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onto substrates from a distance of 4mm – a
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warehousing and stock-holding are all part of
lowering costs. These factors give brands the
ability to feed both online markets and fast-fashion
bricks and mortar outlets – while maintaining
profitability for everyone in the chain.
Moreover, these advantages reduce risk in the
supply chain – which makes working with a printer
with digital capabilities more attractive. While
these benefits are notably exploited by the
fast-fashion houses, similar benefits are enjoyed
at the higher end of the market with easier and
more affordable production of shorter runs and
limited editions.
Today, digital production accounts for only about
five per cent of the worldwide textile printing
market. However, the latest market reports show
an exciting growth of around 23 per cent annually,
or about two billion square meters per year.
Companies that understand this new paradigm
can use digital print as a powerful, profitable
February/March 2018
complementary technology.
Service, support and commitment to the market
Since 1996, SPGPrints Pakistan has provided
equipment, consumables, support and
application consultancy to printers in the
region. Multiple JAVELIN printers are running
at companies in Pakistan and meeting the
demands of today’s market conditions and
doing so competitively.
In addition to the support offered in the
region, customers may see the PIKE and
JAVELIN printers in action at SPGPrints’
Experience Center at its headquarters in
Boxmeer, Netherlands, where they can
conduct print trials using their own jobs and
fabrics, and receive technical and application
training.
Being well-informed and well-equipped are
the best ways to achieve success in rapidly
changing market conditions, and having the
resources and experience of SPGPrints
Pakistan ready to offer local support can be
another factor in your success.
SPGPrints’ stand at ITM 2018, in Istanbul, will
feature an operational JAVELIN printer as
well as comprehensive information on PIKE,
digital inks and latest screens and imaging
equipment.
In the week after ITM, SPGPrints will be the
main sponsor of the Inspiring Change
Conference, at the Expo Centre, Lahore,
24-25 April. The conference will provide a
platform for textile experts to share their
thoughts, and subsequently suggest the next
steps to enhance the global competitiveness,
and ultimately pave the way for sustainable
growth in the textile industry.
Among the objectives of the conference are
the disseminating the latest global trends,
present innovative technological
advancements and solutions for the key
challenges faced by the textile industry, and
suggest new means to bolster exports.
With the participation of leading players in
Pakistan’s textile industry, this conference
presents an important opportunity to plan the
industry’s future.
significantly longer nozzle-fabric distance
compared to alternative technologies. This
means that a wider range of substrates can be
run with minimal chance of print head damage
or extra operational costs. Additionally, these
print heads maintain thermal stability at a very
low level of heat throughout the printing
process, a key requirement for achieving long
runs in industrial environments. This overall
reduction of risk means that SPGPrints is able
to offer customers the Archer Print Head
Program which provides a 2.5-year warranty
when accredited inks are used. This eliminates
the typical print head worries such as high
costs and unpredictable failures.
Using only six colours, Archer technology
enables a gamut wider than the HD-gamut of
other digital textile printing solutions. With
ink type, substrate, and design elements no
longer restrictive factors, designers have
never had such creative freedom for
mass-produced textiles.
The PIKE printer is designed for companies
needing high annual capacity. It is a
single-pass, 1850mm-wide printer with a fixed
array of print heads, and operates at speeds
up to 40 linear meters per minute.
and waste reduction, driving competitiveness and
speed with which a complex number of variables can
The JAVELIN uses a multi-pass scanning
profitability by reducing costs throughout the
change, impacting local trading conditions.
action to deposit inks. It has an output speed
Sometimes this can happen so quickly that there are
supply chain.
of up to 367 metres per hour and is available in
temporary time lags that can put undue pressure on
print widths of 1850mm and 3200mm. The
Not all digital technology is the same
businesses. This has been happening with rising
JAVELIN is suited for medium production
Before the advent of digital printing, it was generally
cotton and yarn prices in Pakistan while the overall
volumes, and situations where more frequent
accepted that of the three desired production goals –
picture is one of increased in worldwide cotton
changes between different fabrics and designs
quality, speed and cost – it was only possible to have
production and falling cotton futures. The promise of
are required.
two. It didn’t matter which two; one was always
lower raw material prices tomorrow is cold comfort
sacrificed.
today. Other current factors include sharp rises in
SPGPrints develops and manufactures its own
production costs and new tariffs in important markets.
ink for use with these printers and has worked
Today, all three are deliverable with SPGPrints’
closely with FujifilmDimatix to achieve the
patented Archer® technology, which is incorporated
What individual companies – large or small – need
optimal chemistry for use with the Samba
into the latest digital printers, the single-pass high
are long-term strategies that will help to smooth out
print heads.
volume PIKE®, and scanning head JAVELIN®
short-term fluctuations, maintain margins and
printers. Users of these printers in Pakistan are
maximise cashflow.
Digital printing requires a new way of thinking.
already supplying orders large and small in a matter
The old model of variable cost per metre no
of days.
Technology plays an important part of these
longer applies; it is the Total Cost of
strategies, and digital printing can be a major tool in
Ownership, or end-to-end cost, that matters.
Archer technology uses Fujifilm Samba Dimatix
ensuring long-term competitiveness. While digital
Savings on prepress time, energy and waste;
piezo-electric print heads to produce variable drops
textile printing has been around for several decades,
reduced substrate waste, drastically reduced
ranging from 2-10pL at resolutions of up to 1200 x
too often it is considered only in terms of short runs
times to market and the elimination of
1200dpi to create excellent print quality as well as
and fast turnarounds, whereas, when properly
33 One of the consequences of a global economy is the deployed, it can be a transformational force in cost bright, saturated colours. Ink is precisely fired
SPGPrints screen
systems at ITM 2018
SPGPrints continues to lead the way in
innovation for screen technologies because it
recognises the complementary nature of digital
and screen production in meeting the demands
of today’s markets quickly and cost-effectively.
On its stand (Hall 6 Stand 606B), visitors will find
a selection of screens and printed textiles that
demonstrate the characteristics of the
NovaScreen® line-up. NovaScreen screens
offer relatively high open areas thanks to a mesh
counts with minimum spacing between holes,
maximising paste transfer, and are available in a
range of meshes from 135 and 245 holes per
linear inch. This results in higher printing speeds
and paste yields
The NovaScreen 245 mesh offers exceptional
definition and resolution. With hole-sizes of 40
microns, it features an exceptionally high mesh
count. This gives it two important quality
advantages: first, it prints perfect halftones and
tonal gradations, with transitions not previously
possible with rotary screen printing. Fine
linework and smaller dots can also be
reproduced, enabling greater creativity in
geometric patterns and halftones for fashion
and interior décor applications.
Also on the stand will be SPGPrints’
RandomScreen®, a 125 mesh has a 79-micron
hole-size screen, that supresses moiré effects in
halftones. The holes are arranged stochastically,
out of line with each other, thereby eliminating
the risk of undesired patterns becoming visible
in printed results. RandomScreen also can save
paste, especially when pigment printing.
Optimise images with direct laser engraving
and laser imaging
To achieve the best results from SPGPrints’
NovaScreen line, direct laser engraving with the
SPGPrints bestLEN, and laser imaging
solutions, like the SPGPrints smartLEX 74530,
can cut screen preparation times, accelerate
throughput and increase productivity.
Information about these laser engraving
systems will be available at the stand.
February/March 2018