Conventional steel furnishings have design limitations because of the nature of existing manufacturing processes – like single-color steel plates, steel products that have simple, repetitive designs, or powder coatings (which use heat to bond powdered paints to metal, covering it with a uniform color). However, POSCO’s inkjet-printed steel sheets can be used to produce a wide range of images and designs.

Inkjet-printed steel sheets combine inkjet printing technology with steel, giving them the capability for full-color, complex and high-resolution digital images on premium surface-treated steel sheets.

With the commercialization of inkjet-printed steel sheets, a variety of sophisticated designs can be applied to steel furnishings. This photo shows office furniture and frames that POSCO produced together with the furniture company Rareraw, using inkjet-printed steel sheets.

A range of kitchen and office furniture in a variety of colors and patterns was created by the Surface Treatment Research Group at the Gwangyang Research Center and by the Design Solution TF at the Structural Research Group, both of which are part of POSCO’s Steel Solution Marketing Department, in cooperation with Rareraw, a steel furniture manufacturer. The finished products were produced without omissions, deformations or cracks in the difficult parts of the steel, like the bends, and the processed and laser-cut parts. Those successes meant the inkjet printing method is even applicable to products that need processing.

The furniture produced through this joint production has received much positive feedback, including at the Korea International Steel & Nonferrous Metal Industry Expo in September and the POSCO EVI Forum in November.

POSCO Develops High-Resolution Inkjet-Printed Steel

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