According to Wolfgang Mildner, chairman of the OE-A, the market potential for printed electronics is "huge".

"In parallel with the upward trend in this technology the interest in OE-A is growing too," he said. Xaar advanced manufacturing director David Chapman added: "There are a significant number of projects in development around the world and we expect to start moving into commercialisation in the next two years. 

"The real challenge remains to move from laboratory to a high-efficiency manufacturing process. Xaar is closely involved in developing solutions for these emerging applications."