DTG newbie

[ericheartsu]

Hi All,
After dancing around the subject for a while, our mailorder team is getting ready to buy a DTG press. I think we are going to go with the Espon F2100, but if not that one, we'll go with one of the newer brother machines.

I'm curious if anyone here is doing fulfillment with their DTG, and what their workflow is? We have alot of customers asking us to be able to tie in their stores to our ability to print DTG, but i'm still trying to figure out what the correct workflow would be for this! is there any software I should check out? Something that could link to a shopify store? And is it the type of thing where you just house the artwork on the server, and pull it down for the order?

[Homer]

Double check on that epson, the maintenance and operating costs are through the roof and they are throw away machines. I almost pulled the trigger on it. So far, the top two units are the Freejet and the Belquette, in my opinion. We are looking to add it for the same purpose.

[Nation03]

Supposedly, the F2100 is lower maintenance than the F2000.  I'm not exactly sure what they fixed on it, but only time will tell. Equipment Zone is a dealer for them and they're in my area so it would be convenient for me, service wise, to go with the Epson, but I'm still too skeptical on it to pull the trigger.

I heard Belquette is no more? Or at least they aren't selling machines anymore. I think they merged with another company. Maybe Jerid can shine some light on the situation.   

[blue moon]

We have a Belquette MOD1 which is EPSON based. Needs a lot of maintenance to keep going, but their design is brilliant. Everything is easily accessible, so if you are going to have to mess with it, might as well make it easy to do so. From what I have seen in the videos, it looks like you can replace the head in less than 5 min!

They supposedly merged with Cole-Desi. We order the supplies and had to request support yesterday, all through the new web site.

'not sure what's going on with their new machine. It was not what we needed, so I didn't even look.

I have heard good things about the new Brother though. 'just through the grapevine, but it might be worth looking into it. Supposedly almost all the maintenance has be eliminated. . .

Very strongly suggest checking out the Belquette pretreater. It's pricey, but has many benefits over traditional solutions.

pierre

[Steve Harpold]

Hey,

This might help with work flow questions. If you have questions on the store integrations let me know
https://vimeo.com/237962184

The LINX software in the video works wth or without the Synergy system and is so led separately.

[blue moon]

Hey,

This might help with work flow questions. If you have questions on the store integrations let me know
https://vimeo.com/237962184

The LINX software in the video works wth or without the Synergy system and is so led separately.

Steve,

very cool! You guys are on the cutting edge with your new line stuff.

pierre

[ericheartsu]

Hey,

This might help with work flow questions. If you have questions on the store integrations let me know
https://vimeo.com/237962184

The LINX software in the video works wth or without the Synergy system and is so led separately.

That's pretty neat! Is there a set up video to see how that process gets set up? Like how is the art loaded in to the software?

[mk162]

Also check out the new Brother GTX, they fixed a lot of the complaints I had with ours.

Also Anajet(ricoh) came in the other day...those are looking better and better.

[cbjamel]

Check out the Omni print Freejet 330 TX plus as it will oprint on poly as other suck. Have them do sample for you.  Here is a webinar that make you think about everything. Not just machine cost but ink etc...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=STDF0NU_BSE&index=1&list=PLDZ0iIuPNKRG3Sk_rdJVAyh0qiFFJWr_j

Shane

[spsi]

Check out the Omni print Freejet 330 TX plus as it will oprint on poly as other suck. Have them do sample for you.  Here is a webinar that make you think about everything. Not just machine cost but ink etc...

Cost of consumables is a lot lower on the FreeJet than Epson/Brother, and the print quality is fantastic on the FreeJets thanks to the Kothari RIP. You can take this as a plus or a minus, but service on the machine is done by the end-user, so if you need a new print head you replace it yourself. If you are looking at the Epson or Brother and are comfortable with the limitations of cotton, I'd check out the regular 330TX as well - the ink is $150ish/liter & you can get Firebird Pretreat for $50/gallon. The Plus' ink is closer to $200/liter and pretreat ranges from $80-125/gallon depending on the type you're using.

I've printed with great results on 50/50 and triblends with the regular 330TX.

[JeridHill]

BelQuette is still around but now it's different. When we merged with ColDesi, our focus with BelQuette Technologies is to co-develop products in the market that are competitive in several areas. Although we are no longer manufacturing and selling the BelQuette product line, we are selling the M2 product. This merger is giving us the ability to move forward with new products at a much more rapid pace. Even though it may appear we are BINO  (BelQuette in Name Only) we are bringing the technologies we've developed throughout the years and partnering with ColDesi to bring even newer technologies.

[merchmonster]

Epson has next day warranty repair techs onsite. Brother does not. Brother prints are nicer and 2x faster. Have an epson and my contract guy has the gtx. I’d probably go gtx next time if we stay in the dtg game. We might contract out in future.

If you’re trying to do one off fulfillment you have to have the process nailed down and implement barcoding and file sharing / settings attached to the job work order. Barcode in scan print. Helpful to just have inventory to pull and print.

For your sanity I would limit it to 2-3 manufacturers / styles ex

Gildan 2000
Ch mc1082
Some 100% cotton face hoodie like ind4500

[merchmonster]

If I remember I will post the info I put on the printavo work order so production can run the job with no input from mep