Introduction
The hydrographic printing is a technology with more than twenty years where a printed layer is transferred to a surface using an immersion process. In 1992 was registered the first patent for the technology and currently there are important companies in United States of America and Germany that have important experience in this field. There is a project to install a hydrographic service in Kuwait to offer the service inside the country taking the advantage to be the only company in the country to offer the service. The characteristics of Kuwait give competitive advantages to develop the business in the country, better than other countries of the Middle East.
1.1. Legal and ethical considerations (400)
The technology of hydrographic painting was developed in early 1980's. The first patent registered in the United States Patent Registry was on 26 July 1992 by the investigator Motoyasu Nakanishi of the company Kabushiki Kaisha Cubic Engineering . The principle is almost the same of the current hydrographic printing technologies where a transcription film is inserted in a painting apparatus with water. The machine transfers the painting film to the surface.
The creation of a painting company in the industrial zone of Kuwait, specifically in Shuwaikh island of Kuwait, requires the acquisition of certified equipment with a license to operate, maintain an overhaul. Several companies in the world are available to provide equipment, capacitation, licenses and all the materials to install an immersion painting shop in Kuwait.
There are three companies that are leaders in the world in the technology development of Hydrographic Printing; they are HG Arts, Hydro Dip, and Ozarks .
HG Arts is a German company with headquarters in Dortmund with more than fifteen years in the business of immersion painting advising to the top carmakers in Germany as Audi, Volkswagen, and Porsche in hydrographic painting. HG Arts offers the license to operate and maintain all the equipment and supports the importation process from Germany to Kuwait Customs.
Hydro Dips is a United States of America company with headquarters in Meridian, Idaho with more than twenty years in the business of immersion painting advising to American carmakers and military contractors applying immersion painting in weapons, aircraft, and military equipment. HG Arts offers the license to operate and maintain all the equipment of immersion painting.
Ozarks acquired the original company of Kabushiki Kaisha Cubic Engineering, but they don't have the exclusivity of the technology. They are specialized in car and bike customization. They are located in Las Vegas, Nevada and developed the application "Do it yourself" with a personal kit, when the customer can do his personal paintings. The "Do it yourself" technology is not in the interest of the company due to the lack of support in customs, maintenance and operation.
The paintings that the company will develop in its shop must meet the Arab principles that respect the Muslim religion and avoid the libertarian culture of the occidental way of living, especially the United States of America culture. Other ethical consideration for the paintings to be developed by the company is the principle of originality and avoids copying other styles and authors inside and outside Kuwait. The artists of the company will work with the strategy of the check if the art to be developed is not a copy of an existent one. The use of an image browser, similar to Google Images helps to the work of the company to avoid copyright issues.
1.2. Human Factors (400)
The company of Hydrographic Painting requires a multidisciplinary staff where creative, technicians and manager staff work together to develop an excellent product, in opportunity and quality maintaining the company with a healthy administration that guarantees its functioning in the following years.
The creative staff will be divided in two: an on-site creative crew and a remote creative crew. The on-site creative crew will be confirmed by four people with a background in design, advertising, and arts. The on-site crew is on the regular payroll of the company and is in direct contact with the remote creative crew, managers, and technicians. The remote creative crew is a dynamic group of designers from the entire world that works in a freelance way with the company. The number of remote designers will depend on of the work charge of the company with a maximum of ten remote designers per one on-site designer. The payment to the remote designers is by each design.
The technicians are the personnel that has the responsibility for the good functioning of the equipment according to the design requirements and cost limitations. They develop the double function of operators and maintainers. They must have direct contact with the technology providers and give feedback about the functioning of the equipment and the possible improvements to the equipment. The specifications of each design operation: the technical personnel gives water, printed film, temperature and electric energy in agreement with the creative and manager crews.
The manager crew is the responsible for managing the business of Hydrographic Painting looking for new clients in the Kuwait Market, developing production plans, delivery plans and the art concept of the company. The managers must have skills in administration and design because they must meet the two fields to sell the service to potential clients.
