ITMA 2023 showcased the newest developments within the still-growing digital printing enviornment.
By Dr. Lisa P. Chapman, Technical Editor; and Kerry McGuire King
ITMA 2023, aptly named “Remodeling the World of Textiles”, targeted on sustainability achieved in three innovation areas which are straight associated to digital printing — Superior Materials, Synthetic Intelligence and Automation. This 12 months was the most important iteration of the present with greater than 111,000 attendees from 143 international locations (2019: 105,000) 1,709 exhibitors from 47 international locations (2019: 1,717), and 200,000 sq. meters of exhibition area (2019: 114,500 sq. meters). Digital printing was once more closely featured at ITMA 2023, with a whole corridor dedicated to this expertise. The digital print market grew considerably because the final ITMA. There was a slowdown in the course of the pandemic, however now there’s a return to a progress market.
ITMA 2015 noticed a transformative breakthrough with the event of single move printers, able to printing at speeds as much as 70 meters per minute (m/min). Surprisingly, these high-speed printers weren’t featured as prominently at ITMA 2023. Quite, the emphasis was on the optimization and maturation of scan sort printers with a concentrate on sustainability, in addition to optimization of the printing course of to enhance high quality and cut back colorants, chemical compounds and time. Scan sort printers, whereas nonetheless not as quick as single move printers, are actually a lot quicker than what was proven at ITMA 2019, reaching speeds of 15 to twenty linear yards per minute. The elevated pace of scan sort printers is achieved by stacking print heads. Though slower, scan sort printers additionally supply higher flexibility, and in some cases increased high quality. The excessive pace of single move printers means roughly 20 p.c of designs can’t be achieved, notably these prints the place extra saturated, bigger strong print areas are required. Scan sort printers are cheaper and take up much less ground area and so it’s doable to have a number of on the manufacturing facility ground printing utilizing totally different colorants on quite a lot of substrates. Scanning applied sciences supply manufacturing flexibility and redundancy, which is essential for print on demand environments the place ultra-short run printing consists of fast turns throughout quite a lot of supplies and product sorts.
Scanning options supply the flexibility to scale manufacturing over time by the addition of machines and the flexibility to “step up” to the subsequent machine stage. This can be a technique provided by quite a few distributors.
Roll-To-Roll/Direct-To-Material Printers
At ITMA, Japan-based Epson showcased the Monna Lisa sequence —extensively thought-about to be one of many premium applied sciences for the high-est decision and highest-quality prints — together with the ML 8000, 16000, 32000 and 64000 machines for which the mannequin quantity corresponds to the variety of printheads and subsequently throughput functionality. Fashions and capabilities embrace:
- ML 8000, which prints with a set of reactive and acid dyes, known as REACID, for fiber blended substrates, or for extra flexibility if for instance, a buyer needed to print substrates suitable with acid for one print run and reactive for one more.
- ML 13000, which gives inline pre- and post-treatments with pigment inks. The pretreatment liquid, ejected by one of many print-heads, jets a surfactant agent to drag the ink to the floor of the material, which helps to make the print extra colourful. One other print-head jets a binder for elevated fastness properties, whereas one other printhead jets a softener to enhance the hand of the material.
- ML 16000 hybrid, which mixes piezo-electric printheads with microvalves. The printheads jet pigment colorant and the microvalves are in a position to jet paste for results corresponding to metallic and white pigmented shade.
- ML 3200, which has a printable width of 340 centimeters and 32 printheads. This printer might be configured to print two items of cloth concurrently, thus growing productiveness and decreasing power and useful resource consumption.
Italy-based EFI Reggiani confirmed the chance to step up in machine width with its Hyper mannequin out there as a 1.8-, 2.4-, or 3.4-meter-wide machine. Outfitted with 72 printheads and ink recirculation as much as the nozzle plate, it might print two move, manufacturing high quality at speeds as much as 13 linear m/min on a 1.5-meter-wide roll. The widest machine additionally gives dual-roll functionality to print two totally different, narrower substrates directly at throughput speeds of as much as 20 m/minute. That is an fascinating idea, proven by Italy-based Durst on the final ITMA present, which requires particular machine and software program engineering.
Italy-based Dover Industries Italy (DII) (MS Printing Options & JK Group manufacturers), additionally featured scaling alternatives inside its scanning line. On the high finish, the Mini Lario has been upgraded and now has eight rows with as much as eight heads per row and might print at a pace of 1,000 meters per hour. This is likely one of the quickest scan sort printers in the marketplace. DII (MS & JK manufacturers) experiences that the Mini Lario might be exactly shade matched to manufacturing on the Lario to allow longer manufacturing runs of the identical design and colorway ought to the necessity come up.
As well as, DII (MS & JK manufacturers) confirmed the reengineered JP7 machine and system that considerably improves the sustainability of the whole printing course of. The middle of this optimized, sustainable printing system is Digistar Pigment 4K, a patent pending colorant set that eliminates pretreatment, thereby decreasing chemical and water utilization, in addition to time and value. The printer additionally features a new zero-wastewater recirculation system that reduces as much as 90 p.c of water waste sometimes generated in a 40-hour working cycle. To additional optimize a sustainable printing course of, a brand new ink recirculation system from DII (MS & JK manufacturers) prevents nozzle blocking, which is a main reason behind print cloth defects that results in cloth and colorant wastage. Gradus, its in-line drying system, ensures minimal power consumption; and since the modular system permits curing and drying multi function, carbon dioxide emissions are diminished.
