Images Magazine June 2018

INDUSTRY NEWS www.images-magazine.com 14 images JUNE 2018 Coloreel enters into a partnership with Ricoh Swedish company Coloreel, creator of an innovative thread-colouring unit, revealed in May that it has partnered with Japanese tech company Ricoh. Ricoh will develop and build one of the major sub-systems in the unit, based on Ricoh’s inkjet printing technology and Coloreel’s technology for colourisation. The partnership is a joint development effort to revolutionise the industry with the first product being the Embroline thread-colouring unit for the embroidery sector, and will see Ricoh’s engineers in Japan and England collaborate with Coloreel’s engineers in Sweden. “This partnership is a high profile project for us; we see much potential in this product and this industry,” said Tetsuya Morita, general manager of commercial and industrial printing development division at Ricoh. “We believe in Coloreel and their unique technology.” Mattias Nordin, CEO at Coloreel, said: “It feels amazing that a company like Ricoh, with their dignity and size, chooses to enter this partnership with us. To have Ricoh as our partner gives our product even more credibility, and we are excited to see what this partnership will bring.” Coloreel will start production in autumn 2018. www.coloreel.com www.ricoh.co.uk Fespa 2018 Print Census shows production speed is priority for textile and garment decorators The latest Print Census, presented at the Fespa Global Print Expo in Berlin in May, revealed that production speed is an investment priority for 69% of textile respondents, and 55% want the ability to print directly onto untreated materials. "These investments are motivated by brand owner demand for time-sensitive production that delivers supply chain improvements such as waste reduction, optimises response to seasonal peaks and enables local delivery," said the report compilers. The census also found that digital adoption for textile is slower than in other segments: across all textile-related segments, production is still dominated by analogue processes. Of those that focus on textile, 56% have made digital investments and 19% plan to do so in the next two years. Screen and textile printers expect digital's contribution to textile printing revenues to grow by 12% in the next two years. According to the research, garments dominate across all textile businesses, with sports apparel, textiles for garments and fast fashion topping the growth applications 'leader board'. Respondents included screen print businesses with a focus on textile applications, dedicated textile producers and direct-to-garment businesses, with 1405 respondents surveyed in total from 102 countries. The full 2018 Print Census report is available free of charge to members of Fespa national Associations or to Fespa Direct members. The cost of the full report for non-members is €2000. www.fespa.com American Apparel now available in more than 200 countries In April, Gildan Activewear announced the international expansion of its brand American Apparel via its online retail store. The rolling out into more than 200 countries follows the fashion basics brand's successful relaunch in the US. "American Apparel is back with classic, timeless fashion styles and a new approach that is more focused on body positivity, inclusiveness and diversity than ever before," says the company. "The new collections, available on www. americanapparel.com , feature traditional American Apparel quality and style and are now available across a more inclusive range of sizes and fits." www.americanapparel.com i-Sub partners with Aglika i-Sub has been appointed as the exclusive UK distributor and UK stockist for Aglika dye sublimation blanks. The company will be supplying a wide and diverse range of Aglika’s products, all specially developed for digital printing, including towels, blankets, scarves, bags, aprons, cushions, turbans, bed sheets, pillows, picnic blankets, deck chairs and directors chairs. Aglika, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2018, is one of the biggest industrial textile and furniture producers in Europe. It operates four facilities and employs 400 members of staff. i-Sub announced the new partnership at Sign & Digital UK 2018, where the Aglika products received a positive response from visitors, according to sales manager, Simon Lymn (see page 29). www.i-sub.co.uk A digitally printed Aglika beach towel