The trend was to present innovations in world’s leading trade fairs such as; ITMA, FESPA, Drupa throughout the last decade. This changed over time. EFI Reggiani BOLT can be given as an example for the case.
In the last 15 months, the team has developed a totally renewed range of digital scanning printers with cutting-edge technologies, launching a new model every quarter to offer customers solutions to whatever their requirements may be for easily scalable textile printing.
EFI Reggiani introduced the COLORS textile printer equipped with 24 printing head and TERRA pigment solution that eliminates the need for steaming or washing on direct to textile applications in the beginning of 2018.
On 15th of November world’s leading textile manufactures and media representatives have been invited to EFI Reggiani headquarter in Bergamo to witness the new single pass Reggiani BOLT textile digital printer. The event hosted more than 300 industry professionals worldwide. Turkish textile manufacturers were amongst the largest participant groups with around 40 spokespeople.
Expectations…
As stated in their presentation the EFI Reggiani R&D team has been working on the single pass project since mid-2017. They visited clients, who never used or not using a single pass at the moment, prior to the development of BOLT in order to learn more about what are the expectations of textile manufacturers from a single pass digital textile printer. The most commonly received demands were;
- Uptime
- Reliability, especially for printheads
- Competitive ROI
- Printing quality
Actually the demands were always similar. Overall competitiveness and reliability are the keys. Especially when it comes to bringing BOLT-kind of innovative machinery into Turkish market; Cost Effectiveness is the top subject. We didn’t get to know the total investment cost of the BOLT, however we know the approximate cost of other brands’ single pass machinery. We will leave this subject to potential investors; they can make better estimation than us.
The single pass technology has not actually made its BOOM since the day it has been launched, and it certainly is an important technology. Not every producer have the need mass manufacturing capacity; but single pass for sure is able to attract the interest of mass printed textile dealers. Mass customization is getting more important than ever. Investors must adapt to the market changes. The rotary printing won’t go away but there’s a huge gap between rotary and digital printing that needs to be covered. Could BOLT be the answer to it?
The print head that don’t need maintenance
This evolutionary single pass printer is well suited for mass production combining design speed and effective manufacturing. BOLT has a compact foot print with 10x6x4m and 8 colors configuration including the analog station.
Yes, you heard right. I thought I misheard as well; but yes, it is announced that BOLT print heads don’t require any maintenance during production. The print head has been manufactured in collaboration with Fujifilm Dimatix and has a resolution of 600 dpi which is made of 2×300 dpis, enabling to reach printing resolution up to 600×4800 dpi. The main reason to split up 600dpi in 2 is to reduce the cost of possible replacement of heads.
EFI Reggiani BOLT ready to print – New ink delivery system
Nozzles are always ready to print. It is only takes 30 seconds to begin printing. The operator can take a break or leave the machine over the weekend. Come back on Monday and then can start printing in such a short time without any maintenance. This is actually incredible. Why? Because today’s single pass printers takes way longer to start printing and requires maintenance prior to print. Thanks to the startup recirculation printhead, this issue has been overcome.
The drop sizes vary from 5 to 30 picolitre. 5 picolitre drop size is preferred with fine designs without worrying about the light colors and 30 picolitre allows you to have deeper penetration and superior coverage. This variable drop size feature provides superior, fine and strong printing uniformity. EFI Reggiani genuine inks are optimized for BOLT print head and ink delivery system. Reactive and pigment inks are available.
Competitive edge
There are number of differentiators in BOLT. The step change is about productivity. Pigment printing on a single pass machine is also unique. The variable drop sizes and new ink circulation system are something really needed on a single pass. With its printing speed up to 90 meters per minute, the BOLT has the fastest on fabric digital print in the market combining digital and rotary technology.
By Fatih Cengiarslan