Mapping the future of textile printing

Sponsored by EFI Reggiani

The textile printing landscape is evolving, and the onus is on original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) to keep pace with their customers’ changing needs.

The introduction of digital textile printing technology more than two decades ago transformed what was possible. And as the digital revolution gathers momentum, the sector is entering a new era in which EFI Reggiani is leading the charge with its extensive inkjet, ink and software portfolio.

The industry is fresh from ITMA 2023 in Milan, where digital textile printing took centre stage. The technology’s presence at the show has grown significantly over the last decade, courtesy of innovation.

ITMA 2023 highlighted on-demand manufacturing, pigment inks, enhanced print performance and manufacturing versatility, all of which inspired the solutions showcased by EFI Reggiani.

Pigment printing

Experts believe pigment inks are an important tool in lowering the digital textile printing industry’s environmental footprint, but they also improve time-to-market, which enables print service providers to meet increasing consumer demands.

However, it is difficult to distinguish between greenwashing and products that deliver genuine change. EFI Reggiani believes the industry must now deliver on green promises to emerge as a leader in a fiercely competitive space.

At ITMA 2023, the Italian OEM presented its patent-pending ecoTERRA pigment solution. It is supported by six specially designed solutions ranging from industrial entry-level through to industrial-grade and includes two 3.4-metre-wide machines. The ink can reduce a printer’s water consumption by up to 80%, according to the company, which dramatically reduces a print service providers’ environmental footprint.

EFI Reggiani’s ecoTERRA technology eradicates additional process steps, ancillary equipment and pre- or post-treatments by enabling inline printing and finishing, which promotes sustainability.

To boost confidence in its product, the Italian equipment manufacturer has vowed to become fully transparent. The company is supporting environmental claims with hard data, which will detail printer performance, ink consumption, environmental impact and total cost of ownership. The equipment manufacturer hopes that doing this will accelerate the digital textile printing industry’s transition to a more sustainable future.

EFI Reggiani anticipated the growth of digital pigment inks in 2018 when it launched TERRA, a pigment with binder that ensures inline polymerisation when combined with TERRA printers. That same year, the company introduced EFI Reggiani GEA, a pigment without binder that targets customers experienced in using the ink formula.

The OEM’s multifaceted pigment offering is designed to meet a multitude of requirements and therefore targets different areas of its customer base – it has become the most expansive pigment offering in the digital textile printing industry.

On-demand manufacturing

Print service providers can also become more sustainable by adopting a print-on-demand production model. This system consumes fewer chemicals, fabric, energy and water than mass production.

But there is a misconception that on-demand manufacturing applies only to low-volume print runs. At ITMA 2023, EFI Reggiani set out to dispel this myth by showcasing HYPER and previewing BOLT XS.

Both machines are supported by EFI Reggiani’s new proprietary end-to-end digital printing workflow and EFI Inèdit digital textile software, which has been recently enhanced. Together with EFI Reggiani Query – a user-friendly, advanced data analysis tool – print houses can measure their machine’s performance, track real costs per metre and monitor water and energy consumption.   

EFI Reggiani said its trademark is the delivery of high-productivity printers that offer best-in-class overall equipment effectiveness (OEE), but on-demand manufacturing is a key priority of the company, and its equipment and solutions are designed to enable customers to realise the green production system’s full potential.

BOLT XS is the company’s next-generation single-pass digital textile printer. According to EFI Reggiani, the machine boasts improved top speed, increased uptime and reliability and unparalleled printing accuracy. The printer specialist said its new digital solution is the best option for eroding demand for analogue rotary screen printing.

Single-pass printers first came to market in 2013, but they had limitations, which restricted sales. There were concerns over reliability, printing accuracy and cost per metre compared with established analogue screen-printing technologies.

Research and development in the years that followed culminated in a new breed of single-pass printer in 2018: EFI Reggiani BOLT. According to EFI Reggiani, the solution built trust in the single-pass printing process. However, single-pass printer sales have struggled over the last 18 months due to the economic downturn, but EFI Reggiani believes demand will return when consumer confidence improves, adding that the single-pass market will play a key role in moving mass production to on-demand. The TCO has also fallen, which has increased the technology’s competitiveness.

Moreover, ecoTERRA simplifies the complex operations that were once necessary to meet demand for fast turnaround times. No large, pre-treated fabric stock is required when using the pigment formula, so there are clear environmental and financial benefits to investing in the technology.     

But pigment inks are just one aspect of on-demand manufacturing. EFI Reggiani said: “On-demand is a requirement of mass production and is facilitated by high-throughput technologies such as HYPER. The printers are supported by integrated end-to-end digital printing workflows, such as the one powered by Inèdit, to streamline the printing process and make pre-printing activities smoother and faster across different geographies.”

Revolutionising the digital landscape

Market consolidation saw EFI Reggiani acquire Spain-based RIP software specialist Inèdit in 2022. Software has the power to streamline operations and iron out costly production mistakes such as colour management, which remains a troublesome issue for print service providers.

EFI Reggiani says it acquired Inèdit to provide customers with more complete inkjet printing workflows that leverage “best-in-class” digital technologies. “By incorporating colour and textile workflow experts within our organisation, customers are presented with new profitable opportunities, as was the case with Brazil-based Brandili Textil.”

The digital textile printing market is a place of fine margins and due to the current economic slowdown, there is no space for production errors.

The joint venture between EFI Reggiani and Inèdit paved the way for an integrated digital printing workflow, which leverages Inèdit software technology to streamline printing processes in a production environment. The end-to-end workflow ensures absolute colour accuracy, continuous cost control and maximum safety for your designs.

A long-standing observation among experts is that the textile industry is reticent to invest in digital software because of security concerns. However, EFI Reggiani has taken these worries into consideration when developing the end-to-end workflow; the process ensures that files go through a two-level encryption to maximise the safety of every design. The company hopes measures like this will build trust in digital software and increase the rate of implementation.

By leveraging smart printing processes, the textile industry can reduce its carbon footprint. Developments in AI and the progressive implementation of automated solutions are also facilitating integrated textile value chains, which are shaping the textile printing industry’s future – EFI Reggiani plans to be at the forefront of these innovations.

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