New sales subsidiary set up in Italy
Konica Minolta, Inc. has entered into a definitive agreement with Verga IT S.r.l., an Italian inkjet textile printer sales company, under which the former has acquired the latter. Through this acquisition, Konica Minolta has established Konica Minolta IJ Textile Europe S.r.l., headquartered in Bregnano, Como, Italy. This first overseas sales subsidiary for industrial inkjet business aims to enhance the sales and services organization in the inkjet textile printer market in Europe and within its proximity, with a great growth potential.
The worldwide textile printing market has been going digital rapidly, as the digital inkjet technology has better responded to market requirements of the apparel industry. The current requirements include printing highly detailed and precise designs, which was difficult to produce through traditional analog printing, and also printing with excellent quality through production of small quantities of many different designs. The inkjet technology has realized them all.
In addition, as inkjet textile printing uses significantly less water than analog printing, more and more factories have become interested in adopting the digital technology to transform themselves into more environmentally-considerate businesses.
While Europe accounts for majority of the global digital textile printing market, most of the European digital textile printers are located in Italy. In the Como region, known for its high-grade apparel manufacturing cluster, textile printers have pioneered installation of inkjet textile printers.
With the establishment of IJIT, Konica Minolta will enhance its sales and service capabilities and offer solutions that meet market needs and further improve customer satisfaction through high-quality and speedy services. The company will also keep an eye on the Turkish market, with a good growth potential in the future, where inkjet textile printing is making inroads locally.