Polypropelene bags, silver ink, need suggestions on how to print!

[ericheartsu]

Cost wise you could purchase from a "specialized" supplier at a much lower cost that includes printing....T-shirt suppliers are "insanely" expensive for misc. items.....tote bags, towels, bandannas, caps, etc....

Sometimes I forget you folks are "printers" versus folks who just want to make the most money they can....

i feel like that's an unfair statement. I'm not opposed to sending these out, but the client is specifically asking for this bag. This brand. This Style. Not something close, not something similar, this bag exactly.

So until I can find a place that will print this EXACT bag, i will have to print them in house.

Also not to be rude, but you have no clue what our shop is set up for in terms of production. We have tons of flatstock ink and accessories in house, which makes printing stuff like this a breeze.

[royster13]

You call it being "rude" and I calling trying to "help".....I have thick skin so if you need to think that way, go for it....I will keeping making suggestions as I have all along...

However IMO your client wants a problem solved.....You have it in your mind they already have a "specific" solution to their problem...That would be very unusual.....Most clients are quite open to suggestions....So give this a try.....Present your solution and my solution and see what comes back at you....How many do they want.....If you use EQP14 Adbag will give you EQP on 500+....Code can only be used one time..

And I have no doubt about your printing abilities....I am sure you and 100s of other on here can print that bag....However, at the risk of being "rude" again, you did have to ask what kind of ink to use....Printing these bags is an acquired skill and I do not think you are there yet.....But you are "smart" and can get there with some practice....So when you do print this, buy extras, because you will have some "rejects" on your 1st go....

Good luck....

[souviking]

#1 - but it's never fun. 

[Inkworks]

What's not fun about them? they print easily enough, the ink sits up on top well enough that even light on darks are one-hit wonders. the only change we have is lower oven temp.

Bang-em out. if the order is big enough, and you can, sub 'em out.

I could pad-print pens here, but we rarely do as I can't often print them here anywhere near as cheap as the big pen shops. that said, all other things aside, I like to print in-house, as then it's in my control, and no flaky sub-contract shops to worry about.

[royster13]

I could pad-print pens here, but we rarely do as I can't often print them here anywhere near as cheap as the big pen shops.

Sure you could, however, not only are the big operations very efficient at their printing operations, they buy their blanks a fraction of the cost.....

[balloonguy]

I see both sides of this discussion. I do farm stuff out all the time. I am always cautious the first couple of times I work with someone new though. I have a client that ordered some fairly portable phone charges from an asi supplier. The in hands date is today and 1000 of these chargers at $22.00 her cost are still in China. When I print something myself I NEVER have to call a customer and tell them the order is delayed... I guess the amount of work I am willing to put in depends on how important the client is to me.
Matt

[royster13]

Matt what you are describing is extremely rare......But it does happen....Although for me, it has been over 5 years since I missed an in hands date....However, I have been doing this for 35+ years and have good idea who the good and bad suppliers are....

[alan802]

We do quite a bit of ASI stuff, maybe 500-700 different orders a year on a good year and we rarely miss an in-hands date.  It happens maybe 3-4 times a year but out of that many orders I can live with that.  In 2010 we did an ASI order of about 150K and that was scary.  If that would have went down badly we would be GONE. 

[balloonguy]

I stopped using ASI all together. I was finding communication to be too slow and problematic. I get a set a lead time but far too often I would get a proof 3-5 days after the PO is submitted. In my opinion that adds a full week to the production time. If I missed .5% of my deadlines I would fire everyone that worked here including myself. That is much too high of an error rate if you ask me.

[royster13]

Matt you must have selected the worst suppliers there are...Most suppliers I use are 100% on the ball....Rare for a proof and/or order acknowledgement to take more that 24 hours to come back....And further to that, probably 10% to 15% of my orders ship the next day....For stadium cups, pens, drink ware, balloons, water bottles, fridge magnets, etc. I have excellent suppliers....If I need others items I can always count on Leeds or Logomark to come through....

My primary drink ware supplier (ETS Express) prints 150,000 pieces on average day.....My stadium cup supplier (Dooley Cups) keeps 12 million cups in stock and prints 2.5 million pieces a month...

[balloonguy]

are you still using dooley? I just tried the site and it won't come up?
Thanks,
Matt

[royster13]

Dooley site works fine for me.....And I still use them, however, not as often as in the past...Because of the high exchange rate stadium cups sales have have been a little slow....