With its 5501, 1201 and 5601 printheads, Xaar uses its expertise in inkjet to provide a market-leading service to OEMs in the textile printing industry.
Xaar has made significant contributions to the development of the digital inkjet printing industry since its establishment in 1990, and continues to do so today. A pioneer with a strong market position as a developer and manufacturer of industrial inkjet printheads, the company is the main supplier of many OEMs (original equipment manufacturers) in the digital inkjet printing industry. The latest printheads that Xaar has developed enable the industry to work with new substrates in new applications.
The company mainly designs its printheads in Cambridge, UK and mostly manufactures its printheads in Huntingdon, UK, including its market-leading Xaar 2001+ printhead. The company exports more than 95% of its production. We talked about Xaar’s work in digital printing for graphics and textiles, as well as its position in the market, with Jason Remnant, Segment Line Manager, and Mike Utley, Director of Marketing and Product Strategy.
Jason Remnant explained that the company has three printheads for digital textile printing: the 5501, which is designed for mid-range applications and is a cost-effective solution; the 1201, developed for scanning printers in the low-end direct-to-garment segment; and the 5601, available for high-volume, high-speed jobs.
Remnant discussed how the latest Xaar 1201 model was launched with sublimation inks in Asia: “The Shanghai Ad and Sign Show 2018 featured many OEMs that use our printheads, due to the fact that we offer a new level of quality and efficiency for scanner-type inkjet dye sublimation printers. The Xaar 1201 printhead was first introduced in 2017 and this was the first time it was presented to the market.” Xaar’s product portfolio also includes the 115 mm wide Xaar 5501 printhead, Remnant added, which enables efficient printing at up to 600 m2 per hour.
Xaar 5601 increases efficiency with its unique shape
The Xaar 5601 printhead, continued Remnant, is an innovation that the company announced at drupa 2016. He explained that they had focused on three points with regard to the 5601: “The first point was total cost of ownership – we wanted to make a printhead that was cost-effective while still providing the right print quality and reliability. Thus, the 5601 allows OEMs to create a lower cost machine, which in turn means the end user can buy the machine at a lower price. We’ve also made integration easier for users. The 5601 provides an easier, simpler, lower-cost solution throughout the entire chain.”
Referring to the 5601 printhead being Z-shaped, Remnant explained how this makes a positive contribution to print quality and productivity: “With the 5601, when you put a lot of printheads together in a print bar, that print bar will be very narrow. Typically, with other printheads, you have to overlap them when you put them in a print bar. This means that the overall print bar delivers a larger print area; which can impact on the machine cost, making it more expensive. It also means that controlling the substrate is more complicated; when the print area is larger”.
In addition to the unique look of the 5601; Remnant said it was a very compact printhead that prints in two colours at 600×1200 dpi, with grayscale ability.
A new challenge for the market
Jason Remnant highlighted the advantages that the 5601’s innovations have provided for customers. “One of our technological developments is AcuDrp. This enables users to adjust the drop volume of each individual nozzle. This is key to maintaining print quality.”
Remnant noted that the printhead is based on thin film silicon MEMS technology and is very versatile. He announced that the company was targeting four markets with the 5601; “The main markets are textile, commercial printing, laminates and decoration, and packaging. These are all solid markets that demand high print quality. The 5601 printhead is designed to meet all the needs of these markets.”
The Turkish market is important for us and our customers
Xaar’s Director of Marketing and Product Strategy, Mike Utley, described the company’s business model as; ‘working with manufacturers of textile printing machines.’ Utley said the Turkish market was important to Xaar’s printheads for this reason; “Our basic strategy is to work with original equipment manufacturers that have a big foothold in the Turkish market. We expect Turkish end-users to have access to digital textile printers using our printheads very soon.”
Noting that the company does not directly participate in exhibitions but rather attends with OEMs it is supplying to; Utley confirmed that they may participate in digital printing exhibitions in Turkey in this way. He discussed Xaar’s strong relationship with OEMs over many years; made possible by its rich product range, and concluded by saying; “Xaar has the ideal printhead for almost every application, including 3D printing. If you are an OEM, the chances are that you can get a Xaar printhead for the application in question. We pride ourselves on this versatility at Xaar.”