Page 47 - PWM2024_January EBook

PRODUCT PORTFOLIO

Star product
Kornit Avalanche PolyPro

The PolyPro marks the introduction of the NeoPoly inks to Avalanche range, says Nessan Cleary
How productive is it?
It can produce up to 85 dark shirts or 106
light shirts per hour, assuming A4 image
size and High Productivity print mode.
All DTG printers take longer to print to
dark materials because of the need to lay
down the white ink layer first. This is
slower than some other models in the
Avalanche series, but does include the
time needed to spray on the fixation,
which eliminates the need for pre-treat-
ment.
What is the USP of the product?
The main USP is that it prints direct to
polyester garments; most DTG printers
are for cotton, silk, wool or other natural
fibres and most polyester printing is via
dye-sublimation. The PolyPro prints on a
variety of polyester fabrics, including
woven, knits, with poly blends (poly-
The PolyPro marks the introduction of The key to the PolyPro printer is Kornit’s Lycra, poly-cotton) and different fabric
the NeoPoly inks to the manufacturer’s Specifications new NeoPoly ink. This inkset is made up textures.
Avalanche range of direct-to-garment of inline fixation, a white base layer, fol-
printers. Max print resolu- lowed by CMYK and then a new Poly How easy is it to use?
tion 1,200dpi
Enhancer channel. The main advantage
What does the machine do? is that there’s no need for any form of It’s relatively straightforward as all the
Colours CMYK plus hard work is done inside the machine by
Kornit’s Avalanche series of direct-to- white pre- or post-treatment. The fixation is the various chemical layers reacting
garment printers are designed as indus- sprayed in the area of the print and holds against each other. It can be run by a sin-
trial machines for continuous use, able to Print area the ink in place so that it doesn’t soak gle operator. However, it appears the
print directly to products such as blank 600x900mm into the fabric. It chemically bonds the
t-shirts for cost-effective short runs and Platens 2 ink pigments so that the colours sit on operator does need a degree of skill to
judge how much fixation to spray on the
on-demand printing. top of the white layer.
The basic design features two platens so Productivity 85 The final layer, the poly enhancer, garment.
that an operator can load or unload one dark/106 light reduces the thickness of the print and What training and support is on
platen while the other is printing. t-shirts/hr gives a special protective layer. This is offer?
then followed by the curing. The Poly
When was it launched and what Substrates Enhancer is a clear fluid, which acts like a Sharon Donovich, product marketing
market is it aimed at? Polyester, polyester catalyst to reduce the drying temperature manager at Kornit, says that, as with all
blends Kornit DTG printers, it comes with six
The Avalanche PolyPro was launched in from Kornit’s usual 160°C to 100-110°C,
April 2019. It prints directly to polyester Pre-treatment which eliminates the risk of dye migra- months of warranty and various levels of
and polyester blends, with polyester needed No tion where the colorants from the polyes- SLA, including an empowerment plan in
being the second largest category in the ter diffuse into the white layer. A further which Kornit trains the customer to be
overall t-shirt market, which is valued at Price £406,000 advantage is that the inks are odourless. self-sufficient and maintain the product
$29bn (£22.5bn), with something like 2 to ensure the highest productivity and
billion t-shirts being produced annually. 210x297mm/600x400mm How does it differ from previous availability.
models?
As such it’s directly aimed at the sports Feed capacity 30mm How much does it cost?
segment, and the growing athleisure and The PolyPro is built on Kornit’s familiar
functional apparel markets. Avalanche platform with the principle The printer costs approximately
difference being the new inkset. This is £406,000 though this is subject to cur-
How does it work? also Kornit’s first polyester DTG printer rency fluctuations.
“This is also Kornit’s first polyester DTG printer.”

www.printweekmena.com January 2024 PrintWeek MENA 45