The PRINTING United Digital Experience Enters Third Week with a Spotlight on Apparel Featuring the Latest in Direct-to-Garment and Direct-to-Substrate Technology

The PRINTING United Digital Experience enters the third and final week of the live event on Monday, November 9 with a special focus on the latest Direct-to-Garment and Direct-to-Substrate technology for Apparel. The Daily Guide detailing the day’s agenda can be viewed here.  Registration to this, and all other days of the powerful online event, is always free at digital.printingunited.com. Once registered, attendees can view any programming on demand that has already taken place, as well as a host of on-demand educational sessions that haven been made immediately available.

Day Eleven: Spotlight on Apparel – Direct-to-Garment and Direct-to-Substrate   

Sponsored by OmniPrint, today’s PRINTING United Digital Experience event begins with a line-up of new technology and education, as well as the opportunity to meet with vendors from leading direct-to-garment and direct-to-substrate technology.  Apparel decorators are building a competitive advantage by implementing lean manufacturing and continuous improvement principles within their business. With the investment in direct-to-garment inkjet equipment at the top of the wish list, apparel decorators can here increase production speeds and reduce turn times to increase business efficiency. Attendees can see examples of technology that can help them achieve these goals throughout this dedicated Apparel day.

10:00 am ET – Research: Industry Outlook
PRINTING United Alliance Chief Economist Andy Paparozzi presents the day’s Industry Outlook reporting on key results of the recent COVID-19 Print Business Indicators Research Survey, along with how apparel decorators plan to build competitive advantage, the printing technologies they currently use, the technologies they would most like to add, and their capital investment objectives. Conducted jointly by PRINTING United Alliance and NAPCO Research, the survey suggests apparel decoration has taken a first step toward recovery.

EDUCATION

10:15 am – Keynote Address
How Sustainability Is Driving the Next Generation of Fashion
Presenter: Debbie McKeegan, CEO, Texintel

The fashion industry is a global business of $1.3 trillion, which employs more than 300 million people worldwide and represents a significant economic force and a substantial driver of global GDP. Sustainability has recently become an important new driver in consumers’ purchasing decisions. Many cross-industry initiatives have helped companies to identify more sustainable work practices across the product life cycle and several brands have publicly fixed sustainability goals. This keynote addresses other areas of development the market can expect to see.

Panel Discussions:
11:15 am ET – The Rise of E-Commerce in Apparel Printing
Moderator: Chris Bernat, CRO and Partner, Vapor Apparel
Panelists: Jack Kilian, VP, Sharprint; Ted Pidcock, Owner, Chillybears; Mario Tovar, Creative Director, Marsuno Creative

With platforms such as Amazon and Shopify, and the ability to set up custom online storefronts, e-commerce is becoming a higher percentage of decorators’ income. This panel will discuss what markets are driving this, how businesses are marketing it, and the technologies being used.

12:30 pm ET – How Great Promotional Products Decoration Can Give Businesses an Edge in the COVID-19 Economy
Moderator: Sean Norris, Editor-in-Chief, Promo Marketing
Panelists: RJ Hagel, Manager, Global Marketing, Goldstar; Tom Davenport, Co-Founder, Ink Kitchen; Mike Wilson, VP of Operations, Overture Premiums and Promotions

Marketing budgets aren’t what they used to be for many buyers of promotional products like T-shirts, pens, drinkware, and thousands of other items. That makes it even more critical for distributors selling these products to gain any edge they can over the competition. One way to do that is with great decoration that elevates an ordinary giveaway or piece of branded merchandise into an item that end-users will rave about. This panel discussion will look at the cutting-edge decoration methods and creative design ideas that are helping promo businesses do just that.

NEW PRODUCT LAUNCHES AND DEMONSTRATIONS

10:45 am – OMNIPRINT

With thousands of successful users and multiple consecutive PRINTING United Alliance Product of the Year awards, the success of the FreeJet 330TX series printers has cemented OmniPrint as an industry leader and innovator. The FreeJet has become the choice DTG printer for businesses of all sizes thanks to its low production costs, easy maintenance, and stunning print quality on a wide variety of garments and mediums.

“OmniPrint International is a huge supporter of PRINTING United,” said Victor Peña, founder and CEO, OmniPrint International. "Our mission is to build a community of millions of creators and entrepreneurs winning with our print on demand products, especially in this critical year when we believe it is more important than ever to come together to show off what we’ve been able to develop and provide to our customers, as well as highlight the opportunities this market has available at their fingertips. Last year we had tremendous success at the inaugural PRINTING United event with the biggest booth we’ve ever had, and this year we look forward to continuing to make an impression with two Product of the Year Awards for our latest award-winning DTG technology.”

