Summary

In this episode, Jonathan Wilson from Meteor Inkjet discusses how nozzle health monitoring and near-real-time diagnostics can improve reliability in high-speed industrial inkjet systems used in packaging, additive manufacturing and functional printing.

Host

Welcome to printconnect, the podcast where we explore the technologies and ideas shaping the future of specialist and industrial printing.

Today we're diving into one of the less visible – but absolutely critical – aspects of inkjet performance: nozzle health.

As industrial inkjet moves deeper into high‑value, high‑volume applications, consistency and uptime are everything. To explore how nozzle monitoring and control is evolving, and what that means for converters and manufacturers, I'm joined by Jonathan Wilson, Vice President of Sales at Meteor Inkjet.

Jonathan has more than 20 years’ experience in digital print, helping commercial printers transition from analogue to digital. Today he leads Meteor's global sales team focused on integrating industrial inkjet into packaging, labelling, ceramics, textiles and product decoration.

Jonathan, welcome to printconnect.

Jonathan Wilson

Thank you.

Host

Jonathan, maybe let's start with a bit of background. Who is Meteor Inkjet?

Jonathan Wilson

Meteor has been around for over 20 years. It originally started as part of TTP, a consultancy group in Cambridge, creating the first printhead drivers for Xaar for the ceramics market.

Since that point we’ve expanded to become one of the pre‑eminent forces in inkjet. Today we cover the entire spectrum of inkjet printing – from traditional sectors like textiles, ceramics, labels and packaging, through to emerging markets such as additive manufacturing and printed electronics.

Host

Before we talk about the technology itself, how big an issue is nozzle performance in industrial inkjet today?

Jonathan Wilson

One of the words you used in the introduction was “less visible”. It’s interesting, because nozzle failure is actually one of the most visible problems in print.

It’s also one of the barriers to adoption that we still see in industrial inkjet. When companies come from analogue processes and begin exploring digital, they often focus on the cost of fluids or the cost of systems. But when they get into the detail they realise that these tiny nozzles can fail, and that creates visible lines in the printed output.

In markets like label and packaging printing, where presses run at very high speeds, that can quickly translate into wasted material. Because of that, some companies are still hesitant about fully committing to digital technologies.

The premise of nozzle health technology is to make sure that before you even begin a press run, you understand the condition of the printhead so production can start with confidence.

Host

So if we define it properly, what do we mean by nozzle health technology? Is it monitoring, correction, prediction – or all of those?

Jonathan Wilson

It’s really all of the above.

The approach is to understand the condition of the printhead at the beginning of a press run by measuring the responses of the individual nozzles. That allows us to determine whether a nozzle is firing correctly, not firing, or misfiring – which are the three key states we want to monitor.

Each printhead may contain anywhere from 1,500 to 5,000 nozzles, so there’s a lot of computational work involved in building that profile. Once we have that profile, we can monitor nozzle behaviour throughout the production period.

Host

And how is that different from traditional nozzle compensation approaches?

Jonathan Wilson

Traditionally, you would print a test pattern before the print job, measure the results, and then correct any issues before production starts.

What we’re doing instead is monitoring nozzle behaviour while the press is running. We’re sensing the nozzles continuously throughout the print cycle, which allows us to detect problems in near real time.

That’s particularly important in applications where expensive fluids are being deposited, or in additive manufacturing where a missing jet could lead to structural issues in the final product.

Host

Meteor has also been vocal about its role in advanced drive electronics and waveform optimisation. How does that position you uniquely in this space?

Jonathan Wilson

Adopting inkjet comes with many technical challenges, and customers want suppliers who are working towards where the technology is going in the future.

The ideal scenario is to have drive electronics and software that understand exactly what the printbar looks like at any given moment and can automatically compensate for changes.

What Meteor has developed is a set of technologies that work across a wide spectrum of printheads, rather than being tied to one specific platform.

Host

Does that system‑level integration give you visibility that OEMs might not always have?

Jonathan Wilson

Yes, it does.

Because we work across multiple printhead technologies, we’re able to look at behaviour across the entire system and across many different applications. Each printhead behaves differently, and that broader perspective allows us to see patterns and challenges that might not always be visible at the level of a single machine design.

