Tuesday, May 25, 2010

Equipment. New, used, reconditioned.

Either you are expanding your business or your current equipment is worn out, you are looking for a new piece of machinery. The question is, what is the best use of my money? There are many options available. Multiple manufacturers have great new products. Many manufacturers and suppliers offer reconditioned machines. There is always the used market through industry forums, EBay and Craigslist. What to do, what to do.

Let's start with used machines. You can find these anywhere. The web, local competitors, trade publications all list machines that other printers are wanting to sell. This is a lot like buying used car from someone you don't know. There is a reason they are getting rid of it that they are not going to tell you. Let's see how that effects different pieces of machinery.
  • Conveyor Dryers. No matter what they say, something is broken that is expensive to fix. I say this from experience. I have taken a lot of used dryers as trade-ins. They are never fully functional. It may have been running when the original owner replaced it but they are replacing it for a reason. If the machine is available at an auction remember that the company that is out of business did not have the money to maintain it. Repair costs will range for $250 to $1000 depending on what is broken.
  • Manual textile printers. The biggest risk you take as a buyer of used machinery is registration. A press will have increased problems as it ages due to wear and tear. Maintenance can prevent much of this, however, some presses do not age well. If there is registration issues they can be expensive and time consuming to remedy. If the press holds register well but has some broken parts, make sure that those parts are still available.
  • Flash cure units. These are used up. Do not buy. You can purchase new ones for very little money.
  • Exposure systems. These may be a good deal. You will probably have to replace rubber and reseal the frame but if you are handy they are a pretty good buy. Make sure that the bulb is currently available.
  • Automatic textile presses. How handy are you? How good of a printer are you? Can you figure one of these out without manufacturer's help. When you get done, will you make any money on it within 3 months without serious aggravation? If you can answer yes to all of these, then take a look. But parts are expensive and your time is valuable.
Reconditioned machinery is usually a good deal. The manufacturer or distributor has made sure that the machinery is functional. Parts have been replaced with new or reconditioned parts. There is usually a warranty on the unit for 30 days or so. There is still a risk. These are reconditioned but they are not new.

  • Conveyor dryers. Heaters, motors and switches can work one day and break the next. Within a few months you may be repairing the unit because the original parts that are still in the unit are old. You will have maintenance costs within the first year. They may be minimal but you risk the $1000 of another rebuild.
  • Manual textile printers. These are a good buy. The registration has been secured. The press is functional. They are just dirty. Yes, they are really dirty. Reconditioned does not mean new paint. If you are willing to clean them up or work around the "Ugly Betty" effect they they are a good buy.
  • Flash cure units. If you find one that is reconditioned, then buy it. Rare, these things. These and heat press machines usually get used up and thrown out.
  • Exposure units. This is another good buy. The seal has been rebuilt. The risk is in the electronics and the vacuum motor. You may have to replace these sooner than you would like.
  • Automatic textile printers. Buying one of these has the same risk a buying a reconditioned dryer. You could have very high maintenance costs very quickly. Make sure you are ready to be your own repairman and that the parts for the machine are still available.
New machinery. OK, so you wince at the price. So did I when I bought my new car. But, it starts every day. I did not have maintenance costs for a number of years. I have been serviced very well by the company I purchased it from. If I were purchasing an item that directly drove the productivity of my business, then I would buy new. A printer makes money when he sells jobs at a good margin and delivers them quickly. If time is spent on maintenance or down-time then profit margins suffer. Remember, you are in this for the $.

Take a look at all your options. Balance your risks. Spend wisely, your profit margins are at stake.

www.brownmfg.net
www.autotshirtprinter.com

Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Where is the profit in Athletic Numbering?

Just recently, the baseball jersey printing season was completed. Many printers labored long hours to make sure that the local little league looked great and they had shirts for the first game. The questions comes, did they make any money?

Some did and some didn't. Just like every other print job. The reason that some made money is the speed that the job was processed. The least amount of handling is the best way to make money. Man power is expensive so it should not be wasted on low margin work.

How to handle a t-ball job.

Let's outline a typical recreational league numbering job. First there are many teams. Often, 10 or more. Then each team has about 15 players per team. Usually it is a 1-color number on a colored 50/50 tee. Black is the most popular because of pricing. This gives a print change every 15 shirts, or a shirt color change every team.

There are a couple of ways to handle this order that are profitable. You can either sort the laundry into stacks of numbers or stacks of teams. I prefer teams because I only want to sort 1 time. If you own a numbering system, that is the way to go. If not, then sort by number.

When you are putting the image on the garment, you should screen print. This is, after all, a for-profit venture you are running. Charity is nice. Especially when there are children involved. But this is not the time to donate. Therefore, turn off the heat transfer machine and the cutter and walk away from the transfers. Cost on that is about $1 per number. Did I mention the desire for profit?

