Arriving in October 2024, the Zimmer Rotascreen TG will be commissioned in November and will start production in earnest in early 2025.
Equipped with 12 printheads, the machine is capable of up to 120m/min production speeds, and features a magnetic pressure system that gives uniform application across the width of the print and digital synchronisation for better accuracy, shorter setup times, and automatic repeat settings.
The first major upgrade to the firm’s camouflage printing machinery in decades, the Zimmer will go in alongside a “very mature” Stork RD4 rotary textile printer with 19 heads.
“Conservatively, we’ll triple our output,” said Mike Collins, managing director of Pincroft.
He told Printweek: “It’s not just the next generation [of printer], we’re skipping a number of generations by installing this kind of technology. We’ll keep the existing asset, and it will give us a total capacity of eight million metres a year.”
Pincroft’s expansion comes at a time of surging military budgets around Europe, as NATO members come under pressure to spend the full 2% of GDP they committed to spend on national security when signing up to the treaty.
Given that many of Pincroft’s clients are overseas – it exports to more than 80 countries – this has given the company license to ramp up its capacity.
“A lot of money has come into the sector. As we sit here today, there’s no relaxing in peoples’ stance towards homeland security – the world seems to be a very volatile place at the moment,” Collins said.
Pincroft is a historic business, with roots stretching back 130 years as commission textile dyers. In 2024, it employs 161, turning over around £50m annually, with camouflage print making up around 15% of revenues.
“As we look forward to the years ahead, the complexity of the solutions that the military requires is increasing, and it demands a lot of asset time. Without that surplus capacity [afforded by the new Zimmer press], you can’t fit your customers’ needs, or develop for the future. So that was very much at the forefront of our minds,” Collins said.
“We’re very excited to see the machine in place. We’re excited about the extra capacity, the opportunities that can bring in terms of growth and the improved offering we’ll be able to bring to our customers, both present and future,” he added.
“We’ve got an awful lot of expertise, and we get along well within the defence sector. There’s a lot we can bring, from a solution standpoint, to multiple future partners.”
Pincroft operates from a 35,000sqm factory near Chorley, Lancashire, alongside sister companies Altex and Carrington.
