Brian Walker turns his attention to how garment decoration businesses can profit from adopting direct-to-garment digital printing technology.
Direct-to-garment digital printing (referred to here as inkjet garment
printing, or IGP for short), has opened up a whole new segment of the apparel decorating market that previously was harder to capture or capitalise on.
Just as embroidery brought in new customers and sales for many textile screen printing businesses,so too has the new world of IGP.
The phrase, “look before you leap” is
especially applicable when you are considering
entering into IGP. As with any
good business model you must have a
plan in place to give you focus, direction,
and goals. This business model will help
you to define the uses of the technology
available to you, and the customers you
should be targeting in order to employ your inkjet garment printer to it
fullest, most profitable potential. Without going into specific business
models, I will take a look at the wide variety of customers and uses that
are open to those of you that choose to ‘go digital’.
The first thing is to realise that the IGP industry is still in its infancy. This could be a good thing for you, as the market is yet to reach a point where it is saturated with businesses trying to sell products produced with an inkjet garment printer. This means that you are in the best possible position to exploit the market to its fullest extent, whilst maintaining the maximum profitability you can. As a result, you can expect to earn your return on investment quickly. But who will you target to earn this return?
Profitability
First, bear in mind that each garment decorating method has its own
unique advantages that make it most suitable for particular applications.
In the case of IGP, these advantages are: quick, single- to full-colour reproductions, with little to no setup or teardown times.
Perhaps you have just screen printed a 500 shirt order for your best customer
and you have already torn down the screens, reclaimed them and
moved on to other jobs, (not to mention the fact it was a 6-colour print,
front and back). The customer comes back the day after you reclaimed
your screens and is in a panic. You have shorted the order by three shirts.
Their dilemma is that they “have to have” these shirts for their biggest
client or the client will take all their future orders to your customer’s competition.
So, like the service-focused printer you
are you end up spending hours you don’t
have to re-burn, set-up, print and tear
down the job, bumping other orders that
have to be done also, so you don’t lose
your customer. This is where the IGP
can save you not only time, but money.
Instead of spending six hours trying to
reprint those three shirts, you can accomplish
three inkjet garment prints of the
design within minutes, satisfying the customer,
and saving your future business
with that customer into the bargain.
If you are a traditional screen printer
doubtless you will have had people come
into your shop and ask you if they can get
just one screen printed shirt. Some printshops gladly oblige, not taking
into account the fact that they are probably losing money, (unless they
are able to charge an incredible amount of money for that one-off printed
shirt, which is rare).
However, the single shirt order, or those jobs where people want just a
couple of shirts printed, become a great source of profitable new business
for any garment decorator operating an IGP machine. And when a customer
wants multicolour prints in quantities of fewer than 24-36 shirts,
profitability becomes exponentially high. This is where inkjet garment
printing really shines: see for yourself – take a look at a cross section of
jobs in this table.
Retail T-Shirt Pricing Structure and Breakdown for Digitally Printed Shirts
1
2-3
4-6
7-12
13-18
19-24
25-36
37-48
49-60
61-200
Price retail
£7.50
£7.00
£6.00
£5.00
£4.50
£4.00
£3.75
£3.50
£3.25
£3.00
Cost
£1.89
£1.89
£1.89
£1.89
£1.89
£1.89
£1.89
£1.89
£1.89
£1.89
Net per shirt
£5.62
£5.11
£4.11
£3.11
£2.61
2.11
£1.86
£1.61
£1.36
£1.11
£
Total net per run
£5.62
£12.78
£20.55
£29.55
£40.46
£45.37
£56.73
£68.43
£74.12
£144.86
Average Production Time
6.5
8.75
12.5
19.25
28.25
37.25
50.75
68.75
86.75
200.75
Average Net per Hour
£51.87
£87.67
£98.64
£92.20
£85.78
£73.05
£66.94
£59.53
£51.14
£43.46
Average Net per Day
£29.57
£49.97
£56.22
£52.55
£48.89
£41.64
£38.16
£33.93
£29.15
£24.77
Total profit per week
£147.85
£249.85
£281.10
£262.75
£244.45
£208.20
£190.80
£169.65
£145.75
£123.85
Total profit per month
£591.40
£999.40
£1124.40
£1051.00
£977.80
£832.80
£763.20
£678.60
£583.00
£495.40
Capital/Labour Costs:
Set-up time per job
5 minutes
Production time per job
1.5 minutes
Lease payment per month
£225.00
Number of shirts printed per month
500
Hours production per day
0.57
Hourly labour rate for employee
£7.50
Associated Costs:
Shirt
£0.75
Ink
£0.50
Av. Labour
£0.19
Av. Lease
£0.45
Total Cost of Shirt
£1.89
There are several assumptions I am going to make with the aforementioned
job concerning the decorator’s business. Assume that they are
going to be printing only 500 shirts per month with their inkjet garment
printer. Also, that it is going to take about 5 minutes per job to load it from the disk and send it to the printer (our setup time per job). Also, take into account that it will be about 90 seconds to load and print the job as well as pay someone £7.50 per hour to stand there and print these jobs. Unless they paid cash for their printer there also might be a monthly lease on the equipment.
