Thank you

 

To our customers, partners and staff,

For Brown and BrownDigital, 2024 has been full of growth and exciting opportunities. We want to express our deepest gratitude to our amazing staff – your commitment and perseverance have been inspiring. And to our wonderful customers – thank you for your continued support and belief in us and our products. 

The launch of the new BP Series Electraprint was met with enthusiasm from our existing customers and we have added plenty of newcomers to the family as news of this product has spread.  The Brown team looks forward to additional conversations on this 12 Station machine as well as all of the product line.

The partnership with Brother International on the Digital Line DTG production machine has been tremendous.  The challenges of the short learning curve as well as the interaction with new clients has energized the full sales team and driven our design team to think creatively about future possibilities.  This is a joint project that requires the concentration of Brother USA, Brother Japan and BrownDigital to grow it to its fullest capacity.  2025 will be just as exciting.

The expansion of the Brother Digital Line and the general industry-wide growth of digital printing has pushed the BrownDigital Linx team to continually add features to both the web-based and desktop versions of Linx Integrated Product software.  If you have not looked into this barcode driven production tool, we highly recommend you consider it.

All of the items listed above are developed, built, shipped and serviced by our highly capable Brown team.  Whether your business is adding new, expanding for new features, or fixing what is in your shop, the Brown staff has exemplified quality and dedication throughout the process.  Our team does work as a team and these amazing products exist because of them.

So from all of us at Brown to all of you, our customers and partners, we wish you a happy holiday season and look forward to 2025 and all the events yet to come.

Essential tools for POD profitability

Print on Demand is changing the industry

With the rapidly growing demand for individualized prints, social media driven trendy garments and next day delivery, the nimbleness of every garment decorator is being tested.  The advancement of DTG and DTF production technology has improved the response time for web driven orders.  New machinery like the Brother International Digital Line which integrates POD and reduces labor, are becoming more and more essential. A vital issue to stay profitable in this fast changing environment is internal work flow management.  Paper orders on the shop floor have got to go.

DL-2400 Digital Line

BrownDigital Linx Production Software Suite

In a previous blog Linx, we explained how Linx pulls orders directly from web stores and feeds those orders to production machinery with automated tools.  The Linx Software suite has expanded to include cloud based inventory management, purchasing and product creation.  Additional features within this software packages add a depth of resources to the constant changes that occurring in this market space.

• Product Creator and Product fixer will merge all store products into one application for production an inventory management
• Build-to-Stock (BTS) pushes stock inventory builds, manages returns for FIFO control, and gives full control to the production manager to keep within seasonal cycles.
• Order Submission provides an access point for POS
• Cloud management of floor production
• Analytics of real-time floor production

Is this only for garment printing?

The answer to that is a firm NO.  POD is a market trend that applies to many products.  Garments are the highest volume however these issues apply to any one-off customized item.  Linx Software suite can connect to laser engravers, sublimation systems, embroidery stations, cutters and plotters and many other tools of the trade.  In addition to garments, the inventory management is open to any base product such as trophies, mugs, plaques, posters and many more.  

Linx Software suite connects to any open API platform.  This includes Etsy, Shopify, Shipstation, Amazon, and many more.  Contact BrownDigital today for additional information of how Linx Software suite can improve your work flow.

Thank you for an outstanding 2023

 2023 has been an amazing year of expansion and growth.  Brown and BrownDigital have expanded in personnel, product lines and facilities and we are already busting at the seams.

In the summer we added a Crown to our life.  A building on Crown anyway.  This doubled our production space and allowed for larger projects to expand.  Our staff was thrilled with having more room to work in and spaces they could call their own.  This building added 3 overhead loading doors, 4 docks and way too many offices.  

The Brown product line expanded into their space with the ability to put up many machines at the same time which allows for additional testing and product development.  Yes, there are some cool new features in the works.  It also allowed for the development of a larger ElectraPrint machine that should be introduced in 2024.  The other feature that has sparked the growth of our Brown business is custom colors.  Our local high school is all blue and orange.  Go Rockets!

