Developing the Nassenger Series for digital textile printing, Konica Minolta shows that they are a major player in the global market with their successful models, especially after the last ITMA 2015 with high-performance, multi-nozzle printheads that Konica Minolta has developed in-house, these printers are known for their high efficiency and improved print quality. While several new technologies will see light at the upcoming ITMA 2019 exhibition, there is a curious wait on what Konica Minolta will offer.
Konica Minolta IJ Textile Europe S.r.l. President, Seiji Nakashima answered Textilegence’s questions and cleared the several subjects. We asked Mr. Nakashima with which solutions they will participate in the ITMA in Barcelona, and he stated the following; “At the ITMA Milano in 2015, we introduced 3 new machines, including single pass, to the market for the first time. It was unbelievably tremendous success. At the end of four years, we see that these machines continue working with very stable robustness. We would like to emphasize the ‘field proven’ fact for our Nassenger series”. Mr. Nakashima announced that the Single-Pass Nassenger SP-1 will not be exhibited at this year’s show because there are not any left in their stock, however he noted that the newly developed inks will be shared with the textile industry.
Mr. Nakashima draws attention to the digitalization in the textile industry and its advantages, and said that they are targeting the middle and upper level markets.
Nassenger sales continued strongly
Providing information about sales and orders in the global and Turkish market, Seiji Nakashima disclosed that new investments in 2018 had not been very active than expected especially in Turkey. Although there is a stagnant picture, Mr. Nakashima said that have sold a dozen Nassenger 8 and 10 models in Europe, while they have sold a Nassenger SP-1 single-pass digital textile printer in the Turkish market. Mr. Nakashima has reported that they sold 5 single-pass printers in Europe in the last 3 years; “This is a remarkable success. In addition, our customers are very good at using our machines, they get very successful results. I am so proud to have such customers”.
“Accordingly our shipment of ink is been increasing every day,” said Mr. Nakashima and continued saying; “and these days, some customers in Europe started to use our ink also for other manufacturers’ printers which proves our ink is satisfactory to the customers”. Disclosing that they had supply problems on printer production last year, due to increased worldwide demand, Nakashima said that the situation is now improved and machines can be delivered on time.
2 trend can be observed in the Turkish market; price and quality
Referring to the developments in the Turkish textile industry, Seiji Nakashima stated that the industry’s export-oriented structure also affected machinery investments. Mr. Nakashima said; “2 trends are clear in past 4 years in the Turkish market. The first trend is price-oriented while the other trend is quality-oriented. We see this trend especially in companies exporting to Western Europe and the USA. Those who want to sell products to high-end, quality markets determine this trend. The majority of our customers at Konica Minolta are of course quality-oriented”.
Voicing that they had a record machine and ink delivery in Konica Minolta’s history to Turkey last year, Mr. Nakashima said that they hoped an improvement of the recession for the Turkish economy in 2019. Seiji Nakashima; “This year, we want to see more and more customers trying to print with our machines to differentiate from other print manufacturers. Inkjet is not for cheap production, but for value-added production. The inkjet textile printing solutions we offer are compatible with the growth dynamics of the Turkish textile industry”.
Konica Minolta IJ Italy is establishing their own sales unit in Turkey
Reminding that Konica Minolta has long been taking place in Turkish market; Seiji Nakashima pointed out to increasing customer demand with the growth in textile and printing industry. Mr. Nakashima concluded his words as follows; “After the success of our own technical support team in Konica Minolta Turkey, we will establish our own sales and marketing team in 2019 in order to offer customers a more realistic experience. Service team is already established in Konica Minolta Istanbul, sales and marketing team to be set-up in same location or independent entity addressed by Italy (under review). We have improved a lot in the field support team especially in the last 2 years. This year, we will be establishing Konica Minolta Direct Sales Unit to respond quickly to the market. Our valued agent was so helpful in the past; and now is our turn to be the next door to the customers for further best support”.