(For simplicity's sake I did not take into account overhead, but
it could be calculated by expanding the spreadsheet).
The interesting thing you will notice is that the ‘cost’ line is the cost of the printed garment and that it is basically consistent no
matter how many garments are printed. This is a characteristic feature of IGP: the basic cost of the garment will be much the same (garment,
ink, lease, labour) no matter the quantity you print (garment price breaks excluded ). There are virtually no economies of scale since there
are negligible setup or teardown costs: it is just garment cost, ink and print time, where the print time per garment will remain consistent whether
you print one shirt or 100 shirts.
Another interesting feature of printing digitally
is the potential profitability per hour. In our scenario
profit is above £50/hour until the 60-200 range and it almost hits £100/hour in the 4-6 garment range. Many screen printing shops
don’t realise profit centres like this. One thing to
remember is that this is with just a single person
running a single machine.
So, we can safely say that even though you
might screen print, you probably would turn
down a job where someone only wanted four
shirts that had six colours in the printed design.
However, if you were employing IGP technology
you could secure that customer and provide
them with an awesome looking full-colour print.
Thus you have provided the customer with what
they needed where a normal screen printer
wouldn’t, and you have secured a tidy little profit
in the process. You also have potentially secured
repeat business from that customer in the future:
that may be further orders for four shirts,
or it could be an order for 1000 printed uniforms
for their company’s staff. The fact is, you’ve just
increased the chances of securing their business
in the longer term, rather than passing it to one
of your competitors. So, small runs normally
turned away with traditional decorating methods
equal a nice profit margin using inkjet garment
printing technology.
Potential IGP customers
Literally everyone is a potential customer for
your inkjet garment printer. As noted above, the
customer who needs only a few shirts or needs a
full-colour design in limited quantities are target
customers. Some additional avenues for generating
new business might include:
Contract printing for other garment
decorators;
School groups or clubs that need only 1-20
shirts with multicolour prints;
Restaurants that need new shirts for
employees a couple at a time;
Sports teams
Exhibition/shows, (the portability of inkjet
machines makes it possible to ‘go mobile’ at
car shows, swap meets and so on);
Retail customers, (custom work as well as
offering hundreds of designs ready to print);
Shopping mall/centre booth/kiosk or store
front, (especially during holiday seasons);
Online sales of your own custom designs
catering to a specific niche.
I always tell customers that you are only limited
by your imagination. With IGP you have to ‘think
outside the box’, because the ‘old rules’ cry out
to be bent or broken to increase sales and profitability.
My business has a retail storefront that is not
on the main road. However, in 2006, we decided
to go to the local shopping centre and set up a
store front. Besides the additional public awareness
of our business, we were able to produce
custom shirts on the spot for people – both
simple lettering, and designs requiring more
artwork and setup.
Some markets may allow you to charge more than others for the finished
garment, but the concept is the same: you are
selling a premium product that is customised,
giving it greater value to the customer and thus
making it more pro. table for you. The final
days before Christmas we literally had people
stacked five deep waiting to get a custom shirt
printed out on our inkjet garment printer – of
their dog, their children, or just something as a
gag gift. And it was profitable.
Outside the box
The whole concept of inkjet garment printing
opens new doors and customers to your
business that normally would not have been
pro. table or you would have had to turn away.
