Next-generation marking in a digital world

edding is one of those brands that’s so well-known in its market that it has become part of everyday speech. Ask someone in Germany for an edding and they know to hand you a marker pen. So, it may have taken some observers by surprise, when the company announced it was creating new subsidiary edding Tech. Its focus: to bring next-generation solutions to market. Why would the leading marker specialist decide to move into disruptive technologies?

The answer is that it’s simply the next step in the brand’s evolution. Over the years, the portfolio has expanded beyond markers to include printer cartridges and toners, creative sprays and nail polish; not forgetting solutions for our increasingly paperless world, such as interactive whiteboards. The launch of edding Tech Solutions is another way in which the company is working to open up new markets by transferring its expertise to other industries and applications.

Disruptive technologies

Looking for the most effective way to accelerate development of disruptive technologies, edding took a smart, unusual decision for a global company. It established edding Tech Solutions as a separate ‘start-up’ business, rather than developing these innovations in-house. This way, the new business has a start-up’s agility and entrepreneurial freedom; together with the strength, expertise and highly regarded brand name that comes with being part of the edding Group.

I was brought on board mid-2018 as edding Tech Solutions’ managing director. Since then, my new team and I have been working with technology partners on digital innovations I’m really excited about. In 2019 we are bringing two disruptive technologies to market: edding code and edding compact printers.

Let’s start with edding code. This novel product is the outcome of work with our innovation partner, Prismade Labs. Explained simply, conductive ink is used to print invisible code on paper, packaging and labels. That code can then be read digitally via an ordinary smartphone. If you watch the video below, you can see edding code in action.

As you can see, you simply place the material with the invisible code on to the phone screen, then run your finger across the code’s conductive ink to interact with the mobile phone and unlock content.

There are already some really interesting ways in which this technology can be applied. For example, for interactive marketing. One of the many challenges a brand marketer is facing is that engaging over-stimulated consumers and building the relationship is difficult post-purchase. edding code allows marketers to grow their relationship with customers by opening up a completely new communication channel.

Other applications include document security, access monitoring, digital floor-check; and that list is growing.

One of the activities we are focusing on this year is to find new business partners to explore edding code’s potential with us and jointly develop novel applications.

Industry 4.0 marking

Our other focus in 2019 is the range of edding compact printers; designed for the Industry 4.0 era.

We can see that industry has a significant, growing requirement for labelling and marking as part of the production process. New legislation and a rising demand for product traceability meant that requirement for high quality marking solutions is only going to grow. 

Until now, industry has been a little resistant to innovations in industrial marking. For commercial reasons there has been a tendency to stick with large, bulky solutions built around a technology called Continuous Inkjet (CIJ). However, we could see huge potential to develop a next-generation alternative incorporating the latest advances in Thermal Inkjet (TIJ) printing technology.

That’s where our partner Elried comes in. This third-generation family business is a leader in industrial marking. Early on in discussions with them it became obvious that together we could create truly disruptive products. By marrying edding’s ink expertise with Elried’s we could design intuitive, reliable, cost effective printers with powerful processing power and connectivity needed for modern Industry 4.0 applications.

So far, two very cool products have come out of this collaboration. edding in-line 12 is designed for use in the production line, and the portable 12 with the flexibility to print in almost any location.

The initial market feedback for the products has been great and we can’t wait to get them in the hands of our customers in the coming days.

This is just the beginning for edding Tech Solutions. These are just the first of the disruptive technologies we plan to develop. If you are interested in finding out more about our products or in exploring opportunities to work with us, we would love to hear from you. To get in touch, just reach out to me or visit our website: https://edding.tech/