Austria-based Zimmer Austria Inc. — a producer of machines for textile and carpet ending together with digital printing programs, flat and rotary display screen printing, coating programs, steaming, washing and drying — showcased the Colaris3 high-performance pretreatment, digital printing and colorant programs for purposes that require colorant penetration by the substrate corresponding to carpeting, towels, and plush or heavy automotive and residential décor materials. The Colaris sequence of printers can be utilized with quite a lot of colorants corresponding to reactive, disperse, acid, pigment and vat. Inline pre-and post-treatment programs might be added to enhance print high quality and enhance ink penetration. The Colaris printer has 16 printheads for a bigger shade gamut, elevated pace, or flexibility to run a number of varieties of colorants. Zimmer has added a imaginative and prescient digital camera detection system to its Colaris digital printers. The Colaris-vision I – Match Print to Reduce consists of particular person piece items recognition and description masking with automated computation of the print masks positioning for design customization.
Zimmer’s Colaris-vision II – Match to Print is a roll-to-roll print course of with seamless detection of a pre-imagined cloth adopted by a registered print. The system has an automatic distortion compensation that ensures the print is fitted exactly into the given construction on an internet. The design might be fitted precisely onto the substrate regardless of of any weft misalignment or shrinkage from cloth preparation within the pre-print course of.
Superior Supplies
As a part of the textile business’s cur-rent concentrate on sustainability, distributors proceed to ramp up funding within the improvement of options that cut back water, chemical and materials waste. Digital dyeing, inline pretreatment, and pigment printing all have the potential to enhance sustainability. Particularly, pigment colorant was featured by numerous distributors. As pigment expertise matures, com-petition is growing in a approach that’s resulting in enhancements in print high quality and improvements in chemistry and software. Additional adoption of ink recirculation methods is a contributing issue to the success of pigments and this concept was highlighted by EFI Reggiani in its Hyper system. Ink recirculation was additionally talked about by DII (MS & JK manufacturers) in regard to its redesigned JP7 expertise together with the Digistar Pigment 4K.
Built-in softening and pretreatment improvements from a number of resolution suppliers is paving the way in which for higher acceptance of pigment printed cloth. Japan-based Kyocera Corp., a key provider of commercial printhead expertise to textile builders, has joined the combo with the introduction of Forearth expertise, and highlighted the flexibility to print on a broad vary of materials.
Different superior materials improvements included China-based Atexco’s double-sided printing expertise and reactive colorant that doesn’t require a submit therapy for cotton substrates.
General, distributors illustrated the compatibility of digital printing with tricky-to-manage substrates together with knits and light-weight attire materials. This was notably evident within the pigment printing space that had beforehand demonstrated poor cloth hand and shade high quality. New pigment applied sciences are opening-up the likelihood for pigment printed cloth adoption in a broader vary of product areas and markets.
Particular Results
Advances in pigment expertise are also enabling particular impact printing. Through the present, Israel-based Kornit Digital Ltd. demonstrated a white pigment functionality that permits imaging on coloured grounds and when mixed with its Xdi expertise, creates a novel, raised, textural look.
Epson has taken this theme one step additional with the introduction of the ML 16000 Hybrid machine that mixes piezo-electric printheads with microvalves. The printheads jet pigment colorant whereas the microvalves jet paste to create results together with metallic and white pigmented shade. Epson’s Genesta water-based inks assure shade accuracy and fastness properties, whereas the particular pastes — developed and produced by Italy-based Epson Como Printing Applied sciences S.r.l.— create the particular results.
Digital Dyeing And Ending
Though pigments supply a sustainability benefit over dye-based colorants for digital printing, digital software strategies for strong colours supply the potential for a a lot higher discount in environmental footprint. Towards that finish, England-based Alchemie Expertise’s Endeavour™ digital dyeing expertise applies liquid colorants to materials utilizing a novel non-contact high-energy jetting of nano-droplets, delivering exceptionally homogeneous shade all through the material. This breakthrough waterless, low-carbon, digital dyeing expertise, helps dye homes in decreasing prices — dramatically reducing power and carbon dioxide emissions by 85 p.c, water use by 95 p.c, and likewise eliminates wastewater air pollution within the dyeing course of.
Alchemie’s Novara™ digital textile ending expertise delivers sustainability with precision digital software of useful finishes to textiles. Novara is a non-contact, low power, low chemistry, digital ending resolution that permits textile ending homes to dramatically cut back their carbon and chemical footprint and cut back prices, utilizing 85-percent much less power and as much as 50-percent much less chemistry in comparison with conventional strategies, based on Alchemie. Novara delivers exactly outlined digitally managed finishes solely the place wanted. It additionally permits product improvements together with single-side ending, 2D end to form, and permits a number of finishes to be utilized to at least one cloth in a approach that isn’t doable utilizing conventional strategies of immersing the whole cloth in a chemical bathtub. As well as, Alchemie additionally gives Discovery, a laboratory system that replicates manufacturing machines, and could also be used for recipe improvement, shade matching and new materials course of improvement.
