Texintel Spotlights Latest Innovations for Digital Manufacturing in Textiles

As we get back to in-person trade shows, suppliers to the textiles and apparel industry are proud to show off the latest innovations, assuring producers that despite the difficulties of the pandemic, supply chain and more in recent years, their development efforts continue. In this industry round-up, textiles expert and WhatTheyThink contributor Debbie McKeegan shares some of the latest innovations that are driving digitization across the supply chain.

Billions are being invested across the supply chain. Co-creation and collaboration are leading the industry into new frontiers, driving sustainable change. Each and every product manufactured makes an impact on our world's precious resources.

The Autumn season brought a refreshing return of print Industry trade events, and with it, lots of new product launches: software, printheads, new machines, inks, and applications, many of which had been delayed due to the pandemic.

The A/W season also marks a return to “back to business” as usual, but with an accelerated appetite for new tech and sustainable solutions. With heightened market demand for flexible production in challenging environmental circumstances, nobody can pretend that the industry is thriving—it’s evolving.

All issues regarding sustainability have leaped into sharp focus. The spotlight is on the supply chain and how it utilizes technology to deliver environmental progress and efficient manufacturing solutions.

In this month’s Technology Spotlight, we focus on new and emerging technologies, distilled from our press room, and we highlight just some of the many innovations that are driving digitization across the supply chain. You can read more in Texintel’s Latest News channel.

Digital Manufacturing

The New Xaar Aquinox Printhead Revolutionizes Reliable Aqueous Inkjet Printing Making It Ideal For Printing Textiles

The Aquinox is the latest development from Xaar’s ImagineX platform, and its revolutionary aQ Power Technology provides a radically new approach to how water-based fluids are jetted reliably, delivering a truly transformational industrial printhead.

Xaar’s aQ Power is a combination of ground-breaking technologies designed to optimize the Aquinox’s lifespan and robustness when handling aqueous fluids.

These include a redesigned internal architecture, new water-compatible materials capable of coping with an extended working range of pH levels, and a revolutionary new drive system enabling optimum drop ejection.

This, together with Xaar’s TF Technology ink recirculation, ensures the Aquinox delivers significantly increased nozzle open time compared to typical aqueous printheads.

Aquario Textile Designer Plugin Delivers Essential Tools For Surface Pattern Design—Create, Color, Repeat, and Print

Aquario Textile Designer offers a comprehensive bundle of professional apparel and textile design tools with which to prepare and perfect the origination and production of a textile pattern or product.

Now available as a direct plugin for Photoshop and Illustrator, Aquario’s affordability, simplicity, and depth of function deliver a powerful additional toolbox for pattern, product design, and printed reproduction.

The plugin can be used seamlessly alongside an Adobe workflow in real time and allow users to apply their favorite tools.

Digital Concept Meets Real Fabric: A New Virtual Material Collaboration Between Cotton Incorporated and Adobe Is Launched

Cotton Incorporated and Adobe collaborated to demonstrate and showcase a new material workflow using Adobe Substance 3D applications, designed to unify digital and physical materials.

As a result, the two organizations developed a new collection of virtual materials, that precisely represent manufacturable physical fabrics.

Available through the Adobe Substance 3D Assets library and on Cottonworks.com, the collection blends the flexibility and rapid visualization potential of digital materials with the benefits of traditional material sourcing.

Leveraging Adobe Substance 3D applications, the workflow to create the collection uses scan and procedural creation and allows design and development teams to innovate with confidence, bridging the long-standing gap between digital and physical.

HP’s New Latex 2700 Digital Printer Series Delivers High Performance Printing With Sustainability In Mind

HP’s new roll-to-roll wide-format printers are designed to tackle a high volume of large-format signage and decorative applications, ensuring high-quality printing at a pace that is difficult to match.

Widely praised by attendees, the new 3.2m (126-in) wide HP Latex 2700 printers take production efficiency to the next level, offering vivid colors at up to 89 sq. m/hr/ (958 sq. ft./hr.) via symmetrical double printheads, which come equipped with automatic printhead cleaning technology.

Users can take on high-margin jobs with 30% wider gamut at high speed, preserving media gloss and feel across a range of signage and décor applications—including thin films, vinyl, and paper.

Mutoh EMEA Extends Its Xpertjet Pro Range with the Xpertjet 1682SR Pro

Mutoh Europe nv, EMEA business unit of Mutoh Industries Co. Ltd., Japan, unveiled the XpertJet 1682SR Pro (64 in./1.6m) high-productivity twin-head sign and display printer targeted at long term outdoor/indoor sign and display and commercial print applications.

The new XPJ-1682SR Pro carries two AccuFine HD print heads, each with 3200 nozzles, a new weaving algorithm and Mutoh’s genuine VerteLith RIP software to deliver a significant improvement in both print quality and print speed.

The XPJ-1682SRP is ideally suited for high productivity environments, delivering high quality production speeds up to 35 sq. m/hr.

Newly Launched By swissQprint: The Second Generation of the Karibu Roll-to-Roll Printer

SwissQprint presented the second generation of its Karibu roll-to-roll printer at the PRINTING United Show in Las Vegas.

By means of the latest printhead technology, the Swiss manufacturer is taking UV roll-to-roll printing quality to a new level.

Karibu 2, the dedicated roll-to-roll printer from swissQprint, uses the latest printhead technology. It achieves up to 1350 dpi resolution, so Karibu 2 delivers top quality even at high output.

The machine accommodates rolls up to 3.4m wide and prints using UV inks that are flexible, NVC-free and Greenguard Gold certified.

Unique features ensure high efficiency and reliability as well as outstanding versatility.

Billions are being invested across the supply chain. Co-creation and collaboration are leading the industry into new frontiers, driving sustainable change.

Each and every product manufactured makes an impact on our world’s precious resources. It takes all of us – manufacturers, software developers, producers, designers and consumers– to continue to make progress on the sustainability front.