Revealing the "strategic acquisition" yesterday (11 August), Israel-based Kornit Digital said Custom Gateway’s platform will supplement its own Konnect platform for visibility and control of print operations, offering its customers “valuable business insights for agility in the face of market dynamics and disruption”.
“I am very pleased to announce the acquisition of Custom Gateway as we augment our market-leading capabilities with their powerful software, which we’ve evaluated thoroughly, including via several strategic customers we share,” said Kornit Digital chief executive Ronen Samuel.
“Brands, retailers, suppliers, and fulfillers of all sizes stand to grow considerably through digital transformation, and with Custom Gateway, Kornit will revolutionise on-demand digital textile production with a unique end-to-end solution, giving us a powerful competitive advantage in the market.”
Kornit said Custom Gateway is suitable for both B2B and B2C business models and enables content sourcing, creation, content management and display at the front-end.
Orders created via the platform are captured by a robust order management system and directed to the appropriate back-end production sites using sophisticated routing algorithms.
Once orders proceed to the production floor, they are smartly routed and managed to allow for efficient on-demand production on a mass scale. The entire process, from order creation to shipment, is integrated with existing IT environments, data-driven decisioning and business intelligence analytics.
Custom Gateway has more than 300 active customers globally, including fashion retailer Next as well as other sports, fashion and content brands.
Kornit confirmed to Printweek that Custom Gateway's name and branding will be retained "for the time being" and that the company will remain at its current Macclesfield site "for the forseeable future", with the management team remaining as is. The business has around 50 staff and all of its team members have been kept on following the acquisition.
Custom Gateway chief executive Andrew Talbot said: “We’re excited about bringing these two creative cultures together and know from experience that Kornit and Custom Gateway are built upon a common vision.
“Together, we will provide global brands and fulfillers optimal control of their business, ensuring swift, socially responsible fulfilment, and in a profitable model that produces and ships orders in real time, without excess inventory or labour.”
