Kardem Tekstil Of Istanbul Produces Short-Run Digital Prints On-Demand For Fashion Giants With Its New Mimaki TS55-1800

Image Courtesy of MIMAKI

Kardem Tekstil, which produces apparel for world-famous brands, moves into digital textile printing with Mimaki's TS55-1800 sublimation transfer printing machine. .

Kardem Tekstil, with a monthly production capacity of 2 million pieces of clothing, makes a significant contribution to the Turkish economy by exporting 98% of its production.

Serving global brands such as Abercrombie & Fitch, Bershka, Inditex Group, H&M and Ralph Lauren, Kardem Tekstil is considered one of the pioneers of the Turkish clothing industry with its vision and growing strength in the market.

Keşan Factory, which is considered the production base of the company, has all the interfaces such as cutting, sewing, embroidery, printing, quality/control and shipment with 600 employees, mostly women.

Changing Consumer Demands Make Digital Printing Mandatory

Saying that there has been a serious transformation in both consumer preferences and production methods in the textile and apparel industry, Raşit Akgör summarized how they decided to invest in digital printing;

“In the past, there was a large volume of production for a profitable business and the standard, limited variety of samples / samples it brought. Today, however, the volume of orders is smaller, delivery times are shorter, and more diverse products are in demand than ever before. It is not possible to produce them only by traditional methods. Although the traditional screen printing method continues, it is no longer sufficient for these all special customer requirements. The efficiency of digital printing at fast, high quality and small / medium quantities is a new solution for us. In our research in this area, we saw that Mimaki is the best on the market. We already have machines of many Japanese brands that we use in production. We have great confidence in Japanese technology and engineering. Therefore, in the second phase, we focused on which Mimaki model to choose. ”

Explaining that the TS55-1800 sublimation transfer printing machine is the most ideal solution for them, both with its print quality and efficiency and with its 1800 mm printing width.

Akgör informed that many products such as dresses, tights, coats, sweatshirts and tulle printed with the TS55-1800 will meet with the fashion and retail market in the coming period.

“Mimaki TS55-1800 Was The Right Investment”

Raşit Akgör stated that the share of digital printing in their apparel production will initially be 5%, but this share will increase rapidly, adding that digitally printed collections mean more options and less cost.

Akgor said ; “A design with 50 colors in a collection is almost impossible to achieve with screen printing, the high cost and process that will result add to the difficulties. In addition, there is the waste cost of the high amount of test printing to reach the correct color value. On the other hand, digital printing offers us new possibilities with its short, fast and error-free production as well as an almost endless amount of color options. The cost of digital printing is unbeatable for low-volume or multi-colour jobs.”

Stating that the 1800 mm printing width of the TS55-1800 sublimation transfer printing machine provides an increase in productivity and a decrease in costs, Akgör explained the advantage they have achieved as follows;

“The processes come to us with a width of 180 cm and we used to be able to use 160 cm for standard printing machines, so at first 20 cm wasted on the fabric. This loss of fabric edges ended with the TS55-1800. In addition, the 180 cm width has increased our productivity as it allows to print more parts at once. Considering the workload that will increase in the coming period, this advantage will come to the fore even more.”

Saying that they were impressed by the strong performance of the TS55-1800, Akgör underlined that this sublimation printing machine can work 24/7 with its strong structure. Akgör continued his words as follows;

“Continuous and unattended printing saves us both time and money. Standard rolls need to be changed daily. For this, it is necessary to constantly assign a staff. However, we can work without interruption for a longer period of time with a larger roll. In this regard, Mimaki Mini Jumbo Roll Unit came into play. Thanks to this feeding unit, we have gained uninterrupted and unattended printing power for a longer period of time. Even when the working hours are over and the personnel goes home, the TS55-1800 continues its work and completes its work. We will need larger paint bottles in the next step. Thus, all our equipment will be ready for the machine to work non-stop.”