UFabrik, the leading manufacturer of super-wide digital textile materials for display graphics has opened a new state-of-the-art production facility in Chonburi, Thailand. The unprecedented success of the UFabrik brand as the leading specified material in the UK and European markets, compelled further investment in production capacity to replicate its ascendance in the US.
UFabrik Manufacturing is jointly owned by Robin East, Jon Price, and BingXin Wang. East and Price are also the founding directors of CMYUK, the UK’s largest supplier of digital textile materials and wide format production equipment, and the most successful top-performing distributor in EFI’s history. BingXin Wang is the owner and CEO of JC Media, one of the largest and most influential global producers of printing textile materials.
The development of the UFabrik brand began six years ago with a curated collection of display graphic materials that provide solutions for 95% of applications required for the exhibition, events, and retail markets. Available in 3.2m and 5m widths, UFabrik represents high-performance innovation compatible with all leading global wide-format UV, Latex, and dye sublimation technologies including EFI, Durst, Agfa, Mimaki, HP, and Canon.
The progression of UFabrik’s manufacturing capability is set to exploit the growth of textile production in the US. According to the U.S. Digital Printed Textile Market Size, Share & Trends Analysis Report by Application (Home Textile, Apparel, Industrial, Soft Signage) Forecast, 2022-2030, the size of the US digital printed textile market is estimated to hit USD 2.519 billion by 2030 and register a CAGR of 15.9 percent. The increasing demand for soft signage applications is providing greater opportunities for digital printers, which are expected to drive market uptake.
The new factory at Chonburi in Thailand, a greenfield site developed for world-class manufacturing, boasts a number of high-tech innovations. Additional UFabrik management, sales and marketing teams for the US have been appointed.
US route to market with LexJet
UFabrik has established strategic offices and warehouse logistics facilities in the states of Texas, New York, and Nevada, and has recently appointed LexJet, part of the S-One Group, as its exclusive North American distribution partner.
“To ensure that customers benefit from the unparalleled quality and consistency of our manufacturing, we needed a partner that has the scale to stock and fulfil the fastest delivery for all customers in any state,” said Robin East, UFabrik Commercial Director.
“LexJet’s customer engagement is second to none. It offers an elevated experience of product specification, application positioning and educational video tools through a bespoke portal that engages with their CRM and multiple social media platforms. This stood out uniquely for us – a partner with parallel aspirations to ourselves – utilising innovative digital solutions to better serve and account manage customers,” he added.
“UFabrik is a highly innovative and disruptive portfolio that is transforming the textile industry. With its cutting-edge technology, UFabrik is poised to revolutionize the way we think about textile manufacturing and distribution. As the exclusive distributor for UFabrik in North America, we are uniquely positioned to leverage our expertise and market reach to accelerate the adoption of this technology across the continent,” said Justin Lehman, S-One Holdings Chief Revenue Officer.
Qualified North American customers can procure palletized consignment orders to ensure efficient stock control management for national campaigns. Bulk consignment stock ordering reduces high transportation costs, while less deliveries equates to a lower carbon footprint. This type of ordering safeguards against depleted inventories as stock levels can be replenished automatically or topped up at any time. A greater level of flexibility also enables large production businesses to cope with non-forecasted peak business periods.
UFabrik versatility
The UFabrik range is designed for multiple market applications such as backlit, frontlit, blockout, backdrops, wall wraps, banners, flags, canopies, tents, gazebos and more. It includes proven eco-responsible textiles constructed from recycled post-consumer waste reflecting the demand for environmentally responsible, high-performing, well-priced materials from global brands that have a requirement to meet sustainability goals.
EFI VUTEk transitional support
To ensure the North American EFI VUTEk installed customer base achieves immediate out-of-the-box success with printed textiles, UFabrik has collaborated with EFI to ensure that all its colour profiles are available on the Fiery XF RIP and can be accessed directly from the Fiery Profiles Updater.
UFabrik colour profiles are available for the following 3.2m and 5m wide EFI VUTEk UV LED printers:
- Dedicated roll printers – EFI VUTEk Pro32r+, Q3/5r series
- Hybrid – EFI VUTEk Pro 30h, h3/5-series, and HS125 Pro
Colour profiles for the EFI VUTEk FabriVU 340i and next-generation FabriVU 340i+ dye sublimation printers are also available through the Fiery XF RIP. To ensure the ultimate recipe for colour reproduction and textile stability, UFabrik has produced a settings guide that includes specific printer speeds, inline fixation temperatures, and tension controls for its materials.
In addition, the UFabrik technical team is working with multiple RIP developers including Caldera, Onyx and Rasterlink to provide a full set of colour profiles for all leading global wide-format UV, Latex and dye sublimation technologies including Durst, Agfa, Mimaki, HP, and Canon.
Said Robin, “UFabrik will provide the North American market with premium performance, quality textiles that also offer viable eco alternatives. Our warehouse logistics infrastructure enables us to provide very significant levels of stock consistency to the region, while our partnership with LexJet will introduce unparalleled levels of state-to-state availability and delivery, previously unseen in the US.
“There are tremendous opportunities within the digital textile markets in both traditional and non-traditional areas. UFabrik materials have already been endorsed by global equipment brands and we are confident by concentrating on the North American market, it will become the market-leading specified entity here too.”
