Innovation and environmental sustainability in digital textile printing will be central to Aleph’s showcase at ITMA 2019. A leading Italian manufacturer of sublimation and direct-to-fabric inkjet printers for the textile and visual communication industries, headquartered in the textile district of Como, Aleph will unveil a range of brand-new scanning printing systems aimed at enhancing and integrating its flagship series, LaForte. Designed as a fashion boutique, the company’s booth (Hall H3, Stand B131) will host the latest cutting-edge technologies developed by Aleph and a wealth of textile applications, including textiles printed with modern and trendy patterns and designs, aiming to demonstrate how advanced digital printing technologies are transforming the high-end fashion, fast fashion, sportswear and athleisure, home textile industries.
Three pioneering models from LaForte series will be on display at ITMA 2019: Brand-new, top-of-the-line LaForte 600 Fabric, LaForte 200 Fabric and recently launched, dye-sublimation entry-level printer, LaForte 100. “We are excited to be at ITMA 2019 and will use the show to highlight the company’s evolution over the last four years. Not only have we boosted our range of high-performing digital print solutions – which also reflects in the theme and size of our booth – but we have also experienced a continuous corporate growth, up to 50 per cent, following the joint venture with Italian private equity firm, Wise sgr,” comments Alessandro Manes, CEO at Aleph. “Since the official launch of LaForte project, back in 2015, our R&D team has been working hard to improve and consolidate the series. We decided to keep our focus on developing the digital print scanning technology, which can now deliver high volumes, top printed quality and lower production costs, while we consider single pass print technology still at an early stage of its evolution. Furthermore, we have also focused on boosting our workflow software, enhancing our pigment inks and creating complete lines for printing on fabrics, through both the development of proprietary pre and post-press systems and strategic partnerships.”
LaForte series, ranging from entry-level to flagship models
Debuting worldwide at ITMA 2019, LaForte 600 Fabric is an industrial inkjet direct-to-textile printer designed to deliver high-volume manufacturing of extremely high-quality printed textiles. Enabling a print speed from 600 up to 1000 sq mtr/hour at a print resolution up to 1200 dpi, LaForte 600 Fabric almost reaches the same productivity as single-pass inkjet presses but featuring scanning technology. Aleph’s printer features a compact design, which facilitates its integration into various production environments, and a waterless process that reduces the consumption of water and energy, resulting in drastically lowered production costs and environmental impact.
At ITMA, Aleph will exhibit a complete production line, featuring: A fabric feeding system that supports jumbo reels (up to 1 m roll diameter and 1.000 kg roll weight), LaForte 600 Fabric (equipped with 48 printheads), a proprietary drying system and a exit plater including optional winding unit. Both the feeding system and the plater are from Italian company Bianco Group, partnering with Aleph. Aleph will also use ITMA 2019 to showcase its flagship solutions addressing different textile market segments. These include:
- LaForte 200 Fabric, a direct-to-fabric inkjet printer featuring a compact design and a patented rotary belt. The printer is designed to address mid to high print volume production (up to 400 sqm/h with 3400 mm print width in one pass and up to 300 sqm/h with 1800 mm print width in one pass). At the show in Barcelona, Aleph will showcase a LaForte 200 Fabric model equipped with 8 dual-module printheads (dual channel, two colours per head) and with pigment inks, and will run live demonstrations of direct printing onto wide ranges of fibres.
- LaForte 100 Paper is a versatile inkjet printing system. A water-based dye-sublimation entry-level solution with production speed up to 200 sqm/h, LaForte 100 features 4 to 8 printheads (a 4-printhead model will be displayed at ITMA) and is equipped with a patented rotary belt with vacuum system, which enables to print on paper with grammage starting from 10 gsm. Offering robustness and stability in production, LaForte 100 is designed to deliver high-quality print and addresses those large format printing companies aiming to diversify their product portfolio and to explore new market segments. The printer is suitable for the fast fashion and sportswear market segments, as well as the out of home and soft signage industries.
Another highlight at Aleph’s boutique at ITMA will be the showcase of high-quality printed fabrics and textiles. The brand-new advanced pigment inks and direct disperse dyes developed by Aleph don’t require pre and post treatments – enabling a significant reduction in water consumption – and guarantee durability and colour vibrancy thanks to an innovative binder with ultra-clinging-to-the-fibre capability. In addition, Aleph has recently developed new pre and post treatment solutions that help further enhance the solidity and colour vibrancy also on special fibres.
“ITMA 2019 represents a fantastic opportunity to showcase our cutting-edge technologies in digital textile printing to a global audience. The show in Barcelona will also make an ideal platform to demonstrate how Aleph has succeeded in establishing itself as a leading player in different digital textile printing market segments,” Manes continues. “Aleph is growing fast and internationally, currently counting on an installed base of about 60 LaForte units worldwide. Also, our customers are satisfied with the production performances and the quality of our printers and with the aftersales service that we provide. All in all, we strongly believe that Aleph is set to mark yet another significant landmark in the company evolution at ITMA 2019.”
