Athletic numbering in the digital age

 Today's athletic number solution

DTF has taken over athletic printing.  This is the easiest way to customize a team, sponsor, name and number onto any jersey.  Just load, scan and press GO.  The Yet-Tee does it all.

The early years.

Brown Manufacturing is known for leading the athletic numbering machinery world for decades.  We developed patented technology for high volume direct print numbers with the NumberPrinter.  

We created simple machines for community printers who decorated leagues for only a few months in the year.  The Slider and the ShortStop were compact and simple to use.  

We offered a wide array of number fonts that were available for both the NumberPrinter and the Slider.  

However, while all this is still available, it has been replaced with the advancement of digital printing technology.  

There are many digital options.  The world of sublimation has taken over many sports.  Lacrosse and basketball are large consumers of sublimated uniforms.  DTG has also been effective for many teams.  That technology prints well on non-polyester items and allows for individualization.  And while heat transfer numbers have been available for decades, no athlete liked to wear them.

That is until the development of DTF.  The ink and application advancements within the last 5 years have changed the feel and weight of the final image on the garment.  The diversity of fabric adhesion gives a wide array of application possibilities.  And with the development of DTF digital printers, personalization is simple.  However, until now it has had a high labor and COGS element.

Printing, cutting and sorting of films and garments involves a lot of labor time.  And, as all community printers are aware, leagues do not offer great margins in what they can be charged.  Controlling costs time and materials is essential. 

Today's tech

Brown Manufacturing's  Stomper Yet-Tee automated DTF system requires only that the operator load the garment and scan a bar code.  The finished jersey with an individualized number, name and logo is returned to that same operator complete and ready to ship.

The Yet-Tee T-Line and L-Line systems include a DTF printer, power shaker, cure unit, Flipper placer and heat press.  Larger units feature multiple heat presses and a peel unit.  Art for each garment is specified within the barcode that the operator scans and that art is printed and placed into position onto the jersey.  The jersey is pressed and peeled and post-pressed and returned to the load zone.  Full customization in minimal time.  As an added bonus, the feel of the jersey is similar to the feel of screen print.

Why would an athletic printer still offer anything else?

DTF automation gets serious

 

DTF automation for 1-to-1 or bulk

DTF garment decorating has swept through the industry.  Once regarded as a low quality production path, DTF has proven it's worth in flexibility, image quality and product durability.  Yes, all of the negatives still exist such as product feel, expense and the look of a sticker.  But, the buying public is accepting these issues in lieu of the options of more colors, expediency and print-on-demand availability.  

How can DTF be automated? This is so labor intensive

DTF is inherently more expensive than other forms of garment decorating.  It has additional production costs such as film and powder and it incurs additional handling time.  From tracking specific transfers to specific shirts to cutting transfers off a roll, the product requires more labor time and material handling.  

What if it didn't? 

What if the art department sends the art to a server, the operator scans a barcode on a shirt, the printer automatically pulls the correct art from the server and the DTF is printed and transferred to the product which is then returned to the original operator.  The Stomper Yet-Tee with Linx production software does all this.

Seriously.  This is all possible. 

The Yet-Tee system is available in a T-Line and an L-Line.  The difference is speed.  The L-Line is a single platen unit that does all the functions for DTF.  With only 1 platen, the speed of the L-line is slower than the T-Line which is a multi-platen system with expandability to include up to 3 digital printers.  Both systems are Linx compatible and have API connections to house built production management software.  

The T-Line comes equipped with one digital DTF printer, one patent-pending Flipper (powder, shake cure, place) and a DTF Peel.  As well as three heat press heads, one prepress, one press, one post press.  The L-Line includes all of the main pieces but is limited to one heat press.  

DTF one-to-one POD production

 

patent pending

Check this video out!

POD style DTF automation

DTF technology has swept thru the garment decorating business as quickly as Print-On-Demand and Amazon changed the way garments are ordered.  Every shop will use DTF in some way.  Some decorators use it as their primary production application while others use it for fill in orders or low volume.  Whatever your need, your shop needs to automate.

What if we use our DTF for volume runs?

Our previous post, ScreenPrint 101 March 2025, covers this option with the introduction of Stomper BigFoot and Stomper SteelToe which offer similar capacity to that of an automatic screen printer.  The SteelToe gives shops volume on a budget and with tight space requirements. While BigFoot can really ramp up with speed and minimal labor.  With the use of Stomper Feed and Peel, your shop will truly turn out product and increase profit margins.

