Measured by volume, conventional textile prints (serigraphy/silkscreen printing/screen printing) today comprise about 95% of printed fabric in the world, while digital prints comprise the remaining 5%. Those market shares are a consequence of the multitude of color and quality expressions, prices, and versatility the two printing methods each have on offer, as well as the fact that conventional prints of course were marketed first and consequently benefit from printers’ familiarity with them.

But this analog market dominance comes at a steep price. On the print’s backside we see that conventional prints consume 50-60 liters of water, 36-60 cubic centimeters of ink per produced fabric meter, and 400,000 kWh per printer per year, while the far less applied digital print consumes 15-20 liters of water, 6-9 cubic centimeters of ink per produced fabric meter, and 180,000 kWh per printer per year. Significant savings on water, ink, and energy are thus achievable by means of larger market shares for digital printing.

Fortunately, we’re moving in the right direction. Social developments and new technologies constantly adjust supply and demand, and the zeitgeist undoubtedly favors the digital print above its analog alternative. Yes, digital technologies develop faster than analog ones and thereby contribute strongly to the digital print’s strong growth, but the zeitgeist delivers an equally robust building block to this framework: The increased awareness of man’s lack of care about nature’s fragility and the expected consequences thereof.  

We’ve become wiser. Surveys continually show that a large majority of consumers believe that a brand’s sustainability — or lack of same — is an important or even decisive factor when they decide where to conduct their business, and that they are willing to pay extra for ethical business practices.

We at Jet Sport are big fans of that, as we strive to be first movers on more than just technology and customer experience. Our entire business — from core values to production setup — is configured in such a way that we have succeeded in digitizing a full 20% of our production. We thus operate with a digitization ratio four times that of the industry average, making us that much more sustainable.