supplier is taking 1 month+ to fullfill my order. How long in takes to print (screen print) on 2000 tshirts?

2848 Views 15 Replies 8 Participants Last post by selanac, May 10, 2014

Paulo F

Discussion Starter · May 6, 2014

Hi there,

I am a project manager and we just started selling shirts with our own designs.
After trying transfer we decided to go with screen print as we believe it gives the best print quality and its nicer on the touch.

Our problem is that the company that does the screen print for us takes "ages" to finish an order.

and i wonder how long it should take to full fill the following order:

11 design x 200 tshirts, grandtotal of 2200 tshirts.
most of the designs have 4+colours and the supplier is telling me he takes 2 days to print each design (200 shirts).

Is this so?
Is he pushing back my order because he knows i know nothing about how long it should take?
This way he can print a design for me,... then work on his northern customers order... then another of my designs... and so on.

Previosly we made an order on a diferent suppllier (transfer) and this supplier took about 10 days to full fill similar order, however it was not print screen.

So what do you think?

Best Regards,
Paulo

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Comin'OutSwingin

· #2 · May 6, 2014

Your printer is either incredibly busy and swamped with work, doesn't know what they're doing, or lying to you.

Most printers have a turnaround time of about 2 weeks (7-10 business days). Some have shorter turnaround times. Ask them what their normal turnaround time is, and why this job takes over 1 month.

2200 shirts isn't a lot shirts for most printers. Even someone with a small shop and a manual press could get that done in 2 weeks, including other orders.

Something's going on, and you need to find out what. The only way to do that would be to start asking questions. But if it's going to take over a month every time you need 2200 shirts, I'd start looking for another printer ASAP.

ChristFollower

· #3 · May 6, 2014

I agree with Greg. I have manuals only in my shop, and we could print 200 6C shirts a day quite easily. Even when I was a one man shop, I'd print 200 4C in a day including making screens.

If you like this printer, I'd discuss this with them and see what could be done to speed things up. I suspect he's a one man shop with a manual press and few screens. He/She is printing one day, then reclaiming/coating/burning screens the next.

This shop probably doesn't have the funds to purchase more screens (which is scary because, if you reject an order, how will a guy who doesn't have $80 for screens replace 200 shirts? But I digress) which is slowing their production while they basically watch paint dry. You could negotiate to pay upfront for screens which will be kept on file for you and not reclaimed. This could cut the production time to one day.

Ultimately, I think more shops close because they bite off more than they can chew than because of a lack of work. Regardless of why, if you're unhappy with what you're getting, there is an abundance of screen printing shops out there. A shop with a small auto could produce this order in a couple of days.

If this printer produces good quality, have a frank discussion with them. Even if you do ultimately leave for another printer, at least the current one will know why and have an opportunity to improve.

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Paulo F

Discussion Starter · #4 · May 6, 2014

Comin'OutSwingin said:
Your printer is either incredibly busy and swamped with work, doesn't know what they're doing, or lying to you.

Most printers have a turnaround time of about 2 weeks (7-10 business days). Some have shorter turnaround times. Ask them what their normal turnaround time is, and why this job takes over 1 month.

2200 shirts isn't a lot shirts for most printers. Even someone with a small shop and a manual press could get that done in 2 weeks, including other orders.

Something's going on, and you need to find out what. The only way to do that would be to start asking questions. But if it's going to take over a month every time you need 2200 shirts, I'd start looking for another printer ASAP.

I have been asking questions.. frequently.
The answer I get is that the shirts have too many colours and their equipment can only do 6 shirts at a time.

They told me the process is like this:
Place 6 shirts on the machine (printer?), 1 for each machine arm. Print the 1st colour. Wait for the ink to try, and then print another colour, wait for the color to dry... and so on until all the colours were printed on those 6 shirts. Only then they take this 6 shirts out of the machine and place 6 new shirt on the machine.. and the process starts over.

Is this correct?

I am afraid that I am being mislead due to my ignorance on the subject. Which is unfortunate because I am loosing sales and as such I order less from them as a consequence.
What I have been doing till now is... every 2-3 days I go and pick up 200 shirts (1 design)... this is definitely not working out.

Their quality is good (a part from the 20 or so shirts they sent me that had some back ink and stains that seemed to be grease)

I really wanted this to work out with them as they gave me the best price around (that I know of). We are very sensible to the prices as the market we are now trying to get into is used to buy at really low prices. If we cant provide a cheap shirt then we don't stand a chance.

I cant discuss prices in public but I do wonder if any of you could help me out with what is acceptable prices by pm?

Thank you for helping.

Best regards.
Paulo

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binki

· #5 · May 7, 2014

Doesn't sound right but maybe they don't have the equipment to do the job or don't know how to do it.

sister1

· #6 · May 7, 2014

We have lost several large orders to one-man "shops" with a heat gun and a work lamp, working out of their dad's pole barn, because they were willing to do the job for next to nothing. Customer ends up being unhappy with the finished product or the timing. A business with a commercial space and real equipment has overhead that has to be paid, and will have to make some money on their service to stay open, so that the customer can come back for another order.

