Chris Bailey, managing director of QPS, believes that now is the time for printers to consider branching out into the textiles market. In this blog, he outlines why.
Prior to the pandemic, textile printing was one of those things we’d probably all considered. Perhaps for printing flags, fabric banners or soft signage? Or for supplemental production such as interior décor and soft furnishings? Maybe even for direct-to-garment T-shirts, sportswear printing and short-run fashion designs?
The trouble is, when your printers are all running at capacity and the order books are already full of sign and display print production, the desire to pivot your business in a new direction is all too easily dismissed.
Fast forward to the commercial landscape as it exists today and diversifying your business into new sectors and opportunities suddenly looks less like a possibility for future consideration and more like a necessity for immediate action.
So, which markets should you look to target as a realistic prospect? As we continue to move towards a more familiar-looking and normal future, the industry has seen something of a boom in textile and garment printing.
One of the core reasons for this is that many brands are now shunning plastic in favour of textile-based products in order to improve their environmental image. Textile is much more planet-friendly than plastics and, as such, demand for printed textile products has rocketed as more companies move to replace plastics.
There’s also the fact that textile and fabric products are much more hard wearing than plastic and are likely to better stand the test of time. Take for example shopping bags: those made from textile or fabric materials not only last significantly longer than plastic bags, but also are often much better looking and fashionable than their plastic cousins.
Demand for print personalisation also continues to increase at a rapid rate and textile printers offer you a cost-effective way of getting a piece of the action. Return on investment for these machines is often quite fast as well, making the whole transition to market much easier.
Such is the wide range of products in the textiles market that there is plenty of opportunity for you to win new work and customers. Be it fashion products such as T-shirts and hoodies, interior décor items like curtains or cushions, or even outdoors with flags and banners, textiles come in many wonderful forms.
As is the case when moving into any new market, the thought of having to invest in new kit and train up your staff to run it to its best ability is often a daunting prospect. However, something that will make this a much easier and smoother process is by working with a trusted supplier that is already demonstrably expert in these new areas of interest.
At Quality Print Services (QPS), we can offer all of the above. Armed with the full portfolio of reliable and effective Roland DG textile print equipment – including the Texart RT-640 dye-sublimation printer, the Texart XT-640 high-volume dye-sublimation printer and the ZT-1900 industrial dye-sublimation printer, we’ve been supplying, installing and supporting fabric printing systems for many years now.
The future is awash with opportunities for printed textiles, so – if you haven’t already – you’d be wise to do your research and ensure your business is set to take advantage of this profitable growth-market.
