RA SMART X HP NEW TECHNOLOGIES AND A DEEP DIVE INTO TEXTILE PRODUCTION AND THE HP STITCH
Debbie McKeegan, FESPA Textile Ambassador, visits the RA Smart Textile factory which operates as a printed textile manufacturer and a printing technology reseller. RA Smart held an open day which focused on the launch of the HP Stitch.
Based in the heart of the historic Silk town Macclesfield, UK, is the is RA Smart Textile factory, operating as both a printed textile manufacturer and a printing technology reseller. The textile team hold many years of valuable textile knowledge which is built upon a rich heritage in traditional Textile production, and an in-depth working knowledge in the application of Digital textile print technologies. With this combined experience RA Smart offer their customers an impressive resource and bedrock of invaluable skills.
RA Smart are a unique company, as both Screen printers and Digital textile printers for clients throughout Europe, they have a unique insight into the industrial application, technical specifications and the necessary requirements of printed textile production for the complex sectors encompassing Fashion, Interior Furnishings, and Wide Format Graphics Industries.
The Open Day focused on the launch of the HP Stitch, dye sublimation digital printing technology, for which RA Smart are the appointed UK Reseller, and the event was also supported by an escorted tour of the RA Smart factory. All of which offering the visitor, a unique opportunity to see digital textile machinery in action. The Digital facility is a multi-disciplinary digital hub, covering many different ink sets, Pigment, Reactive, Acid, Dye Sublimation (direct and transfer) and the tour included an essential explanation of the finishing routes (some traditional and some built for digital) that are necessary for each print application and finished product.
As a resource the RA Smart hub is unique, and offers a rare opportunity, by invitation, to see all ink sets and print processes in action, all of which giving the visitor genuine, real-time insights in a production setting.
The HP STITCH digital printing technology is focused towards four market sectors, Wide Format textiles, Interior Décor, Sportswear and Fashion. Each of these markets have industry specific requirements and specifications, and whilst the printing technology for polyester is the same, the end-user’s requirements by marketplace are vastly different.
Importantly, the fabric types and textile constructions used (although all polyester) are specific to each sectors end use, and by way of example; the sportswear industry utilizes knitted and woven fabrics that require stretch, whilst the Interior Industry uses predominantly woven fabrics, that do not stretch or shrink. For businesses new to the textile space understanding the complex fabric specifications for each sector can be a daunting prospect, and the open day offered a window into textile sourcing and a tactile opportunity to gain knowledge.
All traditional Textile market sectors use Dye Sublimation printing, both direct and indirect to print Polyester fabric.
The HP Stitch is built to service multiple business sectors, established and emerging, and the HP Stitch range (S300-64, S500-64, S1000) offers a suite of affordable machines, suitable for the entry level entrepreneur, designer or print practitioner or high quality volume production facility with at speeds ranging from 60sqm to 160sqm per hour. All available by default with variable ink feed systems, both cartridge and bulk, and machine widths to address the requirements of each business sector.
The HP STITCH demonstration centre showcased a wide variety of fabrics and their appropriate applications in both product and swatch format, displayed in a series of settings including; Sportswear, Fashion and Interior Furnishings with highly trained textile technicians on hand to answer specific questions from the visitors, across multiple applications.
The HP STITCH machine is intelligent and built for the next generation where automation and embedded software skills replace the textile technicians of the past wherever possible. Ease of use is an essential component, and the machine can be operated with minimal training.
The design of the product reflects the textile markets increasing requirement for efficient production and the conservation of both valuable ink resources, materials and energy with embedded technology for print repeatability across multiple devices, Colour management, fault diagnosis, remote fault reporting and analytics.
The RA Smart Open Day’s were both well attended and well organized. Visitors included a mix of industry practitioners, existing print service providers from both textile and wide format markets, and a number of designers from all sectors, some of which were new to the Textile Industry or seeking further insights, expansion opportunities and knowledge.
All of which reflects the Textile industries growing interest in Digital Textile manufacturing and smart technologies.
The Textile marketplace offers exceptional growth potential to existing print practitioners and facilitates new business models for customized production in an era of personalization and print on demand. Offering infinite opportunities for entrepreneurial growth to all industries for the years ahead, whilst also offering the wide format industry a new sector for growth and convergence.
Colour Is Too Important to Leave to Chance
Print will always be the part of the garment people see first.
