DTF transfers vs. screening

[Sbrem]

I have a bit of a dilemma here and was wondering what youse guys think. I have a potential job with a 6 color full front, and 1 color back. The image is a little tricky, but nothing we couldn't handle. It's an under minimum job, and if we screened, we'd be at $8.75 per shirt, front and back (just the printing, no shirt included) and 7 screen charges. 50 - 60 pieces, a pretty quick run on the auto. But, they also asked about transfers, and even with a pretty decent markup, we at pretty much the same print charge, but without screens of course. If I'm the end user, it's a no-brainer, transfers on the front, since it saves 6 screen charges. (We would still be screening the 1 color back) But, the labor is so much longer, that it doesn't appeal to me much. So, conceptually, where might I be going awry? Or, how would you folks look at this? Thanks everyone...

Steve

[zanegun08]

I don't see how you think that the labor is longer to heat press on some transfers than to print a 6 color front and 1 color back

Prepare the separations
print the screens
image
tape off
mix ink
register screens
put in ink
print (2-3 people)
take out ink
wash screens
reclaim
re-coat screens

For transfers

get them in the mail
heat press them on
box them up

And have your catcher or someone do this in their downtime while the operators are setting up for a more lucrative job.

The only thing that I would have the dilemma with is transfers do not feel equal to a screen print, so is the customer ok with the feel vs screen print, and secondly transfers if big are expensive so in some instances they end up "more expensive" than printing but that its not really a fair assessment because the true cost of printing isn't the cost of ink it's all the labor involved.

Both will work at the end of the day, but just because a heat press with 1 operator will take 2-3 hours to complete this project, I'd say for a 6 color front 1 color back you are looking at 6-8 man hours or more if you are fair with how you calculate it.  Yes presses can hypothetically print 1000 pieces an hour, but I'd bet most places on average depending on their order size average 150-200 an hour or so.

Without seeing the art I'd say that screen print is the better option, but if you are super busy and the artwork isn't heavy coverage then a transfer is a great option.

I just did a similar one at 24 pieces with a back print and left chest where we could've screened it but I did it as transfers since it just made sense from a labor standpoint.

I say do it as a transfer for fun and then do a time study on the true cost of labor on this run, and then a similar one in the future, I think you may be surprised.

[Sbrem]

I don't see how you think that the labor is longer to heat press on some transfers than to print a 6 color front and 1 color back

Prepare the separations
print the screens
image
tape off
mix ink
register screens
put in ink
print (2-3 people)
take out ink
wash screens
reclaim
re-coat screens

For transfers

get them in the mail
heat press them on
box them up

And have your catcher or someone do this in their downtime while the operators are setting up for a more lucrative job.

The only thing that I would have the dilemma with is transfers do not feel equal to a screen print, so is the customer ok with the feel vs screen print, and secondly transfers if big are expensive so in some instances they end up "more expensive" than printing but that its not really a fair assessment because the true cost of printing isn't the cost of ink it's all the labor involved.

Both will work at the end of the day, but just because a heat press with 1 operator will take 2-3 hours to complete this project, I'd say for a 6 color front 1 color back you are looking at 6-8 man hours or more if you are fair with how you calculate it.  Yes presses can hypothetically print 1000 pieces an hour, but I'd bet most places on average depending on their order size average 150-200 an hour or so.

Without seeing the art I'd say that screen print is the better option, but if you are super busy and the artwork isn't heavy coverage then a transfer is a great option.

I just did a similar one at 24 pieces with a back print and left chest where we could've screened it but I did it as transfers since it just made sense from a labor standpoint.

I say do it as a transfer for fun and then do a time study on the true cost of labor on this run, and then a similar one in the future, I think you may be surprised.

We did a 260 piece job with transfers for the same client a few months ago. We are pretty short handed, so I applied them, and I'd say it was a good 4 hours to finish up. For the 50 - 60 pieces, I'm figuring an hour and a half to be conservative, it would probably be slightly less. Really, I guess I just needed to get a different perspective, so I think you may be right. When I consider the rest of the labor of screening, it comes pretty close. Thanks, I appreciate the help, I'm lucky if I get 30 seconds to think about anything some days...

Steve

[3Deep]

What size transfers are you putting on these shirts?

[Sbrem]

What size transfers are you putting on these shirts?

11" wide

[Homer]

since we have dtf in house, that's how we'd roll with it. DTF the front, screen the back. Cake job, we're doing something similar now but only 24 pieces. I really don't feel like separating this horrendous art so I put it in the "eff-it" column and sent it upstairs to digital.

[balloonguy]

what Homer said.
I don't have STF in house but I still like the idea  transfers for small runs of complicated prints.

[DonR]

It all depends on the design but we also look at the material that is being printed. If it is a soft cotton tee, I would screen print starting at about 50 shirts. If it is going on a heavy item or some poly items, transfers work better for us.  We use heat presses that have two tables and are air driven, so we can apply the transfers quickly.

[3Deep]

since we have dtf in house, that's how we'd roll with it. DTF the front, screen the back. Cake job, we're doing something similar now but only 24 pieces. I really don't feel like separating this horrendous art so I put it in the "eff-it" column and sent it upstairs to digital.

Got a job now I would like to do transfers on, but the customer don't like the feel of the transfer, but boy if they did I'd slap the crap on there quick, because there screen  print job is a booger.

[Frog]

since we have dtf in house, that's how we'd roll with it. DTF the front, screen the back. Cake job, we're doing something similar now but only 24 pieces. I really don't feel like separating this horrendous art so I put it in the "eff-it" column and sent it upstairs to digital.

Got a job now I would like to do transfers on, but the customer don't like the feel of the transfer, but boy if they did I'd slap the crap on there quick, because there screen  print job is a booger.

May be too late now on this particular job, but perhaps you need to adjust your prices to reflect the time and work that you put into each process.
And, remember to build in some flexibility in these prices to account for increased "boogerness"