Introduction
During recent ITCPE 2026, Kohan Textile Journal had the opportunity to speak with Mr. Chen Minggang, Market Operations Director of Hongsam Digital Science & Technology Co., Ltd. With more than two decades of expertise in industrial ink development, Hongsam Digital has become one of the leading innovators in sustainable digital printing technologies.
In this exclusive interview, Mr. Chen discusses the company’s latest breakthroughs in water-based latex inks, RCT wet-printing technology, powderless transfer solutions, and the future of eco-friendly digital textile printing. He also shares insights into Hongsam’s global expansion strategy and how the company is helping manufacturers improve quality, efficiency, and sustainability while reducing environmental impact.
Kohan Textile Journal:
Q: To start our conversation, could you please introduce yourself and tell us which company you represent?
Mr. Chen Minggang:
A: Certainly. Let me introduce myself. My name is Chen Minggang, and I am the Market Operations Director of Zhengzhou Hongsam Digital Science & Technology Co., Ltd. My primary responsibilities involve managing the market operations and overseeing the various branches and divisions of our company. It is a great honor to participate in this textile machinery and industrial exhibition hosted by Haozhan Consulting. For this edition, Hongsam Digital has brought several of our latest printing processes and advanced ink solutions to the floor, which I look forward to introducing and discussing in deeper detail today.
Substrate Versatility: Water-Based Latex Inks for Non-Absorbent Media
Kohan Textile Journal:
Q: What are the standout printing technologies, machinery setups, and breakthrough products that Hongsam has brought to the exhibition this year?
Mr. Chen Minggang:
A: At this exhibition, we are showcasing three major machinery lines, which represent the latest technological milestones in the digital printing industry.
The first setup utilizes our advanced Water-Based Latex Ink technology, which is engineered to print directly onto completely non-absorbent materials using entirely water-based inks. This covers diverse substrates such as natural and synthetic leather, TPU (Thermoplastic Polyurethane), PVC, and PET. Traditionally, printing onto these non-porous surfaces strictly required UV-curable chemistries or harsh eco-solvent systems. Our water-based latex solution successfully achieves digital deposition on these complex media while remaining completely eco-friendly.
Beyond its strict environmental compliance, the chemical matrix of our water-based latex ink delivers exceptional physical fastness and resistance. It passes rigorous industrial tests for alcohol resistance, acetone resistance, and strong acid-base scratching, and can even withstand demanding boiling-water tests. This represents Hongsam Digital’s ongoing multi-year commitment to replacing non-eco-friendly UV and eco-solvent systems with water-based, sustainable printing alternatives.
Eliminating Pre-Treatment Overhead: RCT Inline Wet Printing
Kohan Textile Journal:
Q: Your second setup addresses garment decoration. Could you explain the wet-printing solution on display?
Mr. Chen Minggang:
A: Yes, our second showcase features Hongsam Digital’s RCT (Reaction Control Technology) Inline Spray Pre-Treatment System for direct-to-garment (DTG) apparel and fabric piece printing. This configuration is what the industrial market refers to as a “wet printing” solution.
The primary advantage of wet printing is that it completely eliminates the traditional, messy requirement of using manual spray guns or separate coating stations to apply T-shirt pre-treatments. Instead, our machine applies the liquid pre-treatment automatically and precisely inline through dedicated printheads. This makes the operational workflow significantly simpler and eliminates complex, multi-stage processing.
Furthermore, because it uses a wet-on-wet printing sequence, the system locks in an exceptional level of white ink opacity for the base coat while ensuring that the primary colors remain incredibly vibrant and saturated. Printing the pre-treatment fluid digitally through a unified printhead layout guarantees perfect spatial alignment between the chemical base and the color patterns.
In traditional printing, where operators spray pre-treatment fluids manually, the fluid covers almost the entire garment area. When dark or white fabrics are subjected to long-term wear, repeated washing, or the intense heat of press-curing and conveyor drying, these manually sprayed areas frequently suffer from severe yellowing and chemical staining. Manual application is also notoriously uneven, leading to ghosting and print defects. Our RCT wet-printing system completely solves color variance and fabric yellowing across the board.
The Powderless DTG Revolution: Integrated All-in-One Lines
Kohan Textile Journal:
Q: What is the focus of your third machinery demonstration at the booth?
