AMAYA UK
Web to Print technology helps DTG printers meet the demands of their customers
Apparel e-commerce and online shopping are growing rapidly , serving customers need for variety , personalization and self-expression and by so , changing the traditional supply chain from supply and demand to demand and supply .
Web-to-print solutions now offer high performance and reliable systems , a unique printing process that doesn ’ t require pretreating of the fabric and full software packages that supports online workflow . With these web-to-print solutions , sellers and manufactures can easily build a whole new automated production environment that seamlessly integrates in an online business operation , bringing to the market exactly what it needs .
Retail Decline
Over the last few years , retail apparel stores have been in a meltdown situation . In this same period online shopping has quadrupled in size . It ’ s so much easier now to do nearly all of your shopping online . With clothes , you can order them , try them on at home in your own time and then either keep them or return them . What ’ s more , you can now order in the evening and have your goods arrive next day . The same situation is now affecting the garment print industry . Clients are demanding shorter order to delivery times ; their orders are getting smaller and your profitability is getting lower .
Say Yes to Any Order
So how do you make money , save money and grow your business ? The answer is , say yes to any garment print job . Because the general market trend of printed garment
orders is getting lower , the cost of producing these by screen printing is getting much higher and , in some cases , not viable for orders of below 500 pieces . This also gets more expensive as you add more colours .
Screen printers have the cost of making the screens , cleaning the screens , preparing artwork , ink mixing and require more experienced operatives . So , this is why screen-printing companies generally refuse orders of one to 250 and why their margins are slashed with orders up to around 500 if they take on the job .
Add DTG Printers to Your Business
So how can screen printers say yes to any job ? The answer is to add direct to garment printers to their range of equipment . Direct to garment printers come in all shapes and sizes but to compete with the 100 + orders you would need to be looking at the fully industrial products that can easily print around a thousand garments in eight hours . One manufacturer has now introduced a printer with A3 size ink costs of around 0.50p . This compares very well with screen printing and allows garment decorators to say yes to every customer .
Use Web to Print Software
These new generation DTG printers also come with web to print software which allows for next day delivery when required . Some also have built in pre-treatment technology which cuts down on time and labour . These fully industrial printers come at a cost but if you have the throughput , their return on investment will surprise you . Low cost printers There are many lower cost printers available which will produce from 50 to 200 a day but these may frustrate many screen printers who are used to higher outputs . All of these printers require external pre-treatment which adds on to the process and labour costs . Another drawback to some of these printers is the cost per print so always check this , and speed , when making a decision .
Also available now are roll to roll fabric printers that can print one offs . This allows designers to produce a one-off dress or printed fabric for soft furnishing much more economically than in the past . For example , see www . spoonflower . com .
Print on Demand
Give your customers a print on demand service , in my opinion it is the only way forward for a profitable business and to satisfy your customers .
Please call Julian Wright on 02392 590281 to discuss Kornit Digital DTG equipment and Custom Gate web to print technology . www . amayauk . com .
20 APRIL 2021 twitter / facebook / instagram : @ trophexlive