FESPA 2017 hailed as a thrilling success for Mimaki

Mimaki Europe was recognised with prestigious awards and closed first sale of its new Tiger-1800B at the worldwide exhibition, which took place in Hamburg.

Mimaki reported that it had its biggest and most successful presence ever at FESPA 2017 with two stands totalling 534m². In addition to interest from visitors in Mimaki’s sign & display graphics, industrial print, 3D printing and digital textile printing, visitors also took FESPA’s theme for the show to heart.

The “Dare to print different” theme elicited many discussions about different and interesting applications that are not common in traditional business but for which Mimaki solutions are ideal. This includes printing on innovative and unusual substrates.

Mimaki Europe also received two prestigious awards during the show:

• Best Object Printer for the Mimaki UJF-MkII Series
• Best Textile Printer under 100 sq./h for the Mimaki Tx300P-1800 with its dual ink capability.

At the show, Mimaki Europe also introduced Yuji Ikeda as its new Managing Director. After spending seven years at Mimaki Europe, Ikeda returned to Japan to take on the role of senior general manager of Corporate Planning, where he served for several years before returning to lead Mimaki Europe.

Demonstrating new technologies

Mimaki describes the 3DUJ-P as the “world’s first full-colour modelling machine”, offering up to 10 million colours

“We were especially pleased with attendee interest in the technology demonstration of our 3D printer, the Mimaki 3DUJ-P,” says Mimaki Europe general manager Ronald van den Broek. “Based on Mimaki’s advanced UV inkjet technology, the 3DUJ-P offers high definition modelling with a maximum size of 500 x 500 x 300 mm. It is the world’s first truly full-colour modelling solution and supports up to 10 million different colours with the ability to achieve 84% of the FOGRA39L colour gamut with high definition printing.”

The Mimaki 3DUJ-P, which also includes clear ink for stunning effects and a water-soluble support material that can be simply washed away, is expected to be commercially available later this year.

Van den Broek also reports that Mimaki’s new high-speed direct-to-textile Tiger-1800B printer was also well received. It was the first time that Mimaki showcased the printer with sublimation ink after demonstrating the machine with reactive ink in previous shows. “In fact,” Van den Broek adds, “textile company Estampados Hermanos Perez located in Mataró, Spain, and supported by Mimaki distributor Digidelta, purchased the printer from the show floor.”

In the Textile Hall, where the high-speed direct-to-textile Tiger-1800B with sublimation ink took centre stage, Mimaki also had on display the award-winning Tx300P-1800 and Tx300P-1800B direct-to-textile printers, updated to simultaneously load both textile pigment and sublimation dye inks. This enables the use of a single printer to print directly on a wide range of textiles without the need to change out ink systems.

The Tiger-1800B has a maximum print speed of 385sqm/hr

This new technology, not possible until now, is a breakthrough that will improve productivity and increase flexibility for these Mimaki textile printers. Digitally printed textile examples ranged from apparel and accessories to home décor.

“In the textile market,” van den Broek states, “there is growing demand for shorter run and customised textile products. The Mimaki line of textile printers will enable fashion designers and interior decorators to quickly and cost-effectively meet these needs with very high quality. The printers are also being used for sampling, speeding time to market without breaking the bank.”

Dare to print different

Van den Broek also reports that many visitors to the stand were seeking solutions that would enable them to print on natural fibres with solutions like the Tx300P-1800 with textile pigment ink. In addition, visitors were interested in using sublimation printing for Fast Fashion and soft signage.

“We also spoke with many companies wishing to repatriate processes they are currently outsourcing to different countries in order to gain more control by bringing them in house,” he comments. “Mimaki’s highly versatile, flexible and affordable solutions offer a pathway to accomplish that goal.”

Van den Broek concludes, “We are very pleased about the results we achieved at FESPA 2017. It was our most successful edition to date, and the show continues to exceed our expectations every year. It is the perfect opportunity to get in touch with visitors from all over the world and to discuss what Mimaki can do to take their businesses to the next level.”