Images Magazine June 2018

A new feature at this year’s show was the Print Make Wear area INDUSTRY EVENT www.images-magazine.com 36 images JUNE 2018 who was showing the new AD Hybrid Digital system, said there are at least 130 factories in Asia using the hybrid system that the Adelco machine is modelled on. The machines Images saw this year – M&R, Aeoon and Roq were also showing their hybrid systems – all appeared to be running smoothly and cleanly. The AD Hybrid with its Spectra StarFire print heads was, in combination with Adelco’s new Matrix oval screen printing press, taking 11 seconds to produce a print. Three hundred prints an hour was possible, reported service manager Rob Gray, who added that feedback from visitors was very positive. M&R’s hybrid solution, the Digital Squeegee, was another popular draw for garment printers with the company demonstrating the ease of printing variable data with no let up in speed. Visitors were queuing up to see the Aeoon Kyo Hybrid in action, with managing director Bert Santos reporting a huge interest in the brand’s Compact Series DTG printer as well. Bert told Images that “things are going to change in terms of technology”; while he wasn’t willing to divulge any other information beyond saying that Aeoon is already investing in new technology, he did add that the Kyo Hybrid is modular and so can be retrofitted or have parts removed. Watch this space. Roq had a new and updated Oval Evolution press set up to demonstrate its flock, foil and digital systems working together. Marketing manager Nuno Venda explained that the set-up being shown at Fespa introduces brand new combinations of print and special effects, along with the capability to personalise individual shirts, Next year’s Fespa Global Print Expo will be held inMunich, Germany, on 14-17 May 2019. leading to new sales opportunities for Roq customers. The brand also reported that it has started to make in-roads in the UK market since Alex Taylor of i-Sub started selling the system 18 months ago, with six carousels and three packaging systems installed to date. Fast fashion Over on the Brother stand, Heiner Rupperath, project manager for industrial printing machines, reported that the personalisation market is continuing to grow as more customers notice it, see how easy and fast it is, and ask for it. “There are many brands interested in having the Brother GTX in their stores,” he added. He discussed the unique platens the company has made for customers to help them to print on non-standard items, noting that Brother’s customers are “very innovative and try everything”, and that when they come up with ideas, most of the time Brother can find a solution. Brother, which reportedly saw 50% growth last year, is working on an academy concept in Emmerich, Germany, where demos and seminars can be held on topics such as textiles, finishing and how to optimise production. A new feature at this year’s show was the Print Make Wear area, where visitors were guided round four different production areas by Graeme Richardson-Locke, the new technical support manager at Fespa. The tour kicked off with a look at the design and visualisation processes, with companies such as Coloro, Yunique PLM and Inedit demonstrating their products. The first process followed printing on a Mimaki Tx300P-1800, heat pressing on a Klieverik and then cutting on a Gerber machine before finishing on a Juki sewing machine. The second cycle started with colour separation using Xerio from Grafcoast, then printing on a Vastex manual four-colour carousel, with the T-shirts being dried in an Adelco Digicure dryer and folded on a Dekken machine. An alternative T-shirt screen print was carried out on an MHM iQ Oval using special effect inks from MagnaColours. The final method was a DTG print on a Brother GTX, which was then cured in a drawer dryer from Chiossi e Cavazzuti. Print Make Wear provided a great introduction to different garment techniques as well as some software applications that promised to save time and improve the quality of the end product. www.fespa.com Thomas Fröhlich, CEO of MHM, bought out MHM earlier this year in partnership with Loser Holdings The yet-to-be-launched Roland Texart RT-640M was on show at Fespa