We revitalised textile scan printers range with cutting-edge innovations
EFI Reggiani is a leading technology provider of a full range of industrial solutions for textile manufacturing, including high-quality printers for fashion and home furnishing textiles, with a portfolio spanning the company's original rotary screen technologies to the most advanced inkjet textile printers and inks in the industry. EFI Reggiani is part of EFI, a global technology company based in Silicon Valley. Vice president Adele Genoni converses about the latest in indigo dyeing, digital and traditional printing technologies at the company.
How was the response received at the International Textile Machinery Exhibition (ITM) 2018 for the new EFI Reggiani Colors and EFI Mezzera.
Even after a month, EFI Reggiani is enjoying the success at ITM, where the new EFI Reggiani Colors and EFI Mezzera indigo dyeing technology were presented.
The new EFI Reggiani Colors printer launched at ITM is a breakthrough solution for textile producers, offering up to 12 colours that can be printed in a row. This unparalleled new digital printer brings new creativity to the industry with an explosion of colours. Along with the completely renovated portfolio of advanced EFI Reggiani textile production solutions, it helps our customers reach new levels of sustainability, efficiency and profitability.
Which are your top markets for traditional, digital, soft-signage printers and post and pre-treatment machines?
We deliver an overall solution for the whole textile process, starting from yarn treatment to fabric printing and finishing. We design, manufacture, sell and service high-quality machines for a wide variety of substrates and applications, which include fashion, home textile, sportswear, signage, flooring, automotive and outdoor.
Our reference markets in digital and traditional printing are Turkey, Pakistan, India and Bangladesh, while in soft signage the United States is where the highest number of printers have been sold. EFI Mezzera lines are mostly sold in India, Mexico and Indonesia.
What will be the next big thing in digital textile printing?
During the last 12 months, we revitalised the textile scan printers range with cutting-edge innovations. Four new extraordinary printers are able to meet all needs and requests. The new EFI Reggiani Flexy, Vogue, Top and Colors are the prelude of a new era where the EFI Reggiani single pass will be the leading actor.
Greener processes are surely dominating the textile printing industry. An example is during the Federation of European Screen Printers Associations (FESPA) exhibition in Berlin, where we exhibited the breakthrough industrial textile pigment ink technology for direct-to-textile production. Our new pigment ink technology gives users a faster, environment-friendly production process with inline polymerisation that requires less water, less energy and less processing time, with no washing or steaming needed. In addition, the ink's excellent fastness properties and high printability sharpness allows printing on a wide range of fabrics with fine-detail designs, especially for fashion and home decor.
Our new pigment inks are based on an innovative binder technology. These react to our printers' on-board dryers, which set off a unique in-line polymerisation process for faster, greener printing that requires fewer steps than other digital industrial inkjet textile systems.
The technology completes the outstanding range of innovations we have presented over the past year, with unparalleled new products including the Flexy digital printer launched at last year's tradeshow by FESPA and the Colors printer launched last month at the ITM show in Istanbul.
What is the USP of EFI Mezzera indigo dyeing technology?
The EFI Mezzera indigo dyeing technology making its worldwide debut at ITM gives textile companies a way to eliminate excess water usage, chemical waste and high operating costs of denim production. EFI partnered with denim producers and manufacturers from around the globe to create the new Mezzera Loop Slasher, which gives users a more sustainable process, reducing environmental impact with lower water consumption and operating costs. The new product uses nitrogen sealed chambers to improve indigo performance and preserve chemicals. Compared with other denim production technologies, the EFI Mezzera Loop Slasher has a 35 per cent smaller footprint and uses 50 per cent less indigo liquor. It also limits the total amount of chemicals needed in denim production, preserving 30 to 40 per cent of hydrosulphite needed in the process for re-use.
What is the global market size for textile printers? What is the expected growth rate?
Digital is at this time about 3-4 per cent of all printed textiles consumed by the fashion industry, reaching ~13 per cent in the fast fashion segment with and expected compound annual growth rate of ~20 per cent.
Digital printing is the fastest growing printing technology in the textile market, where textile printing market represents ~30-35 billion sq m. Digital textile printing is growing very fast opening huge opportunities.
With 70 years of innovation, research, and technological excellence, EFI Reggiani (which includes the Reggiani Macchine, Mezzera, and Jaeggli brands) is a worldwide provider of complete solutions for the textile market, with a focus on the development of sustainable processes. With high quality and performance of its machines and outstanding service to its customers, it is the premier manufacturer of digital and traditional printers and pre-post treatment machines, such as systems for washing, bleaching and dyeing. The sales of traditional printers are still on a positive trend, but the digital textile printing market is growing very fast, thanks to further market opportunities, including new applications and the fast fashion segment.
How sustainable are the printing colours?
We develop and produce water-based inks, which are safe and green and can be used on the most varied substrates of plant and animal origin, from cotton to silk, from viscose to wool.
Our water-based reactive, sublimatic and pigment inks are easy-to-use one because these don't need any special maintenance on the printer, both for customers that print 24 hours a day and for those with only one work shift.
We are committed to improving sustainability. We continuously develop and test productive systems with lower environmental impact in each segment of the supply chain covering the full textile workflow. That means respecting the environment without compromising machine performance; that means developing green processes and innovative solutions that guarantee savings in energy, water, inks and colour waste; reducing stock consumption, using recyclable materials and drastically reducing pollution.
What is the latest innovation in the EFI Fiery Textile Bundle?
Our digital printers also benefit from an advanced production workflow available with the new Fiery Textile Bundle. The bundles combines the tools for efficient textile design and file preparation, with the Fiery digital front end (DFE) for professional colour management and high-quality RIP output. The design tools quickly and easily create professional designs, seamless repeat patterns and multiple colourways, and include functionality to manage colour libraries and palettes for design teams. The bundle's Fiery DFE features dedicated textile functionality to deliver accurate colour, fine details, high saturation, and smooth gradients, and can be used with all our printer models and dedicated cutting systems.
What is your global market share?
We hold 35 per cent of the digital textile market, with more than 700 digital printers running worldwide and more than 2.500 analog printers installed. We sold nearly 1.000 tons of ink in more than 40 countries worldwide and boast of having several loyal customers with more than 10 printers in each factory in the European Union (EU), the United States, China and India.
What are your thoughts on Industry 4.0? Which areas in textile printing is the rate of adoption higher?
Our aim is to support customers in their transition to Industry 4.0, thanks to the EFI Digital Textile Ecosystem, a unique solution to experience the workflow from 2D/3D design and professional colour management to digital printing with a full range of water based inks, till finishing and cut & sew.
Several key clients across the globe have showed interest and more and more are investing in this direction, adopting EFI products.
What has been your growth story in the last two fiscals?
Last two fiscal years showed a solid and constant growth year-over-year and Efi Reggiani is working hard to take advantage of this great momentum thanks to a completely innovative product range and the amazing new products that have yet to come. (HO)
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