Proven quality, excellent samples produced on customer’s carpet substrates, renowned service and knowhow in carpet printing, paired with an excellent reputation has made ZIMMER Austria’s digital printing systems the first choice of the customer
ZIMMER Austria is a group of companies established in the year 1874 in Warnsdorf, Bohemia, part of the then Austro-Hungarian Empire. Triggered by the turmoil of World War II in the Czech-Slovakian Republic, the company was re-established in Kufstein, Austria, in 1951. Rapid growth required a second factory, which was established in Klagenfurt, Austria. Over the years additional sales and service stations have been established in the USA and China. Today, the ZIMMER Group has separate research and development centres dedicated to the product lines, including at its engineering and manufacturing locations in Klagenfurt and Kufstein, Austria.
The Klagenfurt plant is the competence centre for screen printing, steaming, drying, coating and finishing, whereas Kufstein has become the competence centre for digital printing and carpet needs. The Kufstein plant includes five business units: textile printing, floor covering, narrow fabrics, technical textile and specialties. Made in Austria is not just a slogan but is part of the culture and a daily practice at ZIMMER Austria. In cooperation with the customer, ZIMMER print and coating lines can be configured as 100% made in Austria or as engineered in Austria with complementary domestic products to economise the investment. Research and development centres with an accumulated space of nearly 5,000 sq. metres among the group guarantee up-to-date engineering and a visionary process technology.
Market Presence in India
Already in the 1920s, the first roller printing machines from ZIMMER were sold in India. ZIMMER’S India business, however, came to a complete standstill with the outbreak of World War II. The decades from 1940 to 1960 brought lots of changes in the political scenario and the business alike. After the smoke caused by these turbulent times settled down, the economy started to rise, and prosperous times came back to the textile industries. In the mid-1960s, ZIMMER Austria introduced rotary and flat screen printing installations to the textile industries in India. From the mid-1960s to the end of 1980s, the screen printing business was the base for ZIMMER Austria’s market presence in India, and it still is to this day.
With the latest generation of flat and rotary screen printers, as well as coating systems, based on the Magnoprint, Rotascreen and Magnoroll brands, ZIMMER Austria’s market position improved drastically. The population of ZIMMER printing and coating machines are still continuously on the rise. With a trusted name and being associated with best market performance and excellent service, ZIMMER Austria started to introduce the first digital carpet printers in India at the beginning of the second millennium. Several Chromojet printers have been supplied within a few years and the printed carpet business started to flourish. Chromojet printers with pressurised ink injection through valve-based technology have been a revolution for the Indian carpet and blanket industry.
There was no other system available that could achieve such penetration like that of ZIMMER’s Chromojet technology. The market was hungry for this world-class technology. Several machines of ZIMMER Austria make, including some second-hand equipment, have come to the Indian market. It does not matter whether the machines are imported directly from ZIMMER Austria or supplied as second-hand machinery through a dealer; the fact remains that ZIMMER Austria is the right choice when it comes to carpet printing! High-resolution carpet printing by Colaris piezo-based technology was introduced in India in 2016. It was clear that ZIMMER will be the trusted partner for this latest technology again. By that time, several installations of Colaris printers were successfully running in the textile industry already.
Proven quality, excellent samples produced on customer’s carpet substrates, renowned service and knowhow in carpet printing, paired with an excellent reputation has made ZIMMER Austria’s digital printing systems the first choice of the customer again. Today there are around 20 digital carpet printers from ZIMMER Austria installed in the market and all are serviced by the manufacturer with additional support by their partner – A.T.E. ZIMMER’s esteemed clientele includes Bajaj Carpet, Bansal Industries, Dharmesh Textile, DC Mills, Liberty, Raj Overseas, Rhodenium, Welspun, William Goodacre, and others. Additionally, several pile fabric printing installations such as the Colaris terry towel printers are installed in the market. The Colaris towel printing technology is proven by names such as Golden Terry Towel, Shrinath Cotfab and the Welspun Group.