German start-up Ink2Heart has installed an Inkcups X5-T High Throw printer to produce on-demand personalised drinkware in Saxony.
German start-up Ink2Heart has invested in an Inkcups X5-T High Throw flatbed inkjet printer to launch its on-demand drinkware printing service. Based in Saxony, the company was founded in 2025 by print specialist Richard Müller to make short-run product personalisation practical and cost-effective for both retail and corporate customers.
Drawing on two decades of print industry experience, Müller selected digital direct-to-object printing over traditional screen or pad methods to cut setup times, eliminate tooling costs, and remove minimum order requirements. The flatbed system enables variable data printing on rigid items, allowing the business to treat individual custom items and multi-piece corporate orders through the same streamlined digital workflow.
Founder and Managing Director at Ink2Heart, Richard Müller, commented, “With traditional printing processes, setup times, tooling, and other production steps can make very small runs economically challenging. With digital direct-to-object printing, we can change the content from one product to the next. A customer might order 100 bottles and every bottle can have a different name. For us, this is not 100 complicated individual production jobs. It is one digital production order containing 100 individual products.”
The X5-T High Throw forms the backbone of Ink2Heart’s core drinkware range, decorating stainless-steel thermal bottles, tumblers, mugs, and shakers for clubs, events, and businesses. Using high-throw jetting technology, the press prints sharp colour graphics across curved or uneven items with up to a 25 per cent wrap, while also handling odd-shaped industrial goods such as power tools.
Müller added, “Sustainability starts with what and how much is produced. Our business model is based on personalising products to order. This means we don’t have to produce large quantities and keep them in stock. We produce what is actually ordered. The X5-T High Throw gives us the ability to put into practice what we want to achieve with Ink2Heart, combining the flexibility of individual personalisation with the quality and efficiency of professional industrial production.”
Ink2Heart selected Inkcups following months of print trials, pointing to technical onboarding and responsive field support as decisive factors in getting production up and running quickly. With the machinery operational and generating daily revenue, the company plans to use the platform as a base to expand its personalised product offering across Germany.