# Disruptive Innovation in Traditional Clusters:
## 5 Case Study: The Kerajet Development
### The New Technology Becomes a Dominant Design  
The mid 2000s marked the development of inkjet technology as a dominant design. The glaze and pigment leaders followed the path of Kerajet and started to develop and market new inks for inkjet technology after realizing that it had a much higher added value. Kerajet was challenged by new entrants, mostly from the pigment and glaze sector, which was searching for outside partners in the inkjet technology sector and had to face the first litigations for patent infringements. The first follower was a pigment producer (Torrecid), who partnered with Durst in 2005 to present the second inkjet printer on the market with organic pigments. This was later followed by Cretaprint, a small Rotocolor manufacturer in Spain, later acquired by EFI (Electronics For Imaging) in 2012. Print head producers, led by XAAR, started to develop inkjet printheads adapted for tile decoration, and within five years, ceramic tile inkjet print heads had become a standardized product, with four international firms making up 99% of the market. Organic pigmented inks also became standard, and Spanish glaze and pigment producers incorporated them into their catalogues. The two initial inkjet printer manufacturers (Kerajet and EFI-Cretaprint, based in the Spanish cluster) dominated the market with a 70% share until 2015 [59]. The remnants belonged to three or four manufacturers, including two Italian equipment producers. Durst has initiated their operations in Spain and later moved to Italy [60]. Therefore, the Spanish cluster dominated the technology in the initial years. It must be pointed out that the initial lack of infrastructure inhibiting the development and dissemination of inkjet innovation, such as the lack of software competency, microelectronic suppliers in the cluster, print head technology suitable for the ceramic tile applications, and the lack of computer-trained operators, were surmounted by the visionary effort of the entreprene who initiated change. These facts confirm the effect of dominant design on encouraging standardization, so that production or other complementary economies could be sought [61]. The new technology offered incredible image resolution, line speeds, and productivity, as well as the potential for cutting edge designs that were not thought of previously. This has now been recognized as a leading competitive technology and the leading inkjet equipment manufacturers are now overflowing with numerous orders. New printer models were developed with increased numbers of attributes and improved specifications. At the end of 2008, there were more than 500 ceramic tile process lines equipped with inkjet machines. This underlines the role of Kerajet as a technological gatekeeper in the cluster [55]. Figure 3 shows the worldwide evolution of inkjet printer sales, comparing the leading firm's sales (Kerajet) versus total printer sales during the period 2000-2016. The graph shows how during the initial years (2000-06), the pioneer firm (Kerajet) completely dominated the market until 2012, with an estimated 50%-60% market share. Later, it lost its leadership. Digital tile printing is nowadays a mature and dominant technology. There are twenty main producers of inkjet printers. The clear leaders are in Spain, namely Kerajet and EFI-Cretaprint. Five producers are located in Italy, namely Durst, System-Coesia, Tecnoferrari, Projects, and Sacmi. Finally, there are five main Chinese manufacturers. On the printhead side, there are two main competitors, Fuji and Xaar, followed by Toshiba, Seiko, and Konica. The technology is open in this regard and most printers can work with all printheads. The historical sales evolution follows an exponential curve, and as the figure shows, the technology has reached a maturation phase. In 2014, the leading countries in inkjet adoption were Spain at 80% and Italy at 70%. As Italy is the industry leader in design, its lagging adoption figure may be interpreted as a consequence of the country's unwillingness to adopt foreign technology.