Meteor Launches New Platform to Fix Global Chip Shortage
UK-based Meteor Inkjet Ltd., a leading supplier of industrial inkjet electronics, software, tools, and services, has developed a new electronics platform to solve the recent worldwide shortage of key computer chips.
Meteor’s Print Controller Card (PCC) is used by OEM customers around the world to synchronise image data sent by a PC to an array of printheads by the world’s leading industrial inkjet printhead manufacturers like Epson, FUJIFILM Dimatix, Konica Minolta, Kyocera, Ricoh, Seiko Instruments, Toshiba TEC, Xaar, and Xerox. The PCC was reliant upon an electronic component which is critically in short supply this year.
Anticipating these long-term supply issues, Meteor embarked on an ambitious, fast-track project to reproduce the PCC. A suitable replacement chip that was readily available was identified and acquired in high volumes of more than a year’s stock before starting on the development. The risk paid off and today the company’s PCC2 is now being shipped in production quantities. The advanced chipset used in the PCC2 guarantees higher speeds and potential for future functionality enhancements.
Meteor’s Managing Director Clive Ayling says, “It is a source of great pride for all of us at Meteor that this enormous task has been achieved, and particularly so due to our engineering team at Cambridge who pivoted their focus on this one project resulting in a robust, backward-compatible replacement product for our customers in a record time.”
“Our customer base having grown over the last decade to make Meteor the largest datapath supplier in the industry, had to wait for us to find a solution to what continues to be the worst chip supply shortage ever. I am delighted that their patience has paid off and we on our part will ensure a speedy backlog clearance of the last two quarters,” adds Jonathan Wilson, Meteor’s Vice President of Business Development.
During the PCC2 development, Meteor worked closely with a handful of companies including Dantex Digital, a leading digital press manufacturer in the UK and long-time customer of Meteor. Dantex R&D Director Richard Hall comments, “We are pleased to participate as a beta site for Meteor’s PCC2 development. With supply chain issues coupled with shortage of electronic components taking their toll, we are happy to work with collaborative partners demonstrating customer focus and resilience.”
The industrial inkjet industry accustomed to a year-on-year growth in breadth of application and penetration into markets can heave a sigh of relief with an essential component back in production.
Meteor Inkjet Ltd. is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Hybrid Software Group PLC, a leading software development company focused on innovative productivity tools for the graphic arts industry.
