UV Printer History and Future Part 3 of 5 ARTJET 2025

I. Chinese manufacturers’ early entry into overseas markets(2005~2009) _ UV Printer History and Future Part 3 of 5

I don’t think I saw any Chinese UV printers at the 2004 SGIA exhibition in the US.

However, the very next year, in 2005, Chinese manufacturers also showcased UV printers at international exhibitions.

I remember Flora, Techwin, and three others.

For the next three or four years, Chinese manufacturers participated in almost every exhibition, and with their low prices, they quickly established numerous dealers in various countries, especially in Europe.

In the early stages of their overseas expansion, Chinese UV printers seemed to be dominating the global market.

II. 3 years later(2010 ~2015) _UV Printer History and Future Part 3 of 5

1. In overseas markets_UV Printer History and Future Part 3 of 5

Unlike the initial atmosphere in 2005, two or three years later, in 2007 and 2008, Chinese UV printers began to receive harsh criticism.

Let me tell you a story.
A friend of mine became our UV printer dealer, and in 2005, he was the Dutch dealer for the Flora UV Printer.
With a low price, he installed six Flora UV Printers right away.

After installing the first unit without any problems, he looked at the soldering tools in the tool box,

and laughed with the customer, saying, “Why did you send me the soldering iron? Surely I don’t need to solder? You’re just joking.”

A month later, when he contacted China about a data problem during printing,

they said, “Just fix the board with the soldering iron in the tool box.”

He laughed and said this over drinks, but at the time, there was no other way to handle it, so he even considered emigrating to Australia.

Initially, a few dealers displayed Chinese UV printers in their showrooms.

Soon, however, a widespread perception emerged in the European and North American markets that Chinese UV printers were unsafe and should not be sold.

2. But in the Chinese domestic market _UV Printer History and Future Part 3 of 5

Since our company has a Chinese UV printer dealer, I naturally attended or participated in Chinese exhibitions several times a year.

While visiting each year, I witnessed the steady growth of Chinese UV printer manufacturers, but the print quality wasn’t as good as I’d hoped.

Banding was severe, and white ink would fly around the printer, scattering around the printer.

But that didn’t last long.

At the 2013 Guangzhou exhibition, I saw a Chinese manufacturer’s UV printer that used G-mask (known in China as Feathering Mask) to print single-color prints without banding.

G-mask was a groundbreaking software technique that reduced print banding, and only the most technologically advanced manufacturers were able to implement it.

The JETRIX UV printer from the Korean manufacturer InkTec had finally achieved this after three to four years of research, but the Chinese UV printer was demonstrating it at the exhibition.

The red text in the report below signifies that “Chinese UV printers will now dominate the global market,” and I realized this in 2013.

III. Time for technology development_UV Printer History and Future Part 3 of 5

1. The meaning of G mask_UV Printer History and Future Part 3 of 5

When printing a single color (which is barely visible on a normal image), the print isn’t as smooth as silkscreen printing. Instead, streaks appear at the ends of the print head’s path.

This streaking is called “banding.”

Solvent printers, when the ink runs out, spread it and the heat adheres to the material, blurring details. This banding isn’t visible.

However, UV printers harden the ink immediately after it runs out, so the areas where the ink has passed are particularly noticeable.

UV printer dealers and users alike evaluate print quality based on the severity of this banding.

To mitigate this banding, a “G mask” (feathering mask) is used to create a complex nozzle spray pattern, like rain. This method significantly reduces banding.

2. This means that the Chinese manufacturer made the G mask._UV Printer History and Future Part 3 of 5

This was when Inktec was selling the JETRIX UV Printer.

For two years, starting in 2009, after each overseas sign exhibition, my SW engineers and I would rummage through the trash to bring back any damaged or tested prints from OCE and SwissQ.

They use the same Konica Minolta print head, but SwissQ UV printers don’t have banding. Although they use different heads, OCE UV printers don’t either.

While you can’t see it in the finished print, damaged prints stop mid-print.

You can see the dots between intermediate passes and passes, and these dots can be used to predict the ink spraying logic. So, after each exhibition, we’d rummage through the trash.

For two years, our SW engineers and I had painstakingly developed the G-mask. As the third company in the world to implement the G-mask, we expected significant sales.

However, in less than two years, we had also implemented a Chinese product, and the only difference between our products and the Chinese ones, the SW technology, was now on par.

That was also in 2013.

The implementation of the G mask meant that Chinese UV printers were no longer significantly different from those from Korea, the US, Europe, and Japan.

Given the nature of the Chinese market,

I thought that if one manufacturer implemented the G mask, all Chinese manufacturers would soon follow suit, and it would soon re-emerge in overseas markets.

IV. Chinese UV printers reappear at overseas exhibitions (since 2015)_UV Printer History and Future Part 3 of 5

1. A company with experience in advancing into the market _UV Printer History and Future Part 3 of 5

In 2015, the UV printer exhibitors were primarily companies that had previously failed in overseas markets.

Although they had previously failed in overseas markets, the company had grown significantly for the following reasons:

• Although not under their own brand, they were supplying UV printers to major US and European companies as OEMs,
• and maintained high sales in the substantial Chinese domestic market.
• They also maintained high sales in China, South America, and Eastern Europe, where solvent printers, in addition to UV printers, were still popular.

When I spoke with a Chinese representative at the exhibition,

they had several successful meetings, but rumors that they were supplying to other markets as OEMs made it difficult to find dealers.

However, two years later, they had established dealerships in several countries.

Because of the nature of Chinese manufacturers, even a slight exterior change could result in a different model, and they supplied their products to dealers in each country to avoid overlapping with OEMs.

2. A company I’ve never heard of before _UV Printer History and Future Part 3 of 5

In 2015, the exhibitors were mainly large companies, but in 2017, FESPA featured a variety of Chinese companies, including some I’d never heard of before.

Some companies even had European customer service offices, while others hired local European customer service representatives.

When I spoke with Chinese salespeople before, they lacked much knowledge of UV printers and their English wasn’t fluent.

But at the 2017 exhibition, they had accumulated experience and knowledge selling UV printers in China, and they spoke fluently.

Just as the quality of UV printers improved, so did the mindset and qualifications of the salespeople.

For example, there was a Chinese company called Handtop. Every time they exhibited, we had a booth next to mine, so I became close with the salesperson in charge.

When we first met, the booth was small and shabby. But when we spoke exactly three years later,

• they had sold 290 printers this year, and that was in 2016.
• They started with 10 people, but now have around 100.
• As production has grown, they’re concerned about how to manage quality control.

This new company has also been growing.

We’ve looked at the trends in Chinese manufacturers so far.

Next time, we’ll explore how Chinese manufacturers were able to develop and produce UV printers so quickly.

If you’d like a preview, please refer to the YouTube video below.

UV Printer History and future predictions