRINT (Super Productive Line Printing Inkjet) Reporting period: 2016-02-01 to 2016-05-31 Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project Founded in 1990, TOPJET is a company with more than 25 years’ in the production of labelling and printing systems for packaging machinery. Our cutting-edge products, which present the highest reliability, has allowed us to compete with the leaders in the industry worldwide. Our key activities are almost equally divided between our three product categories: labelling and thermal systems, Inkjet printing systems, and consumables and service. Of that, two thirds of our revenues come from highly customised inkjet printing. Our Project, called SupplePrint, is a machine able to increase traceability, production flexibility, reduce stock keeping units and inventory and also allowing customisation of packaging on-demand. This machine is crucial to solve the current bottleneck of slow printing in the packing lines - which results in a business opportunity for TOPJET. SupplePrint is a modular and flexible machine that could be adapted to any packaging line: given its robustness, it can perform in any industrial environment and print in any angles as necessary. In addition, the machine is easy to maintain and allows high resolution and color printing for a more affordable prince, exploiting the characteristics of print heads commercially available. At TOPJET, our team has been performing a feasibility study during the last four months in order to analyze the key areas of our project. Technically, based on our original prototype, we have further studied and worked in the mechanical and electrical design of the individual components of SupplePrint, leading to carefully revising and improving each element. We have also prepared the Execution Plan for the project. Commercially, we have studied in detail our target markets in order to prepare our marketing strategy. We have also performed a Freedom to Operate analysis, which is required to check and validate the innovation of our product. To conclude, we have prepared financial projections in order to evaluate the return on investment of the SupplePrint project. Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far We, at TOPJET, have been undertaking a feasibility study during the last 4 months, based on the original Work Plan proposed in the Phase 1 proposal, in order to analyze three key areas of our project.On the technical side, based on the first SupplePrint prototype, we have further studied and developed the mechanical and electrical design in order to obtain the industrial prototype, focusing on the innovative technology around the ink handling systems, the electronic architecture and the tailored control software including the graphic user interface. We have continued with printing tests on various types of materials, like wood, plastic and also food and tested some basic configurations. We have also drafted the Execution Plan for the subsequent developments of the project, covering tasks such as planning, budget, risk analysis and organization.At a commercial level, we have assessed in detail our target market (printing and packaging machinery) in order to prepare our marketing strategy. We have performed a Freedom to Operate analysis, which is required to check and validate the innovation of our product. Following the analysis, we confirm that SupplePrint did not encounter thread for its commercialization. Finally, we have prepared financial projections in order to evaluate the return on investment of the SupplePrint project. Different sources of funding have been considered as well, leading to our decision to present a Horizon 2020 SME Instrument Phase 2 (target of commercialization being 2nd half of 2018). Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far) SupplePrint is an innovative inkjet printing system for packaging line with unlimited set-up configuration given its modularity. Technically it can print in larger areas to any angle, it can achieve speed up to 100 m/min with resolution of over 600 dpi. SupplePrint will be fitted to all the TOPJET products as part of the inkjet printing system, it will be promoted and distributed via our worldwide distribution network as part of a complete solution, integrated and aligned with our customers’ specific requirements. image-2.png image-1.png
