“Toy industry trends show that products are increasingly required with a higher degree of customisation in shorter production times. Improvement in the techniques of decoration/finishing of items largely facilitates the work involved in solving technical problems and costs to satisfy these trends. This project, in collaboration with the companies, investigated the main difficulties for toy manufacturers when decorating their items. The latest techniques of decoration/painting were analysed on specific applications, and the difficulties and/or technical limitations at the time of including them in toys were identified. The first tests on digital printing were performed. The initial results indicate that depending on the geometry of the item, a robotic movement must be applied to the item; but studies will be undertaken to determine the real limitations of this technique for 3D printing.”

Start date: 22/02/2010

Financed