Digital Printing Only Realistic Way to Answer Demand Quickly Without Overproduction

There's digital direct-to-garment (DTG) and then there's direct-to-fabric (DTF). How does Kornit look at these two areas? Will these two areas develop on their own? How is Kornit targeting both?
We see a mass pollution problem in both segments, and see in our eco-friendly, pigment-based inks a great potential to enable vivid, colourful printing on any type of material while mitigating that pollution. While Kornit is the unparalleled, unquestionable leader in direct-to-garment production capabilities (with an estimated total addressable market of 31 billion impressions by 2026), we recognise the market for direct-to-fabric systems (with an estimated total addressable market of 42 billion square metres imprinted by 2026) is significantly more crowded. We believe those who see what our Kornit Presto MAX system can do up close, with the industry’s only single-step production mechanism for inline pretreatment and curing, will agree we’re leading in that segment as well. This is what we’ve set to prove with our Kornit Fashion Week events, and our efforts to engage the creative community directly. This includes extraordinary capabilities for custom home décor, in addition to fashion.

We’re the first DTF producer to print white on black. We’re bringing 3D effects – which emulate screen, vinyl, embroidery, and other graphic effects using a single pigment-based print mechanism—to both DTG and DTF. Our Atlas MAX Poly system expands these 3D effects and increased process automation to polyester and poly-blends, for never-before-seen graphic brilliance and applications versatility in the growing sportswear and athleisure segment. We’re adding new functionality and practicality, such as grip or therapeutic qualities, to our applications, beyond simple graphic effects. Our in-development Apollo system, which will include inline curing and produce 400 pieces per hour, will bring DTG to even more market segments, positioning digital as a true answer for mass production. The bottom line is, whether you need DTG or DTF services, we’re delivering technology to make it easier, more cost-effective, more reliable, and more responsive to achieve that finished piece.

It seems Kornit is laying a lot of emphasis on "fulfillers". What's the reason?
Through KornitX, we are engaging not only fulfillers, but an entire global ecosystem of creators who require the services of agile, capable, reliable fulfillers to make their creations real. Whether you are a designer or a brand, a business or a school, a charity or a team, fulfilling your orders is the name of the game. When fulfillers have the best, most capable, most versatile, most reliable, and most eco-friendly capabilities available, it elevates the textile industry in whole. If digital becomes the default mechanism for production, the amount of waste we can eliminate is staggering. And the internet is unleashing creativity everywhere; those creatives need an outlet to realise and/or monetise their creations, which requires fulfillers. Fashion designers need fulfillment, and our technology means doing so in days or weeks rather than months or years.

You have also launched a Kornit Fulfillers Network. How does this work?
The Kornit Global Fulfiller Network connects the creators (demand) and the fulfillers (supply) who can meet that demand. It means producing nearer the end-consumer, rather than having centralised production and the time and logistical waste of shipping finished goods all over the globe. It does a great deal to eliminate inefficiency and risk from the end-to-end experience. It sidesteps supply chain concerns, which, as we’ve observed in recent months, can create considerable pains and uncertainty for any industry.

Connecting demand and supply in this manner helps creators by making fulfillment readily available, and our customers by generating a steady inflow of new business relationships and opportunities. The on-demand model ensures we produce only what we need; the fulfiller network ensures we produce only where we need it. It’s eliminating barriers and inefficiencies from textile production.

Did anything in particular catch your eye at FESPA 2022? Are buyers still the same as they were before the pandemic?
We see a growing demand for solutions that empower creators to create anything, anytime, anywhere. Consumers and creators want unlimited variety and graphic capability, while both producers and consumers are more conscious about producing sustainably, which on-demand digital production answers. Producers want the agility to answer short runs as profitably as long runs. There’s a recognised need for nearshoring operations, producing nearer to the end consumer to sidestep supply chain concerns and deliver at the speed of e-commerce. Producers want to be prepared for anything, because the last few years have presented in very stark terms just what “anything” might be. They want to produce the quality consumers demand, and they still want return on investment, but there’s considerably more urgency to future-proof production operations.

Last word on the future of digital. Screen still rules. Your comments?
A digitised marketplace needs digitised production capabilities. Screens have their place—but digital is a complementary solution that enables self-expression (unlimited designs, colours, etc.), creates new opportunities, optimises production floor operations (eliminating inefficiencies and wasteful overproduction), and better aligns with e-commerce to answer the explosion of creativity taking place worldwide. It handles more complex jobs, and provides superior total cost of ownership by producing more jobs quickly, with minimal setup time and labour, while maintaining consistent high quality. It answers supply chain challenges by enabling localised on-demand fulfillment. And it’s cleaner, which is increasingly important to everyone, but especially to younger generations who spend according to their values.

Digital technology is key to unleashing creativity, answering the call for more sustainability, more precisely (and cost-effectively) answering consumer demands, and providing the process digitisation necessary to make onshoring/nearshoring profitable and eliminate unnecessary supply chain complexity and risk.