In the case that most printing and dyeing enterprises are under tremendous pressure to save energy and reduce emissions, the advantages of digital printing are beginning to emerge. The figures show that when printing with traditional printing equipment, about 30% of the dye can't be combined with the fiber and washed away when it is washed, and the digital printing process uses the direct ink injection process. The dye usage is only 40. About 5% of the ink is washed away during post-treatment, resulting in only 1/15-1/25 of the conventional printing process. It is also the advantage of digital printing machine that is convenient, fast and environmentally friendly. The demand for digital printing by printing and dyeing enterprises has also increased dramatically year by year.

     Demand is growing year by year

    According to statistics, in 2011, the number of digital inkjet printing machines of various models in China was about 700, which is equivalent to 3.3 times in 2008. In 2011, the national digital inkjet printing volume was 140 million meters, accounting for 0.86% of the total printing volume. Compared with the national digital inkjet printing volume of 0.4 billion meters in 2008, accounting for 0.33% of the total printing volume, there is a larger Variety.

    It can also be seen from the statistics that the proportion of digital inkjet printing fabrics in China's textile printing industry is very small, accounting for less than 1% of the total printing volume. Different from the domestic situation, the current digital printing machine in foreign countries has a much larger share. For example, the total number of digital inkjet printers in the Americas has now exceeded 150. At the same time, foreign authoritative research reports predict that the annual compound growth rate of global textile digital printing machines will reach 23.1% from 2009 to 2014.

    China's research on digital inkjet printing technology started late, and it was not until the 1990s that relevant research reports appeared, but it was limited to exploratory research in some research institutes. Honghua Digital Technology Co., Ltd. is one of the earliest companies in China to apply digital technology results to industrial production. The company successfully developed the first digital inkjet printing machine in China in 2000, which laid the foundation for the industrialization of China's textile digital inkjet printing. At present, digital inkjet printing machines of digital inkjet equipment manufacturers such as Hangzhou Open Source Computer Technology Co., Ltd. and Hangzhou Saishun Electromechanical Equipment Co., Ltd. also have a certain market share.

     Application areas continue to expand

    At present, some traditional printing factories in the United States have adopted digital inkjet printing as the leading direction for their products and market development. Some companies that did not engage in the printing industry have begun to expand the application range of digital inkjet printing. In addition to textile proofing, small batch production, and limited production, the products of these companies have expanded to other aspects.

    Digital inkjet printing saves time and cost compared to traditional print proofing, so most companies buy digital inkjet printers for proofing. In recent years, some companies that have completely used digital inkjet printing machines have emerged, especially some new silk printing companies have adopted digital inkjet printing machines as the first choice for printing equipment. In addition, some design companies And colleges and universities also use inkjet printers for design patterns and teaching. According to preliminary understanding, at present, China's digital inkjet printing market segment is roughly 70% for proofing, 20% for mass production, and 10% for design and research teaching.

    It can be seen that digital printing equipment is currently undergoing a process of transition from sporadic production to agglomeration and industrialization. At present, more than 90% of the European printing industry has adopted digital printing proofing to keep the environment clean while achieving rapid reaction production. According to relevant analysts, the market share of digital printing in Europe is so high that European textile companies are concerned with the design of textile products. The design drawings provided by European designers can often be directly applied to digital printing equipment systems, which is convenient for designers. Understanding the proofing effect and proposing amendments also objectively promoted the improvement of the pattern design level and the digital printing into the industrialization.

     Complementing the advantages of traditional crafts

    Compared with the traditional printing process, the digital printing in the color, clarity, color gamut performance, indeed reached the height that is difficult to achieve with traditional printing. However, many people in the industry are also very sensible to believe that in the next few years, digital printing will not replace the traditional printing process on a large scale. Digital printing will coexist with traditional printing technology for a long time and complement each other.

    If the trajectory of the European digital printing industry yesterday is the direction of the domestic printing industry tomorrow, then it can be expected that the application of digital printing technology in China will surge in the next few years. It is estimated that in 2015, the output of China's textile digital inkjet printing will exceed 500 million meters, and digital inkjet printing products will account for about 4% of the production of printed fabrics. Based on this market demand, the number of digital inkjet printers is conservatively estimated to exceed 2,500 units, and some even expect to exceed 10,000 units.

    Li Guangming, manager of Hangzhou Shiming Technology Co., Ltd., said that digital printing is a supplement to traditional printing. The number of digital prints will increase in the next few years, but it will not completely replace traditional printing. Traditional printing can achieve digital printing, but the cost will be high. The biggest advantage of digital printing is that it is short and fast, not mass production.

     Work hard on cost reduction

    In the entire digital printing industry chain, equipment suppliers have tried their best to continuously meet the needs of downstream customers. However, user companies do not seem to respond with the same enthusiasm. The reporter learned that most printing companies currently use digital printing equipment for less than five years, and that 2/3 of these users are not satisfied with the use of equipment.

    Many printing companies do not use digital printing equipment, and there is no such budget in the future. Others say that digital printing machines are simply used for proofing, and can indeed achieve individual needs, but the functions are not as powerful as those of manufacturers and distributors. They think that compared with foreign equipment, domestic equipment is slightly inferior, first of all, it is slow, and secondly, the appearance quality is rough.

    The person in charge of a printing company in Dongguan said that five years ago, the company purchased two digital printing machines from a Japanese brand company, which is no longer available. He said that on the one hand, the equipment maintenance cost is relatively large. On the other hand, the ink agreement reached by the Japanese company and the DuPont company about the printing machine equipment brings huge cost pressure to the printing enterprise because the ink is domestically equivalent. Double the price of quality ink.

    For the up-and-coming talents of this printing industry, digital printing equipment does make people shine, but there are some problems that need to be improved during the process of growth and growth. How to reduce the cost of using the user's enterprise, improve the research and development of key components of the equipment core, and enhance the personalized supporting services may be a problem that domestic equipment manufacturers have to consider.