Fifth Column Expands Short-Run Apparel Production with Kornit Atlas MAX PLUS
UK garment decorator moves from traditional screen printing to digital production for multicolor, customised and print-on-demand orders
UK garment decorator Fifth Column has expanded its apparel decoration capabilities with the installation of a Kornit Atlas MAX PLUS system. The investment supports the company’s production of short-run, full-colour apparel, print-on-demand orders, customised garments, samples and lower-volume digital decoration services across the UK.
Based in the United Kingdom, Fifth Column provides garment decoration services including screen printing, embroidery, digital printing, garment finishing and print-on-demand production. Its customers include breweries, music merchandise companies, workwear providers, designer brands and retail businesses.
The installation marks a shift from traditional screen-printing workflows towards digital production, allowing the company to handle lower-volume multicolour orders and provide greater production flexibility.
“For years, we felt the DTG technology simply wasn’t ready for the production standards we required,” said Damian Rys of Fifth Column. “Years ago, we had smaller DTG systems, but the print durability and reliability simply weren’t good enough for professional production. With Kornit, we finally saw a solution advanced enough to fit our business.”
Fifth Column Moves Towards Digital Production
Fifth Column first connected with Kornit Digital during FESPA 2025 before attending a Kornit customer event at HFT71 in Poland. The company subsequently experienced the capabilities of the Atlas MAX PLUS platform.
“The Atlas MAX Plus demonstrated a level of automation, durability, and print performance that significantly exceeded previous generations of DTG technology,” Rys explained. “Durability was always our biggest concern, but Kornit completely changed our perception of what digital production could deliver.”
Fifth Column installed its first Atlas MAX PLUS system in April and became fully operational within weeks.
The company also identified Kornit’s All-Inclusive Click (AIC) commercial model and onboarding support as factors in its investment decision. The AIC model allows Fifth Column to manage production costs while supporting scalable digital production without large upfront capital investments.
Digital Printing Supports Lower-Volume Orders
Fifth Column historically maintained minimum order quantities of approximately 250 pieces for multicolour screen-printed jobs because of the operational requirements associated with setup, colour matching, screen preparation and sampling.
With digital production, the company can now support customised multicolour orders of 50 to 250 pieces that were previously operationally impractical through traditional screen-printing workflows.
The new production setup also supports sample creation and customer approvals while providing greater flexibility for lower-volume apparel manufacturing.
“Fifth Column is a strong example of how screen printers are leveraging digital production to expand flexibility, support shorter production runs, and create more agile customer-focused manufacturing environments,” said Guy Yaniv, President of Kornit Digital Europe. “Their adoption of Kornit technology demonstrates how modern garment decorators can successfully combine traditional production expertise with advanced digital capabilities to unlock new growth opportunities.”