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Xaar, a leading manufacturer of industrial inkjet printheads and technology, has enhanced its fluid development and optimisation process to help manufacturers and OEMs fast-track inkjet system development, reduce costs and drive innovation.

Leveraging Xaar's printhead technology and expertise in handling inkjet fluids, the new flexible and scalable process gives customers a faster, more efficient route to market, whether they choose from Xaar's wide range of approved fluids or develop their own with dedicated waveform support.

By minimising early-stage capital investment and enabling early fluid verification, customers can reduce risk, accelerate development cycles and deliver high-performance, disruptive solutions. In addition, Xaar's unique capability to jet challenging fluids, including those with high viscosity, particle loading or large particle sizes helps speed development of inkjet's use in innovative applications.

The new process supports three key pathways for development. The quickest route is to choose from a portfolio of pre-approved fluids, each supplied with tailored waveforms and confirmed compatibility with Xaar printheads. These fluids have already been optimised for a range of applications, allowing for rapid system integration.

For customers using their own fluids, Xaar offers the ability to fast-track development by selecting a matched waveform from its extensive library, based on detailed rheology analysis. This approach enables immediate progress while a fully optimised waveform is developed in parallel, ensuring print performance can be further enhanced without delaying R&D momentum.

When customers require a bespoke waveform, Xaar provides a comprehensive service that includes materials compatibility testing, rheology measurements, jetting diagnostics and bespoke waveform development to ensure the highest print quality.

Optional development kits and printed samples can be provided to demonstrate achievable results with all three pathways, while Xaar's ongoing consultancy and support ensure reliability and repeatability throughout the process.

One company that has already seen the benefits is Inkatronic, which used Xaar's new fluid development process to accelerate its project and reduce complexity.

"Xaar's support was outstanding," said Mikael Boedler, Head of New Business Development at Inkatronic. "We were able to work closely with Xaar's R&D team and the pre-developed waveforms significantly reduced our testing time, saving us months of work."

By using Nazdar's pre-approved water-based high viscosity fluids and Xaar's in-house print trials, Inkatronic was able to validate print performance for its wood panel application in under a month, without upfront investment.

"This streamlined approach helped us deliver samples to our customers faster and with greater confidence. We were genuinely surprised by how quickly Xaar scaled from R&D to testing and we're already exploring more applications using their technology."

Graham Tweedale, COO at Xaar, said: "We understand how crucial speed, performance and cost are when developing new inkjet systems. Our new fluid development and optimisation process is designed to give customers the flexibility and tools they need to innovate faster and reduce risk, whilst remaining in control.

"Whether validating a concept or scaling a disruptive solution, we're here to help our customers work faster and smarter, with the full backing of our trusted technology and experience."