Italian print house Giò&Giò has expanded its operations with the implementation of three Aleph LaForte series printers. Joseph Link reports.
From the outside it looks more like a sophisticated design atelier than an industrial warehouse, yet Giò&Giò is a thriving textile business.
Based in Bulgarograsso, Como, northern Italy, a region steeped in textile tradition and where “the border between design and production is blurred”, Giò&Giò has been designing, manufacturing and marketing printed fabrics since the 1970s. And throughout its history, Giò&Giò has always printed on fabrics that are made up of a range of natural and synthetic fibres. The region surrounding Lake Como is a hotbed for textile manufacturers and designers who have thrived off one another’s success and for four decades Giò&Giò has contributed significantly to that reputation.
Giò&Giò’s production area, which is home to more than four decades worth of closely-guarded fabric samples, is filled with skilled designers who work every day to transform the ideas and briefs of fashion brands into textile patterns. The designs can then be manufactured on either small or large production runs due to the versatility of digital textile printing technology.
At Giò&Giò’s unique, yet very affective headquarters, three Aleph LaForte inkjet printers can be found which – according to Matteo Tosato, Giò&Giò’s production manager – are more often than not operating at maximum capacity in order to meet the ever-growing demand for digitally-printed textiles in Italy and around the world.
From its base in Bulgarograsso, Giò&Giò serves major Italian and international fashion and fast fashion brands. And to help retain these high-profile customers, Tosato says, the company implemented Aleph’s high-performance signature solutions. Giò&Giò has, so far, installed two Aleph LaForte 400 Paper units with eight print heads each and a LaForte 400 Fabric unit which is equipped with 16 print heads. Both machines print up to 800 sqm/hr but they differ greatly on ink compatibility: the LaForte 400 paper is restricted to sublimation and pigment inks, whereas the LaForte 400 fabric solution can print reactive, acid, pigment, disperse and sublimation inks – all of which can be purchased directly from Aleph. Giò&Giò uses the LaForte paper 400 to print sublimation inks onto transfer paper and the LaForte 400 fabric to print reactive inks directly onto the textile.
"Until a couple of years ago, there were 13 aleph printers based on Mimaki JV5 and TX500 technology in this department, ten for paper and three for textile printing, each not exceeding 20 metres per hour. For the last two years, we have replaced them with three LAFORTE machines, each of which produces 180 metres every hour and the quality is excellent. Because of that we (Giò&Giò) can spend more time on prepress and value-added activities,” says Tosato.
Italy’s digital textile printing market is one of the world’s strongest. Northern Italy garnered a fierce reputation for textile printing throughout the 20th century and since the millennium the decision by Italian textile printing OEMs to produce inkjet textile solutions shortly after the technology was first developed has been key to country’s continued success in this space.
For exactly 20 years, inkjet specialist Aleph has been competing with some of the most recognisable digital textile machinery OEMs – not just in Italy but across the globe. Aleph, who provides mid-range solutions in terms of price, has successfully expanded its share of what is becoming an increasingly competitive world market. According to Aleph CEO and co-founder, Alessandro Manes, the company’s decision to ‘value quality above all else’, has aided the OEM’s success in the two decades since its inception.
The high levels of “productivity, automation and repeatability achieved by the LaForte range of inkjet printers” allow the Gio&Giò team to manage large quantities. But the versatility of Gio&Giò’s LaForte printers means the company can merge several micro-jobs into a single processing queue, limiting setup times, machine downtime, maintenance and reel changes to a minimum. In addition to the lower service costs, made possible by the robustness of LaForte Paper, another advantage is the patented vacuum belt, which introduces micrometric precision in the feeding of lighter papers.
"On the old Mimaki, we could feed 250-metre reels of 70 or 80 gsm paper,” says Tosato. “Today, in comparison, we use jumbo reels and we go down to 45 or even 18 gsm weights, which increases the capacity to 1,150 or 2,000 linear metres. Therefore, we have evolved from one reel change every hour, to now loading one big reel per day. And, by using ultra-lightweight paper we obtain enormous savings in colourants.”
By utilising its LaForte solutions, Giò&Giò can print directly onto silk, cotton and viscose with reactive inks – the quality of which has seriously impressed Giò&Giò’s high-fashion customers, Tosato says.
The Como-based print house has also addressed the needs of fast-fashion operators, for whom it produces high volumes of printed polyester. The orders, often thousands of metres long, are processed in the morning and, by the evening, they are ready for shipment. This emphasises the speed and precision of digital textile printing technology.
Moreover, Giò&Giò’s decision to move from thirteen artisan printers to three industrial units has, it claims, increased the motivation of its operators, improved efficiency and enabled the company to calmly manage production peaks. Meanwhile, feedback from Giò&Giò customers suggests that they perceive the quality of digitally printed textiles to be greater than analogue alternatives.
Tosato continues: “We have a close and exclusive relationship with Aleph that we constantly cultivate. Having a single supplier for hardware, software and inks gives security and confidence. And a direct relationship, mostly by telephone, with Aleph's support team, allows us to deal with any queries or questions we may have.”
In a climate where people are still learning about the benefits of digital textile printing, it remains important that OEMs offer a good aftersales service. Aleph is proud of its support team, which it says helps businesses to maximise productivity through investment, and this kind of service is key to maintaining the rapid growth that the digital textile printing market has enjoyed throughout the last five years.
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