From the Sector

After a turbulent year, it seems strange to be thinking about ‘after the pandemic’, but with millions of vaccinations underway, the light at the end of the tunnel is visible. As we turn the corner, choosing technology partners that understand how to proactively respond to changing market needs and support the evolving requirements of print businesses and end customers will be vital. The printers in Mimaki’s ‘100 series’ portfolio, which consists of the high quality, high productivity entry level roll-to-roll inkjet printers the UJV100-160 UV and the JV100-160 solvent, and the high performance textile printer, the TS100-1600, are a perfect reflection of the way technology requirements are adapting in line with the industry as we look to the future. To demonstrate this, we have identified three post-pandemic technology touchpoints that will help print businesses target success amid uncertainty.

• Productivity

The pandemic has served as a major catalyst for existing trends, and our growing appetite for everything on-demand has been given a huge COVID-related boost. For printers, a digital solution that offers premium productivity, quality and efficiency at an entry-level price point is sure to be an invaluable investment to meet evolving ‘on-demand demands’. Adding a digital production element to your business doesn’t need to be daunting, complicated or overpriced – the Mimaki ‘100 series’ truly lives up to the tagline ‘Expert Printing Made Easy’, offering an incredibly intuitive user experience for streamlined, ultra-efficient printing, high-quality output, and cost-effective implementation. The powerful and productive new textile printer in the ‘100 series’, the TS100-1600, is a shining example of equipment developed with the future of the market in mind – the textile industry is fast-paced and constantly innovating, and the printer you invest in needs to keep up with your creativity.

• Diversity

2021 is set to be a period of transition. While that will mean navigating uncertainty, the ‘glass half full’ approach is to view the year ahead in terms of opportunities such as expanding your business, exploring alternative revenue streams, and taking the plunge into new markets. In the past, it may have felt as if the barriers to entry when it came to looking beyond your core business were too great. However, in a post-pandemic world, we need to break some of those barriers down and demonstrate that success with digital print is within reach if you invest in the right equipment. With the ‘100 series’ portfolio, Mimaki is acknowledging what print service providers need from their technology partners – the UJV100-160 and the JV100-160 are suitable for a wide range of applications that will allow you to easily and affordably diversify your offering, and with the TS100-1600 textile printer, it has never been easier to target growth in the thriving textile sector, even in challenging times.

• Affordability

Affordability is one of the most significant barriers to entry into new markets. 2020 was a year of unprecedented economic challenges, so it’s more important than ever to be thinking about gaining a competitive edge, and the printers in the ‘100 series’ from Mimaki have been specifically formulated to help you ramp up productivity while keeping running costs low. Whether you want to take your first foray into digital print production, expand the services you offer or simply grow your customer base, cost can be a major sticking point, which is why supporting customers is Mimaki’s number one priority, designing the ‘100 series’ around your needs and continuing to listen to how those needs are developing. Making an investment in the JV100-160 in order to move into outdoor graphics; meeting demand for faster turnaround times by adding the instantly curable UJV100-160 to your production setup; or taking a leap into new revenue streams with the TS100-160 – it’s all ‘100’ percent accessible.

The machines are quick and reliable, with very little downtime, which is massively important to me as a business owner.”

Kornit Digital (Nasdaq: KRNT), a worldwide market leader in digital textile printing technology, announced United Kingdom-based Kitlocker has implemented two Kornit Avalanche Poly Pro systems for efficient, retail-quality production of branded and customized apparel on demand.

Kitlocker operates within several sectors of the sports and leisurewear market, providing team gear for schools, football clubs, and other sporting organizations, managing e-commerce platforms on behalf of those organizations. Enabling their customers to embellish popular styles on demand, in any quantity, drove them to explore available technologies for speed and versatility, particularly regarding polyester apparel, a cornerstone of sportswear. Kornit’s Poly Pro system is the only single-step digital direct-to-garment (DTG) technology developed specifically for imprinting polyester and poly-blend materials, extending the company’s patented process for waste-free production with durability, precise graphic detail, and the broadest colour gamut to popular sports and athleisure apparel.

“The Kornit Avalanche Poly Pro allows for far superior quality of finish for embellishment compared to traditional print techniques,” says Mike Kent, Co-Owner of Kitlocker. “When we were shopping around for alternatives, it was obvious the sort of single pass, and its ability to print on polyester, was certainly market-leading—there was no alternative that could do that. The machines are quick and reliable, with very little downtime, which is massively important to me as a business owner.”

