Printing, which has seen many advances being made
in the last few years, is an exciting growth sector.Launched as a dedicated sector at ITMA
2019, the printing and inks chapter had grown by 40% compared with ITMA 2015,
and featured many established and new exhibitors who were keen to exploit the
digital printing sector. Let’s discover the latest digital printing solutions presented at the fairgrounds this
year.
Kornit
Digital brings sustainable solutions for industrial printing

Driven by mega-trends, brands and retailers
seek to connect with consumers, and are adapting their supply chains
accordingly, paving the way to digital textile printing.
At the press conference on the second day of ITMA
2019, Ronen Samuel, CEO of Kornit Digital, pointed out the mega-trends driving for change: personal expression in the social
media era; an e-commerce environment of endless choices; and a strong
sustainability imperative.
Samuel explained that Kornit’s
mission is to be the vendor of choice for apparel and home décor industry
players, and to accelerate the supply chain optimization.
“We work closely with the world’s leading
brands to support their business innovation strategies. Kornit's technologies enable
unlimited design creativity, faster turnaround times and sustainable production,” he commented.
Kornit Digital demonstrated
its strong presence at ITMA in Barcelona. One of the highlights was the brand-new
Kornit Presto, which was commercially released at the show.
The Kornit Presto, which is anindustrial single-step solution for direct-to-fabric
printing, addresses the supply
chain challenge head on. The system is suited for the home décor and fashion
markets. It eliminates the need for pre and post treatment of fabric and allows
for high-quality printing on an extraordinarily broad variety of fabric types.

In addition, the Kornit
Presto solution uses the 100% water-free patented NeoPigment process, and is a short process from file to finished product, making it anenvironmentally friendly solution for direct-to-fabric textile printing.
Also on display in the booth were the Kornit Atlas and the Avalanche Poly Pro systems that were
introduced earlier this year. Following dozens of installations worldwide and
successful ramp-up at multiple customer sites, hundreds of thousands of
garments have already been produced. Kornit performed live printing of Adidas products on these two systems at ITMA.
Adidas has recently invested in the Kornit
Atlas and Avalanche Poly Pro solutions and is looking to expand its digital
embellishment capabilities further.
Another solution that took the center stage was Kornit Konnect. It is a
cloud-based software analytics connectivity platform that enables businesses to
monitor production, analyze insights and manage their fleet, to eliminate blind
spots.
“While businesses need to
deliver high quality, faster than ever, to maintain customer loyalty, they are
also challenged to maximize their efficiency and productivity,” said Omer
Kulka, VP of Marketing & Product Strategy at Kornit Digital. “Konnect
empowers these businesses to make better-informed production decisions, with
greater visibility and control over their operations.”
Kornit Konnect includes a fleet management
dashboard, data-driven benchmarks, actual production costs, and cost structures
per job, making it easy for businesses to learn more, react faster and perform
better.
Mimaki
emphasizes accessibility of textile printing
Mimaki Engineering introduced
its brand-new hybrid digital textile printer from the
TX300P series at the press conference on the first day of ITMA 2019.
“The textile market is still relatively
early-on in the adoption of digital printers, with most textiles being printed
in the conventional way and a lot of large players dominating the market. With
this new hybrid printer, Mimaki has provided an affordable solution that lowers
the barriers to entry for smaller print providers,” said Ronald van den Broek,
General Manager Sales EMEA, Mimaki Europe.
“For larger volume production houses,
the printer is valuable for smaller runs and the myriad benefits digital
production provides,” he
continued.
Uniquely featuring both
direct-to-textile and direct-to-transfer print capabilities, the new printer
achieves unparalleled flexibility in ink combinations and substrates – opening
new profitable opportunities for businesses.
The new printer is an evolution of the
Mimaki TX300P-1800, with the added capability of printing direct-to-transfer.
Crucially, print service providers will benefit from enhanced versatility in
terms of fabrics, applications and targeted markets.
This affords smaller print service
providers with an opportunity to provide a full range of textile printing
applications with just one system. Aligned with Mimaki’s Total Solution
Provider approach, the printer is compatible with Mimaki’s full range of
pre-treating, steaming and washing equipment.
Interchangeable platens enable the
hybrid nature of the printer. When printing direct-to-textile, excess ink that
penetrates through the fabric is drained by a platen with an ink-receiving
ditch. This can quickly be swapped out for a vacuum platen, suitable for
printing onto heat transfer paper.
The printer can also be configured with
three different ink combinations, comprising textile pigment/direct sublimation
or textile pigment/sublimation transfer or direct sublimation/sublimation
transfer. This means more versatility and more possibilities, making it an
ideal entry model.
Reliable productivity is assured with
Mimaki Core Technology including a Nozzle Check Unit and Nozzle Recovery
System. This enables the printer to automatically clean print heads when
nozzles malfunction, and when nozzles are not repairable, switch any missing or
damaged nozzles with working nozzles without stopping production and without
affecting final print quality.
“The features of this new hybrid printer
will enable textile and garment manufacturers to achieve unparalleled
flexibility and enhanced application opportunities for increased business
growth. With this product Mimaki is effectively democratising accessibility to
textile printing, and with solutions like this in the market, we expect to see
improved growth of digital printing in textiles,” van den Broek concluded.
EFI Reggiani supports digital
migration with complete solutions
Electronics For Imaging, Inc. demonstrated the
advanced, leading-edge technologies that make the company a textile innovator
at ITMA 2019, including the game-changing EFI Reggiani BOLT single-pass inkjet
printer – a digital textile solution capable of high-quality output at record
production speeds of up to 90 linear metres per minute.
As introduced by Adele
Genoni, Vice President and General Manager, EFI Reggiani, EFI is a partner to its customers
in digital transformation with
a complete offering of advanced printers, inks, pre- and post-treatment
technologies and integrated design and workflow solutions.
“We are very excited
about our ITMA exhibit, especially to be showing the Reggiani BOLT to the
general public for the first time along with our unmatched portfolio for
advanced, efficient, high-quality digital textile production,” Genoni said. “Visitors will be more than pleased with how it
creates a new path for the future with digital production.”
Commenting on the market
trend, she said: “Customers are looking for customization and they want to
change very frequently. So digital is the answer for the market to support the
customers’ needs.”
“Digital transformation is
happening now, for sure. I am hearing more and more customers saying that the
analogue printers are really part of the past. That means the speed of
innovation into the digital is increasing. Now, it’s definitely the right time for
digital transformation!” she underscored.