But the sum of all parts — the fabric, the trims, the fasteners, the finish — is what determines whether a design actually delivers on its promise. Brands that continue to treat colour as a single creative decision, rather than a coordinated technical discipline spanning their entire supply chain, will keep paying for it in re-dips, delays, and disappointed design teams.
A Century of Textiles, and an Ever-changing World
Few companies can trace their roots back more than a century and still count themselves among their industry's innovators. Texia, headquartered in Monistrol de Montserrat, Spain, is one of them.
But the story of Texia is not simply one of longevity.
It is a story of continual reinvention. As the textile industry has grown more global and competitive, Texia has repeatedly reshaped its business, investing in technology, developing its own brands, and placing sustainability at the centre of its mission. In doing so, it offers a compelling example of how a heritage manufacturer can lead rather than follow through a period of profound industry change. Image Credit: Texia
What are we craving Ultimately?
The instinct to slow down while simultaneously optimising every measurable aspect of life isn't a passing curiosity. It's a structural response to a world that feels increasingly unstable, and it's reshaping what people expect from their homes, hotels, workplaces and healthcare environments alike.
For the design and manufacturing sectors, this means rethinking both product and process.
The Structual Shift is Real and its Already Here
Volumes are moving east, where digital production is accelerating rapidly. Consumer behaviour has shifted.
Demand is now driven by personalisation, shorter buying cycles, and an expectation of near-instant responsiveness. Regulatory pressure is intensifying, with supply chain transparency now a legal and commercial fact in many markets. And margins? They are under sustained, structural pressure.
This is not a temporary disruption. It is a fundamental reordering of how textile manufacturing must operate.
The Challenge: Standing Firm as the Industry Shifts
The wallpaper landscape has changed dramatically. Digital printing has lowered the barrier to entry, spawning countless direct-to-consumer brands and pushing much of the market towards faster, cheaper production.
At the same time, manufacturing in the UK has grown steadily harder - rising minimum wage, national insurance, energy and substrate costs all bear down on margins. Surface Print have embraced all of these challenges - and stand resolutely prepared for the future.
From Helsinki's printing mill to Paris's Le Marais, discover how Marimekko is scaling a design-led brand with purpose, craft, and bold innovation.
But what makes Marimekko's story compelling is not just its aesthetic legacy?
The word "toxic" carries weight. It conjures danger, harm, and things best avoided.
“Yet in the textile industry - Where between 3,000 and 10,000 chemicals move through the supply chain, a reflexive fear of the term is one of our biggest obstacles to progress.”
This article distils the key takeaways and what buyers, designers, and brands should be asking right now.
What Is the Digital Product Passport?
At its core, a Digital Product Passport is a digital record attached to a physical product - For a printed textile product, this means the DPP would capture data on the substrate, inks and dyes used, the printing process and technology, chemical compliance, environmental impact (including water and energy use), supply chain traceability, and end-of-life instructions.
The Market Gap that Changed Everything
Future Fashion was founded in 2019, timed deliberately to coincide with a pivotal moment in global textile technology: the commercial launch of the EFI Reggiani BOLT Single-Pass digital printing system.
The founders recognised that single-pass architecture had fundamentally changed what was industrially possible - and that Pakistan's domestic market had yet to catch up.
Print is no longer defined by the inefficiencies that once characterised it…as advances in production processes and technology have significantly improved its environmental performance.
Taran Rai, Corporate Sustainability Manager at Epson explains why?
The story of what happens when young designers access digital technology is still being written.
What once was a theoretical sustainability goal seems to have shifted into an active regulatory reality.
Is the Textile Market Finally Recovering?
After a difficult few years, there are genuine reasons for optimism. Duncan was candid about the challenges: "The market for textiles has been very difficult over the last three years. I'm not going to hide the truth there. But the tide is turning.“
A profound shift is currently reshaping the sector
Changing consumer expectations demand greater design diversity, faster turnaround times, and sustainable manufacturing practices.
To thrive, interior brands must adapt their supply chains, bringing production closer to the end consumer and moving away from bulk manufacturing.
Digital textile printing offers a definitive solution to these operational bottlenecks.
Digital transformation doesn't announce itself.
It accumulates - one innovation at a time - until an entire industry looks back and realises the ground has shifted beneath its feet. That's precisely where textiles stands today.
The conversations happening now about AI, automation, sustainability, and digital product passports are not theoretical. They are shaping decisions being made on factory floors and in boardrooms right now.
