Meteor Inkjet announces breakthrough Nozzle Health Technology

Meteor Inkjet has announced the launch of its Nozzle Health Technology – the first commercially available system that provides real-time health monitoring of every nozzle in an inkjet printhead. The technology improves visibility into nozzle performance, enabling manufacturers to cut waste, reduce downtime, and maintain maximum productivity.

The system measures the impulse response of each nozzle in fractions of a millisecond, instantly identifying issues such as wetting, blockage, or air ingestion. Users can automatically compensate for missing nozzles using Meteor’s NozzleFix software or pause production for targeted maintenance before problems occur.

Meteor says its Nozzle Health Technology represents a fundamental shift in reliability and quality control for all inkjet applications, particularly in environments where the cost of failure is high. Without this new technology, nozzle faults are noticed only after producing perceptible errors. With this technology, the nozzles can be checked without producing any faulty print.

In additive manufacturing and 3D printing, a single faulty nozzle can cause anything from minor surface defects to complete and very expensive product failure. By identifying issues, Meteor’s technology prevents uneven material deposition from weakening layer bonding or resulting in fragile parts that fail under stress. This level of precision is critical for maintaining dimensional accuracy, allowing manufacturers to produce parts for applications that require a precise, high-tolerance fit without the risk of expensive material waste.

In the printed electronics industry, a single unexpected missing nozzle can render the entire product worthless. Meteor says its Nozzle Health Technology will massively reduce the failure rate of any inkjet production process by taking remedial actions before any product is wasted.

In the packaging sector, the technology supports high-speed production of barcodes, QR codes, and variable data, where even minor nozzle defects can render codes unreadable, leading to batch rejection or supply-chain disruption. The source acts as a proactive safety net. Manufacturers no longer have to choose between speed and reliability, giving them the confidence to run production lines at maximum capacity while knowing that every mark on every package is being monitored for integrity.

When inkjet technology is being used as the primary decoration technology, each different image typically has a different ability to hide missing nozzles, resulting in frequent unpleasant surprises when switching from one job (that hides faults well) to another (that does not), wasting production time and media. Meteor’s Nozzle Health Technology will enable the actual status of nozzles to be known and targeted remedial action to be taken before each new print job begins.

“This innovation turns nozzle reliability from a hidden risk into a controlled, measurable parameter. It represents a fundamental step forward in how inkjet systems are operated, maintained, and trusted in production environments. Manufacturers face constant pressure to keep production lines running smoothly while minimising waste. Our technology gives them the clarity they need to operate more efficiently, stay ahead of maintenance issues, and achieve consistently high print quality,” says Clive Ayling, Managing Director of Meteor Technology.