Some of the innovative
solutions featured at the show including high-quality,
highly productive EFI Reggiani COLORS
printer, EFI Mezzera indigo
dyeing and finishing technology, new EFI
Reggiani FUOCO water-based acid inks, new EFI
Fiery BT-1000 digital front end (DFE), newly launched version of EFI Optitex
2D/3D textile CAD software, a suite
of Adobe Creative Cloud plug-ins Fiery DesignPro, etc.
The new, 1.8-metre wide Reggiani BOLT printer at
ITMA is designed to give textile manufacturers high uptime and reliability,
high performance throughout and unparalleled printing uniformity and accuracy,
in addition to superior printhead life and minimal maintenance needs.
Thanks to its cutting-edge printhead concept and
high-performance ink delivery system, the Reggiani BOLT reaches a record
throughput speed of 90 metres/minute at a 600 x 600 dots per inch (dpi)
resolution.
A robust, industrial platform designed for 24/7 operation,
the Reggiani BOLT printer offers an innovative, low-maintenance, fast-startup
recirculation printhead that delivers more-uniform, high-quality printing with
superior uptime.
In addition, EFI’s
stand at ITMA also featured one of the industry’s most-advanced
workflows for design through production. The newest-version EFI Optitex
software featured in the EFI exhibit addresses retailers’ and brands’ urgent
need to bring new products to market faster.
The new release delivers true-to-life fabric simulations,
enabling custom views of designs for consistent and adaptable 3D sample
displays, minimising the need for physical samples and costly photo shoots
across the design and production workflow.
Epson Total
Solution enables high output and quality printing
ITMA 2019 is an opportunity for Epson to confirm
its integrated system for the textile printing world. The all-inclusive textile
digital printing system features state-of-the art textile printing technology,
Epson PrecisionCore printheads and Genesta inks, which offer maximum results
based upon Epson technology and fabric treatment expertise.
Epson showed its new Monna Lisa Evo Tre 64 and
Monna Lisa Evo Tre 8, as well as its Monna Lisa Evo Tre 32 and Monna Lisa Evo
Tre 16 at its booth.
The new Monna Lisa Evo Tre range features Epson
PrecisionCore Technology to offer a complete solution for all textile market
needs, from large scale, high speed production to small run, on demand sample
printing.
The new flagship Monna Lisa Evo Tre scanning
printer with 64 PrecisionCore printheads on display is built for high productivity
(maximum printing speed of 779 sqm/h) without compromising the printing
quality. Monna Lisa Evo Tre 64’s PrecisionCore technology combines quality,
accuracy and speed which provides the maximum level of flexibility and
reliability so that it is the right solution for a dynamic and diversified
textile market.
In addition, the brand new Genesta PG-Revo is
breakthrough pigment ink which provides the textile market with high rub
fastness and high print quality. This assures eco-friendly performances because
the fabric does not need any post-print treatment. In addition, the ink can be
also applied on fabrics without pre-treatment, further boosting their eco-friendly
performances.
Epson Europe DTF EMEAR and Americas Sales &
Marketing Director Paolo Crespi said: “Epson keeps on renewing and extending
the Monna Lisa Evo Tre range. The textile market is increasingly competitive
and the exclusive high quality, productivity and colour fastness features offered by Epson is a way
to stand out.”
MS Printing
debuts breakthrough single-pass printing machine
MS Printing Solutions, which is part of the Dover
Digital Printing company, launched its MiniLario single-pass printing machine
at ITMA 2019.
During an interview with CTA, Alessio Zunta,
Business Manager of MS Printing Solutions, said: “The growth in digital is
happening, for sure. More and more manufacturers plan to stop traditional
printing and move to digital. This is nature revolution of technology!”
According to him, MiniLario has been developed to
fill a gap in the market between its LaRio and JPK-EVO printers in terms of
speed and return on investment.
“Mini lario is expected to strongly influence the
future market for digital textile printing, thanks to its strengths – compact
design, speed and high-quality output – which make it the ideal printer for the
segment,” he said.
Unlike the existing Lario, the MiniLario is a
scanning printer. It takes substrates from 1.8 to 3.2m, with up to eight
colours. It uses Kyocera printheads with maximum resolution of 600 x 600 dpi
and 16 greyscale levels with drop sizes ranging from 4 to 72pl. The 64
printheads allow Mini Lario to reach the incredible maximum printing speed of
1094 m/h.
Mini Lario features a range of technical
innovations, including bold solutions such as positioning the printing carriage
hang on the printing bridge.
This solution allows for high-speed, accuracy and
total system stability. It has received a great interest from the visitors during the show and all the stock was already sold out, he said.
“MiniLario is now the fastest scanning machine in the
world,” he said. "We are the leader in the industry. We create the
technology and the others try to follow."
He commented that China, the US and India are the
top 3 markets for the company. Bangladesh is also rising and the company has
sold some Lario over there. Other countries in South East Asia, such as Vietnam
and Indonesia, will rise until the global political situation becomes clear.