BrownDigital software developed many additions to the Linx suite.  Inventory, product fixers, purchasing as well as new connections to other platforms.  The diversity of this product line gives solutions to most POD production issues and it applies to a diverse area of application.  That software team has been gettin' it done.

The BrownDigital machine team is amazing.  The flagship FireFly product line has bloomed to a myriad of applications.  From the initial design of individualized curing, this has transitioned into a workhorse for applications from screen print to pretreat to DTG to wide format.  The diversity of possibilities is very exciting.  The Digital Line product for Brother International has opened additional opportunities for the FireFly and all the components involved.  

What is so interesting about our new facility is that it has allowed for bigger items to spread their wings and for the Brown staff to take ownership of specific products and make that section of the building all their own.  Our software team developed an internal Linx IC that has allowed for easy communication and information sharing within all facilities and our partners.  We expect that software to broaden our reach for direct contact with our customer.

Thank you for your investment into Brown and BrownDigital in 2023.  All of these changes excite us to create new products, adjust existing ones and grow into new areas.  We are excited about 2024 and what that will bring.  

Cleanliness is the first maintenance task for every machine

Our service department often is asked what the maintenance requirements are for any and all of the machinery we manufacture.  We appreciate machine owner's desire to keep their investment in peak condition for maximum production and long life.  For some of our products, the maintenance list is quite low as are the suggested stocking parts.  However, as the complication of the machine increases so does the upkeep. 

Many long standing customers will brag that they have kept their machines in proper working condition for 20+ years.  While this is a testament to the design and durability of these machines it is also a good determinate of the condition of the shop.  Well maintained, but could use some updating. So, as we do appreciate the compliments and understand the owners pride of ownership, there is benefit from keeping updated tools in your shop.

Returning to the question of maintenance requirements, as machines increase in complexity the list of daily, weekly, monthly and bi-annual tasks gets longer.  These tasks will be noted in the manual that is provided with the equipment.  If the machine is equipped with computers, then maintenance tasks are available within the software and reminders for mechanical maintenance can be preset.  The use of this software feature is very helpful in managing all of the essential tasks.  Some customers use this software to schedule additional tasks within the production floor for non-computer driven devices.

The number one maintenance task for any production floor is cleanliness.  

Textile decoration as an industry is inherently dirty.  The lint from fabric floats through everything and the production processes typically require liquids that are sticky.  So lint and fibers will get stuck to everything.  The lint will also adhere to any greased or lubricated surface of a machine.  And it will get pulled into fans, fan belts and chain drive systems.  So let's see chat about havoc that can create.

• Electronics will overheat and malfunction due to clogged fans
• Electronic connections will degrade due to lint interference 
• Lubricated surfaces which allow for smooth machine movement will get clogged, affecting print quality and machine operation
• Conveyor belts will wear faster and will transfer dirt and debris onto the final product
• Registration and indexing systems will become inconsistent due to dirt and debris and this will affect registration
• And machinery aside, what employee wants to work in a dirty shop.  And employees are a production floors most expensive and important asset.

How clean do we suggest?  Lint free is the key.

How do you  keep a garment decorating shop lint free.  You do it by making cleanliness a top priority on the floor.  Cleanliness makes for happier employees and fewer shut downs which will increase production and profits.

The good, the bad and the ugly.

Let's start with the simplest items, fan filters.  These are designed for easy on/off.  And they are used to keep the electronic cabinet fans clear of debris so that they can move cool air across the electronic components.

Then we can move to the fans.  Whether in the control cabinets or used to move air in and out of a curing chamber, they are essential to the design and function of your equipment.

Now what does all this do to internal components?  Electronic components shut down when they are too hot.  Being covered with lint will cause this.  Relays will fail, switches will stop communicating and thermal cameras will shut down.  Production stops.