If you can't get your merchandise out in front of paying customers, you're losing money, so the cheap, cheap price is costing you. I suggest you look for someone offering competitive pricing who can deliver in a timely fashion, because this guy won't be in business much longer.

selanac

· #7 · May 7, 2014

Don't understand why they have to wait for the ink to dry. Sounds like they're adding an ink additive to make it dry on it's own.

Normally, you load the 6 t-shirts, screen print one, flash it, move to the next one, screen print, flash it, and so on until you've done all six. Then do the 2nd color, etc. Once you've finished the first t-shirt with all colors, you flash, and someone else is standing there to take it off, and load a blank t-shirt.

Search YouTube for Screen Printing multiple colors.

Celtic

· #8 · May 8, 2014

selanac said:
Don't understand why they have to wait for the ink to dry. Sounds like they're adding an ink additive to make it dry on it's own.

Normally, you load the 6 t-shirts, screen print one, flash it, move to the next one, screen print, flash it, and so on until you've done all six. Then do the 2nd color, etc. Once you've finished the first t-shirt with all colors, you flash, and someone else is standing there to take it off, and load a blank t-shirt.

Search YouTube for Screen Printing multiple colors.

I have a feeling that's what the printer was telling their customer, Paulo, but since Paulo's not familiar with all of our terms, I'm just guessing that he didn't fully understand what the printer was trying to say, that after flashing, the print has to cool before the next screen is printed....

selanac

· #9 · May 8, 2014

If their loading six shirts the screen and platen would be cool. I hope their flashing on another platen anyway.

Celtic

· #10 · May 10, 2014

Agreed. I still wonder if there wasn't something lost in translation, so to speak........

Paulo F

Discussion Starter · #11 · May 10, 2014

Celtic said:
Agreed. I still wonder if there wasn't something lost in translation, so to speak........

What you mean?
I just said how they told me, they load 6 at a time, get those done and then load another 6.

I do have an update on what is going on.
I call them almost everyday, and finally yesterday they told me their equipment was being repaired since Monday (it doesnt explain the 1+ month waiting but more on that later), and that next Monday they will have a new Equipment + the one they have currently being repaired on working conditions.

They also told me they have been understaffed and finally that they just hired 1 new Production Manager, 1 New printer (told me some job name like Serigrapher) and 1 intern to help with the workload. They promised me that starting next week they will be a whole new company and able to meet deadlines..

I guess i have to wait till next week to know if this were empty promises...

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selanac

· #12 · May 10, 2014

You also said they have to wait for them to dry.

If they're professionals, they'd have a flash dryer and conveyor dryer for that size job.

It's a process of loading and screen printing one color at a time. Maybe you should visit the shop and ask to take a tour. Then go to another shop and do the same. This way you see how the process works.

A good shop would have it done in a week, even with a manual screen printer and conveyor dryer.

foot print

· #13 · May 10, 2014

If your current printer is taking this long to complete your order. He might be out of business before you know it. Find a more reliable shop even if cost you a little more $$.

Sent from my iPhone using TShirtForums app

ChristFollower

· #14 · May 10, 2014

Gals and Guys, I had some emails with Paulo and wanted to point out he is not in the U.S. - sometimes, availability of equipment and supplies is a real hurdle, and printers do the best they can with what they can get their hands on. I don't disagree with the concerns everyone is expressing, but - the printer may be doing their best in difficult circumstances. I think we in the U.S. and U.K. take availability of supplies and equipment for granted sometimes.

Still, there's plenty of ways to flash a shirt... so, I agree that this is a perplexing production flow at best.

Paulo F

Discussion Starter · #15 · May 10, 2014

selanac said:
You also said they have to wait for them to dry.

If they're professionals, they'd have a flash dryer and conveyor dryer for that size job.

It's a process of loading and screen printing one color at a time. Maybe you should visit the shop and ask to take a tour. Then go to another shop and do the same. This way you see how the process works.

A good shop would have it done in a week, even with a manual screen printer and conveyor dryer.

Yes, that is what they told me.
I meant to ask them about the flash dryer (after reading the initial posts here) but forgot about it, i guess i was so relieved with their assurances tha it just slipped my mind.

I will ask the this week, probably Monday.
A tour would be nice although i wouldn't know what to look for...

selanac

· #16 · May 10, 2014

Look for what equipment they have. Screen Printing Press. Number of Platens on the press. The platens is where you load the t-shirt.

The Flash Dryer is what they use to put over the t-shirt to partially dry it so you can put the next color on.

Since you're not in the US, we don't know what type of screen printing press they have. Most of us in the US use a Rotary screen printing press. Search YouTube videos for Screen Printing presses in the USA. Look up Flash Dryers, and Conveyor Dryers.

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