Hello, to start off with, I love this forum. I just signed up and have already gathered allot of information.
For a little background. I work for a company that current presses approx 75,000 garments a year. Currently we have heat transfers made offsite for us. Have them shipped in and then manually heat press them onto garments such as shirts, pants, etc. The problem is setup costs for the heat transfers to be made, and the minimum orders on transfers. Currently we are sitting on $120,000 in inventory of transfers. So of course I am looking for an alternative. Which brings me here.
I have been working with a few companies researching DTG printers. So far. the Kornit 931D is standing out. But also looking at multiple T-jet 3's. After reading allot of the posts on this forum the t-jet 3 seems to be based for more low to medium qty's. As I stated before we currently do 75,000 units a year. With growth looking to double or triple that in the next year. So figure 150,000 units in the next year or two. The Kornit seems to be more of an industrial machine built for what we are looking to do. A few nice things im noticing off hand is the automatic pretreatment, lower labor costs to operate the machine, brighter colors, faster. Downside, Cost. But in the end, after purchasing the machine, we will still be saving approx $6000 - $8000 a month.
Now for the questions. We currently print on more than just shirts. We print logos on the legs and butt of sweat pants and Capri pants, hats, and mesh type athletic shorts. Will the Kornit printer print on these items. I understand hats are a different issue, so let’s ignore them at this point. I have been speaking with a rep for Kornit and they say users have found a way to print on pants and shorts, etc. They also stated mesh short shouldn't be an issue, except for if they are dark in color. Any input?
I am looking for any real work experiences, info, thoughts, comments, ideas, anything. I am completely new to DTG printers so any info, please share.
My real experience is with the T-jet and other offerings from USSPIT but I have done some research on the Kornit. You may have already gathered this information but I have read that shirts will need A LOT of tweaking and have a large learning curve to make the shirts come out how you want them to, I am not sure how that will play into your business model but it is something to consider. I know Tom from futureprint has done a lot of testing with the Kornit so he could help you with that machine.
As for the T-jet3 I know they offer a package that will have one machine that only prints white ink and one that does color, this allows you to greatly speed up production times. For the numbers that you are talking about I would think that you would need maybe three t-jet3s. Another option would be to move up and get a larger machine like the jumbo2 (listed 80-130 Light shirts an hour) or if you are feeling like dropping 250,000 the ProHV that can print 150 to 300 LIGHT shirts an hour with dark shirts taking up more time.
From what I have seen, you can print on to any type of garment (that is shirts to pants, but not any type of fabric) if you can find a way to secure the garment to the platten, keep the flat / horizontal to the printhead and to keep the extra part of the garment from hitting the rest of the machine. Thus, it comes down to have a platten that will work for the type of garment you are printing. Some of the dtg manufacturers have come up with specific type plattens for certain garments (see the Brother machine for a sleeve platten). Most of the plattens were designed by dtg users that were creative and have the ability to get a metal shop to work with them. The key is to make sure that the garment gets really close to the printhead, but does not touch it. Just make sure that the seams, zippers, pockets...are not higher than what you are printing. Best wishes.
If the plattens are just metal "trays" that is No Problem. My hobby is custom car fab. So working with sheet metal, welding and such is nothing for me. Maybe if I design custom plattens other people may be interested? I am working on getting an total install price setup for the company. Does anyone have a complete list of required info? Such as I know the unit requires 208v 3 phase, compressed air, etc. I think i remember seeing somewhere it needs a drain and fresh water supply, but im not sure. On the dryer they are saying it requires 208v 3 phase and a gas line.
This was posted by Tom (csquared mentioned him in an earlier post) who is going through the process of getting a Kornit. Might want to send him a PM to see what if anything he can help you with.
If I were doing 150,000 garment prints a year I would not even consider the T-jet or other DTG printer alternatives. The savings on ink cost, consumables and labour alone will pay off the Kornit in a year vs the T-jet.
The problem is setup costs for the heat transfers to be made, and the minimum orders on transfers. Currently we are sitting on $120,000 in inventory of transfers.
Keep in mind your solution could be as easy as just finding a different transfer printer with smaller minimums and lower (or zero) setup fees. There are lots to choose from.
One of the benefits of transfers is that they don't have high minimums and setup fees.
We are looking at the 931DS. One issue we are running into is power. 3 phase is not available in our location, We do however have an extra 200amp service we do not use. I have been talking with some single phase to 3 phase converters and they look promising. One company in paticular designs their converters for CNC machines and computer controller devices. They have been used with many units such as HP Indigo printing press. So something like this would work. Has anyone else ran into this issue? Solutions?
Nothing against the TJet3 but even purchasing several will put you no where in the same class as the Kornit. Sure it's pricey, but with the speed and the success of white printing on dark garments, if your business model warrants the purchase, I wouldn't look at any other thing on the market at this point. And with $120,000 in inventory in transfers, my guess is your business warrants it.
Kornit vs T-Jet 
