Zimmer makes a mark in printing technology

Innovation can be a catalyst for the growth and success of business: Zimmer Austria lives up to this maxim with a string of innovations in printing.

Zimmer Austria, a leader in modern printing technologies, considers every opportunity a challenge. Everything begins from a concept. "If any manufacturer wants to do particular type of printing, they can come to us and tell us what they want to do. We make machines for them. We provide the tool box, right after understanding what kind of raw materials and inputs and what is expected of the final product," said Stuart Kugler, during a visit to Zimmers stall at the recently-concluded ITMA Asia in Shanghai by the Editor of The Indian Textile Journal.

Stuart Kugler, Director of Marketing & IT and Tony Naschberger, General Manager spoke on various issues concerning digital printing and their company. Elaborating on the double-sided digital printing, Naschberger told ITJ Editor that "the new Colaris machine is the only system for double-sided digital printing of elastics, rigid tapes, polyester, cotton & nylon. It can print simultaneously, at a high speed of 50 m/min. The speed can be changed without stopping the machine, and several orders can be continuously processed without stopping. Colour fastness is excellent since it is printing with dyes, not inks, and the resolution can go up to 720 dpi." The machine was launched two years and about 40 machines have been sold.

Naschberger said: "In Asia, our efforts have just begun. We are in talks with very big producers of fabrics in India, and narrow fabric manufacturers. We are on the point of clinching good orders."

Kugler said: "The Colaris-NF can print up to 70 mm wide, using disperse or acid or reactive inks on narrow fabrics, which today have a very good demand in countries like India. In blanket printing and carpet printing also, we have made good penetration worldwide."

Both Naschberger and Kugler are immensely happy with the marketing tie-up with the A.T.E. Group in India. "A.T.E. is very good with efficient marketing set-up We even conducted a symposium in Delhi recently with A.T.E. It was very interesting and it attracted a lot of interest from various sections of the textile industry in India. In China, we have three agents. Apart from digital printing, which is the in-thing today, Zimmer has also good expertise in screen printing, coating printing, etc. Talks are on with big companies in India for printing solutions. We are planning more efforts to penetrate deeper into the Indian market," said Kugler.

In the field of printing there is a need to generate new products with lower energy consumption, better fastness, more brilliancy, lower cost, less space requirements – this is the challenge of Zimmer Austria.

Innovation generally refers to renewing, changing or creating more effective processes, products or ways of doing things. This could mean implementing new ideas, creating dynamic products or improving existing processes. Innovation can be a catalyst for the growth and success of business, and help to adapt and grow in the marketplace.

Innovations galore

Zimmer has various collaborative success stories. One such saga is the CombiPRINT, a joint development between Seattlechem (USA) and Zimmer Austria, which is gaining ground. More and more ChromoJET customers are switching from oil-based thickeners to oil-free PP7 powder thickener.

There are also some customers in the field of screen printing who have changed to PP7 – especially to print on PES qualities where good penetration is required. In this case the quick smog-free drying is a major advantage in comparison to traditional oil-based thickener