Issue link: https://nbm.uberflip.com/i/1490460
G R A P H I C S - P R O. C O M F E B R U A R Y 2 0 2 3 • G R A P H I C S P R O 4 3 graphics for the jerseys, we email the roster and sponsors to the factory, and nine days later the uniforms arrive complete. It frees up about two weeks of press time, which obviously means we are printing other jobs that hopefully are making money during those two weeks, not to mention the fatigued staff making all the color changes and sponsor and number changes. Let's just say my printers love me for making these changes. The right fit Now let's talk about how we go about finding the right companies to work with. We do not do any sublimation in-house. So, I have had to build good working relationship with companies I can trust. is is the most important thing, in my opinion. Find a company with a great reputa- tion. It is not that hard as there are not that many of them out there, at least ones that only work with decorators. ere are many companies out there that will sell direct to the end consumer. I do not deal with them. I struggle with those compa- nies because the quality of work is just not what I expect. e problem is most of the end users have no idea what a good quality uniform is supposed to look like. I have had a few customers bring in their jersey so we can add a name or a num- ber to it, and I am floored by how bad the quality is. Make sure you work with a company that will make you look good. My next suggestion is to make the sales rep your new best friend. is is no joke! I searched companies that had a good rep- utation, of course, but I will tell you that the company is only as good as its reps. What I mean by that is a lot of things hap- pen during the course of an order being placed to showing up in the freight room. e best person to make that go smoothly is the rep. I am so proud of the relationships I have built with my company reps. Many of them actually stay at my house when they come to see my company. I usually buy Ty Wilson printing on the number machine. (Image courtesy Nathan Craig) them dinner. ey rarely have that hap- pen, so it's a great way to let them know you appreciate them, and that you are ded- icated to growing that brand. I will give you an example of a poten- tial nightmare that ended up making me a hero. e soccer league I mentioned pre- viously placed their orders. Everything was entered and was approved. We had a ship date that put them in my hands two days before the first scheduled games. Everything seemed to be moving perfectly. en the league president called and says they are moving the start date back for the local community college volleyball team. (Image courtesy Ty Wilson) Scrn-pnted jersey