Direct-To-Movie Printing
Shenzhen Inkbank Graphic Expertise Co. Ltd. (Inkbank), China, and Japan-based Mimaki confirmed direct-to-film (DTF) applied sciences for quickly printing clothes.
DTF printing eliminates the necessity for material choice, plate making and pretreatment as in comparison with the time and useful resource intensive processes required for silk display screen, warmth switch— rubber sheet technique — or direct-to-garment (DTG) printing. The DTF course of is straightforward, and on this approach, gives a sustainability benefit. First, the design is printed straight onto a particular switch movie which is then sprinkled with hot-melt powder. As soon as heated and dried, the switch sheet might be utilized utilizing a warmth press. The one disadvantage is the waste created as a result of a switch materials is used.
Mimaki gives the TXF150 for DTF. The PHT50 inks used for this printing course of are warmth switch water-based pigments which are OEKO-TEX licensed. The inks are protected and meet the factors for ecologically accountable textile manufacturing, based on the corporate.
Synthetic Intelligence And Automation
As digital textile printing expertise matures and adoption of complicated, high-speed printing programs grows, resolution suppliers are also demonstrating higher funding within the creation of clever programs that ease expertise administration by enabling monitoring and optimized printer efficiency. Software program purposes are geared toward offering visibility that helps cut back machine downtime and working price, whereas minimizing waste. As prospects spend money on a number of print programs to scale print capability, software program methods for automated system calibration and fleet administration additionally have gotten more and more related. Moreover, to assist drive progress in adoption, expertise suppliers are advancing digital workflow options designed to help with order administration and automation of repetitive file processing duties.
A preview of the DII (MS & JK manufacturers) System Plus Software program, a brand new print administration system, exemplifies the pattern towards clever programs. The expertise integrates calibration, printing software program and ink for a sturdy, time saving resolution. Used with DII (MS & JK manufacturers) pigments and printers, the software program system reduces calibration time by 50 p.c, will increase the colour yield by as much as 20 p.c and will increase the brightness of the colours by as much as 15 p.c. This technique’s machine studying platform, the first-of-its-kind to be commercially out there for digital printing, permits info to be gathered in the course of the printing course of to optimize present and future print runs. This software program has the potential to get rid of print defects and cut back the quantity of colorant wanted.
DII (MS & JK manufacturers) innovation is targeted on a extremely optimized manufacturing course of. Throughout ITMA, the corporate demonstrated the mixed significance of advancing printer {hardware} and workflow in a working surroundings by means of organized plant visits to the Italy-based IMPRIMA printing mill.
IMPRIMA is a cluster of digital print operations with the potential to print 35 million meters of cloth yearly. IMPRIMA largely serves the European luxurious market, but additionally prints for U.S.-based manufacturers corresponding to Walmart, Goal, Macy’s and Ralph Lauren, amongst different manufacturers.
Kornit promoted its QualiSet expertise, which is described as a sensible, autonomous method to calibration geared toward printhead registration, nozzle testing, compensation and shade consistency. Paired with the beforehand launched Konnect system for monitoring printer efficiency and consumables, the corporate now gives higher capacity to handle the print operation on the fleet stage. Manufacturing monitoring was additionally high-lighted by Epson for printers related to the cloud-based PORT system, and by EFI Reggiani which confirmed the Question software program resolution that collects information and permits evaluation and monitoring of printer efficiency, price and sustainability metrics corresponding to water and power consumption.
As well as, strong options for automating parts of the manufacturing course of to scale back or get rid of labor are rising within the digital printing sector. Kornit confirmed a completely automated DTG printing resolution that reduces labor and will increase manufacturing pace. Kornit’s Apollo DTG printer can print as much as 400 clothes per hour. Kornit’s patented wet-on-wet printing system eliminates the necessity for pretreatment. The Apollo, geared towards t-shirt printers who search a near-shoring choice, options in-line warmth fixation, and an auto-mated loading and unloading system.
Harnessing Digital Printing Improvements
It was thrilling to see the expansion in digital printing applied sciences at ITMA 2023. Much more spectacular was seeing a few of these applied sciences efficiently applied in a manufacturing setting at IMPRIMA. Held in Milan, ITMA 2023 was situated only a brief distance from the Como area of Italy, lengthy thought-about the luxurious printing capital of the world. This area has modified from nearly totally rotary and flat display screen printing to digital printing, permitting the business to service sectors past the luxurious market. It serves as an excellent instance of harnessing the total capabilities of digital printing improvements.
Editor’s Observe: Kerry Maguire King has greater than 25 years working within the digital printing discipline. King performed a job within the improvement of Spoonflower’s manufacturing platform, and presently is working as a advisor whereas persevering with her training within the Ph.D. program on the Wilson Faculty of Textiles at North Carolina State College, Raleigh, N.C.
November/December 2023