11 Autos under 1 roof

[royster13]

http://www.atlasembroidery.com/blog/

Atlas Embroidery has just added 3 more presses to bring their total to 11....

[tonypep]

They are on the level of T-Formation (also in FLA) but not quite up to VF Imagewear (FLA) so not the largest but still friggin large

[Dottonedan]

They are only half as large as 2 other printers right in Orlando. These are private shops. People can say whatever they like as a business I guess.


If they were to say, (We are the largest (medium sized) shop in the South East) it might be more accurate. LOL.



We're the BEST printer around".   See that a lot.

[royster13]

And folks wonder why I am so hard on folks that want to become "contract printers"....

[Dottonedan]

And folks wonder why I am so hard on folks that want to become "contract printers"....

Don't know wht you're referring to that,  but I don't think there is much $ in contract printing myself. They print 3 times as much to make the same total money as a printer that sells to the end user.  It's got it's benefits tho. No selling to end suers, the customer is (slightly) more educated about the process.   You have to already have a good amount of work to get into it tho.


I don't use Atlas at all. ONly because, (sure, their per piece price is low) but the screen charge + film is almost double most contract printers. So if it's an order for 36-72 shirts, its not that beneficial.

[royster13]

They print 3 times as much to make the same total money as a printer that sells to the end user. 

On a margin basis, I have no disagreement that statement....But seeing how the best place to measure success is on the bottom line sometimes low margins on volume will make more money....One of my suppliers prints 30,000,000 pieces a year (not garments) on 5 to 7 cents margin per piece....I have seen his "estate" and he does just fine....

[ebscreen]

Mmmmmmmmmmineral spirits.....

[Dottonedan]

Agreed.  I've seen it also,  Never had one myself, but I also know, there are a lot less of those 10-30 thousand unit jobs. Only very few customers out there to provide such an order. Some of the best shops on here prob only get a 10,000 order once a year if ever.


Great when you can build that type of client and they are out there, but thats what each of those who bid on them are fighting for. Fractions of a penny. Just a hard business that I'd rather not be in...unless I was a much larger shop. THere are many large shops sitting around doing stuff that most of us don't know about. In fact, I'm reminded of two more in Atlas's back yard. They deal in imported blanks and print themselves for souvie shops. They've got like 20 Auto's.  Not that they do contract to my knowledge. Maybe thats where Atlas can feel they say that. Largest "contract" printer in the South East. But the two in Orlando do contract. Just rambling here.


I'm sure Atlas is well rooted into this type of business. One of his sales reps for a short time (was) the long standing sales rep for Liquid Blue and he's accustom to large volume. That guy's not there any more. Not that this means a thing.

[Nick Bane]

sounds similar to a large shop i worked at in rockford IL back in the mid 90s doing a lot of rock n roll merch and hot market printing.  they had i believe it was 9 autos and a belt printer plus 4 manuals.  Like Dan mentioned, per print cost was decent but screen and art were not cheap, which in the end kept most accounts to large well educated customers.  running anything from new formulas to challengers and older gauntlets plus an all over challenger and a belt printer and manuals, yes it was a busy shop, with the right equipment and effort and great leadership it was a pretty successful shop, so it certainly is possible.  Pretty sure 244 knows who I'm referring to and would certainly agree. 

[244]

sounds similar to a large shop i worked at in rockford IL back in the mid 90s doing a lot of rock n roll merch and hot market printing.  they had i believe it was 9 autos and a belt printer plus 4 manuals.  Like Dan mentioned, per print cost was decent but screen and art were not cheap, which in the end kept most accounts to large well educated customers.  running anything from new formulas to challengers and older gauntlets plus an all over challenger and a belt printer and manuals, yes it was a busy shop, with the right equipment and effort and great leadership it was a pretty successful shop, so it certainly is possible.  Pretty sure 244 knows who I'm referring to and would certainly agree. 

that was Creative Silk Screen. I was fishing last week with Mike Domino.

[inkman996]

Pretty silly to claim they are now the largest printer in the south east. Hell even I know of a couple shops in southern Florida larger than them.

[Nick Bane]

sounds similar to a large shop i worked at in rockford IL back in the mid 90s doing a lot of rock n roll merch and hot market printing.  they had i believe it was 9 autos and a belt printer plus 4 manuals.  Like Dan mentioned, per print cost was decent but screen and art were not cheap, which in the end kept most accounts to large well educated customers.  running anything from new formulas to challengers and older gauntlets plus an all over challenger and a belt printer and manuals, yes it was a busy shop, with the right equipment and effort and great leadership it was a pretty successful shop, so it certainly is possible.  Pretty sure 244 knows who I'm referring to and would certainly agree. 

that was Creative Silk Screen. I was fishing last week with Mike Domino.

It was indeed!  I just saw the pic of the hammerhead he caught!

[TCT]

Pretty silly to claim they are now the largest printer in the south east. Hell even I know of a couple shops in southern Florida larger than them.

Ya, I don't get that. They did a TV spot on a large company up here a bit ago and the guy from the company said something along the lines of "the largest printer in the states" or "one of the largest" I don't remember which. But I was under the impression they were running 10 or 12 autos. I guess the regular Joe doesn't know the difference. I just found it kinda "tacky" for lack of a better word. Similar to the claim by Atlas.
None the less, kudos to them for the success.

I don't think I would want a shop that big, even if there was enough work to keep all the presses spinning. Just seems like a different ballgame at that point....

[GraphicDisorder]

Did they say largest printer or most autos?  Are you guys counting shirts they print or counting machines?  Just food for thought. 

[TCT]

I don't remember the exact words from the story I was talking about. I suppose I could look it up on the news channels website, but either way I can't believe they are #1 for either category.