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Changes in the consumer market have resulted in many companies allocating considerable resources to their logos and trademarks with a subsequent need for high quality product packaging. Looks at design work undertaken for a system for quality control of printing images on packaging materials. Discusses the need to integrate the print process within the box making machine and the challenge of designing print machinery that can utilise environmentally friendly recycled paper. It looks at the problems of sensing and data acquisition from high through put machines and describes the two main aspects of print quality ‐colour quality and print registration and the methods of gathering this information. Concludes that a mechatronic approach is required for quality control of print images on packaging materials with an end product comprising sensors, machine vision, microprocessors and ultimately machine control and actuation.

Implementing quality programmes faces challenges and are not able to yield the needed results. The purpose of this paper is to examine the extent to which three key variables referred to as employee development, empowerment and participation (EDEP) determine the success of a quality programme of printing firms in Ghana.

The study is purely quantitative and data were collected from a cross-sectional survey of workers from printing firms in Ghana. The questionnaire instrument assesses the practices of the firms on development, empowerment and participation of employees. Descriptive, correlation and multiple regression analyses were performed to ascertain the contribution and relationship of the variables to quality achievement.

EDEP is directly and significantly related to print quality achievement. Among the three variables, participation has the greatest effect and contributes significantly to quality achievement. This is followed by empowerment, which has moderate effect on successful quality programme.

The study was unable to evaluate entire Total Quality Management dimensions. More extended research, preferably longitudinal study, is needed to establish how EDEP affect quality achievement in organisations.

Achieving quality printing depends on the level of attention to EDEP. The study suggests that when employees participate fully in quality drive and self-manage their actions and duties, high-quality printing can be assured.

The study provides useful information on factors that have been overlooked or given less attention, yet affect quality programmes of the firms.

The study empirically measure critical success factors of a quality in the printing firms.

The usage of additive manufacturing (AM) technology in industries has reached up to 50 per cent as prototype or end-product. However, for AM products to be directly used as final products, AM product should be produced through advanced quality control process, which has a capability to be able to prove and reach their desire repeatability, reproducibility, reliability and preciseness. Therefore, there is a need to review quality-related research in terms of AM technology and guide AM industry in the future direction of AM development.

This paper overviews research progress regarding the QC in AM technology. The focus of the study is on manufacturing quality issues and needs that are to be developed and optimized, and further suggests ideas and directions toward the quality improvement for future AM technology. This paper is organized as follows. Section 2 starts by conducting a comprehensive review of the literature studies on progress of quality control, issues and challenges regarding quality improvement in seven different AM techniques. Next, Section 3 provides classification of the research findings, and lastly, Section 4 discusses the challenges and future trends.

This paper presents a review on quality control in seven different techniques in AM technology and provides detailed discussions in each quality process stage. Most of the AM techniques have a trend using in-situ sensors and cameras to acquire process data for real-time monitoring and quality analysis. Procedures such as extrusion-based processes (EBP) have further advanced in data analytics and predictive algorithms-based research regarding mechanical properties and optimal printing parameters. Moreover, compared to others, the material jetting progresses technique has advanced in a system integrated with closed-feedback loop, machine vision and image processing to minimize quality issues during printing process.

This paper is limited to reviewing of only seven techniques of AM technology, which includes photopolymer vat processes, material jetting processes, binder jetting processes, extrusion-based processes, powder bed fusion processes, directed energy deposition processes and sheet lamination processes. This paper would impact on the improvement of quality control in AM industries such as industrial, automotive, medical, aerospace and military production.

Additive manufacturing technology, in terms of quality control has yet to be reviewed.

The aim of this paper, using the intuitionistic fuzzy (IF)–set based Preference Ranking Organization Method for Enrichment Evaluation (PROMETHEE) method, is to create multicriteria decision-making (MCDM) mechanism that evaluates the papers according to the offset print quality, separately for each of the CMYK colors. Thanks to the mechanism, the most suitable and the most unsuitable paper for printing is determined.

With the IF PROMETHEE method, respectively, deviations are calculated by linear criteria type; the overall IF preference relation matrix is obtained. Finally, the positive and negative outranking flows are calculated; by obtaining net outranking flows, all papers are ranked from best to worst for printability.

Based on the results of the MCDM algorithm; the best offset printing quality is Matte Coated 115 gr. for cyan, magenta and black and Glossy Coated 115 gr. for yellow. The worst offset printing quality for all papers is 70 gr. III. low grade paper. According to the findings, when all colors are examined, the best paper for offset printing quality is coated papers; the worst paper is III. low grade papers.

The creation of mechanism that evaluates all criteria together leads to the most accurate result. Cases of hesitation are also addressed using an IF-based algorithm; all criteria were assigned individual importance levels, and a single result was obtained by activating all of the criteria simultaneously. Therefore reasons, this is paper that will bring innovation and shed light on studies in this field.

This study aims to investigate issues of quality and quality control (QC) in three-dimensional (3D) printing by reviewing past work and current practices. Possible future developments are also discussed.

After a discussion of the major quality dimensions of 3D-printed objects, the applications of some QC techniques at various stages of the product life cycle (including product design, process planning, incoming QC, in-process QC and outgoing QC) are introduced.

The application of QC techniques to 3D printing is not uncommon. Some techniques (e.g. cause-and-effect analysis) have been applied extensively; others, such as design of experiments, have not been used accurately and completely and therefore cannot optimize quality. Taguchi’s method and control charts can enhance the quality of 3D-printed objects; however, these techniques require repetitive experimentation, which may not fit the work flow of 3D printing.