Now, the simplicity and ease with which you can
produce a garment allows you to capture orders
that previously would have been only available
with a lot more capital investment and time. The
inkjet garment printer has unleashed the creativity
and pro. tability of many business owners.
Just remember to keep ‘thinking outside the
box’.
IMAGES is published by: CN Publishing, 9a, Kings Road, Flitwick, Bedfordshire, MK45 1ED, England.
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IMAGES website designed and hosted by Cyberscreen Internet Services
Brian Walker started in the industry in 1987 while still in high school, and shortly after opened his first screen printing business.
He graduated from the Ohio State University in 1994 with a BSBA in Business Administration/Transportation & Logistics.
While building his screen printing business he started the software company CD Tees Software, developer of the T-Quoter shop management software package. In 2005, he purchased his first DTG machine, for CD Tees (his screen printing and embroidery store front). The same year CD Tees was appointed as a distributor for the Brother GT-541.
Direct2Shirt.com is the company's digital sales side, which covers the sales of inkjet garment printers, supplies, transfer presses, conveyor dryers, inkjet printable films for screen printers, as well as other items.
Brian's company is also responsible for the fast growing DTG forums at www.inkjetgarmentprinters.comwhere people can find information on many of the digital garment printers on the market and keep up with the current trends in the industry.
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Most recent articles by Brian Walker:
Investing in Digital
Brian Walker offers some buying tips for businesses looking to invest in their first direct-to-garment digital
garment printer…
Inkjet garment printing: creating a buzz
Brian Walker kicks off a new series of articles looking at how garment decorators can profit from the latest direct-to-garment digital printing technology. Here, he provides a general introduction to the DTG process: what it can do, and what it can’t…
Other articles that may be of interest:
Dane Clement
Optimising Photos for Print
IMAGES' computer graphics expert, Dane Clement provides some essential tips on how to manipulate
photographic files to give the best possible printed results…
Dane Clement
Using Layer Styles for Digital Prints
Dane Clement explains how Photoshop's Layer Styles can help you to optimise your artwork for direct-to-garment digital prints, and provides a step-by-step workthrough to show how it's done..
Target Transfers
Your Digital Printing Choices
Which digital printing system would best meet your commercial short-run requirements? Robin Bull,of Target Transfers, summarises the options, and explains why he believes print/cut to be the most rounded of all the digital print technologies currently ava
Geoff Baxter
Direct-to-garment Troubleshooting
Geoff Baxter, of M&R, looks at the most common causes of poor quality direct-to-garment digital prints and provides expert solutions to ensure top quality results every time…
Dane Clement
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Dane Clement explains how to create a digital underbase for a direct-to-garment printer…
Johnny Shell
Direct-to-Garment inkjet devices - a technology update.
Direct-to-garment digital printing has come of age
in 2007, and if the rumours are to be believed, it is
set to make further technological leaps ahead over
the next 12 months. Johnny Shell provides the
timely advice and information
SG Brand launches with BTC
SG is being launched in the UK following the merger with BTC activewear by Falk&Ross in March of this year. The merger allows BTC activewear to truly provide their customers with the very best support and service in the industry, and it now enables them to exclusively bring SG to you. With their mid-year CataList out now the BTC activewear team thought it was ideal timing to introduce the SG brand to the UK market.
So who is SG?
SG is the brand new clothing line from pan European distributor Falk&Ross and introduces a simple, clear and competitive clothing range to the UK market.
The perfect canvas is a simply great garment
Created by Steve Ross and Jacqui Gale, whose combined prowess in distribution and a brand development have already made it a definite recipe for success. Falk&Ross founder Steve is well known in the industry for leading the way in the distribution of products across Europe whilst Jacqui has a proven history in creating and developing strong brand awareness across a host of household and industry names.
Having seen that there was a need for a new brand, a brand that had experience of what customers wanted, an understanding of the quality required for decoration today and met the current market and customer needs of being competitively priced, SG was created. Focusing on a range of core products including Tee’s, Polo’s, Sweats, Hoodies and Fleece, SG’s offering is simple; garments for men, ladies and kids with colours and sizing consistent throughout.
