Printful introduces high-quality printing on polyester

Kornit Avalanche Poly Pro printer

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Kornit
Kornit Avalanche Poly Pro printer

Printful has started beta testing the new Kornit Avalanche Poly Pro printer with a select group of customers. The printer produces high-quality direct-to-garment (DTG) prints on 100% polyester, helping Printful enter new apparel niches such as activewear. Printful has invested $600,000 to acquire the new printer and plan to launch printing for all customers in the coming months.

In 2019 the global activewear market generated around $181 billion in revenue and is only anticipated to grow, with the latest forecasts predicting $208 billion in revenue by 2025. Since the majority of sports and active apparel is made from polyester, the new Kornit Poly Pro printer is a game-changer in DTG apparel printing.

Until now printing on 100% polyester was most frequently done through sublimation and screen printing. While not impossible, DTG printing on this material would often result in discoloration. Kornit’s Poly Pro printer is the first to deliver high-quality DTG prints on 100% polyester. By introducing the next generation of printers, Kornit opens the doors to on-demand printing on apparel categories like activewear.

Kornit has been Printful’s #1 choice for a long time now. Their printers are, in our view, the highest quality option in the market, and we’re excited for the new product opportunities the Poly Pro printer will bring,” says Davis Siksnans, chief executive officer of Printful.

Printing apparel on-demand means there’s no minimum order volume. This reduces the chances of unsold product stock and risky investments into large bulk orders. Setting up an online store with high-demand items like activewear will help accelerate the store’s success in sales and brand popularity.

In addition to being an industry leader in on-demand textile printing, Printful has long been a terrific bellwether of what Kornit is capable of delivering; they’ve built their direct-to-garment business in tandem with Kornit’s technology innovations,” says Kornit Representative. “Adding Avalanche Poly Pro to the mix empowers Printful to give its customers the most brilliant, durable, responsibly-produced sports and athleisure apparel, now the market’s fastest-growing sector. They’re consistently mastering the business of retail-ready, eco-friendly, cost-effective fulfillment on-demand, and Kornit is proud to stand behind them at every stage of that endeavor,” says Omer Kulka, CMO of Kornit Digital.

2023 promises an interesting ride for print in India

Indian Printer and Publisher founded in 1979 is the oldest B2B trade publication in the multi-platform and multi-channel IPPGroup. While the print and packaging industries have been resilient in the past 33 months since the pandemic lockdown of 25 March 2020, the commercial printing and newspaper industries have yet to recover their pre-Covid trajectory.

The fragmented commercial printing industry faces substantial challenges as does the newspaper industry. While digital short-run printing and the signage industry seem to be recovering a bit faster, ultimately their growth will also be moderated by the progress of the overall economy. On the other hand book printing exports are doing well but they too face several supply-chain and logistics challenges.

The price of publication papers including newsprint has been high in the past year while availability is diminished by several mills shutting down their publication paper and newsprint machines in the past four years. Indian paper mills are also exporting many types of paper and have raised prices for Indian printers. To some extent, this has helped in the recovery of the digital printing industry with its on-demand short-run and low-wastage paradigm.

Ultimately digital print and other digital channels will help print grow in a country where we are still far behind in our paper and print consumption and where digital is a leapfrog technology that will only increase the demand for print in the foreseeable future. For instance, there is no alternative to a rise in textbook consumption but this segment will only reach normality in the next financial year beginning on 1 April 2023.

Thus while the new normal is a moving target and many commercial printers look to diversification, we believe that our target audiences may shift and change. Like them, we will also have to adapt with agility to keep up with their business and technical information needs.

Our 2023 media kit is ready, and it is the right time to take stock and reconnect with your potential markets and customers. Print is the glue for the growth of liberal education, new industry, and an emerging economy. We seek your participation in what promises to be an interesting ride.

– Naresh Khanna

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