Digital textile printing systems are making it easier for home-textile designers and entrepreneurs to order shorter runs of customized products. For example, Catalyst Fabric Solutions, a large web-to-print manufacturer of home textiles, has installed multiple Epson SureColor F10070 dye-sublimation printers to increase productivity and fulfill print-on-demand orders.
Catalyst Fabric Solutions offers more than10,000 customizable home textile products, including tablecloths, placemats, bean bags, backpacks, lunch totes, pillows, and custom blankets. The customized products that can either be ordered through retailers or shipped directly to customers.
“The print on-demand business has tripled in the last four years, and it continues to grow at a great rate,” said Chuck Smith, owner, Catalyst Fabric Solutions. “We’ve seen business increase over the last two years and a lot of people are searching for internet on-demand businesses. We needed more technology; we needed more printers to keep up. The SureColor F10070 was everything we wanted.”
Orders at Catalyst Fabric Solutions typically spike in October, November, and December as customers prepare for the holiday season. Catalyst sees an increase in demand for photo products, including photo blankets.
“The first of our SureColor F10070 printers were installed in December 2020 – in the middle of our busiest season,” said Jim King, operations manager, Catalyst Fabric Solutions. “Had they not been a plug-and-play set up, we would have had some real problems, as we were counting on their capacity to meet deadlines. However, they hooked into our network easily and we were able to begin printing immediately.”
“Because of the capacity on the SureColor F10070 printers, we were able to take all our blankets that we previously put through 30 other printers onto the new Epson printers. And they were printing them in less than a minute – about four times faster than our previous machines,” said King. “There’s nothing I haven’t put through this printer yet – it’s the workhorse right now for the plant.”
“As one of the largest and most advanced facilities of its kind, Catalyst Fabric Solutions runs an impressive operation,” said Tim Check, product manager, Professional Imaging, Epson America, Inc. “They are putting the SureColor F10070 to the ultimate test in their industrial facility and pushing a vast majority of their dye-sublimation projects onto the SureColor F10070 printers to best deliver results for clients.”
The Epson SureColor F10070 offers industrial reliability and round-the-clock productivity at a low total cost of ownership. The printer features four 4.7- inch PrecisionCore® printheads to deliver roll-to-roll performance at speeds up to 2,700 sqft/hr.
Features to maximize efficiency and minimize downtime include user-replaceable printheads and a low-cost, high-capacity replaceable ink pack system that holds up to 20 Liters of ink per color for longer print runs with less user intervention.
For additional information on the Epson’s textile printing solutions, visit Epson’s website.