Steve comments "We want our customers to have choice; choice of brands, of products, of colours so we can meet all their needs. With the acquisition of BTC activewear we are now able work with an experienced and dynamic UK distributor who puts the customer first with logistics, stock, customer service and product offering – all the things that the Falk&Ross brand stands for. And by introducing SG we bring a high quality garment at a competitive price. We’re using our market experience to offer better quality and better value."
The brand has a uniquely open approach. Via their website www.sg-clothing.com they welcome people to share their views on the product, marketing or anything really by emailing any member of the team. They see themselves, together with BTC activewear as working towards becoming true partners with customers, so they bring you the very best products, sales help, marketing support, stock availability and delivery. And with the first 6 months under their belts’, SG has a right to be excited, having seen a fantastic uptake within the market, with the SG15, lightweight t-shirt available in 20 colours doubling their expectations.
Steve Pope, Joint Managing Director of BTC activewear says, "We are extremely excited to join forces with the strongest continental distributor, and to be able to bring SG to the UK market, offering a meeting of like-minded organizations with a passion to deliver the best support and service to our customers"
For more information on the brands' product range and to get to know them a bit better, feel free to visit www.sg-clothing.com, www.btcactivewear.co.uk or request the BTC activewear CataList by emailing c10@btcactivewear.co.uk.
They love hearing from customers and so invite you to directly email them at hello@sg-clothing.com with any comments, questions or just to say hello!
SG is fully committed to promoting ethical standards in all of its factories and fully endorses the WRAP programme. All clothing is also produced in accordance with Oeko-Tex which sets stringent standards on all substances used during the manufacturing process.
SG Brand launches with BTC
SG is being launched in the UK following the merger with BTC activewear by Falk&Ross in March of this year. The merger allows BTC activewear to truly provide their customers with the very best support and service in the industry, and it now enables them to exclusively bring SG to you. With their mid-year CataList out now the BTC activewear team thought it was ideal timing to introduce the SG brand to the UK market.
So who is SG?
SG is the brand new clothing line from pan European distributor Falk&Ross and introduces a simple, clear and competitive clothing range to the UK market.
The perfect canvas is a simply great garment
Created by Steve Ross and Jacqui Gale, whose combined prowess in distribution and a brand development have already made it a definite recipe for success. Falk&Ross founder Steve is well known in the industry for leading the way in the distribution of products across Europe whilst Jacqui has a proven history in creating and developing strong brand awareness across a host of household and industry names.
Having seen that there was a need for a new brand, a brand that had experience of what customers wanted, an understanding of the quality required for decoration today and met the current market and customer needs of being competitively priced, SG was created. Focusing on a range of core products including Tee’s, Polo’s, Sweats, Hoodies and Fleece, SG’s offering is simple; garments for men, ladies and kids with colours and sizing consistent throughout.
Steve comments "We want our customers to have choice; choice of brands, of products, of colours so we can meet all their needs. With the acquisition of BTC activewear we are now able work with an experienced and dynamic UK distributor who puts the customer first with logistics, stock, customer service and product offering – all the things that the Falk&Ross brand stands for. And by introducing SG we bring a high quality garment at a competitive price. We’re using our market experience to offer better quality and better value."
The brand has a uniquely open approach. Via their website www.sg-clothing.com they welcome people to share their views on the product, marketing or anything really by emailing any member of the team. They see themselves, together with BTC activewear as working towards becoming true partners with customers, so they bring you the very best products, sales help, marketing support, stock availability and delivery. And with the first 6 months under their belts’, SG has a right to be excited, having seen a fantastic uptake within the market, with the SG15, lightweight t-shirt available in 20 colours doubling their expectations.
Steve Pope, Joint Managing Director of BTC activewear says, "We are extremely excited to join forces with the strongest continental distributor, and to be able to bring SG to the UK market, offering a meeting of like-minded organizations with a passion to deliver the best support and service to our customers"
For more information on the brands' product range and to get to know them a bit better, feel free to visit www.sg-clothing.com, www.btcactivewear.co.uk or request the BTC activewear CataList by emailing c10@btcactivewear.co.uk.
They love hearing from customers and so invite you to directly email them at hello@sg-clothing.com with any comments, questions or just to say hello!
SG is fully committed to promoting ethical standards in all of its factories and fully endorses the WRAP programme. All clothing is also produced in accordance with Oeko-Tex which sets stringent standards on all substances used during the manufacturing process.
