Implementing digital manufacturing technology into an industrial process has the potential to achieve better performance products at lower cost. Manufacturers are increasingly taking advantage of the benefits that this new technology brings and leaving traditional methods behind. This paper analyses how digital printing penetrated the ceramic tile market, how it is penetrating the textile one and how it will penetrate other markets such as décor, glass and electronics. Those markets are taken as examples and for each, the importance of application and process understanding is discussed, as well as the contribution of printhead technology, software and fluid chemistry in making the implementation successful.