Page 68 - July-August-2017

68
Outlook for Digital
Reports The textile printing industry represents 30 billion implications, is not required as designs can be
Textile Printing
square meters of material volume on an annual
basis worldwide. Most commercially available fabric
are minimal compared to conventional printing and
quantities as small as 1 metre can be provided.
is rotary screen printed; each print run is typically printed on demand. Lead times and start-up costs
several thousand yards. The high minimums are due Double digit growth across 2016-2021, is expected
to the cost and time required to prepare a unique set to make digital textile printing one of the most
of screens, with each colour in a design requiring a exciting market opportunity in the print and textile
separate screen. Digital Textile printing is a supply sectors according to the latest exclusive
technique of applying colour to fabric in a particular market data from Smithers Pira. The Future of Digital
design and pattern. Digital textile printing technology Textile Printing to 2021 values this global market at
allows designs and images to be printed straight €1.17 billion in 2016 with growth forecast at an
from the computer screen onto fabric creating annual average of 12.3% for 2016-2021. This will see
exciting opportunities for customised design and the market more than double in value over five years,
allowing photographic quality reproduction onto reaching €2.66 billion in 2021. Smithers’ exclusive
natural fibres, such as silk, wool, linen and cotton. analysis tracks how this will drive an even more rapid
Industry data shows that after a decade of advances increase in the volume of fabric printed with inkjet
in digital printing technologies for textile, less than equipment – from 870 million m² in 2016 to 1.95
3% of the world’s printed textiles are produced billion m² in 2021 – a 17.5% CAGR. In 2016 for
digitally. 25% of digital printing on textiles is done today textiles the market share for digital processes is
mainly on polyester fabrics using dye sublimation. 2.8% of overall volume. As this develops, major print
companies are increasingly taking an interest in the
textile segment, fostering the development of new
business models, printheads, inks, media, and high
throughput machinery.
Based on application, the display segment has
witnessed major growth in 2016 owing to increase in
demand for touch panels and special effects
applications. Displays and signage are growing
somewhat more slowly –from a larger base – but will
maintain double digit annual growth across the
Smithers study period, which will convert into the
largest absolute increase in value for 2016-2021.
However, clothing and household segments are
Digital inkjet printing has become one of the most expected to create lucrative growth opportunities for
important textile production printing technologies digital printing inks market owing to increase in
and is, in fact, transforming the industry. It has been textile and household decorative applications. The
influencing new workflows, business plans and greatest acceleration across clothing is expected to
creative processes. The primary advantage of direct be in the key sub-segments of fashion, haute
digital textile printing is to eliminate rapid prototyping couture and sportswear. Household textiles are
of textile designs and products and eliminate the predicted to grow at the next fastest rate. Technical
need for the traditional time consuming and textiles will lose ground slightly, which is indicative of
expensive sampling process. it is no longer a lack of visibility of, or focus on, these smaller niche
necessary to colour separate a design, enabling markets. Considerable research and development
much more complex and subtle effects to be currently is being conducted on printed electronics
produced than have previously been possible. The in flexible circuitry. Conductive printing would
carrying of stock, with the associated cost support consumer products for wearables and
69
interior e-textiles designed for health and fitness
monitoring, self-cleaning, and communication.
the importance of Asian economies continues to post-treatment. To date the huge reduction in water
Global textile industry dynamics are changing and
and power consumption when using digital textile
increase, though there is also some
printing has not been a key driver for adoption of the
backshoring/reshoring of production to North
technology. The increasing awareness of the
America and Europe to ensure quality in high-value
environmental savings that digital printing offers
applications.
compared to traditional methods is a long-term
prospect for the success of the digital industry.
The two key factors in the future growth are
customisation and dynamics of the textile supply
chain. The industry is led by changing consumer
demand, particularly in Western markets where
personalisation and individualisation helped
industries such as Direct-to-Garment printing. The
other key factor comes from changes in the supply
side of textile production. As brands and
manufacturers have looked to remain profitable in a
tougher economic climate, both rising wages and
technology continues to develop it is likely to higher transportation costs have squeezed the
become more affordable. As of now, the digital profitability of products made in the Far East. As
printing process is significantly slower than the countries such as China and India have grown, the
conventional printing techniques. For large parties of growing middle class and gradual move towards a
fabric and limited requirements of colours and service-driven economy have quickly increased the
Reactive Dye Digital Printing is the most versatile of details, the conventional printing techniques remain average wage, making it both more expensive to
the high end digital printing technologies, with its the most cost-effective. Digital printing is an produce labour-intensive products but also creating
ability to print onto both silks and plant based innovative development which has considerably a large local market, thus increasing competition.
materials (e.g. cotton, linen and bamboo) and where improved the sustainability. Digital printing is an This has led to many companies expanding their
the print has no effect on the handle of the fabric as inkjet-based application of colourants onto textile sourcing into even lower cost markets such as
the dye bonds directly with the fabric fibres. This materials. It is a clean technology because of a high Bangladesh, Vietnam and Central America but digital
also means that reactive printing has a greater light degree of utilization of printing inks and minimum also offers a secondary solution by lowering the
and rub fastness than other print technologies water and energy consumption during labour cost input into production.
making it perfect for apparel and home ware. The
sublimation ink segment has witnessed major
demand owing to increase in demand for
dye-sublimation printer in computer printing
applications. Furthermore, the demand for
pigment-based inks is projected to witness growth
owing to its excellent archival print life coupled with
colour stability.
Digital fabric printing can completely customise and
personalise the fabrics. Compared to almost a year
required for design-to-market in traditional printing;
with digital printing it’s possible to go from the
design stage to finished fabric in a matter of weeks.
These possibilities are the strengths to offer
on-demand manufacturing of customised designs.
The major downside to digital printing is the cost
which is mainly attributed to low production speeds
and high cost of the inks. As with any new
technology, the costs are always high when it first
becomes available. As time goes on and the