A case study of Hattori Co., Ltd. which has installed the TxF150-75 was published in the printing industry magazine "Pre-tech Stage"  (June 2025 issue).

The following is the published article in its original form.

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Banners maker takes on the goods market, responds to mass production with 11 DTF printers "TxF150-75."

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Founded in 1872, Hattori Co., Ltd., a comprehensive manufacturer of banners, flags and curtains, introduced 10 Mimaki DTF printers "TxF150-75" last summer. It built a production system of 11 units including the one already introduced, and started full-scale production of goods that had not been worked on until now.

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Changes in the market for banners

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Hattori Co., Ltd. is a general flag manufacturer that produces Kabuki curtains, national flags, banners, aero banners, and other flags and POP products, as well as imports raw materials from overseas and imports and exports products. Another major feature is that it has both a flag auto-print production facility and a flag pole production facility. In the past, it has also produced official flags for the 1998 Winter and Nagano Olympics, the 2002 World Cup, and the 2005 Aichi Expo.

The Miyoshi Plant in Miyoshi City, Aichi and the Tado Plant in Kuwana City, Mie are operating as bases for flag manufacturing. In August 2024, ten TxF150-75 were installed at the Tada Plant in Kuwana City. With the addition of one TxF150-75, which was introduced in the autumn of 2023, the number of TxF150-75 has increased to 11 units, and a production system capable of responding to a large volume of DTF needs has been established.

Originally, in addition to textile printing machines for flag manufacturing, the company has responded to various needs by using latex printers and direct printing with sublimation printers. However, in recent years, the way in which client companies use advertising expenses has changed. In particular, there is a growing tendency to refrain from adopting flags such as "banner" and the flag market itself is shrinking.

Against this background, the company is taking on the challenge of manufacturing goods in order to develop new markets while utilizing flag manufacturing technology.

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However, soon after starting the production of goods, society was hit by the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result, corporate activities stagnated socially, and various events began to be voluntarily refrained. The company's new business was also affected, but it proceeded with the production of urethane masks for printing corporate logos, etc. using sublimation transfer printers, and it was in the preparation stage of the goods manufacturing business that would come in due course.

In the past, most of the goods were made in China, as production sites moved from Japan to China. Hattori conducted research on the merchandise market before starting to produce merchandise. As a result, it became clear that users were dissatisfied with maintenance and response capabilities, and that problems such as soaring labor and transportation costs and transportation times were emerging.

Reflecting market issues, they aimed to build a production environment that can produce goods quickly, safely and securely, which can be realized only domestically.

"When production is domestic, quality control is easy and we can respond to sudden orders," said Jun Sagawa, Managing Director, General Manager of Sales.

As for the printer, they chose Mimaki's DTF printer because they have experience in direct printing using Mimaki's sublimation printer. In the summer of 2024, they were able to build a production system for 11 units at once, and realized a production environment that can meet the needs of a large number of units, which takes time and effort and amounts to thousands to tens of thousands of units.

As a result, Mr. Sagawa says, "We are a late starter in the merchandise business, but I think we have built an impactful production environment. I think it will appeal to our customers."

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Construction sites that can withstand mass production

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The newly introduced "TxF150-75" is a printer with a maximum print width of 800 mm (31.5"). The thermal transfer pigment ink "PHT50" for DTF composed of 5 colors of CMYK and white is adopted, and it has obtained ECO PASSPORT certification, which is indispensable for obtaining the international standard "OEKO-TEX®" for fiber safety.

In addition, problems such as defective ink ejection and clogging of white ink are also improved by adopting a degassed ink design in which an aluminum pack is adopted for the ink packaging form of the printer and by installing a white ink circulating function MCTv2 (Mimaki Circulation Technology).

It is also equipped with Mimaki's nozzle missing detection technology NCU (Nozzle Check Unit) that supports stable operation and the function NRS (Nozzle Recovery System) that compensates for nozzle missing with other nozzles. This enables continuous output without stopping work and supports manufacturing sites.

By using these features of TxF150-75, it will be able to smoothly meet the needs of manufacturing goods in large quantities.

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As a catalyst for collaboration

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Hattori has gradually expanded its goods manufacturing business. At first, the company focused on manufacturing original masks against the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic, but in 2021 they began manufacturing cloth goods such as T-shirts and tote bags. Since the introduction of TxF150-75, DTF has been used to expand the production. At present, cheering, watching and promotional goods such as bib, towel and sash are also added to the menu.

The fourth floor of the Tado factory, where DTF printers are lined up, is the floor of the goods sales department, which manufactures goods, and about 12 staff members do everything from printing to pressing.
"Most of the staff on this floor started working in September last year," says Aya Suzuki of the pre-press section.

This is the driving force of the company and the foundation that enables it to respond smoothly to large orders.

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The merchandise made by DTF manufactured by the company includes a wide range of goods such as sportswear, anime character goods and idol goods. Recently, new possibilities have been seen, such as orders from companies specializing in clothing.

Against this background, the company hopes to respond to inbound demand and produce anime-related goods that are popular with foreign tourists, and hopes to actively engage in collaboration. For this reason, in addition to its traditional client companies, the company aims to develop new businesses by proposing the production of goods to companies dealing with anime content, publishing.

In addition, the company has developed flame retardants that do not contain halogen or phosphorus and sells them to other companies in the same industry (patented).

They are also exploring the way of collaboration through various initiatives, and says, "The market will remain severe unless we take on challenges. We want to create new businesses."

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