Digital Printing - Changing the Textile Supply Chain
As early as the 1960s up until recently, commercial textile interiors had a very distinct workflow from concept to product. Every company along that workflow had a specific part to play, and the distance between the initial concepts to the end product was four significant steps apart. Essentially, designers were trying to predict what the end customer, someone they may never have any contact with, would buy.
The traditional workflow starts with designers at the mill. They create designs based on their research and past experiences with a jobber and/or OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer). The mill's purpose is to satisfy the needs of the jobbers and OEMs working toward getting a product placement. In turn, the jobbers or OEMs select materials based on their particular research and feedback from customers, architects and interior designers (A&D). Finally, the A&D select materials based on their client's needs for the end-user: you, the general public.
This is a tricky and precarious workflow. As you move through the process, you hope that everyone is making the correct decisions along the way. One wrong choice and someone could be sitting on a lot of inventory and causing a chain reaction of unhappy suppliers and clients. Even the best research can lead someone astray. Designers are constantly walking a tightrope between conservative designs they know will sell, and unique and innovative designs that will make a splash. Everyone wants to be the first to market with a new idea and potentially have a huge payout, but that comes with risk.
The traditional model also produces a lot of waste because mills are designing a multitude of designs. Thousands of designs are created and presented each year to jobbers and OEMs with the goal of obtaining one or more design product placement. Jobbers and OEMs only have availability for 3% of all the designs created, leaving 97% of the designs never to be seen by the A&D or their clients.
Why this particular workflow?
This model has to do with the traditional manufacturing methods for producing large quantities at the mill. For a mill, the larger the volume, the lower the cost per yard. In the case of rotogravure printing, a conventional print type for vinyl or polyurethane upholstery, the minimums are roughly 300 to 500 yards. In most cases, 300 yards is too much for any one OEM or A&D to use on a single project, so jobbers fill the role of inventorying the yardage and selling cut yardage to the OEMs and A&D community. Three hundred yards of a single color is a huge investment and risk to take on. For a smaller jobber, it prohibits them from developing proprietary designs, possibly leaving them competitively vulnerable to the competition.
What does this mean for the future?
In the early 2000s, digital printing began to gain popularity within the DIY community. New print technology and simple product standards for home goods meant companies could start to offer a custom design printed "one-off" to an individual. Suddenly, a home sewist or crafter could see their designs on books, mugs, phone cases, even fabric-by-the-yard.
As the years passed, printers and inks became more sophisticated; and with additional ingenuity, products started to enter the commercial interiors market because they could now pass the more stringent testing standards. This new technology offered low minimums and palatable price points, which began the shift from the traditional workflow to the emerging workflow. Combine this technology with the image playgrounds of Pinterest, Instagram and Behance, and the A&D and their clients now have access to countless ideas and a broad base of talent.
Rather than jobbers and OEMs controlling the options for the A&D and their clients, A&Ds can now work the model backward. The A&D and their clients can now specify the designs they want and have them manufactured on demand.
A great example of this shift is with architect Paul Lewandowski. He is currently in the process of designing custom wallpaper for his client, Exterus in Portland, Maine, for use in their restroom. This custom wallpaper will be printed by Megaprint in nearby New Hampshire.
"Since this project is a commercial furniture showroom, we wanted to make sure that design was front and center to inspire designers coming in,: he said. "In my opinion, bathrooms are often overlooked as design opportunities, but they have some of the highest branding and impact potential. Designing a custom product like the wallcovering at Exterus, based on the flora and fauna of northern New England forests, is an affordable way to create a unique and memorable story."
As we enter a new decade, we will see an even more significant shift in on-demand printing and manufacturing. The traditional business model is collapsing. The lines between the mills, jobbers and OEMs are becoming blurred. Jobbers, mills and designers are buying their own printers. Jobbers become mills, mills become jobbers, designers become entrepreneurs, and everyone now has access to the A&D and their clients.
As we move into this unknown area, one thing is for sure: There will always be a need for talented, trained designers to convert all of these amazing ideas and concepts into beautiful end products.
