Core reminder: In 2020, the new crown pneumonia epidemic will spread globally. In the face of major changes in the world unseen in a century, China’s textile industry as a whole has withstood the test. As an important part of my country’s textile and apparel industry chain, apparel printing has unique competitive advantages. However, we also see that the apparel printing industry, which is dominated by small and medium-sized enterprises, is under unprecedented pressure under an unprecedentedly complex situation.
As the epidemic prevention and control becomes normal, how to adjust the development strategy, improve the management level and technological innovation ability, follow the trend, grasp the technology, fashion, and green characteristics of the industry, continue to explore, accelerate the upgrade to the high-end of the industrial chain, and strive to find new industries Growth points and finding a new path suitable for the company’s development is an important topic before us.
For this reason, the Apparel and Apparel Printing Branch of China Printing and Dyeing Industry Association has briefly sorted out and summarized some of the characteristics and main work of the industry development in 2020, hoping to help and inspire everyone.
Digital inkjet heat transfer has become the biggest hot spot in the industry.
Pigment ink digital printing to produce offset (photographic effect) heat transfer is to spray the pattern on a PET transparent film and then glue the hot melt adhesive powder, which is printed into a transfer hot-melt transfer printing film, at a certain temperature, pressure, and pressure Under time conditions, the transfer printing of spray-printed patterns on textiles by hot-melt adhesive belongs to the hot-melt transfer printing in the textile transfer printing process. This process was first developed and applied by a company in Shenzhen in 2018. In 2020, through the joint efforts of many companies, by coating the release agent on the PET film, the fluency and adhesion of the pigment ink, the performance of the hot melt powder, The softness and air permeability of the heat transfer, and the fastness of the heat transfer after transfer have been significantly improved. At present, this process has been widely used in fast response printing such as T-shirts, ready-to-wear, shoes and hats, bags, and so on. An epidemic has put e-commerce on the fast lane of rapid development, and the traditional printing mode that relies mainly on manual labor has also accelerated the transition to digitalization, small batches, short processes, and high flexibility. Therefore, digital printing has attracted more and more attention from enterprises. And the favor of consumers. According to statistics, there are currently more than 80 domestic digital inkjet production heat transfer equipment manufacturers, including more than 30 in Guangzhou, more than 20 in Dongguan, and nearly 20 in Shenzhen, as well as Zhongshan, Zhuhai, Wenzhou, Nanjing, Zhengzhou, Qingdao, Shenyang and Companies in Shanghai and other places.
1. Features
(1) The transferred patterns are bright in color, rich in layers, and the scene reproducibility is stable;
(2) The printed hand feels soft, and the color fastness meets the requirements of GB18401-2010;
(3) The hollow pattern does not need to be cut, and it is free of waste;
(4) Low investment, small area, no environmental pollution;
(5) Simple operation and low cost;
(6) There is no restriction on quantity, etc.
2. Process
PET film→CMYKW printing mirror image→sprinkle hot melt adhesive powder→shaking off the remaining powder→hot baking melt adhesive→pattern transfer printing film
3. Analysis of the causes of the epidemic
(1) Improve the awareness of intelligent production
Affected by the epidemic, after the Spring Festival in 2020, printing factories were unable to start operations as scheduled or resumed work with insufficient staff. Some printing factories subsequently adopted digital printing equipment to complete orders; this epidemic has raised the awareness of intelligent production of traditional printing factories but has become a digital transformation A good opportunity.
(2) The growth of small-batch orders
After the outbreak of the epidemic, the economic environment is full of uncertainties. Consumption has gradually become more rational and shifted to “less but refined”. The shift from extensive to refined operations by manufacturers has also shifted products from homogenization to differentiation. From a long-term perspective, large-volume product orders will gradually shift to small-volume, customized orders.
(3) Policies are conducive to the development of digital printing
Under the promotion of Made in China 2025, the state has issued a series of related policies on smart manufacturing. With the implementation of supporting policies in various localities, the popularity of digital printing equipment will gradually increase and the user group will gradually expand.
(4) Webcast to convey industry information
Affected by the new crown epidemic in 2020, many offline activities have turned to online. The China Printing and Dyeing Industry Association, local industry associations, and media organizations cooperated to use live webcasts to carry out clothing printing market analysis, special science popularization, and information exchange activities. From May to September, the organizer invited speech experts to host more than 30 public welfare webcasts, “Analysis of China’s Clothing Digital Printing Market”, “Cultural T-shirts and Personalized Customization”, “Pigment Ink Digital Inkjet Making Offset Heat Transfer”, ” “Fine printing screen production”, “Elliptical automatic screen printing + digital jet printing application technology”, “Ready-to-wear digital inkjet printers help companies find new business opportunities”, “How does the textile printing industry achieve on-demand production and fast response”, ” Courses tailored to the needs of the industry, such as the development trend of the digitalization of the fashion industry and micro-factories”, “Quality Control and Standardization of Clothing Printing Products”, and “Interpretation of the Newly Promulgated Regulations on Energy Conservation and Emission Reduction in the Textile Printing Industry” have been well received by the audience welcome. According to statistics, there are more than 70,000 online viewers of live events, and more than 900 audience questions have been answered through live, rebroadcast, and on-demand.
(5) Standardization work continues to develop
In recent years, clothing processing, clothing brands, and consumers have increasingly higher requirements for printing quality. This requires production and processing enterprises to implement scientific management of orders so that the operation process is more standardized and the process control is more accurate; to improve efficiency and reduce costs Provide strong support; let production and processing, quality inspection, and market circulation all links have standards to be followed. Therefore, formulating and implementing standards has become one of the key tasks that the industry needs to carry out.
Conclusion:
Clothing and apparel printing is important to link to improve product quality and enrich product functions, and it is also a key link to realize the aesthetic value and create market value. The development of the clothing printing industry in the future is to strengthen technological innovation and achieve integration and reconstruction. Enterprises should continue to increase the research and development of printing equipment, materials and processes, actively establish cooperative relations with relevant universities and research institutes, build an industrial technology supply system, continuously improve the industry’s independent innovation capability and innovation quality, and use technology to create high value-added products. The second is to focus on original design and promote industrial culture and fashion leadership. In the future, companies must fully realize the importance of printing design, focus on designing original printing patterns, inherit and innovate Chinese culture, and enhance the industry’s international competitiveness and influence. The third is to accelerate industrial adjustment and create a domestic and international dual cycle. Affected by the epidemic, export-oriented printing equipment, and material companies will face greater difficulties. In this regard, companies must actively deploy around the “double-cycle” and integrate the huge domestic market with the international market more closely.