The rest of the functions necessary for the company will be outsourced as communications, cleaning, and warehouse maintenance. The communications are internet connection, telephone, website and social network administration; the use of social networks is a very powerful tool, that other companies are taking advantage to increase the number of clients and sales. The cleaning service is a necessary service that a third company will develop every day to guarantee a clean environment in the design and production processes. The painting process generates sub products that must be removed from the work site without affecting the environment; the painting leaks may affect the warehouse structures. Third party personnel must clean those structures on a monthly or quarterly basis.
1.3. Cultural Factors (400)
The country of Kuwait is one of the most liberal countries in the Middle East; the country has a strong influence from the United Kingdom and the United States of America. The influence of the first country (United Kingdom) is because Kuwait was a dominium of the Britain Empire with a local governance of an Emirate figure, the Great Britain conformed since 1913 the Anglo-Ottoman agreement that conformed the current form of the Kuwait State. The influence of the second country (United States of America) took importance since the Gulf War in 1990. The United States of America entered the country when Iraq invaded Kuwait, and the US Army fought against the Saddam Hussein regime. The Kuwait people have a good perception of the United States of America culture and the young people emulate part of its culture. The baseball leagues, bike choppers, and automobile modifications are part of the American culture that is emulated by the Kuwait people. The location of the company in Shuwaikh Island, part of the Al Asimah Governorate benefits to the company in a more liberal environment. The presence of the port and industrial development far from the mosques benefits the creation process and the export of the products to other countries in the Middle East and the world.
The use of a mixed team of designers: on-site and remote designers benefit the company to have a more international perspective of design. The influence of religion and location affects the design. A freelance designer of Cape Town, South Africa will have a different inspiration and design product that other designer in Cali, Colombia. The integration of freelance designers with the on-site designers that represent the vision of the company will guarantee an interesting and complete design product for the clients.
The other cultural factors that affect the products are the potential clients of the company. The location of the company in the Shuwaikh Island in the industrial zone and port area where people from Kuwait and other parts of the world meet. The managers have the challenge to meet the creative capacity of the company from its designers of Kuwait and the world with their client's needs.
The last cultural factor to consider is the meeting between the technical crew of the company and the technology providers. The most important technology providers are from Germany and the United States of America. The technology transference from the technology providers to the company will guarantee the success of the company to develop immersion printing with quality and opportunity.
1.4. Environmental (Sustainability) Factors (400)
The considered environmental factors for the Hydrographic Painting are based on two factors: effects on the human being and effects to the environment.
The effect to the human being is for the operators that develop the painting process in the shop. The technical process for the hydrographic painting has the following steps with the potential effects:
■ Pre – Cleaning parts: The pre-cleaning of the parts to be painted is using air blowing, sand blowing and water injection. The pre-cleaning process may affect the senses of the painting operators of the company:
□ Eyes: The small particles in the air and the pressure in water injection may put in danger the eyes of the operator. In that case, the operator must use eye protection in the shop area although the people that are making the direct work and the observers.
□ Skin: The small solids and liquids may be corrosive to the skin of the operators of the painting shop. The operators must use a protective suit and big gloves that protect the entire arm.
■ Painting Process: The painting process consists in the immersion of the cleaned object inside the water with the graphic layer. The water must meet with a temperature and electrolytic conditions that benefit the process of printing. The printing process may affect the five senses of the painting operators of the company:
□ Eyes: The water used in the immersion process may put in danger the eyes of the operator. It is recommended for the operator to use protective goggles that protect the eyes against the introduction of water.
□ Skin: The water used in the painting process has constantly contact with the hands and arms of the operators. That phenomenon may corrode the skin surface, for that reason, the operators must use a protective suit and big gloves that protect the entire arm.
The effect to the external environment is for the water and soil that may be affected by the residual products of the painting process. The most important residual product of the painting process is the used water. The water used in the process must be distilled and demineralized. That water is not available in the public water system, for that reason the company must purchase more than thousand gallons per month to different laboratories in Kuwait and Saudi Arabia. Later to the acquisition of the distilled and demineralized water, the process requires the use of one hundred gallons per operation. The procedure says that the water must not be re-utilized because it may contaminate another printing process. The water is thrown by the effluent water system of the warehouse.
