In the not-to-distant past, many flooring manufacturers relied primarily on embossed-in-register technologies and high-resolution scanners to render more realistic visuals—especially when recreating natural materials such as wood, stone and tile looks. Today, the advent of digital printing technologies has rapidly elevated those capabilities to the point where the average person can no longer visually differentiate between the real thing and a reproduction.
“Digital printing has fundamentally changed how we approach design, allowing for greater creativity and the ability to meet evolving consumer preferences,” Eric Ruppert, senior director of product marketing and category management, Engineered Floors. A prime example of this, he noted, is the company’s PureGrain HighDef resilient offering.
Engineered Floors has made significant investments in digital printing technology in north Georgia to elevate the realism and design flexibility of its flooring products. This involves deploying advanced digital printing systems capable of extremely high-resolution imaging and precise color reproduction directly to the core, according to Ruppert.
“The enhanced realism and design flexibility offered by digital printing have attracted a new segment of consumers to the resilient flooring category. These are customers who previously favored natural materials but are now drawn to the performance, durability and aesthetic advantages of digitally printed resilient flooring.”
Engineered Floors is not the only suppliers investing heavily in digital printing capabilities. Over the past three years, United Surfaces has stepped up its game in this arena. “Digital print technology strengthens our overall market position as a domestic manufacturer,” said Nick Brown vice president of sales. “Our investment into additional capacity both on film and digital production allows our customers to invest in both film and digital print collections while capitalizing on our service model, carrying less inventory allowing more turns on their inventory with confidence of zero out of stock inventory.”
Flooring suppliers are leveraging their partnerships with those companies that specialize in digital printing equipment and all the associated technologies. Case in point is Spain-based Barberan, which offers its popular DeepBlue printing technology in support of its manufacturer partners in their drive to create unique and personalized designs while maintaining cost effectiveness.
Barberan regularly holds open-house events whereby both existing and potential customers can witness its capabilities firsthand. One such event took place in late 2023, where Unilin Technologies invited special guests, including its manufacturer partners, to experience the ground-breaking technology up close. “The big advantage of digital printing is you can change your décor on the fly, but if your texturing cannot follow, you don’t have that huge advantage,” said Floris Koopmans, sales director, Unilin, who was on hand for the event. “So both your décor and texture need to be flexible and adaptive, and they need to communicate with each other so you have that perfect embossed in register.”
Two additional advantages are speed and cost. “Manufacturers do not have to buy the big embossing rolls anymore,” Koopmans explained. “If they want to change the texture, they can do it with just a touch of a button.”
Another leader in the digital printing arena is Hymmen, whose go-to Jupiter JPT-C print-to-board lines deliver intelligent and highly precise register accuracy. This ensures the highest levels of color stability and print quality output while maintaining printing speeds of 25-50 meters per minute. It’s this line that’s currently in use at Engineered Floors’ facility in north Georgia.
Hymmen has not only partnered with several top names in flooring but also firms like i4F Technologies, whose domain is the protection of intellectual property. i4F licenses advanced digital printing technologies and offers exclusive access to all Hymmen digital printing technologies, including its award-winning Digital Lacquer Embossing+ technology (DLE+).
Hymmen recently received two new patent grants from the European Patent Office as well as the Chinese Intellectual Property Office. Both the European patent (EP3666525) and Chinese patent (CN112188936) cover aspects of Hymmen’s DLE+ as well as competing digital embossing technologies that enhance embossed-in-register optics on decorative flooring and wall panels, in any material.
“These patent approvals further strengthen the patent portfolio as well as reinforce the novelty and inventiveness of Hymmen’s digital embossing technologies on panels made from any material,” said John Rietveldt, i4F CEO. “i4F digital printing licensees will benefit from these new patents grants by enjoying an even wider scope of protection to use Hymmen’s cutting-edge digital printing technologies.”
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