Case study from Mimaki

Mimaki, a leading manufacturer of wide-format inkjet printers and cutting systems, has reported that Simvol, Russia’s largest producer of flags and state symbolic textile-based signage, relied on Mimaki digital textile printing to produce flags and banners for one of the most important events in the country.

Founded in 1996, Simvol is located in Kropotkin, Krasnodar Territory, and has sales offices in all major Russian cities. The company recently added a Mimaki JV300 to its fleet of Mimaki printers to accommodate business growth. “Simvol was one of the first companies in Russia to adopt heat transfer dye sublimation printing technology, says Sergey Babenko, the company’s CEO. “We worked with Smart-T, a reseller to the industry, to determine the best printing solution for our needs. Not only did we transition much of our production from screen-printing to heat transfer dye sublimation several years ago, but we were also creative in the use of our existing screen-printing equipment to add unique finishing to our dye sub flags and signs. Plus, we also offer embroidery, applique, fringe and other embellishments to set our flags apart from the competition.” Today, Simvol still uses its original Mimaki JV4 printer, which increased press speed over its early experiments with heat transfer dye sublimation by a factor of 10, but also operates a Mimaki DS-1600 direct-to-fabric printer, a Mimaki TS34 printer for heat transfer dye sublimation, and most recently, a Mimaki JV300. “The JV300 is the model we look to use as our primary production platform in the future,” Babenko comments. “It has the ability to replace all of our other printers.” According to Babenko, Simvol already had experience with producing banners and flags for large events, having done significant work to support the 2014 Winter Olympics hosted in Sochi, Russia. In addition to supporting large events such as the Winter Olympics and World Cup, Simvol produces a wide range of textile-based products, including flags, banners, pennants, and sportswear on five Mimaki printers. Simvol produces some 40,000 jobs per year, with run lengths ranging from one to 10,000. Babenko is also excited about the recently announced Mimaki Tiger-1800B MkII production class textile printer. “This printer has exceptional speed and quality,” he says. “As we continue to grow, we are considering adding one or more of these printers to our fleet. It will really set us apart in the marketplace and allow us to produce orders even faster.” “We were thrilled that our printers were used to develop many of the fantastic flags and banners for the 2018 World Cup,” says Ronald van den Broek, General Manager Sales of Mimaki Europe. “Forward-thinking companies like Simvol are leveraging Mimaki advantages for innovative and highly competitive performance in their local markets. We look forward to our continuing relationship with Simvol as the company continues to evolve into the future.”