Issue link: https://nbm.uberflip.com/i/1451361
G R A P H I C S - P R O. C O M 2 0 2 2 S U B L I M A T I O N R E P O R T 7 3 40% with a couple other companies. at way, you build relationships and sales with others too. By doing this, you can tend to pay a little more with some other companies since you do not spend as much, but you are also building a lay- er of security at the same time in case your larger supplier runs out of stock or closes for good! DAILY PLANS Always have a daily production plan. A production plan will not only help you maintain production, but you will be able to start being able to plan for daily, monthly, and quarterly maintenance plans to keep your equipment cleaned and make the time to look it over to x any minor is- sues or to spot check it. is now gives you the control to plan on when that will work best for your production line up and your techs. By having control of that, you can plan to be down, limit your down time, and stay ahead on your production. Not planning and having your machine break down and your tech unavailable can lose you a lot of business quickly. Better to maintain control and options. EDUCATION & UPKEEP Always teach your sta to do the main- tenance on the equipment and explain why to them. It is very simple in the end. If the machine is not running than they are not working, but the ip side to that is the less the equipment produces, the less you can aord to give them the fol- lowing year. Teach them what to look out for. With sublimation equipment, they are very low keep. With your printers, you want to do test prints every morning. With heat presses, you want to pay attention to how they are regulating heat consistent- ly and make sure nothing it sticking to the at surface of the press on the either side. Every week, make sure you dust your printer and all equipment. Most product is white, so it is very easy to ruin product or prints just with dust alone. Also, reach out to your equipment man- ufacturer and see what common parts tend to breakdown. Sometimes for $100- $200, you can stock some minor parts to be safe. Most parts take less than 15 min- utes to install to get you back up and run- ning. Again, look at it as piece of mind and having insurance. A printer and heat press alone can last you years if you take care of them. We still have our very rst heat press from 18 years ago and it still works. As you can see there are many layers to protecting your equipment and keep- ing you production moving. Every com- pany has several moving parts. No mat- ter if you have one employee or several, the work still needs to get done and you need to make sure you factor all this in. Simple maintenance alone can make or break your company each year. Make it a priority, or issues will arise at the worst times. SR Howard Potter has worked in the promotional in- dustry for 17 years, from designing to building brands and a family-owned business. He is the co-owner and CEO of A&P Master Images LLC with his wife, Amanda. Their company offers graphic design, screen printing, embroidery, sublimation, vinyl graphics, and promotional items. Howard, his family, and the busi- ness reside in Utica, New York. For more information, please visit masteryourimage.com.