Issue link: https://nbm.uberflip.com/i/1362655
4 8 G R A P H I C S P R O S E P T E M B E R 2 0 2 1 G R A P H I C S - P R O. C O M to saving money on consumables, which lowers your pro- duction costs." Landesman recommends looking at equipment designed specifically for high-volume. "Certain desktop printers, or other items not designed for high-capacity printing, not only slow down your printing speed, but can raise your costs of goods," he explains. Along with increasing your printing speed, there are several areas in the screen prep area that can be automated to make the process more efficient overall. For example, emulsion coating, screen reclaiming, screen developing, and printing film positives are all steps that can be automated. LASER MACHINES With high-volume laser equipment, you can set up an entire table full of products to be engraved in one run. This reduces the time to engrave each item, as compared to when the operator sets up new artwork and only runs one product at a time. "Due to the nature of the high-volume orders, the larger the engraving bed of the laser you use, the more throughput you can complete per run of the job," explains Stanaway. If the number of your high-volume orders warrants it, you may find the need to add another laser to your shop to keep up with demand. Other than the laser itself, not a whole lot is necessary to pro- duce high-volume orders in this fashion. Additional tools needed depends on the high-volume order being fulfilled. A rotary attach- ment accessory may be needed to engrave drinkware, or if you need a jig to hold multiples of the same product — such as a keychain or bottle opener — a scrap piece of wood, acrylic, or cardboard can come in handy. (A note on jigs: Jigs are a great way to maximize your engraving area and keep all your items secure when customizing When screen printing garments, it makes sense to invest in high-speed and high-volume equipment when your shop prints over 300-piece runs. (Im- age courtesy Lawson Screen & Digital Products) of goods," he explains. Along with increasing your printing speed, there are several areas in the screen prep area that can be automated to make the process more efficient overall. For example, emulsion coating, screen reclaiming, screen developing, and printing film positives are all steps that can be automated. LASER MACHINES With high-volume laser equipment, you can set up an entire table full of products to be engraved in one run. This reduces the time to engrave each item, as compared to when the operator sets up new artwork and only runs one product at a time. "Due to the nature of the high-volume orders, the larger the engraving bed of the laser you use, the more throughput you can complete per run of the job," explains Stanaway. If the number of your high-volume orders warrants it, you may find the need to add another laser to your shop to keep up with demand. Other than the laser itself, not a whole lot is necessary to pro duce high-volume orders in this fashion. Additional tools needed depends on the high-volume order being fulfilled. A rotary attach ment accessory may be needed to engrave drinkware, or if you need a jig to hold multiples of the same product — such as a keychain or bottle opener — a scrap piece of wood, acrylic, or cardboard can come in handy. ( your engraving area and keep all your items secure when customizing There are several areas in the screen prep area that can be automated to make the process more efficient overall, such as emulsion coating. (Image courtesy Lawson Screen & Digital Products) direct-to-garment (DTG) printing, he says you can either look at it from a pieces-per-run or pieces-per-day/week perspective. "DTG is able to print variable data, so production is total quantity," Landesman explains. "From a piece- per-run perspective, anything over 24 shirts would be high-volume. With total garments printed, 40-plus pieces per day would be high-volume. Once you reach these numbers, investing in a production DTG machine can lend