By Melissa Donovan
There is a need for speed in today’s society where everyone wants something yesterday. Why should printing be any different? Print service providers (PSPs) with textile printing capabilities turn to high-speed dye-sublimation (dye-sub) printing when production volumes necessitate quick turnaround over large runs. These wide format printers are equipped with the correct combination of printheads, ink technology, and other mechanisms to minimize downtime and increase throughput.
Above: SPGPrints Rose textile printer.
Define High Speed
So what is high-speed dye-sub? We asked vendors interviewed for this article to provide their definition.
Mike Syverson, textile manager – North America, Durst US, says “high speed” is a relative term. “A range of printer speeds are on the market. Durst manufactures dye-sub systems that range from 4,000 to 14,000 square feet per hour (sf/h) for a variety of applications.”
At Mutoh America, Inc., high-speed printing is defined as the maximum speed topping out at over 1,000 sf/h, with production of at least 500 sf/h, says Tony Simmering, product manager, Mutoh.
“We consider high speed as production dye-sub systems capable of producing high volumes of sellable-quality finished goods in a day,” shares Tim Check, senior product manager, Professional Imaging, Epson America.
Jos Notermans, product manager digital printing, SPGPrints, cites high speed as a couple of 100 linear meters per hour. “With 1.6-meter wide paper this would mean above 3,400 sf/h. That gives a daily production of up to 4,000 meters per hour, which is really a production volume as it results in up to one million meters per year.”
High speed means different things depending on the technology, i.e. single-pass printing versus scanning. “Normally high speed means about 150 square meters per hour for a scanning-type inkjet printer, this is about two meters per minute for a 1.2-meter width. To reach two meters per minute with a scanning inkjet at a minimum of four passes, it requires more than three sets of printheads for each color. This means higher manufacturing costs for faster production,” explains Juan Kim, CEO, Valloy Incorporated.
John Ingraham, senior specialist product marketing, Canon USA, Inc., quotes high-speed production as 2,000 sf/h or higher. “This is based on printhead technology and the number of printheads. Typically, high-speed production systems incorporate eight or more printheads—Kyocera or Ricoh Gen 5—with native resolutions around 600 dpi or greater.”
Speed is also relative to print width. Victoria Nelson Harris, senior textile segment specialist, Mimaki USA, Inc., explains that she defines high-speed for less than 76-inch wide printers at 1,500 sf/h, whereas for grand format printers over ten feet in width, high speed would be considered 1,300 sf/h.
From the perspective of Micol Gamba, senior manager product marketing, EFI Reggiani, a high-speed dye-sub printer produces at least 1,500 sf/h when considering a 71-inch width device.
Check cautions that print speed is just one factor impacting overall throughput. “Increasing uptime and reducing non-print time related to job processing, system maintenance, and inefficient movements can contribute greatly to throughput.”
Make It Speedy
A dye-sub printer reaches the aforementioned high speeds thanks to the right combination of printheads, media handling, and a host of other factors.
“The printhead type and the number of printheads are the most important. By putting the colors in symmetrical order in the carriage improves the speed, as the order of color laydown is then the same whether the carriage moves from left to right or from right to left. So this avoids the so called ‘soccer field effect’, banding in uniform areas of the printing,” explains Notermans.
Printheads are key elements in EFI’s case. “We have adopted established, high-end technologies that can then ensure very competitive cost per nozzles combined with very fast jettability performances, which are also ensured by a proprietary ink system and print engine software that bring the printhead to its maximum expression,” shares Gamba.
Simmering admits that “a lot of it is based on the printhead jetting speed in combination with the ability to dry the ink fast enough.”
“The type of printhead, higher number of printheads, and higher number of nozzles the printhead has increases the speed of the printer,” adds Nelson Harris.
Kim agrees it depends on the printhead specifications. “Bandwidth of printhead, number of nozzles, number of printheads, and jetting frequency of printhead. But, ink also needs to flow smoothly to catch up with high speeds and sophisticated negative pressure control may be required.”
