Posted on 11/28/2017 11:54:26 AM PST by treetopsandroofs
A hungry Burger King customer in Ohio got an earful of expletives last Wednesday after the restaurants manager cussed her out for taking too long to order.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
“We do custom printing and embroidering of apparel.....they will come in and ask how much would some t-shirts cost?”
How much and how long. Most literally think it’s Xerox quick and cheap. - (yeah I know, DTG. But that is seriously limited. )
30+ years in the rag biz. There’s a surprising number of us here at FR.
I’m in a similar business...
I love it when a customer walks in and wants to order one shirt with custom embroidery...
They think I can walk in the production room and presto magic I can pull one out my butt and buy it now...
“I have noticed that fast food isnt fast food anymore.”
Our Carl’s, McDs, and BKs are quick once you order. Getting to that point seems to take longer.
Bigger thing is it ain’t cheap anymore. It’s costs within a few dollars of what many of the family diner type joints we have in town cost, which do it better.
I worked fast food at Burger King many years ago and I sympathize with the manager.
Years ago (circa 1985) my parents came down to visit me. They lived in Indiana and I lived in South Carolina. I took them to a barbecue joint (Lots of homemade onion rings)in Spartanburg. It was called the Beacon or the Lighthouse, I can’t remember which. I told my parents that they should choose their order while in the line because the guy who took the orders would get upset if they delayed the line’s progress. My wife placed her order, I placed my order, my Dad placed his order and my Mom said, “I’m not sure what I want.” The legally blind black order taker tore into her like she was setting the place on fire. It was a beautiful thing. You see my Mom never listened to anything that anybody told her. She was quietly humble for hours after that. My Dad thanked me.
did you expose her to vinegar based Bar-B-Q?
I have over 40 years of business experience. Two suggestions: (1) it is easier to change yourself than it is to change the rest of the world. And, (2) don’t get in the way of someone who wants to spend money.
If you have a line at the register it is because you don’t have enough registers open, and/or your menu is too complicated.
If you are selling a product (t-shirts, for example). Don’t make the buyer go through 20 questions to see how the unit price varies with the quantity ordered, delivery time, terms, etc. (”what is the price if I buy 500” “what if I buy 1,000”). You need printed price list with the price at different quantities. My rule is if I have to ask 3 times to get all the information I need to place an order I start looking for another supplier, because the person I am talking to is not serious about making a sale and is just wasting my time.
I was in screen printing for 19 years. When I started my own company in 2008, I went with DTG. While it can't do everything screen printing can do, it can do a lot that screen printing can't do.
We have a lot of small businesses here in New Mexico and getting them to buy 36 t-shirts is a stretch. DTG allows me to print just a few, on demand, relatively quickly.
DTG is more technical. You have to know what you are doing to create long lasting beautiful prints. In screen print production you can hire any numb-nuts to push a squeegee. You only need one guy who can set up the presses. In DTG the operator needs some computer expertise and knowledge of how the printer works, maintenance, etc.
uh huh....
DTG is niche, the limitations are well documented. There are some pluses. I like that I can adjust the print size to the garment size, so the same design can be on a toddler and grandpa. Small print run is not what I would call a plus. I can still do a dozen or so cheaper on a manual press.
Id argue that LESS technical expertise is required with DTG, and thats kinda the selling point with them. Pretty much the same deal as anyone with Photoshop is an instant Graphic Artist.
If youre a Custom Ink type printer that specializes in simple graphics, then yeah, a relatively low skill set is required in the art dept and any numb nuts can drag the squeegee, or hit the button on an auto. But for the majority of licensed apparel a higher level of expertise/finesse is required at every stage of the process.
We are just going to agree to disagree...
DTG is slower to print, but not really an issue with smaller orders. Most methods of going from art to screen to print take hours. This is reduced to less than 5 minutes with DTG.
We do a lot of small orders here. In Florida my average order was $850. Here in New Mexico it is $250. Same basic clientel - schools, small businesses, organizations - but just few people in them.
As for less technical expertise...you are WAY off on that one. I’ve worked in both shops. Getting an untrained person printing (basic) in screen printing can take a couple of weeks. Getting someone to print good DTG, which basically requires you to be familiar with graphic arts programs, takes longer, especially if you have a machine that prints white. Someone who walks in off the street with enough graphic arts knowledge to run DTG would want more pay than the job is worth, so...
For larger orders we use screen print transfers. I have an order from the city I just produced for about 300 pieces. Net cost of the transfers was $.28 each and you can print about 100 an hour, so the cost on those jobs is comparable to screen printing.
Just to round things out, our newest baby is a printer that creates full color digital transfers. These are useful for those polyester items that DTG just can’t do.
Getting an untrained person printing (basic) in screen printing can take a couple of weeks. Getting someone to print good DTG, which basically requires you to be familiar with graphic arts programs, takes longer, especially if you have a machine that prints white.
Completely unsurprising, because the (computer) artist IS the press operator. Youve also removed the color separation process so the artist doesnt need to be versed in color separation or printing procedures. The required computer and graphic application skill set for traditional printing is higher and broader.
Like I said, I have both. The manual presses are in constant use. The DTG and the auto, not so much. At least the auto doesnt require maintenance from just sitting.
And transfers? Been there done that. I figure if Im printing something why not just print it on the garment. Why print it on paper, and add a whole seperate process of transferring the image.
Whatever works for you though. If the customers keep returning youre on the right track.
The digital transfers we do in house are for stuff we can't do on the DTG. A guy just brought in 9 black 50/50 shirts he wanted a white sleeve print on. DTG can't print white on polyester, so I printed the transfers ourselves. One sheet of paper ($2.50) and a half hour later, job done. Client buys embroidery and promotional products from us fairly regularly, so I did it for $30. They got it the same day and are very happy. Not our “normal” business, but it is a flexibility we couldn't offer as just a screen printer.
When starting my own company, I looked at what customers hated most about buying decorated apparel. Seems they really hate set up/screen charges, minimums, and delayed orders. We digitize in house, so we don't charge for embroidery digitizing on orders over $100. DTG requires no screens or set up. DTG allows us to do small “fill” orders without outrageously upcharging them and our entire shop is designed to turn orders over quickly, thus our name...Turbo Threads.
“set up/screen charges, minimums,”
Not many do that anymore, and there just isn’t a such thing as a “minimum” order.
There’s production costs that have to be covered regardless of method. As long as you do it smart, screen printing delivers a superior and a longer lasting product. Quality and longevity isn’t always a concern for some though so we offer inexpensive alternatives. Same day turnaround isn’t a problem either for a smaller simple print job. But we typically run a couple weeks out, our customers are well aware of it because most have been returning for years, some since opening in 1994. Before that I worked as art director for a few large license holders that produced music and entertainment oriented merch.
Sold my first t shirt art when I was 16, I’m 60 now so I’ve seen the business go through a lot of changes.
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