According to Kent, the technology has enabled Kitlocker to approach new markets that had always been off-limits previously, driving incremental business and building out new product ranges. The process lent itself to simple integration with their workflow and online design tools, empowering customers to visualize their own pieces and receive finished gear, with superior retail quality and precise logo colour matching, in mere days.

“The system allows us bigger print areas, more colours, and more elaborate designs, and our customers to uniquely embellish their garments on a wide range of products from different brands with lots of different kinds of creative outputs,” adds Kent.

“Our systems help brands like Kitlocker sync supply with demand, eliminating waste and making them more reactive to customer needs,” says Chris Govier, KDEU Managing Director. “Kornit Avalanche Poly Pro extends the efficiency, sustainability, quality, and logistical benefits of digitization to the booming sports and athleisure apparel market. Being able to give their customers the widest assortment of gear, customized in any quantity, on demand, is a winning game plan for Kitlocker.”

• Swiss weaving machinery manufacturers are in the forefront of novel application development

Shoes and electronic calculators are probably not the first products people would associate with the textile weaving process. But they certainly signpost the future for woven fabrics, as two examples of the ever-wider possibilities of latest technology in the field. Fashion and function already combine in the increasing popularity of woven fabrics for shoes, and this is a present and future trend. Calculators in fabrics? That’s another story of ingenious development, using so-called ‘meander fields’ on the back and keys printed on the front of the material.

These glimpses of the outlook for modern weavers are among the highlights of developments now being pioneered by Swiss textile machinery companies. All weaving markets require innovation, as well as speed, efficiency, quality and sustainability. Member firms of the Swiss Textile Machinery Association respond to these needs at every point in the process – from tightening the first thread in the warp to winding the last inch for fabric delivery. They also share a common advantage, with a leading position in the traditional weaving industry as well as the expertise to foster new and exciting applications.

Technology and research cooperation
The concept of a ‘textile calculator’ was developed by Jakob Müller Group, in cooperation with the textile research institute Thuringen-Vogtland. Müller’s patented MDW® multi-directional weaving technology is able to create the meander fields which allow calculator functions to be accessed at a touch. A novel and useful facility, which suggests limitless expansion.

Today, the latest woven shoes are appreciated for their precise and comfortable fit. They score through their durability, strength and stability, meeting the requirements of individual athletes across many sports, as well as leisurewear. Stäubli is well known as a leading global specialist in weaving preparation, shedding systems and high-speed textile machinery. Its jacquard machines offer great flexibility across a wide range of formats, weaving all types of technical textiles, lightweight reinforcement fabrics – and shoes.

It’s possible to weave new materials such as ceramics, mix fibers such as aramid, carbon and other, and produce innovative multi-layers with variable thicknesses. Such applications put special demands on weaving machines which are fulfilled by Stäubli high-performance TF weaving systems.

Great weaving results are impossible without perfect warp tension, now available thanks to the world-leading electronic warp feeding systems of Crealet. Some market segments in weaving industry today demand warp let-off systems which meet individual customer requirements. For example, the company has recognized expertise to understand that geotextile products often need special treatment, as provided by its intelligent warp tension control system. Individual and connective solutions are designed to allow external support via remote link. Crealet’s warp let-off systems are widely used in both ribbon and broadloom weaving, for technical textiles applied on single or multiple warp beams and creels.

Functional, sustainable, automated
Trends in the field of woven narrow fabrics are clearly focused on functionality and sustainability. The Jakob Müller Group has already embraced these principles – for example using natural fibers for 100% recyclable labels with a soft-feel selvedge. It also focuses as much as possible on the processing of recycled, synthetic materials. Both PET bottles and polyester waste from production are recycled and processed into elastic and rigid tapes for the apparel industry.

For efficient fabric production environments, it is now recognized that automated quality solutions are essential. Quality standards are increasing everywhere and zero-defect levels are mandatory for sensitive applications such as airbags and protective apparel.