Because quality issues may discourage customers from buying 3D-printed products, enhancing 3D printing quality is imperative. In addition, 3D printing can be used to manufacture diverse products with a reduced investment in machines, tools, assembly and materials. Production economics issues can be addressed by successfully implementing QC.

This paper aims to investigate the effect of paper properties (whiteness, gloss and roughness) on colour laser printing quality. Paper characteristics have a significant influence on print quality and are crucial variables for predicting and reproducing colour.

Six kinds of paper with different properties were selected and the effects of the paper characteristics on the printed paper were studied. Samples were printed with cyan, magenta and yellow toner with a laser printer under identical conditions. The papers and printed papers were evaluated with atomic force microscope, scanning electron microscope, gloss-meter, spectrophotometer and densitometer.

Results showed that print quality is statistically dependent on paper type, and the average optical density of printed paper varied for different papers. Furthermore, the increase in the roughness and gloss of the papers in comparison to whiteness more significantly affected the optical density of paper by reducing it.

To achieve high-quality print, laser printing paper and toner require controlled characteristics.

For the first time, the present study evaluated the influence of paper properties on the quality of colour laser printing.

Adaptive slicing is a key step in 3D printing as it is closely related to the building time and the surface quality. This study aims to develop an adaptive layering algorithm that can coordinate the optimization of printing quality and efficiency to meet different printing needs.

A multiobjective optimization model is established for printing quality, printing time and layer height based on the variation of surface features, profile slope and curvature of the model. The optimal solution is found by an improved method combining Newton's method and gradient method and adapts to different printing requirements by adjusting the parameter thresholds.

Several benchmarks are applied to verify this new method. The proposed method has also been compared with the uniform layering method, it reduces the volume error by 46.4% and shortens the printing time by 28.1% and is compared with five existing adaptive layering methods to demonstrate its superior performance.

Compared with other methods with only one layered result, this method is a demand-oriented algorithm that can obtain different results according to different needs and it can reach a trade-off between the building time and the surface quality.

The purpose of this paper is to review research studies on process optimisation and machine development that lead to the enhancement of final products in various aspects of the fused deposition modelling (FDM) process.

An overview of the literature, focussing on process parameters, machine developments and material characterisations. This study investigates recent research studies that studied FDM capabilities in printing a vast range of materials from thermoplastics to metal alloys.

FDM is one of the most common techniques in additive manufacturing (AM) processes. Many parameters in this technology have effects on three-dimensional printed products. Therefore, it is necessary to obtain the optimum elements, for example, build orientation, layer thickness, nozzle diameter, infill pattern and bed temperature. By selecting a proper variable range of parameters, the layers adhere strongly and building end-use products of high quality are achievable. A vast range of materials and their properties from polymers to composite-based polymers are presented. Novel techniques to print metal alloys and composites are examined to increase the productivity of the FDM process. Additionally, defects such as shrinkage and warpage are discussed to eliminate the system’s limitations and improve the quality of final products. Multi-axis and mobile machines brought enhancements throughout the process to eliminate obstacles such as staircase defects in the conventional FDM process. In brief, recent developments were identified and a summary of major improvements was discussed in this study for future research.

This paper is an overview that provides information about research and developments in FDM. This review focusses on process optimisation and obstacles in printing polymers, composites, geopolymers and novel materials. Therefore, machine characteristics were examined to find out the accessibility of printing novel materials for different applications.

This paper aims to present a technical approach to evaluate the quality of textures obtained by an inkjet during binder jetting in 3D printing on a powder bed through contours detection to improve the quality of the surface printed according to the result of the assembly between the inkjet and a granular product.

The manufacturing process is based on the use of computer-aided design and a 3D printer via binder jetting. Image processing measures the edge deviation of a texture on the granular surface with the possibility of implementing a correction in an active assembly through a “design for manufacturing” (DFM) approach. Example application is presented through first tests.

This approach observes a shape alteration of the printed image on a 3D printed product, and the work used the image processing method to improve the model according to the DFM approach.

This paper introduces a solution for improving the texture quality on 3D printed products realized via binder jetting. The DFM approach proposes an active assembly by compensating the print errors in upstream of a product life cycle.

Woven and knitted polyester fabrics were pretreated with formulations containing waterborne UV curable resins and silica particles to improve inkjet print quality. The selected formulations were applied with low add-on to reduce the adverse effect on fabric hand without sacrificing the print quality. A print pattern with block areas and lines in cyan, magenta, yellow, and black colors was designed and inkjet printed on the pretreated fabrics with a wide-format inkjet printer (Encad Novajet 750) to investigate the effects of the UV curable pretreatment on the inkjet print color qualities including color depth, color gamut and color lightness.

Experimental results show that both the color depth and gamut of prints on the pretreated taffeta and knitted polyester fabrics were enhanced compared to those on untreated polyester fabrics. However, both the color depth and gamut of the prints on the pretreated satin polyester fabrics were reduced. The lightness change of the inkjet printed colors on pretreated knitted fabrics is similar to that of untreated fabrics whereas the lightness change of prints on pretreated satin and taffeta fabrics shows some differences. All colors have increased lightness on pretreated satin fabrics. However, magenta and black have decreased lightness on the pretreated taffeta fabrics.