Although digital textile printing has not grown as fast as expected, a new business model could help to accelerate that growth. Digital printing as a Service is a new business model that offers digital printing as an online service. The designer can have their designs and styles displayed online, but all of the shop functions (order handling, payment processing and drop shipping) are managed by the digital print enterprise. Debbie McKeegan (tissue expert and WhatTheyThink contributor) shares more information about this trend.
(Image courtesy Texintel.
Digital printing promises fast delivery, customization, short-run print capabilities, and speedy delivery for the textile industry. However, the difficulty of entering the sector meant that there was no way to create successful business models. As machine prices plummeted, small-scale producers dominated the field. This led to a proliferation in suppliers with low overheads who were happy to work at extremely low margins to keep their machines moving. The market has changed, driven by digital textile printing’s unique production process and the rise of ecommerce. A new business model offers outstanding commercial opportunities.
B2B and C2C Print-Only
Digital printing is now considered a service in this model. This includes a component in a broadly-based textile offer. The offer incorporates digital design and superfast logistics.
This new model offers the digital print enterprise a managed virtual shop where designers can present their designs online. However, all shop functions including order processing, payment processing and drop-shipping delivery are done by the digital printer.
This market shift has fed perfectly into the dynamics of the global e-commerce market where apparel and accessories—with a value of more than US$759.5 billion (Statista)—has become the number one e-commerce sector in the world. The inexorable rise and success of direct-to garment printing was undoubtedly the key to this fulfillment business model.
The Role Of DTG
Direct to garment (DTG), a technology that prints on pre-sewn garments, and creates custom designs using digital files, allows for direct to garment (DTG). Garments can easily be ordered, made, and shipped within 24 hours.
There are many pre-sewn garments available on the global market. It’s easy to organize your supply.
This has provided a unique selling point (USP), for clothing designers who had previously had to deal with supply issues and finished goods from third-world suppliers. They also had to manage viable inventories, which had to balance customer service and economic viability.
DTG printing has enabled fulfilment enterprises to bridge the gap between service and inventory and to provide an economically successful service for apparel designers, who now sell their products through the printer’s webshop using API technology. This has resulted in a significant rise in production volumes as creative and business opportunities have been harnessed to the digital benefits of on-demand production.
DTG Technology
DTG technology is driving this revolution in the supply chain. Many pioneering machine manufacturers continue to increase their investments in machine innovations, ink research, as well as software innovation.
Kornit Digital presented their first DTG machine almost 20 years ago to the trade at the 2004 SGIA Expo. Kornit Digital has continued to expand their reach in this sector by introducing new software, ink and machine developments since that time.
Kornit now offers a large range of DTG printers, including their Avalanche and Storm models, as well as Atlas, Storm, Atlas and Vulcanmachines. To expand the range of products and surface effects that can printed, these printers use Max, XDi and Max technologies.
Their new systems print on polyester, cotton, and blends in a unique one-step process that has contributed to Kornit Digital’s financial success in the last two decades (since 2004).
Brother was also a pioneer in DTG printing. In 2005, at the ISS Atlantic City show, Brother International introduced the GT-541 Garment Printer to the market, making it the first “ground up” DTG printer offered. This printer was equipped with printheads, ink and electronics specifically designed for DTG printing.
Brother GTX Pro Direct to Garment Printer has an industrial white printhead. This allows internal ink circulation within the printer as well as throughout the machine. This greatly reduces white ink wastage.
Epson unveiled the F2000 printer at the Chicago PRINT 2013, 2013. This printer addressed many of the problems that were prevalent in DTG printing at that time, making it a notable release. The Epson F2000’s ink set was one of its most significant features. It had a two year shelf life and didn’t have the settling issues or clogging problems of previous DTG inks.
Epson’s latest offering, the SC-F3000, is an industrial-level DTG printer that’s designed for high volume. This production-level printer offers low operating costs, speedy delivery and high quality.
Across the board, technology has driven print fulfilment enterprises’ capabilities upwards, and currently all eyes are on the advent of direct-to-film (DTF) technology which threatens to provide another upward twist to the tech spiral.
The Players
The combination of print technology with e-commerce has created a lot of success stories for print fulfillment companies.
Printful is a leading company in this field. It offers on-demand printing and fulfillment services that help people transform their ideas into products and brands. Printful fulfills custom orders for online businesses and ships them out.
Printful, a unicorn company valued at more than $1 billion, was founded by a Latvian-born founder. In 2021, Printful reached a milestone of $289 millions in revenue. Printful, founded in 2013, has been trusted to deliver more than 50 million items. The company has also grown to include 1,600+ employees across 10 fulfilment centers in the world.
Beyond Printful, print fulfilment has also been taken up by blue-chip ecommerce players such as Amazon, whose Merch By Amazon offering encourages the trade to “Share your designs” with the world by creating graphic tees, accessories, and more, all printed on demand. “Let Amazon handle your printing and shipping so you can design while we deliver.”
Print fulfilment businesses are thriving, and the key to their success is digital printing.
Inkthreadable and T-Shirt and Sons in the UK have made a significant mark. In Europe, Shirt King and Spreadshirt demonstrate a successful approach for DTG printing to print fulfilment.
Digital printing, which provides fast response and attractive garments as well as profitable production, is essential for a successful print fulfilment model. It also supports the model’s economic success.
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