11:00 am – EPSON
Timothy Check, senior product manager, Epson, will discuss the company’s latest innovations in direct-to-garment production printing. The technologies featured in the new SureColor F3070 direct-to-garment print system, include Epson’s PrecisionCore printheads, high-capacity ink system, reliability features that reduce maintenance, and all other features designed to deliver fast production speeds with outstanding sellable quality.

“In the past year, we’ve seen producers shift product offerings and adjust inventory levels to meet rapidly changing demands. Rather than overstock items, companies are digitally producing designs as customers order them,” said Tim Check, product manager, Epson America, Inc. “This has increased demand for direct-to-garment technology, and we are thrilled to share the new SureColor F3070 with the PRINTING United Digital Experience audience as a cost-effective solution that provides industrial-level reliability while having the ability to produce hundreds of shirts a day to meet changing demand.”

12:00 pm – RICOH DTG
Ricoh DTG recently launched its latest direct-to-garment printer: the RICOH Ri 2000. Haziel Mitchell, National Sales Director, will give attendees a demo of the new features. This session will also include a statement from Tetsuya Morita, Corporate Vice President and General Manager of Ricoh’s Industrial Printing Business Group, providing insight into the role of the Ri 2000 in Ricoh’s greater ecosystem of products as well as what it means for the print industry overall.

“PRINTING United has always been a big show for us and has traditionally been our venue of choice for major product launches," said Haziel Mitchell, Sales Director for the Direct-to-Garment Printing Division of Ricoh Printing Systems America. "We knew we had a bit of a challenge ahead of us when we decided to move forward, in the middle of a pandemic, with the release of the new RICOH Ri 2000. That's why we're extremely pleased that PRINTING United has provided an effective format for us to showcase our new printer and connect with industry colleagues and customers in a meaningful way."

12:15 pm – OMNIPRINT

The new Cheetah Industrial DTG printer showcases true one-pass printing technology. Traditionally, a DTG print on dark garments requires two passes (one for a white underbase & one for the color layer). The Cheetah’s print engine has been engineered to work together in printing both a white underbase and a color/highlight layer simultaneously without the need for a second print pass; contributing to fast printing speeds. Print times on the Cheetah are 30 seconds on average for a dark garment print and under 10 seconds on average for a white/light garment print, a remarkable improvement on what used to take at least three to five minutes for a print to complete.

1:00 PM – KORNIT
Kornit offers a full line of industrial-grade direct-to-garment printers that produce retail quality results for a variety of production needs ranging from 2,000 to 12,000 impressions per week. In this presentation, attendees will get an up-close look at the Atlas system, which provides a great example of Kornit’s state-of-the-art HD printing technology and patented single-step process.

1:15 PM – BROTHER

Brother, an industry leader in the direct-to-garment segment for more than 15 years, recently launched its 5th generation of DTG printers: the GTXpro Series. With options for both the small- to mid-size markets and high-volume print shops, the GTXpro Series are quickly becoming the printers of choice by all size print shops.

The PRINTING United Digital Experience – Day 12
The PRINTING United Digital Experience presents a special focus on the Commercial market, specifically on Dry and Liquid Toner on day 12 of the event, taking place Tuesday, November 10. Register for the complete PRINTING United Digital Experience, free, at: digital.printingunited.com.

PRINTING United 2021 Sponsorship
Sponsorship for PRINTING United 2021, being held October 6-8, 2021 at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, is available through Jack Noonan, VP of Business Development, PRINTING United Alliance: jnoonan@printing.org.

About PRINTING United Alliance 
PRINTING United Alliance is the new entity borne of the merger between Specialty Graphic Imaging Association (SGIA) and Printing Industries of America (PIA). In a milestone in the printing industry, SGIA and PIA officially combined in 2020 to create the largest, most comprehensive member-based printing and graphic arts association in the United States.

Members now have unparalleled access to preeminent education, training, workshops, events, research, government and legislative representation, safety, and environmental sustainability guidance, as well as resources from the leading media company in the industry – NAPCO Media.

PRINTING United Alliance produces the PRINTING United Expo, the most influential days in printing. The expansive display of technology and supplies, education, programming, and services are showcased to the industry at large, and represents all market segments in one easily accessed place. In 2020, PRINTING United introduced the PRINTING United Digital Experience. For more information, visit PRINTINGUnited.com.