How and why the first ATPColor 5-meter installed in the world is at AlPAC, and how that installation helped the company make the statement,
«We are more than a printing company. »

Our core business is not printing, but our complete suite of services. We offer everything from design and project management, the excellence of made in Italy manufacturing, single point of contact convenience and installation worldwide, from Paris to Miami.
Mauro Oliva 
AD di ALPAC

 

ALPAC

Vision

ALPAC wants to offer its high end customers a new product, something unique and sophisticated that isn’t already stepped in competition. They opted for 5-meter printing on fabric: it’s environmentally friendly but most importantly it offers a unique look and feel compared to PVC.

Operational obstacle

ALPAC’s CEO wants to avoid non-sublimation textile printing, as that feels to be a departure from the core offerings and the ethos of the company. Although they have never offered anything like it, they want to dive into textile printing with a 5-meter dye sublimation printer.

Solution

ATPcolor was recommended by a friend in the print industry, and the excellent experience with the brand was confirmed by several other people and companies within the industry. After spending some time researching, AlpAc became the first company in the world to install a OneTex 5200.

Stampante a Alpac

Why ALPAC chose ATPColor OneTex 5200

  • Printing and heat setting times are minimal thanks to the integrated calender, so there is more time available for packaging and delivery (a crucial aspect for many high-end projects)
  • Eco-sustainable products such as prints with water-based inks on recycled polyester fabric undergo fewer checks and slowdowns at customs
  • The 5.2 meter print light allows customers to offer superwide products without seams and inspire a new creative offering for them
  • The print quality, the brightness of the colors and the beauty of the on fabric are essential characteristics for medium-high end customers
  • ATPColor and Alpac are physically and philosophically close: this translates into timely assistance and sharing of core values

 

ALPAC is a company of undeniable sophistication. It has an architecturally refined location; the interior design is studied in every detail; the spaces are airy and contemporary. Smiling and elegant individuals welcome us into their facility. Mauro Oliva is a distinguished, relaxed, warm and kind man. He accompanies us to the meeting room on the first floor, from which you can view an immaculate production department.

Oliva is one of the three partners of ALPAC. In his less than 15 years he has managed to steadily grow the staff size from 3 to 50 employees, as well as their high-profile customer portfolio - almost all major brands in the retail luxury and fashion world (Intimissimi, Harmont & Blaine, North Sails, Loro Piana, DoDo, Ermenegildo Zegna, Prada, Pomellato, Marina Rinaldi).
We can’t call ourselves a print company, he begins surprisingly. Of course, we are, but we are also many other things: tailors, graphic designers, creatives, fitters, fabricators, carpenters, he explains. He does not exaggerate: his company has all these departments and a few more (logistics, administration, branding, and communication). In ALPAC, an artist also works alongside designers and production specialists, who intervene in more complex projects by developing creative and original solutions in terms of materials, processes, and final results.

The big retail brands are looking for a company who is willing to take full responsibility for a project.

ALPAC is not just a production company: I would rather call it a service company, continues Oliva. It is indeed our service that makes us unique. Our customers come to us because they know that we are able to follow a project from start to finish, from design to installation, all over the world. By interpreting the needs of major brands, they are able to offer a single point of contact for all aspects of a creative project which means minimizing production times and costs. In addition to the risks associated with the shipping of materials; it also means keeping a tight control on the overall production process, assigning the management of the challenges linked to international transport (which is becoming more complicated year over year) to an experienced supplier and having the ability to expect and receive the highest quality deliverables every time are not only of the reality of the projects but also of their assembly and installation. What our customers are looking for, and are willing to pay significant amounts for, is a partner capable of taking full responsibility for a project and bringing it to fruition within the agreed times and methods, says Oliva.

With the OneTex 5200 a world has opened up that we could not have imagined, within and even outside of the retail market.

The decision to invest in a 5.2 meter dye sublimation printer is part of a business strategy that sees printing as part of a much larger ecosystem. With the choice of sublimation technology, it was decided to focus on a trend that is still not very strong among retail brands, but which will likely gain importance in the near future: environmental-sustainability. At the moment, this technology is enjoying success among ALPAC customers for its technical performance: rapidity of the printing and heat-fixing process, brilliant colors, the familiar and natural look and feel of the fabric material, absence of odor and ease of transport. Added to these is the possibility of creating large-scale prints and backdrops without seams: This is a need that brands didn’t know they had, comments Oliva this is who we want to be for our clients, the partner who shows them what’s possible beyond their expectations. Thanks to the 5-meter width, ALPAC has been able to venture outside the retail market: The word has spread, and we have carried out previously unthinkable projects: backdrops for cinema and television, covering of monuments such as the Cathedral of Saint Paul and the London Eye and even the Ferris wheel of London during the launch of the Spiderman film says Oliva.

Staying within the borders, following already written paths is not part of the DNA of ALPAC and its partners. So in 2018 they created Zelo21, e-commerce of design objects. Mauro Oliva says: We wanted a place to collect beautiful things. So we created it. All Zelo21 products are selected with care and taste. Many of them are made or customized by ALPAC: from labels of the scented candles with vintage flavor to Scandinavian-inspired wooden animal-shaped remote working stations.

 

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