Thibault Lavielle, CEO of French print shop Atelier Katanga, explains how Brother’s Myze workflow software has played a vital role in his company’s rapid growth
Tell us about your business
Atelier Katanga is a textile printing workshop that has been in business for 27 years, which I acquired nine years ago. We specialise in screen printing, embroidery, digital printing, and DTF transfers. We operate both in the B2C segment — owning four ecommerce sites selling message T-shirts and licensed T-shirts — and in the B2B segment — providing uniforms for company employees, supporting hundreds of clothing brand creators, and outfitting students from top schools and universities. Our company has experienced significant growth over the past nine years: our turnover has multiplied by 12, and we have grown from six to almost 50 employees.
How long have you been using Myze software?
I’ve been using Myze since the very beginning — I believe we were their very first client, even before the solution became public. I would say since Q4 2022.
What prompted you to start using Myze? Were there any particular challenges or opportunities that you wanted to address?
In 2022, we were approached by a global print-on-demand platform that wanted to produce its products for the French market through us. The problem was that our production workflow only allowed us to produce for ourselves. We needed a completely new production workflow, so we turned to our friends at Brother for help (we have one of the largest Brother machine fleets in France). Brother told us they were just about to release this type of software, and they put us in touch with André [Albrecht, head of Myze], who, thanks to Myze, enabled us to truly launch our print-on-demand business.
Why did you choose Myze over other software solutions?
We had a great fit with the team, and since we were already equipped with Brother GTXpro and GTXproBulk machines, there was no better possible partner for us than Myze.
What equipment does the Myze software work with?
We use Myze’s complete workflow to to: synchronise our clients’ orders, either via API or directly. Myze allows us to organise picking, manage pretreatment, print in DTG or DTF, perform embroidery on demand, produce mugs, carry out quality control, handle packaging, and ship on behalf of all our clients.
Thibault Lavielle of Atelier Katanga
Myze has enabled us to develop an entirely new line of business: on-demand production for anyone.
Atelier Katanga’s work now includes on-demand production for other clients
Can you provide some examples of how Myze has improved your operations and workflow?
Myze has enabled us to develop an entirely new line of business: on-demand production for other clients, not just ourselves. Our previous system allowed us to produce on-demand only for our own websites; Myze lets us produce on-demand for anyone — including global print-on-demand platforms for which we produce hundreds of products per day, or ecommerce merchants for whom we make just a few T-shirts per week. Myze has allowed us to industrialise single-unit production, which is revolutionary for a company like ours.
What do you like most about using Myze software?
The team and their availability. They are highly attentive to the market and steadily develop all the features we need. The latest is dropshipping, which allows us to onboard several clients each day who then become autonomous in creating their products, listing them on their site, and entrusting us with on-demand production as soon as they receive their first order.
How easy was it to implement Myze in your shop and to learn how to use it?
Very easy, and the team loved it.
Would you say that Myze offers good value for money?
Absolutely. There’s nothing to add — Myze is a real game-changer for a workshop like ours.
Is there anything you would like to change about Myze or see in a future update?
I think everything we dream of is already in Myze’s roadmap.
Would you recommend Myze to other digital print shops and, if so, what advice would you give them?
Without hesitation — if a shop wants to get into print-on-demand, Myze is the software they need.
