Managing a Resort "pre-print" line

[ZooCity]

I built them a one color jig with jiffy clamps and a kickstand. Set some screens etc. Instead of base we sent yellow as it is most prone to shifting. They would cure with the industrial hair dryer.

Word.  I like using yellow, it is finicky and will tell you visually if a dye is stubborn.  We do the industrial hair dryer thing too, since you suggested it on here awhile ago, thx for that!  Big time saver.

[brandon]

Hey Chris and Tony,
Thanks for the info! Really cool to read and food for thought. I am very excited we have this going on later this year as it is going to open a whole new window of opportunity for us. I visited the place we will be using and they seem to be on it

[starchild]

Hi Tony,

How is the variable printing done with so many different names and get them to fall in the same spot?

I don't get the (benefit/extra step) of the dyeing part- Is it the unique shirt colors that makes the line unique and be able to tell the knockoffs?

Would you say it's beneficial for a startup of a pre-print line, to have a (more is better than less) n number of designs available for a healthy catalog for
prospective customers to choose from.

Most designs have 2-3 colors-
a. So you library 2-3 screens per design? And only make screens for the name drops?
b. I know you use a lot of stretch and glue frames- So how do you maintain acceptable tensions from screen to screen for any given design?

With the garment itself, being the highest upfront cost and have the least control as fa as inventory- Would you say it's beneficial to order in higher than usual numbers and warehouse yourself? So as to get lower prices per piece? So more like 5k-10k pcs orders?

My questions are based on internet retail sales.

[tonypep]

With regards to namedrops those are pre-pinned to line up exactly as designed. Yes we dye to order based on our color pallette although I don't necessarily recommend that for others; it's just what our customers expect from us. Just like most or all of us we don't want to sit on merch so our dye POs are based on actual POs placed by customers and is thinly padded. Don't go batshit crazy on me but mesh tension is a very minimal consideration for us. Having screens on hand is more valuable. At Harlequin, which had hundreds of sim process imaged screens (rigid) this was the only way to go. Several trailers were parked around the campus with libraried frames available at all times so we could react with immediacy. Just saying how it is/was. Not recommending how anyone else should do this

[ZooCity]

I agree with Tony that the best way to respond to pre-print needs is to have libraried screens which, as we all know, means you aren't in direct control of tension no matter what type of screen you use.  Nature of the beast.  You can measure it and replace as need though.  I think this habit is acceptable for this type of circumstance only and totally unacceptable for day to day operations.

I try to use our pin lock system to over come the need to library any screen (library pinned films instead) but we still do it with a handful every year.  If we had to keep ripping out a sim pro job dozens of times a year I'd likely do the same and library all the screens and inks.  Imaging quality, higher lpi sim pro screens easily takes 10x longer than simple spot color and no technology, DTS or otherwise, is going to put much of a dent in that fact....

...until they come out with some kind of digital nano-bot emulsion or something. but it wouldn't matter anyway as the machines would then be poised to rise and enslave all mankind and I would be hiding out in the mountains waging a guerilla war against them instead of printing T shirts.

[tonypep]

Hi Tony,

How is the variable printing done with so many different names and get them to fall in the same spot?

I don't get the (benefit/extra step) of the dyeing part- Is it the unique shirt colors that makes the line unique and be able to tell the knockoffs?

Would you say it's beneficial for a startup of a pre-print line, to have a (more is better than less) n number of designs available for a healthy catalog for
prospective customers to choose from.

Most designs have 2-3 colors-
a. So you library 2-3 screens per design? And only make screens for the name drops?
b. I know you use a lot of stretch and glue frames- So how do you maintain acceptable tensions from screen to screen for any given design?

With the garment itself, being the highest upfront cost and have the least control as fa as inventory- Would you say it's beneficial to order in higher than usual numbers and warehouse yourself? So as to get lower prices per piece? So more like 5k-10k pcs orders?

My questions are based on internet retail sales.

Well we don't do internet sales in the traditional sense but in these times, carrying costs are prohibitive so we place dye orders based on realized sales. We have a Resort dye color pallette as well as an Outdoor pallette with a few colors carrying over. Each season the popularity is examined; the hot colors carry over and the less popular colors replaced. We spend a lot of time trending.
Maintaining namedrops, BTW is a whole process. Different designs have different fonts and sizes so we manage app 10s of thousands of these. Often it's quicker and less expensive to create new ones than finding the old ones but thats really an excuse for not having a better system in place. Working on that. Yes we gang up as many as perhaps ten orders for the same design; swapping out the ND screens as necessary

[starchild]

Tony, your business model for a pre-print line is based on realized sales.. So it's really built around your sales reps you already have in place/or resources to hire. So number of designs carried, dye orders, library of designs and every other operation is built around your reps. Screen printing becomes just a competency that is used in this model. - Solid.

Managing a pre-print line such as say tshirthell, before they incorporated DTG into their operations, is something I would like to realize, without reinventing the wheel.
Without historical sales data, I would see how warehousing large quantities of blanks to be advantageous. But trying to compete without a generous catalog is a fail..
So it's printing on demand and that means either library of screens or library of plastisol transfers. Library of screens mean wasted inks (what if it's only one shirt) and screen clean up becomes expensive.

Just my thoughts.

[tonypep]

Again minimums are 48 pcs for us (although we sneak in a few favor orders as needed.)
All of Gravity is discharge in our own pallette of 80 colors or so. Our Ink dept is pretty deft at knowing how much color to activate based on image size and shirt qtys, especially with designs with 15 ys of history. We don't waste much ink, indeed we would rather under activate and come back with more. I think part of it's success is it's flexibility. The buyer is allowed to mix and match garment styles, colors, left chest icons, etc. Most buyers like to have that creativity although some actually leave that up to us. Some will pre-book at shows like Surf so in those cases we know whats coming down the pike and can be prepared for it.It may make it a bit unwielding to manage but we're used to it and continue to tweak the whole process. It doesn't make fiscal sense to stock blanks due to cash flow and # of SKUs and we rec a dye order each week. Typical turn is two weeks. Some exceptions include having to ship complete all screenprint, embroider, and applique complete as it must go through customs to St Barths, Turqs & Caicos, etc.

[tonypep]

Correction. I was reminded about our Quick Ship promotion. These designs actually are pre-printed (this one on Red Hot and Midnight only) and stocked on shelf in season. Name dropped as ready. One week turn. We issue a replenishment order when inventories dip below set levels which can change depending on season. Same "In Training" theme for Diver, Mermaid, etc. We do this because they are the top selling yth designs and we have a high level of confidence in sell through.

[tonypep]

Oops again