Inkjet Technology Accelerates Color Glaze Industry Reshuffle

Since the first ceramic digital inkjet printer was put into production in Zibo in 2011, the number of Zibo digital inkjet printers has increased to nearly 300 in just two years. Up to now, more than 90% of ceramics production lines in Zibo are using digital inkjet printing technology. The promotion and popularization of inkjet printing technology has impacted the ceramic color glaze industry, breaking the relatively balanced market structure of the original color glaze industry. Under the huge market pressure brought by new technologies, many small and medium-colored glaze manufacturers are struggling. Some manufacturers of pigments change production lines to produce ceramic inks. For some relatively large-scale color glaze companies, new technologies pose challenges. It also gives greater opportunities for development.

The widespread use of new ink-jet technology by large-scale color glaze companies has brought tremendous changes to the production process. Such changes have directly changed the supply and marketing system between traditional color glaze companies and ceramic manufacturers. Changes in supply and marketing systems have further affected color. Glaze plant product system and product structure. Ceramics manufacturers that originally required a large amount of pigments and glazes now only need to purchase ceramic inks to achieve normal production.

The inkjet printing process will replace the traditional printing process and become the consensus of Zibo ceramics business owners. The inkjet printing process has unparalleled advantages. For Zibo, which is a relatively weak original design capacity, the inkjet printing process is particularly important. "Inkjet printing technology can make up for the design shortcomings of the Zibo ceramics industry. Zibo has many ceramics companies whose technicians and designers are not very strong. After the introduction of inkjet printing technology, Tao enterprises only need to buy designs from professional design agencies. Therefore, compared with traditional pigments, the advantage of inkjet is very large." Xu Dejun, general manager of Zibo Taozheng Pigments Co., Ltd., spoke of the reason why inkjet technology developed so quickly in Zibo.

In addition, inkjet printing technology can also reduce the production cost of tiles to a certain extent and reduce the inevitable waste caused by the traditional printing process. "Compared with the traditional printing process, the ink-jet printing machine is relatively easy to operate and has good stability. The traditional printing process requires constant debugging every time one color is changed. During this time, a lot of colored glaze and blank materials will be wasted and accumulated. The amount of wasted material is also quite large.” Wang Licheng, sales manager of Zibo Yahuang Glaze Co., Ltd., told reporters.

According to Wang Licheng, ink-jet printing technology can also save a lot of labor costs. “Using inkjet printing technology, a central production line can save 6-8 printing workers, plate-making workers, printing workers and plate-making workers and other technical requirements. High, and relatively high cost, so after switching to ink jet printing process, not only improved product quality and color, but also reduced the production cost of ceramic enterprises, ceramic tile factory has money to build a new production line, which is in the To some extent, we have expanded the market space for our color glaze companies."

In the face of the huge advantages of inkjet printing technology and the vast market space, many ceramic color glaze manufacturers have also discovered business opportunities. Some color glaze plants of a certain scale followed the trend and turned to ceramic ink. Up to now, 4 of the 6 large-scale ceramic pigment companies in the Zibo region have been involved in the production of ceramic inks, and two of them have been successfully used online. Huilong inks that were put into the market earlier have used more than 80 units in Zibo, and the current usage of Santao inks that were only available at the end of last year has reached more than 20 units. In addition, Taozheng ink has entered the pilot stage. Ceramic ink produced by Yongkun Pigment Enterprise will also be launched in the near future.

In fact, the small and medium-sized color glaze enterprises survive difficultly. Under the influence of the inkjet printing process, those affected by the inkjet printing process are the color factories with smaller scale and strength. This impact was particularly evident in 2013. A coloring business owner told Reporter, the rapid spread of ceramic inks made them unprepared. "Under the impact of inkjet printing technology, our factory's market has been compressed by nearly 80%, except for some dark red, deep black and other dark pigments, and factories will purchase. Some light-colored pigments are basically unattended."

For large-scale ceramic-colored glaze plants, such an impact has brought them more room for development. “After the inkjet printing process became popular, tile manufacturers demanded higher quality products, and the requirements for raw materials were also increasing. For stronger colorants, on the one hand, the quality of the products may be higher than that of ordinary ceramic pigment factories. It will stabilize a bit, on the other hand, after they form a scale, the price of the product will be relatively more advantageous, and small and medium-sized pigment companies will find it difficult to compete with them. Or because of the challenge of the large-scale color glaze company."

Xu Dejun further explained: “For example, a ceramic factory may have used three or four pigment companies before, but now in order to ensure product quality and save energy, now they will choose one of the three or four companies that have stronger products. Better-quality companies cooperate."

It is reported that during the past two years, when inkjet printing technology became popular throughout the Zibo ceramics industry, the sales of Taozheng pigments maintained an increase of more than 30%. “In fact, the development trend of colorants is that those products are not of good quality. The small color plant has been eliminated, and some companies with larger scale and strength have become more powerful.” Xu Dejun said.

The situation is also the same for glaze companies. Faced with the impact of inkjet printing technology, larger companies will adjust production strategies, and targeted development of products suitable for inkjet, while relatively small companies Can not deal with this wave of shocks. "After the popularity of ink-jet printing technology, we quickly adjusted our product structure and service system, developed an ink-jet frit and glaze powder specifically for the inkjet printing process, and also trained an inkjet technology service team to help companies. Solve new problems arising from the use of new processes. These initiatives require a lot of investment to achieve, but also obtained a substantial market share." Wang Licheng told reporters.

Color glaze industry still has a lot of room for development From the reporter's understanding of the situation, the color glaze industry's reshuffle is already happening, some ceramic pigment companies have either fought in the ceramic ink industry, or invested in the production of ceramic tiles, bathroom products, Even closed down; and some large-scale companies that insist on intensive cultivation in the field of color glaze, but take the industry reshuffle machine, step up the expansion of the market and expand market share.

“In fact, inkjet printing technology has brought us a great opportunity.” In the interview, Xu Dejun and Wang Licheng told reporters this way. Xu Dejun said: "For ink jet printing technology, we must make it clear that the ink used by itself must also be made of pigments. After the ceramics factory has ink jets, it may use less pigment, but the ink factory We must use pigments. In addition, new techniques such as dusting techniques are gradually maturing, and with the continuous development of polished tiles, the use of pigments for blanks will also increase. This makes the use of pigments more spacious. I The prospect of colorants is still very promising, and there is still a lot of room for development in the pigment market.” From the actual development of Taozheng's pigments, Tao Zheng’s market share has continued to expand over the past two years.

For the opportunities brought by inkjet printing technology, Wang Licheng explained that on the one hand, after the industry reshuffled, many small and medium glaze factories were squeezed out of the industry, and their market share would naturally be divided by the remaining companies. On the other hand, ink-jet reduces the production cost and technical difficulty of tile companies, and indirectly leads to more new production lines, so that the market share of the entire color glaze industry will be expanded, on the scale of the color glaze enterprises It is very beneficial.

In fact, after shuffling in the industry and the continuous withdrawal of small and medium-sized enterprises, Zibo has formed a number of companies such as Tao Zheng, Ya Huang, Yong Kun, San Rui, Tian Cheng, and Da Hong. As the company continues to grow, Zibo color glaze Market share will also gradually stabilize.