Uster’s latest generation of on-loom monitoring and inspection systems offers real operational improvements for weavers. The fabric quality monitoring prevents waste, while the quality assurance system significantly improves first-quality yield for all applications. Protecting fabric makers from costly claims and damaged reputations, automated fabric inspection also removes the need for slow, costly and unreliable manual inspection, freeing operators to focus on higher-skilled jobs.

Smart and collaborative robotics (cobots) offer many automation possibilities in weaving rooms. Stäubli’s future oriented robotics division is a driver in this segment with first effective installations in warp and creel preparation.

Control and productivity
Willy Grob’s specialized solutions for woven fabric winding focus on reliable control of tension, keeping it constant from the start of the process right through to the full cloth roll. Continuous digital control is especially important for sensitive fabrics, while performance and productivity are also critical advantages. In this regard, the company’s large-scale batching units can provide ten times the winding capacity of a regular winder integrated in the weaving machine.

The customized concept by Grob as well as design and implementation result in great flexibility and functionality of the fabric winding equipment – yet another example of Swiss ingenuity in textile machinery.  
There is even more innovation to come in weaving – and in other segments – from members of the Swiss Textile Machinery Association in future! This confident assertion is founded on an impressive statistic: the 4077 years of experience behind the creative power of the association’s member firms. It’s proof positive that their developments grow out of profound knowledge and continuous research.

Archroma, a global leader in specialty chemicals towards sustainable solutions, announced that it has become a The BHive® partner to help foster chemical compliance and management across the textile supply chain.

The BHive® is an innovative digital chemical management platform that provides at-a-glance information about chemical products to its users. It was developed by GoBlu International Ltd. to allow manufacturing facilities to easily create digital inventories of the chemical products used onsite using a smartphone. They can identify in a matter of seconds which products meet sustainability requirements of their brand and retail customers, who they can share this information with as well. This enables brands and retailers to achieve full transparency about the chemical use in their global supply chain. Now, over 30 international fashion brands and 500 factories are partnered with The BHive® to drive sustainable chemistry in the textile and fashion industry.

More than 2000 Archroma chemical products and dyes are now included in The BHive® database.
The company has been very active in the past few years in developing solution systems and innovations in line with the 3 pillars of 'The Archroma Way to a Sustainable World: Safe, efficient, enhanced. It’s our nature'.

Paul Cowell, Head of Archroma’s Competence Centers for Brand & Performance Textile Specialties, explains: "With the pandemic crisis, textile manufacturers are experiencing numerous logistic bottlenecks and challenges. With The BHive®, our partners have now an additional access path to the information about chemical usage and compliance for the Archroma products they keep at their facilities."

Kornit Digital announced Italy-based Creazioni Digitali, a printing service provider to some of the most prominent names in high-end fashion, is installing the Kornit Presto S with Softener Solution for rapid, pigment-based production on demand involving multiple fabric types in any quantity.

In addition to sublimation and acid and reactive dyes, Creazioni Digitali was one of the first textile providers to bring pigment printing to Italian fashion houses. In addition to providing more eco-friendly production processes, a shift towards pigment-based production is key to their expansion and industrial plans for 2021 to 2025.

Print-on-demand business models and pigment-based production are both effective means of reducing water use, and empowering fashion brands to align with international sustainability imperatives.

“We believe eco-friendly, pigment-based printing offers a wealth of possibilities for high fashion, and selected the Kornit Presto S based on its ability to deliver brilliant, high-quality imagery using the broadest color gamut, without need for pre- and post-treatments,” says Roberto Lucini, Owner and CEO of Creazioni Digitali. “We intend to grow our business as brands see what this technology can do, with the old calculations of quality versus responsible production practices giving way to a new landscape in which you can truly have both. This installation is one of more to come.”

• On 22.03 STOLL will offer a webinar through the online platform of Fashion Council Germany on the topic of digitalisation and sustainability in STOLL flat knitting.

Webinar Description
Digitalisation and sustainability are becoming increasingly essential for the success and existence of fashion companies. The flat knitting industry with its immense flexibility and diversity offers many opportunities for digital solutions and sustainable practices. In this webinar, Karl Mayer Stoll will share how digital design tools enable more sustainable knitwear development.

