T-shirt embroidery is a popular route for a lot of businesses. Whether they’re startups or branching out into the t-shirt embroidery industry, these businesses need a t-shirt embroidery machine to maximise their potential. But choosing the right one can prove to be tricky.
When looking at which commercial embroidery machine is right for your business, you need to think carefully. There are various factors that you must consider soyou pick the right one for your needs. There isn’t a one-size-fits-all approach; what works for one business may not work for yours, so you mustn’t rush into this decision.
To help you, this blog post will run through the different considerations that businesses of various sizes and levels should consider when looking for their equipment. It’ll also include the benefits that a t-shirt embroidery machine can have on your wider company and overall growth.
We’ll cover options for:
Startup Businesses
T-shirt embroidery is a great starting point for a business. It’s accessible, requires little training and there’s always a demand for it. From fashion clothing businesses to school uniforms, t-shirt embroidery is used throughout a vast range of industries due to its durability and longevity – and there are no signs of it slowing down or declining in popularity.
When starting up, it’s likely that your customer base isn’t going to be huge. So, you won’t need a super-expensive and huge piece of equipment. You’ll be able to benefit from a single-head machine that has the right level of output to meet your customers demands and needs. Plus, it’s unlikely that startup businesses have the budget to be splashing out on top of the range, multi-head machines.
Not only do the above-mentioned factors need considering but you also have to consider the technicality of your designs too. If you’re only going to be producing basic lettering and simple designs, you won’t need added software and extras that allow you to nail down those intricate and finicky patterns.
Think of your overall goals too – are you looking to branch out into areas further than t-shirts? Are you expected to grow within the next few years dramatically? If so, you should invest in a machine that has a lot of scope for your expansion. Rather than wasting money on a machine that you’re going to grow out of quickly, by factoring in your growth you can actually save money in the long run.
HappyJapan HCS2-101
This machine is perfect for startup businesses. Not only is it small and compact but it’s also portable and has plenty of scope for growth. It’s increasingly popular with smaller t-shirt embroidery shops and sole traders.
The various features allow businesses to keep t-shirt embroidery as simple as possible. However, the results it can produce are far from simple! Pair the results with the high-speed performance and you’ll find that you have a great machine on your hands. A top t-shirt embroidery machine.
It’s key features are:
- Number of heads: 1
- Maximum speed: 1000 revs per minute (RPM)
- Needles: 12
- Tubular embroidery area: 285mm x 290mm
- Low-profile cap frame (optional): 67mm x 180mm
- Colour LCD touch screen control panel
Established Businesse
Businesses may already have a clothing line or a niche that they’ve been focusing on but want to expand into new markets. T-shirt embroidery is a good industry to move into, although it is competitive. T-shirts will never go out of fashion, so it’s a safe bet for businesses to branch into.
If you’re adding another product line to your range, your output will need to increase to cope with demands. So, you’re going to need a machine that can reflect this growth. That way, you’re not putting too much stress on your current equipment, reducing their life-span and potentially delaying orders.
Delayed orders and low-quality products due to machines being overworked is one way to harm your reputation. You want to be known for producing the best t-shirts possible, not forgetting orders wrong and producing cheap stock. Reputation and first impressions are hard to overturn and put straight – so, get a machine that can keep up with demand and uphold a high-quality standard too.
Depending on how established you are, machines may be well-used and have therefore slowed down. For your business to be working at maximum efficiency levels, you need to be churning out orders as quickly as you can – whilst still keeping that quality high. A new machine will be a lot faster and will have a lot more functionalities, so you can keep business efficiency and productivity levels high and reduce any downtime.
HappyJapan HCR3-1506
As your business grows into new markets, one thing you should be able to predict is the reliability of your equipment. You don’t want to be treading into unknown territory without knowing that you have the best possible chance of success behind you, do you?
This machine is the perfect option to ensure that efficiency levels are always at a maximum. It has no problem running all day and churning out those orders one after one. There’s a reason why it’s one of the bestsellers.
It’s key features are:
- Number of heads: 6
- Maximum speed: 1200 RPM
- Maximum Flat Embroidery size 450mm x 500mm
- Tubular Embroidery Area : 420mm x 440mm
- Free PC connection software
- Machine memory 40 million stitches – up to 250 design can be saved
- USB and LAN network port
Enterprise Businesses
If you’re dominating the t-shirt embroidery industry on a national or global stage, you’ll be getting thousands of orders a day. Customers want their orders in a reasonable time too, they won’t sit around and wait for you to complete everyone else’s orders before releasing theirs. So, you need to be able to ramp up that turnaround time.
Therefore, you need a machine that’ll be able to perform quickly, efficiently and is low maintenance to look after too. Maintenance is necessary to keep your machine efficient and able to work hard but you don’t want to be constantly forking out for it due to your machine being overworked – the costs will soon rack up and it’ll massively eat into your profits.
Enterprise businesses never stop. So, you need machines that are easy to use and quick to grasp for the operator. Plus, you should make sure that all of your employees are capable of using the machine that you choose. The last thing that you want is for a team to be out of the office for a day and it massively impacts the number of orders that you can produce. This will increase backlog and downtime and have a knock-on effect on the service you’re able to provide.
Larger businesses tend to have a wider product range than smaller, less-established companies. So, they need to invest in a machine that’s able to create a plethora of different designs and is compatible with a range of different fabrics too. Otherwise, customers will choose competitor businesses simply because they can offer them a more bespoke and tailored service.
HappyJapan HCR3-1512
When your business reaches this size, production levels and customer demand increases dramatically. So, durability and reliability in your machine become all the more important. Happy Japan machines are well-known for their longevity and are built to run all day, so you can forget about the worries of declining production levels.
This 12-headed machine can turnaround large orders in minimal time, which is perfect for increasing orders and keeping customers happy. Sashing through orders and keeping the quality at a high standard is a solid foundation for leading claims within the t-shirt embroidery industry.
It’s key qualities are:
- Number of heads: 12
- Maximum speed: 1200 RPM
- Maximum Flat Embroidery size 450mm x 500mm (360mm)
- Tubular Embroidery Area : 420mm x 440mm
- Machine memory: 40 million stitches – Up to 250 design can be saved
- USB and LAN network port
- Automatic thread trimmer
- Automatic colour change
Choose the Right T-Shirt Embroidery Machine For Your Business
As we’ve mentioned, choosing the right t-shirt embroidery machine is vital. So, you shouldn’t take this decision lightly. Having the right machine in place can be the difference from being a great success or a massive flop. And we know which one we’d rather be!
So, do you need a single-head or multi-head machine for your business? Well, it’s dependent on a number of factors. If you’re not sure, don’t worry. We’ve got you covered. We’ve created a free guide for you that compares both options and showcases what they can both offer your business. Download your copy today and make the first move towards running a successful t-shirt embroidery business.