Printed Electronics - Overcoming Barriers to Commercialization

Smart Media Products

Most of the potential for printed electronics lies in what Toppan Forms calls Smart Media Products (SMP) which will often be intelligent and mass producible yet often customizable as well. They will usually be used at the human interface or connected to networks and embeddable ubiquitously into the environment. All this means that printed electronics will largely create new markets. An example could be tape around pipelines to detect leaks and impending leaks and signal that there is a problem. The need is certainly there given ongoing discovery of leaks in chemical facilities and even the Trans Alaska Pipeline. Printed electronics will commonly take the form of tape, “wallpaper”, posters, patches and packaging rather than electronic equipment. Electronically savvy companies making patches, tape or packaging such as 3M and Toppan Printing will be more comfortable with this world than the big computer and telecommunications systems and service businesses or even the silicon chip makers.