We have a cutter, isn't that enough?

Truly adding a cutter is essential to going faster.  While a few DTF prints a day can be managed with some scissors and a dual head heat press, the longer a product takes the produce the less money you make.  Payroll is expensive and people are hard to find.

However, just adding a cutter won't move your production faster if a person is manually pressing garments.  The SteelToe and BigFoot stompers solve the people problem.

We do really shorts runs of 1 to 10 pieces.  How do you automate that?

With the Yet-Tee.  That's how.  Load a shirt, press the GO button and watch as finished garments are returned to the LoadZone.  Yes, it does everything; prepress, print, cut, powder, cure, flip and place, cure, peel and post press.  One garment every 22 seconds.  HUH??  Yes, really.  Check out the video.

If that is a little large for your space, the L-Line may be more to your liking.  It does all those things but with one heat press and one platen.  Load and peel and ship in 8' x 12' space. 

Need to automate the flow of the artwork to the garment in real time production?  Linx Production Management Software is the solution.  It pulls orders from your stores, manages your inventory, and tells the Yet-Tee what to print and where.  

Think about how this will change the world of athletic printing.  Team numbers at a push of a button without sorting garments.  It isn't hard to imagine.

How do I get to see this thing?

The full line of Stompers is available to see at our show room in Michigan.  And in case you are wondering, these are all made in USA at our facility.  Send us an email and we will schedule a visit for you to have an in depth and hands on experience with the full line.  Find out which Stomper is the right fit for your shop.

DTF Production Systems

The garment decorating industry is at an accelerated pace for new technology and revitalization thru modification of old technology.  DTG launched the POD landscape that is now offered thru all levels of the supply chain.  Behemoth producers like Amazon and small community printers are adding POD tools to their production facilities to meet the consumer demand.  

The presentation of DTF into the production floor is not new, as all facilities have used transfers for decades.  However with the updated digital printing of these transfers this process has shifted many facilities to needing high volume DTF systems to fulfill orders.  

Brown Manufacturing offers 3 options for high speed DTF that will increase the speed of bulk orders with minimal labor costs. 

Level 1

The MasterPress is a base unit that features 2 heat presses and 5 shirt stations.  This allows 2 operators to load, press and peel in a small footprint.  Featuring a simple control panel and independent, adjustable temperature and pressure for the heat presses, this is a lower cost alternative for speed for the bulk DTF production.

Simple 120V power supply and a small air compressor is all this unit requires to quickly become operation in any shop.  Just map out spot on your floor and plug it in.

Level 2

If labor reduction is part of your production requirement, then the need for speed and accessories will move your shop to the next level.  Flexibility in design and additional options will amp up the production and reduce the operation to one person.

This heavy duty press comes with one heat press but has an option for two.  It also has these options:

• Automatic feed system
• Automatic peel system
• DTG pretreat sprayer system

With one press, an auto feeder and an auto peel, the operator is only loading shirts.  With a larger unit, add a 2nd operator and the speed increases with one shirt load person and one shirt unload.  

Level 3

Design your own system for exactly the flexibility your shop needs.  This level allow the system to both DTF and screen print.  Add print heads, loaders, peeler, multiple heat presses, flash units and DTG pretreat sprayers all on the same system.  No matter the job needed, one machine will have the tools.

Which one is right for your production needs?  Contact our Brown sales team to plan out your improved production facility or call 616-249-0200 for immediate information.

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.

ElectraPrint BP introduction

 You asked for a 12 station ElectraPrint!

ElectraPrint BP 10 color 12 station

The ElectrPrint series machines has been a perfect fit for community printers for many years.  Starting with the Junior and the Stealth machines, Brown has delivered low maintenance high quality production machines to shops all over the world.  Many of our customers have requested we expand the line to allow more colors.

The BP series is available in 8, 10 and 12 station machines in both the Junior and the Stealth machine sizes.  This allows for more colors in small spaces, with the Junior.  And for larger prints using the Stealth.

The BP series provides all the features you have come to expect from the ElectraPrint line of machines.    This machine is fully electric with easy to understand controls.  iMade is a standard feature as well as skippy platen sensor and flash ports on every head.  

The LazerLoad feature, the Set-N-Go and the QuartzAir Flash are all available options for this machine as well as a wealth of different platen sizes.  

For more information on how this fits into your production space, contact your Brown Team or give us a call 616-249-0200.