“By leveraging advanced digital textile printing, Marylene Madou has successfully merged traditional craftsmanship with cutting-edge technology. Her approach offers a blueprint for how independent designers can scale their brands globally while maintaining a minimal environmental footprint.”
The textile industry is undergoing a vital transformation. As the insights from Techtextil and Texprocess reveal, the path forward relies on a combination of sustainable hardware, intelligent chemistry, and seamless digital workflows.
From Zimmer's industrial-scale energy reductions and Stratasys's on-demand 3D embellishments, to Kornit's single-step technical printing and the unified digital ecosystems of NedGraphics and Optitex, the tools for change are here. To stay competitive, brands and manufacturers must adopt these innovations, moving away from fragmented, wasteful processes towards a truly connected, circular economy.
Friedmans stands as a testament to the power of combining traditional textile knowledge with forward-thinking innovation.
“Operating from their UK headquarters, Friedmans now serves a diverse array of sectors, including swimwear, dance, entertainment, sportswear, interior decor, prosthetics, and even pet apparel. With a strategic supply chain that reliably serves clients worldwide”
The apparel decoration industry is decisively moving away from isolated, analogue production tools toward connected digital manufacturing environments.
"Kornit’s unwavering commitment to transformative technology continues to disrupt the status quo. For business leaders and innovators ready to capture the future of apparel manufacturing, the path forward is clear”
The Urgent Need for Sustainability at Scale
The transformation at Coats provides a vital blueprint for the wider textile and apparel sector. True sustainability cannot be achieved in silos. As Dearing emphasised:
“Cross-industry collaboration is the engine of meaningful change. Brands, machinery suppliers, chemical providers, and fibre producers must act as an interconnected ecosystem”
Today’s customers demand superior product quality, real-time data visibility, and lightning-fast turnaround times.
For large-scale garment decorators, managing these expectations while balancing seasonal demand fluctuations - such as the massive surges seen during Black Friday - presents a monumental challenge.
"Relying on transactional vendor relationships and outdated legacy equipment is no longer sufficient to secure long-term stability and growth.”
Printing method is never a secondary detail. It shapes the entire life cycle of a product, from concept to customer. In today’s fashion industry, where margins are tighter and speed matters more than ever, technical knowledge has become a competitive advantage.
“The future of textile design belongs to professionals who can combine creativity with execution, aesthetics with practicality, and vision with production reality”.
Durst develops and markets advanced solutions for digital production, automation, and intelligent manufacturing across industrial applications worldwide.
Roland inkjet printers and printer/cutters are widely used in a variety of visual communication fields, including signage and interior decoration.
The leading manufacturer of digital and screen-printing machinery, coating, steaming and drying systems for textile and carpet processing
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Epson industrial digital workflow for textile printing, from technology to inks, from pre- to post-treatment and learn about Epson Textile Solution Center.
Resolute isn't just a DTF printer and supply company, they are innovators in the field, shaping the future of textile decoration with innovative DTF solutions.
As the exclusive UK & Ireland distributor for Mimaki Engineering; its industry-leading product range that comprises solvent, LED UV, 3D, dye sublimation and textile inkjet printers, cutters, inks, software.
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Brother has a comprehensive range of solutions in the areas of direct-to-garment printing - from mass production to smaller printers for customisation.
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Since 1986, our aim has always been the same, to add value beyond print - to create cutting-edge laminating and print finishing equipment of the highest quality.
Kornit’s innovative printing technology enables businesses to succeed in web-to-print, on-demand and mass customization concepts.
Imagine a production process where 2D sewing and cutting happen in one seamless, automated operation - no manual handling required.
Award winning supplier wide range of Printers, Finishing Equipment, Inks & Media, RIP & Colour Management Solutions and Warranty & Service Support.
Soyang Hardware offers leading edge wide and superwide format print production hardware solutions from many of the industry’s biggest and best-known printer brands..
Klieverik is a leading manufacturer of rotary thermo-processing equipment, specialising in advanced textile applications.
With Barbieri, digital textile printers achieve professional ICC profiling, calibration, and quality control - leading to enhanced color consistency and confidence across all materials.
At China Print Supplies Ltd, we are more than just a distributor - we are your strategic partner in print solutions. With a commitment to excellence and a passion for innovation
A key supplier of dye-sublimation printing equipment, consumables, and support services to a diverse range of customers across the United Kingdom.