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SPECIAL REPORT
Digital printing for textiles broken down by end-use,
2009 (square metres) Digital textile
Source Pira International printing migration
emerging
Marcus Timson, corporate communications
director at FESPA explains FESPA’s support for the
Pira study: “It was important for FESPA to gain a
scientific view of the future direction of the digital
textile market, and Pira was a credible partner to
undertake such a comprehensive piece of analysis.
FESPA’s screen printing heritage is such that
printing onto textile has always been a very
significant element of our events.
"More recently, our FESPA Digital shows have
reflected the market’s migration towards digital
textile printing for the short-run applications
identified in the Pira study, and we have
encouraged our community to explore the
market’s potential through two Digital Textile
n Garment n Household n Technical n Display
conferences in parallel with these shows.
"The textile area of our flagship FESPA show has
grown to the point where FESPA is now
effectively the largest textile printing event in
For the fabric markets, the items that were is a correlation between nations that are large Europe, and the garment decoration segment will
digitally printed had to be in concert with the ink textile exporters, it may not follow that digital now have a dedicated zone at FESPA 2010, under
and the printer. Thus early fabric printing has been printing will be dominant in those countries. the distinct FESPA Fabric banner.
limited in its applications. "The Pira study, which is available at a discounted
Sampling requires printing on the fabric with *Pira International is the worldwide authority on price for members of FESPA’s national
accuracy and conformity to the screen printing packaging, paper and print industry supply chains. associations, will help us to shape the events,
that will be used for final production. Digital Established in 1930, Pira provides market products and services that FESPA creates to
printing dramatically reduces turnaround time for research, strategic and technical consulting, address the textile printing marketplace, and help
sampling when compared with traditional testing, publications and events to help clients our global community of print service providers to
technology, from six to eight weeks to a few days. understand market trends, identify opportunities, understand the opportunities that may exist for
Reduction of sampling costs and turnaround time evaluate product performance, meet compliance them in this segment.”
improve time to market. requirements, network and develop strategies to
The second major application area is strike-off, or grow their business. The Future of Digital Print for Textiles: market
one-offs, producing a single, sellable customised forecasts to 2014 is available now for €3,950.
item. In conventional textile screen printing, the **FESPA is the Federation of Screen and Digital FESPA members are eligible for a 15% discount
development cost for one-offs is € 2,000-€ 9,000 Printers Associations. FESPA’s Associations and can purchase the report for €3,555. For
per design and a schedule of 2-5 weeks, with the represent the interests of screen and digital more information, contact Stephen Hill on 01372
cost based upon the number of spot colours. printers in 26 European countries. A further 10 802025, stephen.hill@pira-international.com, or
Digital printing, on average, is about 60 per cent associations outside Europe are Associate visit www.pira-international.com
of that cost and less than half the time. Members of FESPA.
Short run, also referred to as ‘agile
manufacturing’, is the production of custom
products in runs of two units to about 100 units,
or one to a few hundred square metres. Full
production runs would be higher in units and
square metres, but traditional rotary screen
printing still has the advantage for long runs.
Less than 15 per cent of all textiles are printed as
a part of the manufacturing process. One quarter
of all textiles are manufactured with no (or very
little) colour and only some are printed after
manufacture. Blank canvas for signage would be
an example.
Most textiles are dyed or plain. Of those printed,
rotary screen and other processes are used. Ink
use will be in all categories over the period of this
report. The display/signage, household, and
technical markets will continue to use UV, solvent,
and eco-solvent inks, but garment fabrics will
continue to use aqueous inks.
In terms of digital textile applications, no one type
of ink will dominate. Solvent-based inks are being
replaced by eco-solvent inks.
Inkjet printing is distributed globally. The fastest-
growing regions are the emerging markets of
Eastern Europe and Asia, though it is important to
remember that the pattern of growth is not the
same for each country and region. Although there
www.printwearandpromotion.co.uk February 2010 | 27 |
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