Soul Sports installs new Mimaki to up dye sub output

Sports apparel producer and printer Soul Sports Penrith has installed a new high-speed Mimaki TS300P-1800 dye sublimation press to increase efficiency and speed. Speaking with Australian Printer, Steve Sardi, co-founder of Soul Sports, which first opened its doors 25 years ago, says the new machine has replaced three other machines, and has doubled their work capacity.

(l-r) Brad from Fujifilm  and Steve Sardi

(l-r) Brad Connelly from Fujifilm and Steve Sardi

Sardi says, “We have used Mimaki printers since we started sublimation work and have found them to be reliable. But our machines were getting really old after ten years of hard work, so we needed to upgrade. “The TS300P-1800 can run at up to 115 square metres per hour, and has a new ink set that reduces costs and minimises nozzle blockage, so it will boost production for us. “Dye sublimation printing enables us to keep sports apparel manufacturing in Australia. This means producing short runs of just a few jerseys or netball dresses, or kitting out entire squads. The vibrancy of the new Mimaki Sb410 inks is really impressive, and the new anti-cockling mechanism will further improve print quality and reduce waste.” Sardi founded the business, which has a yearly turnover of more than $1m, with partners Brad Connelly and Mark Hennessy, and has recently acquired another business to increase its market footprint. “We acquired a business called The Netball Shop, which produced and stocked everything related to netball, just 12 months ago. We have nothing to compare it to but overall the business has grown. In fact, since we opened our doors we have never gone backwards.” However, he concedes the market is becoming more competitive and says Australians need to take a hard look at themselves when purchasing overseas products. Sardi says, “We import 50 per cent of our manufacturing from overseas, mostly large runs, orders exceeding 500 units, which is also depended on clients and how competitive we need to be. “Today customers are not thinking of the future when they buy overseas owned, albeit cheaper, products. And what this does to the industry owned brands is not thought of. “I always buy Australian owned products because that supports our industries and our economy.” Soul Sports is the sports apparel supplier to basketball/netball community in general. The company also produces sublimation-printed AFL, athletic, soccer, hockey, roller derby and rugby uniforms as well as school jerseys, polos and tee shirts. Basketballs, netballs, protective gear, trackies and hoodies are also in the inventory. It still offers screen print and embroidery facilities along with digital dye-sublimation. The TS300P-1800 prints up to 1940mm maximum width with up to six colours: CMYK, light cyan and light magenta. Soul Sports is running CMYK bulk inks in paired two litre packs for uninterrupted long-run production. Resolutions range from 360dpi up to 1080dpi.

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