What about the chassis and the mechanical items.  They appear to be pushing through but are they?  Or are you setting them up to fail?  And there are no GOODs here.  Seriously, yuck.

And what employee wants to touch these?  And if they do, how do they touch fresh garments and ship them completely clean?  

Ok, we think we have made the issue clear.

So this week, at the end of a work day, pick something and clean it.  Start with wiping down the outside, both the controls and the chassis.  Then get a vacuum and clean out the internal controls.  The whole job should take 20 minutes.  Then another day, pick another machine.  Go through the whole shop and clean everything.

Next time we will chat about those preset maintenance items available in your software.

2022 brings big changes for Brown

 Go big or go home.

As the old saying goes, Brown chose to go BIG this year.  We have expanded our space, our people and our product line.  We also added a few colors to the Brown machine pallet for a little fun.  With expansion comes change and a few bumps in the road.  But our staff was ready for a few challenges to get us through.

BrownDigital has a developing partnership with Brother International.  This partnership has fostered new product for the Print-on-Demand world that Brother specializes in.  The POD sales strategy is immediate delivery of one off printed items.  Garments have a large segment of that market and they require a few additional processes compared to other one-off pieces.  This rapidly expanding market requires faster machinery to keep up with the volume and Brown delivered with the DigitalLine, an exclusive product for Brother.

The size of this system required additional assembly space.  So, Brown added a Crown.  Well an address on Crown anyway.  The added space has allowed all of our production departments to stretch their legs a bit.  As an example, where the space on Stafford allowed for 2 Electraprint machines to be assembled at the same time, this new space allows for 5.  As well as multiple manual machines and curing systems.

Your staff appreciates the space and is looking forward to upping the volume to fill the new building.

The fun of the Electraprint and Brown lines has been the "choose your color" option that we have introduced.  We have assembled a variety of colors in 2022.  Bright red, hot pink, military green have been shipped as well as the tried and true chocolate brown.  Do you have a color scheme in your facility?  Need us to match it?  We are on it. 

One other expansion that is a direct result of the POD market is the addition of new software modules available for the Linx Production Software .  In addition to the already stellar workflow application, new modules for inventory management, purchasing and QuickBoook integration have been developed to fill the every changing needs of our POD customer.  Contact us for additional information on how Linx can improve the work flow and organization within your production floor.

The new space and the new offerings have made our lives a little stressful (as moving often does) but the impact of the change and the production results just keep showing us that this was a well needed expansion and that we have more room to grow.

Innovation Center at Brother International

 

It has been a long time coming and the Brown staff is excited to see that their hard work has paid off.  Brother International opened a new training facility at their Bartlett, TN location and the BrownDigital product line took center stage.  

This new product line has been under wraps for 2 years.  A single operator loads a garment and these garments are pretreated and digitally printed and returned to the same operator.  One guy does it all.  Amazing.

Thank you to Brother International for the opportunity.

POD production? It's where the world is.

Our roller coaster world has made traditional printing businesses  take another look on how they generate orders.  When schools and restaurants were closed, many of our community printers had to consider other avenues for revenue generation.  The world of online shopping became essential for all decorators, whether one off orders or bulk.  These orders can be challenging to pull into standard community printing production management.  

The old school paper production tickets are messy and confusing for small orders.  Barcode systems that can function for both small and bulk orders are cleaner and more efficient than sheets of paper floating around a production floor.  Scanners at each workstation can pull up all order details within seconds and connect directly with shipping software.  With Linx Production software, the barcode will also drive the printers, laser engravers and sublimation systems.  

Wait, what?  It can connect my online to my production machine and back to my shipping software?

Yes, Linx Production software can do all that and with additional modules it can connect to QuickBooks® and manage inventory and purchasing and print bulk orders.  That is a lot of features that every shop needs in the world of POD.  

While much of the US is opened back up schools, businesses and events, the online store is now a required element to a business.  Many businesses who used to allow sales people in their doors are now preferring to look online and connect through teleconference platforms.  These options allow higher time flexibility for the buyer and keeps additional people out of their workspace.  With the latest variant wave, this is a required element.

