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.