Wednesday, January 12, 2022
Roy Pagan, Business Development Manager–Industrial Solutions at Durst Image Technology US talks about the market for digital printing on wood in America.
How is the demand for digital printing presses in America?
Roy Pagan: Digital inkjet printing for wood is making a significant impact in both the interior home and point of purchase décor market. Advertising agencies and interior designers are constantly looking for ways to reinvent themselves in the market by coming up with new trendy ways to sell their product or design. Digital printing gives them the ability to run a low cost high quality product that can be produced in quantities from one to thousands with virtually no make ready cost.
What sections of woodworking has adopted the technology?
Roy Pagan: Currently we’re seeing this technology in small pockets across the US, most commonly in specialty type applications. These applications can exist from just printing an image of rare or common wood directly on a MDF, to digitally imaging graphical images on exiting wood.
How much is the industry developed to tackle the demand?
Roy Pagan: Yes, over the past few years Durst has made some tremendous strides in production levels and quality to compete with today’s quick demands and high production levels. This has been achieved by both ingenuity and new head technologies. In the past digital was looked at as very slow and cumbersome. This was due in part of the numerous challenges that digital had, from ink adhesion to image banding as well as media distortion due to intense heat. Although some of these challenges still can exist in digital printing it has come a long way.
What is the prospect of the digital press in America?
Roy Pagan: Traditionally with conventional methods of print, a one off cost would be just as expensive as 100. The flexibility that digital print gives the client not only a cost effective alternative to the conventional methods but the options of changeability at an affordable cost in the different markets that designers are trying to market to.
Demand for the presses depends on the end product being appreciated. How has the American consumer perceived the end products?
Roy Pagan: In one word “Speed”. Inevitably speed to market is the driving force. Today’s consumer wants to see the world in how it relates to them. Trends are changing faster than they ever have before so having the ability to be the first to market with a unique product or design will be perceived as the most recognized.
Tags: Roy Pagan, woodworking and manufacturing, woodworking USA