So how does Linx Production software do all that?

Beginning at a web store, information for an order is pulled into Linx and a barcode is assigned. This information includes garment data as well as art and print locations. The PNG artwork is ripped for the DTG as well as scaled for garment size and print location. For other print mediums, the art is converted to match the requirements of the output device.  The operator loads the item, scans the code and the output device has all the information needed for production. Print specifications are preset by the user as well as pretreat and cure requirements.

Orders can be sorted by all major factors. This aids in purchasing, product picking, pretreat scheduling and customer management. At shipping, a binning system allows for gathering of multiple items of an order with notifications when an order is complete. In the QC department, if a product does not pass inspection, the barcode returns to th production schedule for a reprint.

A QuickBook plug in will also connect your orders directly to your billing department. Inventory modules are available for small and large users.  Custom API connections are available to give full flexibility to your production needs.

How do you  get started?

Call BrownDigital today for information on pricing and how this system can be used in  your shop.  It is quick to install, simple to learn and will speed up order processing for small or bulk orders.

So many decorating options.

Brown did some recent DTG print testing and I had some thoughts.  This particular test involved a print run of about 72 shirts ranging from youth medium to adult 3xl.  It has a white crest print and a multi-color full back on a dark shirt.  A typical order for a community printer.  And a profitable one if handled correctly for your shop.  

What is correctly?

DTG

This run was done with a digital printer and our Synergy pretreat and FireFly cure systems.  At 72 shirts with a white under-base, this job took almost 2 hours.  The image quality was fine but it did look like a digital print. They are clean but they do not pop.  The estimate on the cost of each garment includes time and materials.

Shirt $2

Ink $0.95

Pretreat $0.30

Shop time cost  $1.66

Labor $0.83

Total cost per shirt $5.74     

The positive to DTG  printing is that once the art is approved there is no additional processing of the art to print.  A quick conversation from the PNG and it is ready.  Also, employee training is minimal.  Everything is determined by the Linx program within the machines and the operator only loads and unloads.  Additionally, the software will resize the art to the size of the garment, the job is easily repeatable and there is no clean up at the end.

Screen Print on an automatic

So, what would happen if it were printed on an ElectraPrint auto press?  Front and back, this job would be finished in less than an hour.  The look would be crisp and it would pop off the shirt.  The size of the print on the youth would be the same size as on the 3XL, which is a negative.  There is set up and clean up.  The art needs to be separated and screens need to be made.  Presuming that this design could be printed with 6 colors, this is the estimated cost per garment.

Shirt $2

Ink $0.06

Films/screens $0.08

Shop time cost $0.83

Labor $0.42

Total cost per shirt $3.31

Screen Print on an manual

So, what would happen if it were printed on an MasterPrinter manual press?  Front and back, this job would be finished in about 2 hours.  The look would be crisp and it would pop off the shirt.  The size of the print on the youth would be the same size as on the 3XL, which is a negative.  There is set up and clean up.  The art needs to be separated and screens need to be made.  Presuming that this design could be printed with 6 colors, this is the estimated cost per garment.

Shirt $2

Ink $0.06

Films/screens $0.08

Shop time cost $1.66

Labor $0.83

Total cost per shirt $4.63 

Is cost the only factor in the production path?

Well, we can all say "no" to that answer.   But there is $2.50 per shirt here in profit.  So COGS cannot be ignored.

COGS is a significant factor.  That calculation has to include machine time, shop time and labor time.  However, judging the flow of your shop, the availability of your staff and their skill sets, and the print preferences of the final customer will sway the final production decision.   If they want "pop" then they will want screen print.  If they prefer a soft feel, then DTG is a good plan.

So the real answer is that there is not a "correct" way to do this except to follow some basic guidelines.

