Hi Gang. I am discovered this site while surfing for short run solutions. We are a typical "ASI" type promo products distributor and we work with the wholesale supplier/printers such as Dunbrooke, Wear Magic, Vantage, etc. We currently do no printing "in-house".
We are looking for a solution to short run orders as all of our suppliers have at least a 24 piece minimum on shirts. This is usually ok for the first run but for clients like sports teams and church groups, they often need less than 24 as follow-up or filler orders.
We have been investigating purchasing a heat transfer system and actually looked at the Profit Pro #3 system from Best Blanks. At approximately $5,800, I just can't seem to make the numbers work. I can't see how I can make enough profit (especially considering the value of my time to stand over this machine) on the short runs to justify equipment purchase. Right now, I just send the PO and the art to the factory and I have my final product in 2 weeks. No production time from me.
So you might say, "Don't so short runs". The problem is that these are sometimes leaders to the larger orders. Furthermore, I would love to be able to make some speculative samples for the sports teams (fundraisers, concession stand sales, etc.) but right now, I can't just order 1 from my suppliers.
Anyone have any suggestions for our short run issues?
That's tough... cause if you do 24 shirts screen printed... then they want 8 more and you give them a DTG or heat transfer, its not going to be the same. You may want to work with your screen printer more, give them heads up to see if they can hold the screens for 1-3 days if you think your going to have a reorder. We do it for clients, if they ask.
Maybe try to find someone locally that already has the type of heat press setup you are looking at. You will pay more for the short runs, but will have no investment in equipment or time to produce.
__________________ 350tees.com Talk Is Cheap, Especially On Our Shirts
Maybe try to find someone locally that already has the type of heat press setup you are looking at. You will pay more for the short runs, but will have no investment in equipment or time to produce.
I guess I was concerned about trying to approach a percieved competitor in my market.
I think your right. The retail price of $5,800 is screaming for an unsuspecting person to drop a lot of coin on a turn key package with hopes of quitting his "real job" in 30 days .
I could certainly piece together something for less. My thought was, if I am going to invest in the technology go ahead and get it all (that system includes the 16 X 20 press, the mug press, 2 Epson 1280s, one for inkjet and one for dye sub and bulk toner systems for both). I can piece this together much cheaper. However, where can I find a good resource for calculating what my actual print costs will be per unit (transfer paper, ink, power, ect..) I still don't know if I get everything on the cheap if I could make the numbers work.
It's very difficult to calculate the actual amount of ink you consume for a particular project. Fortunately, ink costs is not a major factor in costing, transfer paper costs & your time are the biggest factors. Ofcourse, you have to check out the market around you and see what the competition offers.
Here is an example. My dealer cost from one of my wholesale supplier/print shops on a Gildan 50/50 / White / with 2-color / 1-location screen / qty of 24 is $6.25 plus shipping and a 1-time screen set up of $10.
Can I see these kind of numbers in short run production?
I guess I should also clarify that we are not looking to be a "T-shirt company". We are more of a marketing and advertising consulting company and we sell branded apparel, promo items, printed collateral on the back end. We have gotten into some of the sports teams and church markets recently just from personal involvement with our children. We are not trying to set up a retail shop or online sales. We would possibly set up online sales of specific designs for a particular team or group but no mass online sales. We are actively looking for bulk orders from some of the school systems, county governments, etc. but it seems as though I keep running into the short run issue on apparel and other goods (especially signs).
You are running into the same problem that forces a lot of others to have the order minimums -- Time.
If you want to set up a short run capability, you're going to have to spend a significant amount of time setting up and doing the job. Unfortunately, the setup and art tweaking is what takes the longest.
I would recommend you look into a heat press, laser printer and transfers. It's probably the least time intensive combination (that I've found anyway). The results are acceptable for most uses. Scratch that, most artwork on white shirts. It will give you the ability to take the artwork, scale it, print it and press it in a just a few minutes.
16x16 (minimum) press
wide format laser printer
Duracotton (or similar) type paper.
It won't be cheap but you said that this is just a way to land more orders, right?
Rodney's suggestion of a vinyl cutter is also a good way to go but it will mean more materials, converting artwork to vectors, weeding, maintaining a stock of colors, limiting you to 2-3 color jobs, etc.
You can also look at a DTG setup but I don't think it will save you much time and will cost at least 2-3 times as much.
Thanks for all the input guys. I guess I did not realize the capabilities of vinyl cut. I always think of that like the big plastic letters on the back of the jerseys.
I like the idea of just owning the press and ordering the transfers. This is a possibility. I know I have seen some threads in here about ordering custom transfers. There is so much info in this forum. I feel like I am drinking from a fire hose right now
Thanks for all the input guys. I guess I did not realize the capabilities of vinyl cut. I always think of that like the big plastic letters on the back of the jerseys.
I like the idea of just owning the press and ordering the transfers. This is a possibility. I know I have seen some threads in here about ordering custom transfers. There is so much info in this forum. I feel like I am drinking from a fire hose right now
Yep, follow that plastisol transfers link above (in my post) and in that post, it answers all the questions about plastisol transfers, including where to order custom transfers from.
There's a lot of possibilities once you own a heat press.
We have been investigating purchasing a heat transfer system and actually looked at the Profit Pro #3 system from Best Blanks. At approximately $5,800, I just can't seem to make the numbers work.
To me, this is similar to saying, "I could really use a large vehicle to make deliveries, but I can't afford a brand new Hummer."
I like the idea of just owning the press and ordering the transfers.
Having the press definitely opens up possibilities. However, you're still going to hit the small order limit when ordering transfers. You'll also have to deal with artwork and setup fees that will drive the per transfer cost up. Keep that in mind. It's no different than ordering up printed shirts from your supplier.
Solution for Short Runs 
www.busyPrinting.com
Heat Transfer Paper Price List
