Our goal is to educate end-users on Xaar technology
Xaar plc develops digital inkjet technology; it designs and manufactures piezoelectric drop-on-demand industrial inkjet print heads, product decoration systems, and systems components. It also develops and sells ink systems, and fluid optimisation services to accelerate inkjet system development and adoption. Product management head Jason Remnant chats about introducing the Xaar 5601 and the company's range of printheads for the textiles sector.
Please tell us about your company.
Xaar is a world-leader in the development of inkjet technology with around 30 years' experience. The company was started in 1990 in the UK. We began with manufacturing printheads for printing graphics and signage, and in the mid-2000s we started supplying technology for printing on ceramic tiles. Now we have entered the textiles market. Until now we did not have the capability to print with water-based inks, which is obviously the key to textile printing. However, now we can offer a comprehensive product range. This is the reason we have taken part at ITMA for the first time. Our goal is to educate end-users on the benefits of Xaar technology and learn more about the challenges faced by them which will help us improve our range and develop new technologies.
What technologies did you showcase at ITMA 2019?
We currently offer two printheads for the textiles market. The smaller Xaar 1201 printhead has 1,280 nozzles and can print up to four colours at 300 dpi or 2 colours at 600 dpi. It offers a very cost-effective option to OEMs and integrators for small and medium-sized scanning printers. For higher productivity, we offer the larger Xaar 5601 which has 5,680 nozzles and can print at up to 100 linear metres per minute. It is ideal for high-end scanning printers or the new generation of single pass textile printers. These single pass machines feature several tens of printheads in fixed arrays and can print up to 10,000 sq m per hour. In our range of printheads for textile printing, we offer technologies which help with productivity and quality, and which are also cost effective.
What is the difference between printheads from Xaar and those offered by your competitors?
The Xaar 5601 features several technologies unique to Xaar which differentiate it from the competition. TF Technology is our unique, patented technology for ink recirculation. In the Xaar 5601 this recirculation is directly passed the back of the nozzles, and at high flow rate. Benefits include consistent colour reproduction and reduced maintenance downtime. Some competitor printheads also offer recirculation, but none as powerful as the Xaar technology. The Z profile of the printhead is another key feature which allows printheads to fit together in a very compact print zone. In the overlap between each printhead and its neighbour, a unique Vernier system guarantees that nozzles will be aligned to within 1 micron which means that printhead stitching can be done in software. The benefit to the end user is that there is no need for mechanical adjustment which will save significant time and make changing printheads, when the time comes, much easier. Finally, the AcuDrp technology allows each nozzle to be individually tuned. The benefit is that colours are uniform, even in those tricky flat tone areas which are so tricky for digital technology.
What was you experience at ITMA 2019?
This was our first time at ITMA as we've only recently started to engage with the textiles market. It's been a great show for us as we have talked to a lot of end-users and overall, we have received very positive feedback on the Xaar 5601 and the Xaar 1201. (HO)
Published on: 10/07/2019
DISCLAIMER: All views and opinions expressed in this column are solely of the interviewee, and they do not reflect in any way the opinion of Fibre2Fashion.com.