1.5. Technological Factors (400)
The technological factors that affect the hydrologic printing are equipment, energy, security systems and plant distribution. Each factor depends on of the other factors. Kuwait offers the minimum technical requirements to execute the hydrologic printing.
Equipment: The equipment depends on of the process necessary for the hydrologic printing. The first group of equipment is the necessary for the pre-cleaning process. The sand blowers apply a flow of sand over the part surface to eliminate surface particles (sandblasting). Other objects need water injection over its surface because the sandblasting may affect the surface configuration. When the two previous processes are not enough to clean the object surface, then it is necessary to apply a galvanization process using an electrolysis process with an anode and a cathode. The second group of equipment is the used in the painting process itself; the equipment is very similar to a galvanic hardware but with the difference of a printed layer application in the top of the recipient to "print" the surface. The introduction of the object to be printed is using a 45° orientation over the vertical axis.
Energy: The equipment requires low voltage electricity although for the pre-cleaning process and the hydrographic printing. The equipment is configured to use 120 volts and 220 volts with a frequency of 50-60 Hz. The availability of electricity in the warehouse is guaranteed 24 hours by the energy provider (Kuwait Electricity).
Security Systems: The Company must have security systems in the warehouse to guarantee the secure functioning of the process without the risk of incidents and accidents. Fire detection alarm systems, cameras, and movement sensors are necessary to compliment the security of the warehouse.
Plant distribution: The Company has a one-floor distribution with two separated areas: Pre-Cleaning and Painting Process, the managerial and creative staff is located in a conditionate area near the production site. Figure 1 shows the Plant Distribution.
Image 1: Plant Distribution
2.1. Feasibility Analysis (300)
The feasibility analysis of the hydrologic printing in Kuwait must meet the following criteria: market, resource and financial feasibility.
The market feasibility depends on of the potential demand for the service in Kuwait and the current offer of the service. Today there is no offer of the service in Kuwait and represents a potential opportunity for the company to offer the service, the selection of the Shuwaikh island and not the Kuwait city gives the opportunity for the company to test the market and once the company improves its sales, it will be possible to open other stores and warehouses in Kuwait City and other cities of the Middle East.
The resource feasibility is positive for the company; Kuwait offers all the energy resources and availability of machinery and equipment to install new companies and organizations. The location of the company in the Shuwaikh Island facilitates the contact with importers and technology providers. The necessary talent is available although in Kuwait and overseas. Due to the fact the company can contract talent in Kuwait and overseas via freelance contracts, the company won't have problems in the creative and operative issues.
The financial feasibility of the company depends on of the future development of the financial statements of the company –balance and cash flow-. The estimation of two services per week in a 50 labor-weeks will guarantee enough cash flow for the company to pay the license and depreciation of equipment during the operations of the company. The company has no competition in Kuwait, for that reason the company may offer the service with a premium price.
2.2. Product Specifications (300)
The service and pricing depend on the following factors:
■ Size Dimensions: Large, length and deep of the projected volume of the object. There are limitations of the company to offer the service. The current installations allow the management of objects with the following maximum dimensions: 2 meters length, 1-meter width, and 1 meter deep.
■ Current condition of the surface. The current condition of the surface will determine the necessary processes of pre-cleaning previous to the hydrographic printing service.
■ Print design requirement: The required design of the client will need design service to adapt the necessities of the client to the final art.
The product of the company is a unique solution for the client where all the necessary processes are included in a package. The client only needs to have the idea and the object to be painted. The most common application is chassis parts of cars, bikes, weapons and furniture.
Conclusion
The Hydrographic printing project in Kuwait represents an important business opportunity for the stakeholders of the company and the potential clients of the service. The hydrographic painting is commonly used in Germany and United States of America to a different application in the automotive, gun and furniture industry. In Kuwait, the idea is to repeat the same experience considering that the country has strong ties and cultural similarities with the United Kingdom and the United States of America.
Reference List
Dip Junkies. (2015). The Origin of Hydro-Dipping. Retrieved from Dip Junkies: http://dipjunkies.com/the-origin-of-hydro-dipping/
HG Arts. (2015). HG Arts. Retrieved from http://hgarts.com/
