Despite a reduction in orders and production in the textile market, key players in the pigment ink sector have suggested there continues to be withstanding success within the market.
These key players shared insights into the market in a roundtable hosted as part of WTiN’s Innovate Textile & Apparel virtual trade show event, which will run on 15-30 October 2020.
The roundtable, titled ‘Textile inkjet: The future for pigment inks’, was hosted by Madelaine Thomas, digital editor at WTiN and featured commentary from Eric P Beyeler, global marketing manager, inkjet inks, DuPont, Marco Girola, marketing and communications manager, JK Group, and Simon Daplyn, product marketing manager, Sun Chemical.
Primarily sharing viewpoints from these key industry players, the roundtable also explored how pigment inks are a growing and challenging area within the textile inkjet market, and Thomas used the session to prompt the guests on pigment technology, its difficulties and what’s in store for the future.
An unavoidable topic was the effect of Covid-19 on the sector. Daplyn summarised the period as notably unstable: “The year has been pretty terribly disturbed by the Covid-19 crisis across the board – not just from a pigment point of view, but also all the digital inks in general within the textile market.”
Daplyn continued, explaining that most reports show a reduction in orders or production in the realm of 30-50%, dependent on location.
Nevertheless, Beyeler suggested the ongoing crisis may actually bring more success to the pigment ink sector as businesses reconsider their business models in accordance with a new normal: “I think […] we’re all trying to reinvent our businesses in some aspect. I don’t think there’s any one of us who are doing business as usual or think that six months or two years from now we’re going to be doing exactly what we did two years ago – so I think we’re all looking at what is different, how can we serve our customers better, and our customers are doing the same thing. I think Covid-19 in that way is providing an opportunity for pigment inks because people will be looking at it, whereas maybe in the past it was not part of the options they were considering.”
Additionally, as businesses consider nearshoring as a solution to the supply chain chaos generated by Covid-19 – bringing production closer to the consumer – pigment inks will stand as a simple and effective option for inkjet printing, said Daplyn.
“[It] will allow people to be much more responsive with the short runs, [with] not overstocking, [with] stores being very flexible with production and inventory levels,” Daplin explained. “That’s where that mindset may bring pigment higher up the agenda.”
The speakers later explored the market share of pigment inks versus its counterparts like dye sublimation; the lessons to be learned from the direct-to-garment (DTG) market to increase roll-to-roll penetration; whether there is a place for pigment printing on a mass scale in industrial manufacturing nations; and more.
To view the roundtable in full, click the above link to the roundtable section on the Innovate Textile & Apparel website.