Fashion Council Germany
The FCG is the patron to strengthen the German fashion and design landscape for a visionary, technological & sustainable future in a global market.
The Fashion Council Germany represents the interests of fashion "designed in Germany". Founded in January 2015 in Berlin. On the initiative of national industry experts, the Fashion Council Germany promotes German fashion design as a cultural and economic asset and supports young designers from Germany. In addition to the promotion of young designers, special attention is paid to education, sustainability and fashion technology as well as to the promotion of cross-disciplinary dialogue and networking. Against this background, the Council carries out essential lobbying work in politics, business and culture, strives for visibility and emphasises the global relevance of fashion design and Germany as a fashion location at home and abroad.

Since the beginning of last year, the FCG offers workshops on various business topics in the fashion industry. Until further notice, all FCG seminars will take place online due to the Corona crisis.

Flexibility, product uniformity and automation are the keys to success for coating businesses in today’s rapidly-changing technical textiles industry, explained Jürgen Hanel, Monforts Head of Technical Textiles, at the recent 1st World Congress on Textile Coating.

Introducing the latest Montex®Coat magnetic roller coating option to virtual delegates from around the world at the conference organised by International Newsletters, Hanel explained why this technology makes perfect sense now

“The magnetic roller system allows a wide range of coatings and finishes to be carried out, while being easy to handle for operators and much easier to clean at the end of the process,” he said. “It provides textile finishers with an expanded range of options due to the fully-adjustable positioning of the magnet within the roller and with four different magnet positions possible, can be set to operate both as a direct coating system and as an indirect coater.”

With traditional dip coating systems, he added, as well as with many standard knife coating technologies, there is always a difference in the tension between the centre and the edges of the wide width fabrics being treated – and hence the amount of pressure with which the coating is applied. With the use of a magnetic roller, equal pressure is applied across the full width of the fabric, with consistent results even at wide widths of over 2.4 metres. In addition, adjusting the roller surface, rather than changing the coating formulation to match the required add-on and viscosity for each coating effect required, leads to much higher output from the line.

Cleaner and less wasteful
The contribution of such flexible and resource-saving new technologies to a cleaner and less wasteful textile industry was a key theme at the congress – held virtually across the four afternoons of February 11th, 12th, 18th and 19th – as was digitalization and the many advantages it is providing.

“A typical integrated Monforts coating line is automated from the inlet feed to the winder,” Hanel told delegates. “Adjustments can also be made simply and easily from the touchscreen and with the new hand-held remote controller which has recently been introduced for the Montex®Coat unit.”

Manual adjustment, he added, is time consuming and needs the attention of an experienced operator or the reproducibility will not be accurate between coating operations. The adjustment by motors allows each coating to be stored and downloaded again for 100% reproducibility.

The motors can be fully controlled from the touchscreen and all necessary adjustments carried out remotely, making switching from one process to another extremely quick and easy.
The accuracy that is now being demanded by today’s most exacting customers is met with an optional carbon fibre roller – especially in dealing with the winding tension required in the processing of materials such as prepregs for composites and other heavyweight fabrics. Typical applications for the Montex®Coat include the finishing of tents and awnings, black-out roller blinds and sail cloth, automotive interior fabrics and medical disposables. Full PVC coatings, pigment dyeing or minimal application surface and low penetration treatments can all be accommodated.

“The World Congress on Textile Coating was characterised by some very stimulating presentations and forums between the speakers and a global audience of textile specialists,” Jürgen Hanel concluded. “It truly reflected the high level of positive changes now taking place in not just textile coating, but the entire textile industry. I look forward to the next edition, which hopefully will be a face-to-face event for even deeper level discussions and debate.”

Kornit Digital has announced its partnership with Matset (Turkey) as it continues to broaden its market presence.

Delivering digital textile production-on-demand solutions to the Turkish market
With over 45 years of experience, Matset has a long-standing reputation as being a pioneer of innovation in the printing industry. After the first meeting, Kornit and Matset were quick to recognize how their partnership would effectively accelerate the development of the Kornit brand and solutions in the Turkish market. The deal will see Matset sell and deliver after-sales support for all Kornit textile solutions, including both direct-to-garment and direct-to-fabric product lines, particularly for t-shirts, activewear, denim, fashion, beachwear, home textiles, and fabrics.

Doğu Pabuççuoğlu, General Manager at Matset, explains the collaboration combines the digital leading vision of Matset with the market awareness and quality of Kornit’s products: "With Kornit’s production systems, we have made an important addition to our product portfolio. We were able to quickly build a roadmap and are sure the market share will increase very rapidly in the near future. With Kornit’s reliable and creative solutions and our well-known and engaged distribution network, we will provide customers with a strong sales and support service.”