1. Is the customer happy with the finished product?
2. Did you deliver on time?
3. Did you make a profit margin that you would want repeat the job?
4. Did this job delay other jobs that were more profitable?

If your answers are yes, yes, yes and no, then you have chosen wisely within the parameters of your production facility.  If any other answer comes up, then reconsider for future jobs what needs to shift.  Was the print accepted, was job late, or did you not make enough of a profit margin?  Because in the end, it is a happy customer with a solid bottom line that we are all striving to achieve.

New web site launch

We are excited to announce the launch of new web sites.

brownmfg.net is our main catalog site for Brown equipment.  

This site features the products for screen printing, from screen room to final cure for all production levels.  Additional content will be added as it becomes available and this site is more mobile friendly than our previous site.

On this site you will still find the popular ElectraPrint automatic printers.  These are the only fully electric machines on the market.  There are suggested parts list for many of the machines as well as cut sheets for installation.

From this page you will find links to the associated products such as the Set-N-Go and the QuartzAir flash.  

Within this site you will also find information on all of our t-shirt ovens as well.  This includes the TRX series, the UltraCure x-series, the PonyDryer and the Sierra dryer.  It is a comprehensives site that will provide all the details to help choose the right one for your shop and to help plan for the installation.

brownmfgdigital.com is our main site for BrownDigital products.

This site features the products designed for DTG decorators.  Direct to Garment printing has different requirements for preprint and curing than screen print and these products will speed up the workflow for all levels of production.  

On this site you will find the DragonAir Crimson which is a small DTG dryer designed to cure DTG prints at a faster rate and higher quality than a heat press.  

Also on this site, is the Linx Control System integration software.  This app takes your web store orders and integrates them directly with your DTG printers and through to your shipping department.  This is all run on a barcode system that keeps production flowing smooth and creates consistency within your final products.  

We invite you to peruse these sites.  You will find something that will help you shop with its production flow, product quality, or bottom line.

DragonAir Crimson engineered for DTG production

We are SO EXCITED.  The DragonAir Crimson oven is fresh out of design and through production and is into DTG print shops throughout the US as well as globally.  Our engineering team dug deep to get this done and the design is a winner.  It addresses all the technical requirements for curing DTG inks and incorporates them into a machine constructed for low volume, high quality production.

Though small on size, this machine is packed with features that are essential. Direct-to-garment printing uses pretreat solution and ink that requires high volume air flow and stabilized heat.  In a short chamber, the garment needs an additional boost to get the cure needed.  These parameters were used to engineer this machine from the ground up just to meet the needs of DTG low volume production.

Major control features

The Crimson comes equipped with many features that professional DTG printers know are needed.  Starting at the control systems, this unit includes digital temperature control on the main chamber.  This reads the temperature at belt height and regulates cal-rod style heaters for optimal control.  These heaters are also have indicator lights for quick and easy verification of function.

Additionally, the Crimson includes a heat bump on the front of the heat chamber.  These quartz heaters are controlled separately from the main chamber and are monitored with indicator lights.  This allows rapid response to garment temperature requirements and quick heat build of product for faster production.  

The air requirements of DTG inks are serviced by the variable air speed control.  DragonAir Core Technology circulates hot air around the heaters and onto the belt for rapid evacuation of water.  This air can be quickly adjusted to match a garment's specifications.  Also, the discharge from the garment can be funneled through the heavily insulated air box on the end of the chamber.  This is designed to connect to the exhaust system of a production shop and to contain the water vapor to exit from one location.

Construction features

The heat controls combine with a variable speed belt to give the operator a wide range of curing options.  This speed control is connected to a heavy-duty drive train designed with long lasting durability.  Crowned rollers making belt tracking simple and adjustable baffles are used to shield internal temperature from external influences.  All of this is packaged nicely on an industrial frame which requires minimal space.

The DragonAir Crimson is engineered specifically for DTG low volume production.  This small unit is the perfect  addition to any small digital facility who is ready to move on from using a transfer press for curing and is looking for a true DTG production machine.