A consortium of Yorkshire printers and designers led by Print Yorkshire - focussing on the development of products incorporating printed electronic elements is very close to a commercially produced and a commercially acceptable product.

The consortium successfully bid for funding from The Northern Way (an umbrella body set up by the three northern Regional Development Agencies) in a process administered by Printable Electronics Technology Centre (PETEC) in Sedgefield, County Durham.

Members of the consortium are award winning Sheffield printer Evolution, Leeds screen and digital printer RPS2000 and North Yorkshire designer and publisher Colour Heroes. The technical know how is provided by Cambridge-based interactive printed media company Novalia.

Print Yorkshire's Project Manager Mike Hopkins comments on gaining funding: "We were in fierce competition for this funding but I think the panel liked the fact that we included in our consortium SME commercial printers, who are the cornerstone of the printing industry and most likely to achieve the maximum adoption of the technologies."

The most technically challenging aspect of the project has been to find suitable litho inks. Novalia's Chris Jones said: "Even with my ink experience I have been left scratching my head sometimes." At the last team meeting PETEC's Chief Executive Tom Taylor offered support and assistance to relieve any bottlenecks with this aspect of the development.

The project is entering its final phase with all the lessons of the first few months coming together. The final print trials will be carried out in the next two weeks and then designs finalised and production of the commercially orientated product will begin. The project is scheduled to end in November this year.