Within the spectrum of wide-format and related printing technologies, we are accustomed to seeing the same manufacturers and suppliers touting their wares and bringing new and revised machines to market. Most of those who use these engines every day to earn their bread and butter are probably remarkably unaware of the other elements that have been integrated into their systems, just to get them to work properly in the first place. After all, print-heads function until they fail, ink is a fluid purchased and kept on a shelf until it's needed and other mechanisms do what they are supposed to without demur.

Over the past year we have witnessed a paradigm shift away from the conventions of ink-jet production, with new areas of creation becoming more apparent - even to those who generally don't pay much attention to these things. It has been a period where many manufacturers that operate primarily in the graphic arts arena are making the move to newer pastures, where their existing technologies have a role to play.

Conversely, developers of industrial digital technologies and elements are becoming more evident in providing their own levels of expertise that cover a range of sectors that include marking and coding, in-mould decoration (IMD), white goods, specialist packaging and labelling, and 3D applications.

We are now in a period where the capabilities of ink-jet are continually being pushed into segments that, hitherto, have been the province of analogue methodologies. Because developments are now moving into traditionally tricky techniques, so challenges are being overcome, and the versatility of digital production becomes of paramount importance. Some of the methodologies available today were pretty much unheard of just a few years ago, and it is the marriage of ink chemistries, coatings and treatments, droplet handling and curing that have led to so much successful integration that can be implemented in an increasingly diverse range of industries.

Identifying specific areas isn't always easy, but the drivers remain the same for commercial and industrial applications. Key among these is the combination of shorter lead times, more flexibility in volume and the need for leaner stock levels. These, and the move towards mass customisation, have been instrumental in altering perceptions of practical usability and enable changes to become a more fluid element of design and production principles.

Remove the restrictions that challenged analogue and digital techniques and new application areas come to the fore. Typical examples can be found in printing direct to non-conformist surfaces, such as cylinders, cones and bottles, plus those with irregular curvature and discontinuous shapes including tubs and spherical objects. Increasingly, this area of digital technology joins existing options from non ink-jet systems - such as those from HP Indigo and Xeikon - to consolidate the principles that can now be applied outside the parameters of graphic arts and, really, have no limitations about which industry sector is now benefiting.

It's not only print-head behaviour which needs to be considered; to meet the requirements for moving away from flat surfaces the ink formulations must be suitable for acceptable adhesion. Additionally, the right software needs to enable accurate representation at the 'drawing board stage' of images onto irregular areas. Thus, while the shift away from graphic arts might take with it criteria familiar to those working in that segment, such as photographic quality and precision colour matching and management, a new set of finite principles in their own right comes into play. Durability can be critical, not just a desired preference, and low migration of inks is vital in manufacturing environments for food and marking medical equipment and appliances.

But if those in the general printing arena believe that applications outside the remit for graphic arts are dull, then they should think again and look at the astonishing breadth of industries that are now affected in a positive sense by digital technologies. The fact that ink-jet can straddle so many different areas surely brings its relevance in future developments into perspective, particularly as its potential stretches far beyond the laying down of ink.

It's not that long ago when we were all jumping up and down with excitement at the first digitally generated flat-bed prints and the introduction of white ink. While it's true that latter-day technologies might not have the same initial impact that some of the earlier revelations created, the fascination generated in what can be achieved today in functional applications is high and should continue to prove a potent force in the future of ink-jet methodology. Certainly, in the industrial sector, the best is yet to come.