Yes, Notermans seconds a consideration of the ink system, “inks need to be of high quality to avoid blockages or other print quality causing problems.”
While printheads and the ink are notable, there are other components of note. “Media handling, color configuration, and more all impact the print speed of a given platform. However, there are factors to consider such as downtime due to roll changeover, maintenance, and overall reliability,” notes Syverson.
Media handling is important and how it is integrated influences speed. “High-speed production printers work with jumbo rolls and need stronger systems to handle the larger media,” explains Ingraham.
“Media handling must be able to keep up with the printing speed but decent design makes this possible,” admits Notermans.
“A high-speed print system is an optimized collection of system components that work efficiently together,” adds Check, which is why Epson as a vertical manufacture designs all components of the print solutions—printheads, ink chemistry, processor design, software, and image processing to work seamlessly and efficiently to produce volumes of finished goods.
Beneficiaries of Quick
Print providers familiar with dye-sub are the best candidates for high-speed printers.
“The companies benefiting the most from a high-speed system are, generally speaking, already producing some level of work with dye-sub, as the cost of the equipment—and associated large capacity heat presses—is at the upper end of the scale,” explains Syverson.
Simmering notes that “high-speed dye-sub printers are important for print providers looking at scalability. Purchasing a high-speed printer allows shops to have high production at a relatively low entry cost.”
“High-speed production printers are ideal for print providers looking to upgrade their fleet of existing dye-sub printers to a single printer and outsourcing a large volume of dye-sub work. Since the pandemic, turnaround times for outsourced work has increased from a week to four to eight weeks or longer. Bringing the work in house makes it possible to bring in more business and meet customer critical deadlines,” explains Ingraham.
But, not every print shop requires a high-speed dye-sub printer. “Higher speed brings higher production rates, but flexibility should be considered. If it is a similar cost for multiple, slower speed printers than a single, high-speed printer, sometimes it is better to have multiple printers for more flexibility and safe backup when a printer is malfunctioning,” explains Kim.
According to Nelson Harris, “the ecommerce print on demand sector is booming, localized manufacturing is being sought, due to the frustration with supply chain issues printing overseas. Expansion of onshore fulfillment centers and faster production speed combined with options to lower the cost of consumables, such as jumbo paper units and ten liter bulk ink systems, lower running costs, and higher return on investment,” are all contributing factors to an increased level of adoption of high-speed, dye-sub printers.
Applications of Note
PSPs print via dye-sub to produce all sorts of end use applications, including decoration, apparel, and signage. High-speed dye-sub is advantageous for most of these, but some more than others.
Historically, Syverson says high-speed dye-sub printers are installed in textile printing companies that produce printed yardage of fabric for decoration, hospitality, and apparel.
“Traditionally it was mostly the sign and banner market but soon the sportswear market got interested as its polyester fabrics became better and digital allows for a lot of design freedom, an important factor in sportswear. Nowadays other fashion items are made out of polyester so sublimation printing becomes attractive to them as well. The same counts for the home decoration market,” says Notermans.
Gamba agrees that “high-speed dye-sub printing is already showing significant benefits for applications like apparel, which represents approximately 70 percent of the textile digital printing world, but also sportswear, home décor, and soft signage.”
“In the last few years, we’ve seen tremendous growth in the trade show and retail sectors for fabric printing. This has given way to more PSPs bringing in large, industrial-level equipment to satisfy the demands of the market,” notes Syverson.
Simmering lists common applications for high-speed dye-sub printing like sports apparel, temporary fixtures like event tents, pop-up retail signage—“typically items produced in bulk where attention to extremely fine detail is not necessary.”
In the on demand sector, Nelson Harris says blank goods like blankets and floor mats are ideal for this technology. She also suggests textile converters who have in-house design agencies.
Need for Speed
Is speed the final consideration when determining which dye-sub printer is right for the job? No. But for many PSPs it might be what makes the most sense for them based on their daily, weekly, or monthly output and applications produced.
Jul2023, Digital Output
