The recent Heimtextil exhibition at Frankfurt proved more international in its outlook by hosting 2,658 exhibitors from 62 countries 
and attracting approximately 66,000 visitors over the four days, 66 per cent of whom were from countries other than Germany. The most represented international visitor nations included Italy, China, Turkey, the UK, the US, France, India, Spain, the Russian Federation and Poland.
With 80 per cent of exhibitors and 94 per cent of visitors claiming to have achieved their goals during the show, it was quite evident that the exhibition was a good platform for doing business.
With the newly emerging trends for industrial-scale digital printing of home textiles, Heimtextil saw presence of leading digital textile printing technology, and software and design providers exhibiting in the Design & Technics Hall.
Digital textile printing is well accepted and has been largely successful with the growth of the fast fashion trend in the apparel & fashion industry. A majority of home textile firms have stayed away from large investments in digital printing for the two main reasons of lack of a stable high-speed digital system for pigment printing on cottons and the huge investment involved in wider-width equipment set-up for bedlinen & curtains.
Commercialisation of pigment ink for high-speed industrial printers is being addressed with OEMs at various stages of the development & testing process.
SPG Prints, Netherlands, showcased its pigment ink technology at Heimtextil. The ink was seen running on a La Mecchanica Leopard 8 printer (Fig. 1). Mr. Jos Notermans, Business Unit Manager, Digital Textiles, SPG Prints, commented on the company’s pigment ink technology: “We are happy with the current results, and the market will see us commercially launching the inks in 6-8 months”.
The other leading technology providers present at Heimtextil included Reggiani Macchine, Kornit Digital, POD Iberica and Durst & HP. Mr. Oliver Luedtke, Marketing Manager, Kornit Digital Europe, observed: “We are very happy with the response we have received, it is the first time we are exhibiting at Heimtextil, and we will definitely exhibit in a bigger way next year.” Kornit is a specialist in pigment-based inkjet technology.
There was also an informative conference program on the digital textile printing theme organised by the World Textile Information Network. The European Digital Textiles conference included presentations from some of the pioneers of digital textile printing for home textiles, as well as industry observers, strategists and creative thinkers. The conference discussed at length the commercial opportunities the digital system offers, the latest market trends and technology developments in digital textile printing for carpets and pile fabrics. The conference also provided an insight into the potential for digital textile printing in the home textile & furnishing industry.
Mr. Aditya Chandavarkar, Founder, Inkjet Forum India, who was a part of the invited speaker panel, provided an Indian perspective on the potential for digitally-printed home textiles and interior furnishing products.
This year’s Heimtextil combined the best of business with design innovation and emerged as one of the leading textile, home furnishing, interior design and wall-covering trade fairs.