Host

Looking across applications like packaging, ceramics, textiles and product decoration, where does nozzle health technology have the biggest impact?

Jonathan Wilson

One key area is labels and packaging.

Modern presses are running at resolutions of around 1200 DPI and speeds of 150 to 200 metres per minute. At those speeds, even small defects can lead to lost productivity because the output may not be saleable.

Another important area is functional printing – things like printed electronics or additive manufacturing. In those applications you're depositing functional fluids, so it’s critical that every nozzle is jetting the correct volume at the correct position.

Host

Does this technology also enable higher production speeds?

Jonathan Wilson

Yes, because monitoring happens during production. Instead of stopping the press to run test patterns and corrections, adjustments can be made in line during the print run.

Host

Do you think we’re entering a phase where nozzle health becomes part of a broader data ecosystem – feeding into diagnostics, predictive maintenance, or even AI‑driven optimisation?

Jonathan Wilson

Absolutely.

When we install nozzle health systems we begin by profiling the machine. We learn the unique behaviour of that press – electrically and acoustically. Over time that data builds into a knowledge base that can be applied to other systems.

Host

One topic we’ve discussed on previous episodes is the skills shortage in the industry. Could this reduce operator skill dependency?

Jonathan Wilson

That’s a very good question.

I’ve been in print for around 30 years, including 15 years at Xerox. One concept Xerox often talked about was the “green button printer”, meaning systems should be simple enough that an operator could essentially press a button and run the press.

Historically operators would train on a printing system for many years, but digital systems evolve much faster today. Technology that removes operational barriers helps make production easier and more consistent.

Host

Does that move us closer to autonomous or lights‑out production?

Jonathan Wilson

That’s the ideal scenario.

In the future the operator could start the printer, the system would run diagnostics, profile the printbars and determine whether everything is ready to print. At that point the press could run with minimal intervention.

Host

Where and when do you think nozzle health technology will start being adopted at scale?

Jonathan Wilson

We’re already seeing strong demand from the label and packaging markets, as well as additive manufacturing. These markets are particularly sensitive to print failures.

We’ve launched our Generation 5 platform and are now listening to the market to determine which printhead types should be supported next.

Host

And who do you see as the early adopters?

Jonathan Wilson

High‑volume packaging converters will likely be among the first, along with companies working in printed electronics and additive manufacturing.

Host

Do you think this will be integrated into new machines first, or retrofitted into existing systems?

Jonathan Wilson

Customers are asking for both.

Some want to retrofit existing machines to reduce service and maintenance costs, while others want the technology integrated into the next generation of systems.

Host

In terms of timeline, when might we start seeing this more widely?

Jonathan Wilson

We expect to see the technology appearing more widely by the end of this year, with additional printhead support being introduced over the coming years.

Host

Do you think nozzle health represents the next stage in the maturity of industrial inkjet?

Jonathan Wilson

Yes, definitely.

Some of the early patents for nozzle health technologies go back to the 1990s. But now printheads are faster and resolutions are higher, so the impact of a single nozzle failure is much greater.

Host

And finally, what does this mean for the continued transition from analogue to digital printing?

Jonathan Wilson

As new printheads emerge – especially those handling higher‑viscosity or functional fluids – nozzle health becomes increasingly important.

Customers want confidence that they can monitor and control nozzle behaviour throughout the print run to maintain consistent quality.

Host

Jonathan, if someone listening is thinking about reliability and performance in their own inkjet systems, where should they start the conversation with Meteor?

Jonathan Wilson

I’d encourage people to come and talk to us about the challenges they’re facing with their current systems, particularly around nozzle health.

We’re very interested in hearing which printhead platforms the market most needs support for next – whether that’s Kyocera, Seiko, Xaar or others. That feedback helps us prioritise where we develop the technology next.

Host

Jonathan, thank you very much for joining us on printconnect.

And to our listeners – if you'd like to learn more about Meteor Inkjet or discuss your own system challenges, you can connect with Jonathan and the team through the Meteor website or at upcoming industry events.

If you enjoyed this episode, make sure you subscribe to printconnect and share it with colleagues across the specialist printing industry. We'll be back soon with more conversations exploring the technologies shaping the future of industrial print.