If you have a numbering system, use it. If not, burn your 15 screens and get over it. These screens cost $.060 each to image and the print is $.06 per impression of ink. The labor is the same whether you transfer or print. Total cost per imprint is $.010. That's right, 10 cents. This is where the money is made.

If you can sort the laundry 1 time, screen print directly on the garment and ask for payment on delivery, then you are making a profit. That is the reason we do this, right?

For more information on athletic numbering systems please check out our site. www.brownmfg.net.

Friday, May 14, 2010

When is my business ready for an auto t-shirt printer?

Investing in your first automatic machine may appear as a difficult financial decision. However, when you break it down by the numbers, many companies discover that automated machinery saves them money in the long and short run. The following information is designed to show a comparison between a small or midsize shop with manual equipment versus a small to mid-size shop with automated equipment.

Defining a shop size. The small to midsize shop with manual equipment is a shop with one or several manuals, 1 or more hourly employees and an owner operator.

Production Rates. The following Graph is based on the average production rate of a top-notch employee manually printing over an 8 hour day at $10.00 pr/hr.








The following graph is based on the average production rate of a top notch employee automatically printing only, over an 8 hour day at $10.00 pr/hr.






*This graph does not include expenses such as Benefits, workman’s comp, insurance or typical day to day employee aggravation.


Comparison. A shop output is at least four times greater when using an automated machine and employing the same amount of people.

Many owners find that when they personally produce a conservative 300 shirts per hour, they can restructure their facility, use their employee time more effectively or eliminate extra employees.

ROI when comparing Manual printing to Automatic printing.

Based on a 1 year business cycle, using manual equipment only. Total production of 122,400 pieces.

Employee cost at $10/hour with 8 hour days

$20,800.00

Workman’s Compensation

$350.00

Insurance

$350.00

Total Employee Cost (approximate)

$21,500.00

Based on a 1 year business cycle, using automated machinery and a restructured workforce. Owner production of 288,000 pieces in 4 hours per day.

Machine cost of $30,000 on a 60 month lease

$7,800.00

Total Cost (approximate)

$7,800.00

Not only is your shop 4+ times more productive, you have also increased your profit by $13,700 without a change in sales.

Y1-5 ROI= $13,700 $7,800 (Machine Payments) - $21,500 (Eliminated overhead employee expense)

Total $68,500

Y6-10 ROI= $21,500 no lease payments and expected life of the machine

Total $107,500

10 Year total ROI $176,000

Job Size. The common misconception about automatic printing is the size of order that is required to make an automatic useful.

Manual printing in a standard week with 1 press

JOB

Shirt count and color

Colors

Sides

TIME

#1

150 light

2

1

2.5 hrs

#2

50 light

3

2

1.5 hrs

#3

95 dark

1

2

2.5 hrs

#4

250 dark

2

2

6.5 hrs

#5

400 dark

3

1

4.5 hrs

#6

25 dark

1

2

50 mins

#7

35 light

1

2

50 mins

#8

75 light

2

2

2.5 hrs

#9

100 dark

3

1

2 hrs

#10

250 light

3

1

3.5 hrs

#11

25 light

2

1

30 mins

#12

45 light

1

1

30 mins

#13

18 dark

2

2

50 mins

#14

180 dark

2

2

5.5 hrs

#15

65 dark

1

2

2.5 hrs

#16

40 light

2

1

30 mins

Total time for the above job chart = 35 hours of continuous printing

Automatic printing in a standard week.

JOB

Shirt count and color

Colors

Sides

TIME

#1

150 light

2

1

20 mins

#2

50 light

3

2

20 mins

#3

95 dark

1

2

30 mins

#4

250 dark

2

2

50 mins

#5

400 dark

3

1

45 mins

#6

25 dark

1

2

20 mins

#7

35 light

1

2

20 mins

#8

75 light

2

2

30 mins

#9

100 dark

3

1

20 mins

#10

250 light

3

1

40 mins

#11

25 light

2

1

20 mins

#12

45 light

1

1

20 mins

#13

18 dark

2

2

30 mins

#14

180 dark

2

2

50 mins

#15

65 dark

1

2

30 mins

#16

40 light

2

1

30 mins

Total time for the above job chart automatic approximately= 8.5 hrs of continuous print time.

Thank you for the time to review the difference between automatic printing and manual printing. We hope that this gives a clear picture why most shops need to consider adding an automatic to their current production.

We hope that Brown Manufacturing Group, Inc. is your source for all your printing equipment needs. Contact us, or check our web site, for additional information.

*All dollars quoted are based on industry standards and are subject to change.

www.brownmfg.net

www.autotshirtprinter.com