ImagesMagUK_Digital-Edition_January2018

www.images-magazine.com 18 images JANUARY 2018 Robert Miller I have been faced with pretty much every question and argument regarding the various printer models and their prices, print sizes, ink prices and so on in the 12 years I’ve been selling DTG machines. Probably the most frequently asked question is about ink cost, and it is clear that the cost of the ink often has a significant influence on a user’s choice of machine. I believe, however, that the decision-making process with regard to machinery and ink purchases requires a different perspective… Are you a T-shirt printer or are you selling T-shirts? The whole DTG business depends, ultimately, on selling the output from your printer(s). So let’s assume you have really successful sales, your marketing is working well and your designs are the most demanded on the web – the orders are pouring in and all is well in the world. You now have to fulfil these orders and at this point the many variables within the production process start to have a major impact on your profitability. In simple terms, the cost of producing Each month, leading manufacturers and DTG print shop owners share their know how in our DTG advice column. This month, Robert Miller, managing director of J&B Sewing Machine Co, takes a detailed look at the ‘true cost’ of DTG printers and inks one shirt comprises three factors: the cost of the blank shirt, cost of the ink/ pretreat, and the time taken to produce the print (labour cost). For the moment let’s ignore the capital equipment cost. Put simply, the more shirts you can produce per hour, the more money you can earn (see Table 1.) It is easy to see that by increasing the number of shirts you produce per hour, not only do you reduce your labour cost per item, but the profits per hour increase dramatically, too. If you were able to consistently make this volume of sales, the potential annualised profit of 30 shirts per hour is £390,000. Work just two days a week at this rate and you could still make over £150,000 a year. The real cost To achieve these higher volumes, you need a machine that prints faster, is more reliable and requires as little maintenance as possible. This usually involves purchasing a more expensive machine, and saving money at this stage can easily prove to be a huge mistake. Crucially, you need a machine that will perform day in, day out, with minimal downtime. Early DTG printers were slow, with eight dark shirts per hour considered acceptable, and around double that on white shirts. This put a limit on earning potential and often led to maintenance being overlooked in the quest for higher output. However, reducing maintenance would then lead to increased downtime Production capability per hour dark shirts 8 15 30 Labour cost at £7.50 per hour £0.94 £0.50 £0.25 Shirt cost £2.00 £2.00 £2.00 Ink/pretreat cost £1.50 £1.50 £1.50 Total cost £4.44 £4.00 £3.75 Profit if sold at £10.00 £5.56 £6.00 £6.25 Profit per hour £44.48 £90.00 £187.50 Table 1.