Garment products dominate across all textile businesses, with sports apparel, textiles for garments and fast fashion topping the growth applications leader board.

This data was collected throughout 2017 at FESPA events and from association members in Europe, Eurasia, Mexico, Brazil, Thailand and South Africa. Respondents include screen print businesses with a focus on textile applications, dedicated textile producers and direct-to-garment businesses.

Digital adoption for textile is slower than in other segments and production is still dominated by analogue processes across all textile-related segments.

Among printers focused on textiles, 56 per cent have made digital investments, and 19 per cent plan to do so in the next two years, aiming to reap the benefits of reduced time to market, customised creative collections, prototyping, and a positive impact on the environment by reducing water and energy consumption.

Production speed is an investment priority for 69 per cent of textile respondents, and 55 per cent want the ability to print directly onto untreated materials. These investments are motivated by brand owner demand for time-sensitive production that delivers supply chain improvements such as waste reduction, optimises response to seasonal peaks and enables local delivery.

Screen and textile printers expect digital’s contribution to textile printing revenues to grow by 12 per cent in the next two years.