The last few years have revealed that prices and availability depend on global stability. Garment printing production used to be based on forecasted sales. Today’s garment printing, however, is gradually changing, items are produced after they have been sold.
Traditional production meant piles of unsold garments, but also logistical challenges due to the production and shipping of goods which would not be sold and warehousing maintenance. This put a heavy burden on the environment and came with high production costs and low profitability.
Enter the new way of garment printing production: on-demand production in microfactories. This has been a complete game changer. The customer sees the product first, buys it and pays for it before production. That means no minimum, no pre-investment, no inventory and no high overseas shipping costs. With a microfactory, production order quantities can be as few as one and be produced as they are sold as opposed to pushing stock that has been pre-produced.
At FESPA 2022 industry leaders in digital printing brought ‘on-demand printing’ to life via an on-site transfer printing microfactory. Neenah Coldenhove collaborated with Purazell Couture, Greentex by Sutex, Mimaki, Inedit, Klieverik and Summa to guide visitors through a sportswear production line from design concept to end product.
What is unique about a Microfactory?
– They save a great amount of resources like space, energy materials and time.
– They have a small ecological footprint.
– Transfer Printing Microfactories use no water during the process and promote the use of green fabrics, like the ones used for FESPA 2022.
– They are easily scalable: production can be increased as the business grows.
– They use the latest digital techniques, offer endless design possibilities and can translate the latest designs into production with a faster time to market.
A microfactory can change the rules in a colourful and dynamic environment such as digital printing. Even though evolution is necessary, the right product and partners remain the keys to success.
NEENAH COLDENHOVE
https://www.coldenhove.com/
