Tropical Knitex Ltd. is vertically integrated with knitting, dyeing, washing, cutting, digital and screen printing, embroidery and garment. The business is renowned for having one of Bangladesh’s largest and cleanest printing facilities.
Furthermore, Tropical Knitex’s sustainability endeavours, when paired with automation and digitization, consistently yield positive results. The textile industry has been buzzing over Tropical Knitex printing section’s remarkable 90–95 per cent reduction in water usage each screen wash, which makes it stand out in terms of sustainability initiatives. Recently, the Tropical Knitex facility in Kaliakoir, Gazipur was investigated by the Textile Today Innovation Hub’s (TTIH) facility team.
Tropical Knitex’s printing section leader, Md Abu Sayem, DGM (Printing & Embroidery), Tropical Knitex Ltd. – is also the President of the Screen Print Welfare Association (SPWA) shared that “We have integrated the most up-to-date technology not only in printing – but across our entire unit. For instance, Sclavos machine in the dyeing section, the Auto Dispenser Machine, and Nanobubble technology in washing – help us in reducing water consumption. Overall, from a sustainability aspect – Tropical Knitex ensures the best available technologies.”
Throughout the pre-printing preparation process, the factory incorporated automation to achieve sustainability.
The facility uses an automated binding machine throughout the screen preparation procedure to provide uniform pressure on the print screen. “To get the best result, we use an automatic photo emulsion coating,” stated Md. Abu Sayem regarding screen preparation.
“We use a single cutting-edge machine to perform both the laser jet exposing design and eye imaging for the screen. It resembles a printer exactly. The best thing about this machine is that it doesn’t need polyester film, unlike the manual screen procedure.” Furthermore, Abu Sayem said, “This machine saves a lot of energy.”
Tropical Knitex employs an innovative Eco RinseTM Machine from M&R Printing Equipment to rinse and wash the screen to achieve the desired pattern. This machine significantly increases efficiency and reduces water usage by 90–95 per cent every screen wash.