Digital textile printing will be one of the focal-point themes at this year’s Texprocess, which will be held from 9-12 May in Frankfurt, concurrently with Techtextil. For the first time, the European Digital Textile Conference will be held by the World Textile Information Network at Texprocess. There will also be a separate lecture block on digital printing in the programme of the Texprocess Forum.

In addition, the Digital Textile Microfactory will present a textile production chain in action – from design, via digital printing and cutting, to making up. Numerous exhibitors, including Brother, Epson, Ergosoft and Mimaki, will also be showing digital printing technologies.

“We are expanding our programme on the subject of digital printing in response to the growing demand for digitalised technologies for processing garments, technical textiles and flexible materials. This programme is of particular interest to manufacturers of technical textiles and companies that process textiles,” commented Michael Jänecke, Head of Brand Management, Textiles and Textile Technologies, Messe Frankfurt.

European Digital Textile Conference

In cooperation with Texprocess and Techtextil, the World Textile Information Network will hold the European Digital Textile Conference at Texprocess for the first time. The focus of the conference will be on digital textile printing for adding functional and decorative features to technical textiles.

The subjects to be covered in the lectures include direct yarn colouring in the embroidery plants (Coloreel, Sweden), plasma pre-treatment for textiles before digital printing (Grinp, Italy) and chemical finishing for textiles using inkjet printing technology (Efi-Reggiani, USA).

Texprocess Forum

Digital printing technology will also be the subject of a separate lecture block at Texprocess Forum. At this international conference, experts from science and industry will focus on the latest findings relating to subjects of major importance to the sector in over 30 lectures and panel discussions on all four days of the fair.

“Thanks to digital textile printing, it is now possible to print apparel, shoes and technical textiles directly. Given the general trend towards individualisation, demand for individualised products is increasing in the apparel industry. This is turning digital textile printing into one of the future–oriented technologies for companies that process garments and textiles,” said Elgar Straub, Managing Director, VDMA Textile Care, Fabric and Leather Technologies.

Digital Textile Microfactory

In cooperation with the German Institutes of Textile and Fibre Research Denkendorf (DITF) and textile companies, Texprocess will present the complete interlinked textile production chain – the Digital Textile Microfactory. The digital-printing station will show large-scale inkjet printing in the form of sublimation printing on polyester and pigment printing on cotton and blended fabrics.

Production orders can be combined flexibly and printed colour consistently with a variety of printing parameters. Ensuring optimum printing results at this station are hardware and software partners, Mimaki and Ergosoft, and Coldenhove and Monti Antonio.

In addition to the Microfactory partners, other renowned companies, including Brother and Epson, will be showing state-of-the-art printing processes for textiles and apparel at Texprocess.

Digital-printing outlook

Originally developed for fashion fabrics, digital textile printing is also used for printing technical textiles, such as sports clothing, and textiles for the automobile industry whereby the primary focus is on functionalising textiles. For example, swimwear can be made more colour fast to resist frequent contact with water and chlorine, and exposure to the sun.

Also, textiles can be finished by applying chemicals via an inkjet printer and thus be given dirt-repellent, antimicrobial and fire-retardant properties. Additionally, using an inkjet printer in the finishing process is advantageous in terms of sustainability and efficiency.

www.texprocess.messefrankfurt.com