Images Magazine Digital Edition October 2018

KB BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT www.images-magazine.com 40 images OCTOBER 2018 Fitness When we talk about the fitness of an embroidery machine, we’re not talking about its lap times over 1500m, we're referring to its ‘fitness for purpose’ – how well it fits within the context of your shop, your workload, and your workflow. And the first fitness-test to consider is the machine’s ‘feature fitness’. Some machines may be particularly well suited for a particular type of garment or decoration that makes up a large part of your work. If a machine is especially designed to be stable when stitching caps and you are a headwear master – that machine may provide a better fit for your shop than one that doesn’t share the same focus or offer those capabilities. If you run equestrian accessories such as quilted horse blankets then a machine that has controls for the presser foot that allows you to easily accommodate thick materials may be a better fit for your business. While machines that offer specific decoration features are interesting, I should point out that I spent my entire career working with machines that had no such adjustments and yet still ably stitched a wide range of garments, including difficult caps, horse blankets, golf bags and leather goods. I don’t think that these features are necessarily the primary concern: if all else is equal, there’s no reason not to get a special feature that can make your products a bit easier to handle, but there are more important measures to take into account. Unless a feature can greatly change the efficiency of your operation, it’s unlikely to be the main determining factor for your purchase. Cost of operation and holistic support Assuming that the machines you are considering buying are all equal in terms of their feature set and stitching capabilities, then if you’re like most embroiderers you’ll jump straight to price as a differentiator. But be warned, although it is important to monitor the cost of your equipment, there’s more to accurate costing than the price tag on the machine itself. Generally, the prices for comparable machines will be fairly similar, and when you can afford several in a range that address your production needs, initial price is less important than the total cost of learning, operating, maintaining and repairing the machines over time. You might think that this is easy to measure, but this cost depends on more than what the manufacturer or distributor can crate up and send to your door. It is crucial to assess a machine’s overall support system when assessing this long-term cost. A newly installed machine often runs well, yet it can still become a costly burden over time if you don’t have the resources or support you need to keep it operating and in good repair. Without adequate documentation, your machine can be hard to maintain and operate. Here is a short support checklist to consider: • Does your supplier have skilled and experienced technicians in your region that can respond quickly when needed? • Are there other shops with the same equipment nearby with which you could split tech travel costs? • Are spare parts readily available for your new machine? Does your supplier hold a stock of these parts? • Is there already an established user base for your new machine? A vocal user community can help with time-tested answers from decorators whose practical knowledge and experience of using the machine have surpassed the information available in the machine’s user manuals. The commercial embroidery market is flooded with the used machines of those who should have thought more carefully before placing their order There’s more to accurate costing than the price tag on the machine [Below] Buying a well-maintained, used machine can make sense if you have access to tech support and replacement parts are readily available