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.

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.

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.

Wow, what a year. Big challenges with huge accomplishments.

 Seriously, murder hornets?

We are printing the annual shirt give away for our staff and we wanted to commemorate all that we have accomplished and we referenced all that has encumbered us.  2020 is a year full of challenges.  When the list was drawn up, it amazed people that there were so many challenges that they did not remember all of them.  And we had to remove some from the list because the list got too long. 

However, the important items on this list are the accomplishments.  These are made more impressive because it is 2020 but our staff has pulled off some simply amazing things.

Linx software is a solution for production management

Orders come in and orders go out.  In many shops that means that there are pieces of paper following that order through all through the production process.  Some shops place those in plastic protective sleeves to keep them from flying about, but most just stack them on top of shirt piles and move them along with the goods.  With today's technology, why would anyone do that?  Because, it has always been done that way and it works.  Most of the time.

But there must be something better.

Ok, sounds catchy.  But what does it do?

Linx is a production management software that pulls orders from your online site, sends them to preset stations and pushes them into shipping.  The only thing that is printed is a barcode sticker that is attached to the garment.  It gives all departments including the artist, purchasing, production and shipping access to the order with the ability to sort all orders by the information that is relevant to that department.

The Linx app keeps all departments connected and can be integrated into most parts of the imprintables industry.  This system can be connected to DTG, laser engravers, plotters, and many other decorating operations.  

With this available, why would you want all that paper?

What an amazing year of innovation and learning

2018 has been an amazing year for Brown and BrownDigital.  It is difficult to list all of the changes that have occurred because it is not often that a company is cascaded with growth, innovation and industry accolades.    Our product lines continue develop and reach into new business sectors that originate within the garment decorating world but now sector off into many new specialties.  Our traditional Brown line has combined with the newer BrownDigital catalog to connect us with new people and our existing customer base with new advancements.

Since the screen printing sector of the industry remains strong, our ElectraPrint remains a solid base for our Brown product line.  The easy to maintain design, simple operation and durable construction  continue to make them a product of choice in the industry. It is always a pleasure to have a customer return to add another machine to their production line.

Many of these traditional printers are now expanding into the digital printing world and BrownDigital is there with solutions to these production issues as well.  The patented FireFly system is the technological leader for curing of both DTG and screen print inks.  The thermal imaging camera innovation sets this product apart from any other in its category.  This product saves space, time and energy while providing flexible curing for any garment at any time.   Combining the FireFly with the Synergy pretreat module adds another level of production control and  flexibility to any direct to garment printing operation.  This complete system is the reason for the expansive growth and reach of new markets that we have enjoyed in 2018.

The pinnacle of this is the SGIA's prestigious Product of the Year awards.  Brown Manufacturing Group is honored to have earned these award for 2 years running.  We show distinction in curing, pretreat and combination systems that cover an array of production variables.  What is still more exciting is that our engineers have more innovations ready for to present for this award next year and still more to come.  The buzz of ingenuity in our office is energizing.

So thank you to our loyal customers for their continued support of the Brown screen printing product line.  We see this part of the garment decorating industry to remain an elemental part of our business for years to come.  And, to our new DTG customers, welcome to the Brown family.  We look forward to continued success and connections within all sectors of our industry in years to come.

Our industry is unique, and challenging

I met a friend for cocktails this weekend and we discussed our careers and the industries that we are in.  This person had a recent job change and was describing the differences in the two markets.  While chatting, the question came up, "Why is printing on a t-shirt so hard?"  It occurred to me then that what we do is truly unique.  In most industries the production variables are limited and consistent.  The "how to" is measured and analyzed with tolerances defined and universal industry standards measured.  Well, anyone who has printed garments knows that most of this does not apply to us.

Sure we have defined cure temperatures for ink.  Sure we have PMS color matching.  And, of course, we have production rate requirements.  But even all of this is loosely followed.  Ink cure temperatures rates vary by brand and type.  PMS colors are borrowed from other print industries and are loosely applied to color cards from ink companies, though many shops do have custom ink mixing in house.   As for production rates, we are all trying to produce a profit.  And that need drives everything.

So my companion currently sells high end cars and used to sell real estate.  Market and economy fluctuations are what drives these industries.  In the metal fabrication business, metal is systematically measured and variables in quality are based on the human factor.  The inkjet, laser and DTG printers that surround my desk are all assembly line production items as is the laptop I am writing with.  So I explained all of the options within production and sales of printed garments and I mystified myself with questions of how we do it all.

Let's go over the list.

• Every garment type is different:
  
• color
• fabric
• weight
• pile
• construction
• Every individual garment may be different:
• size
• Every ink type has a different cure temperature and that is influenced by:
• thickness of the ink film
• thickness of the garment
• number of layers of ink film
• time in the chamber
• temperature of the chamber
• air flow of the heat chamber
• Each artwork file has it's own printing parameters
• size
• number of colors
• type of separation
• what color it is to print onto
• Type of printing influences or is influenced by all of the above
• Manual screen
• Automatic screen
• DTG
• Sublimation
• DTG variables include
• pretreat type
• pretreat density
• pretreat cure

I have only scratched the surface of what can happen in a day.  So what do you do?

You can go old school.  And it works.  

Log books, spread sheets, paper pick tickets with instructions, even sharpie marker notes on the machinery can help limit issues.  As an example, a pick ticket should include order information, cure settings, pretreat requirement, ink colors and color order.  This is a solid system that works most of the time and is historically reliable.  

