The DTG Landscape

The DTG printer market includes commercial and industrial devices as well as a few sub-segments within each category based on print volume and price. Small producers will typically serve their local communities with a range of garment decoration and premium manufacturing services. Meanwhile, larger manufacturing facilities with screen printing equipment will usually produce high-volume output and may outsource some of the work to offshore companies. Finally, some other companies are riding the wave of mass customization by making extensive use of e-commerce. Using web-to-print portals and partnerships, these businesses can aggregate production in a hub-and-spoke operation to meet consumers’ demands for fast turnaround and customization.

All of these producers rely on several key products to accommodate their production needs. These include an ever-growing array of products that support retail over-the-counter printing for small commercial businesses as well as industrial and hybrid systems. These higher-end industrial products include a range of digital and analog technologies.

Over the past few years, commercial devices have seen a dramatic improvement in functionality, usability, and reliability coupled with a decrease in prices. Recent product introductions have included improved speeds, better resolution, circulating printheads, white ink printing capabilities, and improved user interfaces. Innovations in platen shapes and sizes have also helped to broaden the list of possible applications, enabling DTG printing on baby clothes, size XXL T-shirts, jeans, baseball caps, tote bags, cushion covers, and a variety of promotional gifts.

2019 ushered in a flurry of new developments in this space, all designed to improve productivity, quality, or expand DTG pigment ink printing to synthetic garments. These developments were common among commercial printing vendors as well as some in the industrial space. We are also seeing a growing number of shop management and web enablement tools with low-priced cloud-based ordering tools. Many of these are offered as Software-as-a-Service (SaaS), enabling providers of all sizes to offer online design, web-to-print, fulfillment, and inventory management services.

Digital printing is an obvious choice for print service providers in segments like garment decoration where margins are good and demand is robust. At the same time, however, digital printing on textiles requires a fundamental understanding of supply chain business practices and production processes. Understanding the unique standards within this segment (e.g., crock, wash-fastness) is critical to success. Many solutions can enable print service providers to expand their opportunities, but it is important to establish a realistic business case before jumping into any new market sector. Opportunities abound for businesses that can effectively integrate design-to-order capabilities with increased color complexity, and the rising demand for mass customization will continue to fuel the transition to digital.