THE BIG STORY
and this goes for Europe too – today the only area where digital printing technology is making much headway is in the graphics sector. Screenprinting is still very much the process of choice, or often the only option, in both the textile industry and most industrial printing applications." He continues: "And within the graphics sector, I'd say that rather than posing a significant threat, digital printing has, in important ways, served to enhance screenprinting. Many screenprinters have invested in wide format and super wide format inkjet printers, and amongst that group there were some who expected that they would eventually ditch their screen equipment completely. Some of these pundits are today larger screenprinters than ever. That is because, in practice, at today's speed and cost of production, digital printing technology actually serves to make the screenprinter considerably more competitive – as a screenprinter, instead of replacing a majority of the screenprinted jobs. Digital output enables printers to take on short run, complex jobs they could never do efficiently by screen and provides a very quick and efficient proofing tool. Both these strengths tend to feed into more screenprinted jobs when volumes are greater". He adds: "A critical point to remember is that technical development of screenprinting has not stood still either. Since digital printing machines became an issue, the market has seen the large scale commercialization of in-line screenprinting presses, which vastly improved screen's efficiency and competitiveness, both against digital and also offset. North American screenprinters were quick to see the advantages of this technology and embraced it enthusiastically." In David's view two things will have to happen before digital printing really becomes a contender to replace screen on a wider scale. He opines: "Firstly it will have to become much quicker and secondly, the inks will have to become much cheaper. Until that occurs, digital direct output remains an important addition, but not a direct replacement for screenprinting as a method of graphic reproduction."
32 FESPA WORLD 09/04
David has taken time out from the CSGIA Printing Exhibition in China to talk to Fespa World and he remarks that most of the medium to large format graphics in China are printed digitally. He continues: "In China, where the graphic industry only geared up significantly in recent years, screenprinting was skipped almost entirely as a process to reproduce medium to large format graphics. Since there was no established screenprinting base to build on, digital was the least expensive and fastest way to get started," he adds, that local equipment and lack of experience are rather apparent in the quality of the final output, which mostly leaves much to be desired. However, he remarks that "as graphics move away from highly localised ads to wider advertising campaigns, we can expect to see considerable investment in screen to meet the volume and eventually the quality requirements." As far as industrial applications go, he states: "Screenprinting has and continues to grow rapidly in China, which is already one of the world's important markets for manufacturers such as KIWO". So what are his predictions for the future? "Amidst all of the hype about digital it would be easy to forget that screen is developing too," he cautions. "One of the challenges we face as manufacturers is to keep developing the screenprinting process, taking advantage of advances in technology to make it an ever more industrial and less craft-based process. This is something in which KIWO is trying to make an important contribution." He is referring here to the company's introduction of a full range of Computer to Screen (CTS) imaging equipment. "With Computer to Screen, we are taking the key advantages of digital technology and marrying it to the advantages of screenprinting. Taking a digital file and being able to image it directly on a screen, skipping entirely the need for outputting and handling a film positive, dramatically reduces the cost and time involved in making a printing screen. Film output and handling has always been the Achilles heel of the screen process. We therefore see this
as the single most important recent development in enhancing the competitiveness of screenprinting as a technology." KIWO's current CTS equipment lineup comprises three systems: The i-Jet, a fast, economical, inkjet based system for imaging screens in T-shirt format, the proven LĂźscher JetScreen that KIWO represents in North America, which also is an inkjet CTS system, but for medium to large format graphic and industrial applications, and the ScreenSetter, an ultra high-tech direct exposure device for small to medium screen sizes requiring high resolution such as screens for printing CDs, electronic applications, decals and similar. David is quick to draw a comparison with the developments that have taken place with regard to Litho and Flexo printing over the last decade. He says: "What we are trying to do is a parallel to what transformed offset and flexo printing. Both processes have been revolutionised by the introduction of computer to plate technology. And although it was initially embraced only haltingly, today it is almost ubiquitous. It is CTP that allowed offset to outpace the threat that digital posed to the process. I finally see more and more screenprinters now also embracing the concept of CTS and I hope it will have as important an impact on the screenprinting industry as CTP did for offset and flexo." So what other plans does KIWO have for the future? David concludes: "We aim to continue developing KIWO and its sister company ULANO towards becoming globally the suppliers of choice for screenmaking solutions. Furthermore we are exploring other markets unrelated to screenprinting where we can apply our core photo imaging technology. At the same time we are continuing to aggressively expand KIWO's industrial adhesive activities to lead us into new applications and niches around the world. But as far as screenprinting vs. digital is concerned, we see Computer to Screen solutions as a key contribution we can make to ensure that screenprinting remains a dynamic and evolving process for many years to come. We hope that screenprinters will take notice."