Engineered Printing Solutions Sells 100th Single-Pass Direct-to-Object Inkjet System

Engineered Printing Solutions (EPS), a Xaar company that manufactures direct-to-object (DTO) industrial printing solutions, announces the sale of its 100th single-pass DTO inkjet production system, marking a major step in the manufacturing industry’s shift from analog decoration to high-speed digital production.

Founded in 1985 as a specialized pad printing engineering company, EPS has grown into a leader in industrial digital printing and automation. Today, the company has deployed more than 2,000 pad printers, 300 multipass DTO inkjet systems, and now 100 production-grade single-pass DTO machines. From developing the first tagless T-shirt system with Hanes to transforming the way caps and closures, hard hats, golf balls, and other complex shapes are printed, EPS has helped drive the analog-to-digital conversion across multiple industries.

The sale of the 100th system reflects wider market trends reshaping product decoration. Manufacturers today must support shorter batch sizes, long-tail SKUs, quicker changeovers, and on-demand customization. Single-pass digital DTO eliminates plates, clichés, screens, and setup fees, enabling rapid artwork changes, variable data, and inline 2D code traceability without reducing production speed.

Rising labor costs and workforce shortages are also accelerating digital adoption. Single-pass UV inkjet reduces labor hours by up to 81% while aligning with automation-ready workflows, including robotic loading, pretreatment, inspection, and unloading. Because digital DTO is software-driven, brands can maintain consistent print quality across shifts while minimizing operator training and dependency.

“Reaching our 100th single-pass DTO system is more than a sales milestone — it marks a turning point in how manufacturers think about product decoration," EPS Executive Chairman Ken Stack says. "Digital DTO has moved from early adoption to mainstream production, driven by the need for agility, automation, and measurable ROI. Our next 100 systems will help shape the future of manufacturing for brands that demand reliability, flexibility, and world-class engineering support.”

Pretreatment, ink chemistry, color management, part transport, and automation all play major roles in digital success. EPS’s engineering, chemistry, and color-science teams work directly with customers to develop and validate application-specific workflows. The company emphasizes uptime, reliability, and 24/7 production readiness as core differentiators, noting that DTO machines operate inside continuous factory environments where “if the printer is down, the factory is down."

EPS is celebrating its 100th single-pass sale in partnership with Kingston Aluminum Technology (KAT) of Canada. KAT’s patented Alumishape technology produces uniquely shaped aluminum bottles designed for high shelf impact and sustainability. EPS engineered a flexible single-pass system capable of printing before bottle forming, enabling the containers to be shaped after decoration without distorting the artwork. The system delivers 80 cans per minute, creating a new benchmark for post-formed aluminum packaging.

For more than 40 years, EPS has helped manufacturers streamline workflows, reduce labor dependency, expand SKU agility, and improve print economics across packaging, promotional, medical, industrial, and consumer goods. The company continues to invest heavily in R&D at its Vermont facility, advancing new methods of digital decoration and turnkey automation.

The preceding press release was provided by a company unaffiliated with Promo Impressions. The views expressed within may not directly reflect the thoughts or opinions of the staff of Promo Impressions.