Now let's move that to today's technology.  

Digital resources make it possible to put every piece of information in one storage location and link all that together by all the variables.  This can all be put on a mobile device at each production unit that can reference the information by scanning a barcode.  This technology is used in most production industries today and, because of all of our variables, should have been in garment decorating years ago.

A previous blog was written on our Linx software.  This system manages the information on all of the variable that are listed above.  Once information about a type of garment are input into the data base then that information is linked to any order that needs that garment.  It stores artwork files and connects them to orders.  It controls curing and pretreat parameters in the Synergy and FireFly.  It can track orders through production and connect them to ShipStation.  This tool helps to contain the chaos that is elemental to garment decoration.

So, though the cocktail and conversation was a wonderful way to catch up, my companion decided that what I do is crazy talk and selling Porsche and Bentley are a better fit.

Award winners from SGIA 2018

BrownDigital earns Product Of The Year in 2 categories

FireFly Curing System 
U.S. Patent No. 10,011,136

FireFly™ 

What an honor.  Our patented FireFly eared the SGIA Screen Printing Drying Equipment Product of the Year.  This system is unique to the industry in its design and function.  Thermal imaging cameras monitor the temperature of the substrate and adjust the amount of energy applied to ensure perfect cure for each item. Paired with our proprietary software that connects to our Linx Control System software, this is a product designed to cure any decorated garment, whether screen or digitally printed.

Synergy Pretreat Module

Synergy™

And double the accolades.  The Synergy pretreat module earned the SGIA Pre-press (Sprayers/Dryers) Product Of The Year.  The Synergy combines with the FireFly to pretreat goods for direct to garment printing. Configured to spray two different pretreat solutions, and to mix them from concentrated form, the Synergy system is a large scale solution to a production bottle neck.  Simple to operate and easy to clean, this unit features software scheduled maintenance of the nozzle heads with built in flow sensors.  

Additionally, this system connects to our Linx Control System software to provide complete control of any product in your on-demand production floor.

See these and our full line of products at the SGIA show in Las Vegas on October 18, 19 and 20.

Linx production management software overview

Does your business offer an online store?

No, we do not have an apparel store.  However, most of our customers do and they look something like this.

Having an online presence is essential.  However, managing the orders from those stores can get complicated.  Knowing where each order is in your production process can get tricky and confirming that each order is shipped correctly is challenging.  This can mean a lot of paper, or hoping that your accounting package or CRM can handle work flow.

A better plan is to implement production management software.  There are many of these available on the market that will help manage inventory, shipping and billing.  These will read in orders and give you a paperless system.   However, there is only one that drives the actual production of the machines themselves.  That is Linx.

Pulling directly from your store, whether that is a custom designed web site or a Shopify site, Linx captures order data including art files and product information and it directs those orders to their production stations.  Orders can be sorted by purchase requirement, delivery requirements, production requirements of dozens of other ways.  So Linx is used for purchasing, quality control and shipping.

This image is way easier to read in real time.  However, each row is an order and each column contains information as to the status of the order.

Now I know you are saying that you can do all of this on the system you already have.  That is true. 

What else can Linx do?

The list is pretty long so here is a quick overview:

• Map artwork from order to output.  Meaning it links the art file location to the order and scales and places it in the final print position.
• Bar code tag all orders for scanner access at each production station
• Convert PNG files to formats required for output devices.  (AR3, ARX4, KSF, many more)
• Control print parameters specific for each art file, each product and each output device

• Position and scale artwork to any location on the product
• Set pretreat and curing parameters for each product and art file so that the Synergy and FireFly treat each item for their specific requirements
• Pull orders directly from your web site and send orders directly to ShipStation

These are items that are NOT done by the spreadsheet that you currently use.

When a barcode prints for an order, it has all information specific to the product and the order.  That barcode is scanned at the Synergy and pretreat is applied and cured based on preset rules.  At the DTG machine, the barcode is scanned and the printer accesses the order and the parameters required and prints.  The FireFly uses the same barcode for curing parameters.

At the QC and shipping station, barcodes will specify if the order is ready to ship or if other products are needed to complete the order.  If more products are still in production, Linx will notify the shipper that the order is not complete and will assign a bin for holding until all items become available.  Once the order is fulfilled, the system will notify the shipping station that it is ready.  

What else is cool?  The Rules Engine

The greatest part of all of this is that the rules and requirements for each order and each product are completely under your control.  If one garment SKU requires different pretreat than another, that information is set by you and is set into the barcode.  If one product needs to ship with another, the first is held in a bin until the other becomes available, then it can ship together.  If the artwork requires an white underlay on some garments but not on others, that is decided by you and stored within the parameters of the art.

All your control and all stored within Linx.  How cool is that?

What production areas are affected?

Originally designed for direct to garment printing, the Linx Production Management Software is now used for laser engravers, tattoo printers, screen printers, and very soon, embroiderers.  Open API communication is all that is needed to connect Linx to a production department.  

So, will this break the bank?

Of course not.  There is a connection fee for each station.  And their is a minimal monthly license fee.  However, since the system does the conversion to the DTG art requirements and it tracks your shipping and inventory, the fees that you are already paying another source will go away.  

Contact our sales department for additional information on the Linx Production Management software.