Current and future challenges of the ceramic tile firms: (the case of the INKJET technological innovation)

Abstract

The following work integrates three theoretical perspectives in the field of economics: the situation in the ceramic sector at a global and national level, the perspective of the territory (also known as a “cluster”) and the innovation and new technologies in the same sector. An analysis of the current and future challenges of the companies in the Spanish ceramic sector will be realized. For it, first the situation of the sector will be analyzed from a European and global perspective, with data from the production and consumption of tiles of the main countries as well as data on export and import. Once the situation of the sector is analyzed from this perspective, I will study carefully the territorial agglomerations, like the clusters, which have specific characteristics in terms of the flow of knowledge through their networks. In addition, I will focus on the Spanish situation in particular, in the Italy-Spain cluster, and also in the importance of the congregation in this kind of companies in the province of Castellón. Finally, I will emphasize innovation since it is probably one of the best indicators of value creation by companies and thus the importance of study and research in R & D. In the case of this work, I will talk about the inkjet technology in the ceramic industry, since it has supposed a revolutionary change for the companies in the sector.