The Lynchpin: A masterclass for garment decorators #8
John Lynch dissects how digital printing is reshaping the future of the garment decoration industry – one order at a time
Like many of you reading this, we started as manual screen printers. Then came the leap to automation with our first M&R, and shortly after, we added Tajima embroidery to the mix. For a long time, that was our world: screens, squeegees, threads, and plastisols.
And then, everything changed.
Roughly 10 years ago, we picked up a small DTG (direct-to-garment) printer from Brother and a few heat presses from Stahls’. No big strategic plan – just testing the waters. But by 2020, we were ready to commit. We invested in our first industrial DTG system from Kornit, and frankly, we haven’t looked back.
Digital printing today
Today, digital printing, DTF (direct-to-film), DTG, and print-on-demand (POD) are the fastest growing parts of our business. They’ve changed how we think, how we work – and to some extent, even who we serve. But let’s be clear: while the technology is exciting, it’s not easy. Digital is a completely different animal from legacy decorating.
Here’s what we’ve learned so far.
1. From bulk orders to ‘just one’
Screen print thrives on scale. Digital thrives on speed and flexibility. One of the biggest shifts is the move to small runs. In a POD world, you’re not printing for next quarter – you’re printing for this afternoon.
Every order matters, because the average order value is low. A single mistake can wipe out your profit margin. That forces you to sharpen your processes, tighten your quality control, and get things right the first time. This is a business that depends on “lean” manufacturing principles.
2. ‘No call, no touch’ customer service
Digital is fast. That means clients expect fast answers – and often no interaction at all. Orders arrive digitally, get printed, packed, and shipped, often without a single email or phone call.
It’s not cold or impersonal – it’s just efficient. But it also means your front-end systems and back-end workflows need to be flawless.
In traditional decoration, your core skills were printing and embroidery. In digital, software is just as important as hardware.
3. Software is the glue
In traditional decoration, your core skills were printing and embroidery. In digital, software is just as important as hardware.
From order capture to routing, from batching to barcode scanning – every step must be integrated. APIs from client platforms push orders into our system. Our production software maps the most efficient route. Shipping software generates labels and tracking. All of it must talk to each other.
The success of your digital business depends not just on great machines, but also on workflow automation and smart integration.
4. CMYK instead of Pantone obsession
Screen printers obsess over Pantone matching. In DTG and DTF, you work in a CMYK colour world. It’s not perfect, and it has limitations, but for the B2C consumer ordering a custom birthday hoodie, it’s more than good enough. And you save serious time not having to mix inks, run test prints, or obsess over Pantone 186C vs 187C.
It gets trickier when you start servicing promo orders or corporate merch shops that have a digital or POD component. I could write an entire article on colour standards and matching using digital print technologies (and maybe I will!). But for now, let’s just say the most important consideration is how you communicate capabilities and standards with clients.
5. Short learning curve, long discipline curve
Most digital technologies are surprisingly easy to learn the basics. A new operator can be trained in days, not weeks. But don’t confuse that with ‘easy to master’. The discipline lies in consistency – managing colour profiles, humidity, pretreatment, curing times, garment quality including the chemistry in the fabric dye stuffs. The learning never really ends.
6. Speed demands stock
Our POD customers don’t want delivery next Friday, they want it tomorrow. That means we hold a carefully curated inventory of blanks, maintain a tight supply chain, and control our inputs. The phrase ‘just-in-time’ may have been invented for the auto industry, but it has found a new home in apparel print-on-demand.
It’s a fast-turnaround, retail mindset, not a wholesale one. You can’t make money if you’re constantly out of stock or waiting more than a day for garments to arrive.
John Lynch, MBA, is a former strategic management consultant and the founder and CEO of Lynka. Founded in Poland in 1992, following the fall of communism, Lynka is now one of Europe’s leading full-service suppliers of corporate apparel, casual fashion and sportswear.