Vor einem Jahr ist der digitale Außenwerber HYGH mit 250 Bildschirmen in Berlin gestartet, um den digitalen Werbemarkt aufzubrechen. Nun wird die zweite Ausbaustufe gezündet. Ab dem 26. Januar 2021 kommen 200 weitere Displays in Berlin hinzu, und dann von Februar bis Juli jeweils 200 Displays in Köln, Frankfurt, Hamburg und München. Ende Mai wird HYGH somit 1.050 neue und insgesamt 1.300 Displays des Kooperationspartners Samsung seinen werbetreibenden Kunden anbieten.

HYGH bietet Werbekunden extrem flexible und kleinteilige Werbemöglichkeiten: auf einer Armada von Displays in den Schaufenstern von Geschäften, Szenekneipen, Friseurläden und Zeitungskiosken. Damit ist HYGH hyperlokal und kann mitten im stark frequentierten Kiez zielgenau und individuell die Kampagnen seiner Kunden ausspielen.

Fritz Frey, HYGH-Mitgründer, erklärt zu der Investitionsoffensive: „Selbst die massiven Corona-Einschränkungen haben unser Geschäftsmodell nicht gestört. Schließlich konnten wir gerade dort punkten, wo die Leute wohnen. Bereits im ersten Geschäftsjahr haben wir große Erfolge verzeichnet. 2021 wird nun das Jahr der Expansion. Wir verfünffachen unsere Reichweite und rollen unser Netzwerk deutschlandweit aus.“

Trotz des harten Lockdowns fanden in Düsseldorf in der vergangenen Woche die Kollektionssichtung und Order der Fall/Winter-Kollektion 2021 im Rahmen der Düsseldorf Fashion Days statt. Dank strenger Hygiene-Auflagen und starker Entzerrung des Orderaufkommens durch die Vergabe von Einzelterminen. In über 600 Showrooms platzierten Einkäufer aus ganz Deutschland ihre Order. Die Supreme Women&Men stellte temporäre Showroom-Flächen für ihre Partner zur Verfügung, während die Gallery FASHION & Shoes als rein digitales Format stattfand. Die Bilanz: Die Frequenz war erwartungsgemäß niedriger als vor der Pandemie, dennoch schätzt die Branche die Verlässlichkeit des Orderstandortes Düsseldorf sowie den persönlichen Austausch vor Ort.

„Dass die Düsseldorf Fashion Days stattfinden konnten, ist ein wichtiges Signal für die gesamte Branche und unterstreicht die Relevanz des Modestandortes. Der neue Name DFD kommt zudem beim Fachpublikum sehr gut an. Unter dem Dachbegriff DFD lassen sich das Fashion-Business sowie branchenübergreifende neue Konzepte perfekt vereinen. Diese Entwicklung fokussieren wir von städtischer Seite: Mit einem geplanten Festival-Konzept zur Sommerausgabe wird nicht nur das Orderbusiness gestärkt, sondern die gesamte Stadt inklusive Einzelhandel, Gastronomie, Kultur- und Eventbranche profitiert von der neuen Ausrichtung der Ordertage", erklärt Theresa Winkels, Leiterin der Wirtschaftsförderung Düsseldorf.

„Aufgrund der gegenwärtigen Situation sind wir in dieser Orderrunde ganz anders präsent: Digital und mit erweiterter Laufzeit vom 28. Januar bis 15. Februar 2021. Eine völlig neue Erfahrung, die wir jedoch sehr wertschätzen, weil wir uns damit neue Vertriebskanäle und eine erweiterte Präsenz für die Gallery-Formate geschaffen haben. Somit sind in Zukunft auch Hybridformate denkbar. Unser Wirkungskreis ist dadurch flexibler geworden. Mit ‚Gallery FASHION & Shoes digital‘ haben wir uns vollständig als Teil der DFD gefühlt, freuen uns aber dennoch auf die kommende Präsenzveranstaltung Gallery SHOES & Fashion vom 18. bis 20. April 2021 mit begleitendem Showroom Concept“, sagt Ulrike Kähler, Managing Director Igedo Company.