Mr. Chen Minggang:
A: Our third showcase focuses on our water-based latex Powderless Film Transfer Line. This product is attracting an immense amount of attention, particularly from our overseas and international clientele.
Essentially, this technology completely eliminates the hot-melt adhesive powder phase from the traditional T-shirt heat transfer process. Anyone experienced in apparel printing knows that hot-melt adhesive powders present severe health and environmental hazards. They consist of microscopic airborne particles that escape into the print shop during continuous operation. When inhaled into the lungs, this dust causes irreversible respiratory damage to factory workers.
Hongsam solves this by jetting a specialized liquid adhesive directly through digital printheads, bypassing the powder-shaking phase entirely. This adjustment makes the print shop significantly safer and more operator-friendly. Additionally, by removing the hot-melt powder, the finished transfer print achieves a much softer, highly flexible tactile feel, completely eliminating the stiff, thick plastic texture typical of old transfer methods.
We have designed this line as a fully integrated, all-in-one machine. Traditionally, powder-shaking setups required a standalone printer, a separate powder-application device, and an independent drying tunnel. We have vertically combined digital printing and flash-curing into a single, seamless chassis. This heavily reduces the physical footprint of the equipment, making it an ideal setup for high-end boutique studios, independent fashion designers, and local custom print shops. It serves as a major competitive tool for international export markets because shipping an integrated, space-saving machine simplifies maritime logistics and logistics overhead.
Balancing Innovation with Operational Manufacturing Costs
Kohan Textile Journal:
Q: Thank you for that detailed breakdown of your equipment. Given the extensive upgrades you just described—specifically the eco-friendly chemistry and the transition to powderless adhesive printing—how does Hongsam successfully balance these heavy technological upgrades against manufacturing costs for the end-user?
Mr. Chen Minggang:
A: That is a vital point. Hongsam Digital has always been completely dedicated to using eco-friendly, water-based ink solutions to achieve sustainable printing across an array of complex substrates. We continuously push to advance the underlying technology of industrial inkjet deposition. Naturally, bridging the gap between advanced research upgrades and raw manufacturing costs requires careful structural balance.
Take our powderless printing system as an example.
We have been actively promoting and developing this technology in the commercial market for four to five years now. While it completely eliminates solid adhesive powder, it replaces it with a digitally jetted liquid adhesive. On a raw chemical level, the manufacturing cost of this specialized adhesive is currently slightly higher than traditional powder lines.
However, as market adoption scales up and our production volumes and manufacturing batches expand, our chemical production costs are dropping through economies of scale. When you look at the total operational balance, the marginal cost increase of our powderless printing solution compared to old powder-shaking methods is minimal, making it highly cost-effective for modern cleanrooms.
Global Supply Infrastructure and International Operations
Kohan Textile Journal:
Q: Looking at your commercial footprint, which international markets does Hongsam currently export to, and what are your strategic expansion plans?
Mr. Chen Minggang:
A: Since our primary core competence is ink manufacturing—backed by over 26 years of continuous, large-scale industrial chemical ink production experience—we place immense strategic value on building international supply networks.
We maintain a highly dedicated overseas team of more than 30 international operations engineers who focus exclusively on supporting foreign equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and coordinating with overseas distribution networks. Our international partnerships are highly concentrated across major textile manufacturing hubs in Europe, the Americas, the Middle East, and Southeast Asia, where we collaborate closely with local agents and digital equipment providers. Because we are an ink manufacturer, our operations are vertically aligned with global machinery builders and international distributors to ensure complete formulation compatibility. Today, our international export volumes represent approximately 50% of Hongsam’s total corporate revenue, highlighting our heavy global reliance.
Closing Statements
Kohan Textile Journal:
Q: This has been incredibly insightful. Is there any final thought or strategic update you would like to add for our global audience?
Mr. Chen Minggang:
A: Yes. Because Hongsam Digital’s core expertise lies in industrial inkjet ink formulation, we place heavy emphasis on co-developing fluid solutions alongside international machinery builders. If global clients have specialized demands or require custom water-based technical solutions for unique substrates, they can connect directly with Hongsam. Our engineering teams are highly specialized in researching and breaking through technical barriers in eco-friendly, water-based digital printing. Our ultimate goal is to drive the sustainable development of the digital textile printing industry across both domestic and overseas markets.
