How Apparel Decorators Can Balance Short- and Long-Run Print Orders
Whether a print shop is taking on large- or short-run print orders, the key to successful order management comes down to three things: the right technology, software, and lean production.
If you’re a print shop that does screen printing, runs digital printing equipment, does transfers, or all the above, figuring out how to successfully manage orders of different sizes can be challenging. The right technology coupled with an organized workflow can make all the difference.
You have your repeat customers who come in with everything from large merch orders to new uniforms. You also might be a shop that’s doing on-demand printing, handling orders of one, and adapting to changing buying habits.
If you’re taking on both, and sources agree you should be, we have some tips and tricks for managing those orders, as well as information on what print processes lend themselves to long and short runs.
Managing Print Orders with the Right Equipment
Before we jump in, let's define long-run vs. short-run jobs. Doing this in 2024 looks a lot different than it would have in, let’s say, 2014, shares Zac Biberstine, technical director at M&R Printing Equipment. Long-run in 2014 would have been in the thousands of piece.
“If you ask a printer today, it may be in the dozens,” Biberstine says. “The industry has changed so quickly that for some shops, the average run size is in the single digits, where others still have clients that send sizable wholesale jobs.”
Josh Ellsworth, chief revenue officer at GroupeSTAHL, agrees short-run versus large-run print jobs can vary from shop to shop. That said, he sees anything less than 72 pieces as short-run.
“Some may say 36 or less, or 144 or less, so I think 72 is a nice industry average,” Ellsworth explains. “There is also a growing distinction inside of short run that is aptly called ‘on demand.’ On-demand refers to quantities as little as, and typically, one piece and is a decoration model with growing popularity in retail and e-commerce.”
For Kevin Oakley, co-founder and chief revenue officer at Stoked On Printing, the crossover from short- to long-run is an even smaller window. His shop falls into the on-demand category, which handles quantities of one. For him, anything over 20 pieces is considered a long-run job.
With the shift toward smaller print orders, direct-to-consumer, and on-demand needs, Biberstine says the industry has responded appropriately. Equipment manufacturers have brought technologies to market that specialize in one-off printing, allowing print shops to better manage these small-run jobs.
“Direct-to-garment and direct-to-film both are positioned to address the shrinking run sizes without compromising quality,” Biberstine adds. “Additionally, through these technologies, there are added benefits like shorter lead times, increased scalability, and increased flexibility.”
Other heat-applied graphic options like sublimation, patches and emblems, vinyl, and screen-printed transfers also work well for short-run jobs.
For larger orders, traditional screen printing still makes plenty of sense, but Biberstine says leveling up efficiency can be the answer to managing workflows. Whether it’s transitioning to a computer-to-screen system to reduce setup times, adding hybrid printing technology, or automating the screen cleaning process, there are ways to adapt. However, he argues the most effective strategy for managing both small and large print jobs is to have printing solutions to handle both job types.
“Then, using your internal metrics on cost, labor, UPH, and overhead, you can create a decision tree to route the right jobs to the correct decoration technology,” Biberstine continues. “Screen, hybrid, DTG, and DTF all have their place in the decoration world. And most large shops could either add efficiency, reduce cost, or open new opportunities by adding any of the four to their existing business.”
With that comes “right-sizing” capacity in each of those four processes, making sure you have what you need to be successful and aren’t loading up jobs onto the wrong equipment.
Lean Production and Software Solutions
Beyond leveraging the right printing technologies to manage large and short-run print jobs, shops also need to look closer at pre-press and setup to get product out the door.
“If you manage a shop today, you are not in the printing business, you're in the setup business,” Biberstine believes. “Success and efficiency can be measured in how well you can move from one job to the next.”
Eliminating touchpoints can help jobs move smoother through a shop, says Biberstine. Standard operating procedures (SOPs), software, and other tools can make all the difference.
“As run size has gone down, complexity has gone up,” Biberstine argues. “The number of orders a shop processes usually outpaces its average run size for the day. This means that small shops can now benefit from processes you only used to see in large operations. Adding things like lean concepts, adding 6S work areas, and a kaizen mentality, can add as much benefit to a small shop as a large one.”
6S workplaces aim to improve productivity, efficiency, organization, and safety, as well as reduce waste. The 6S model includes:
- Sort: Eliminate unnecessary items from your production area.
- Set in order: Organize substrates, inks, blanks, and other tools and materials.
- Shine: Maintain a clean work area, and yes, that includes inks, films, etc.
- Standardize: Establish consistent practices and procedures not only for new employee training but for repeat jobs.
- Safety: Identify and mitigate hazards – is your shop up to snuff with OSHA requirements?
- Sustain: Simply commit to the 6S principles.
SOPs help set the foundation for success from the time an order is placed to the moment it gets sent out the door. Within that model is one of the most powerful tools in a shop’s arsenal: software. Without the right solutions to standardize business and order processing, a shop’s production can quickly turn chaotic.
“Most shops can afford some manual administrative expenses on long-run jobs whereas these expenses can be detrimental to short-run jobs,” Ellsworth adds. “For this reason, a lot of businesses have a hard time pivoting to the industry trend of smaller order sizes. To win and stay profitable, businesses must consider how shop management technology can empower them to make short-run and on-demand viable.”
Ellsworth points out that this can be especially challenging for veteran decorators who have heavily invested in legacy systems and processes. To “win on demand,” he says shops need an aggressive software stack that “aggregates various order sources together for fulfillment.”
This software stack should make a shop more efficient — automating blanks sourcing, making transfers, executing production, and organizing items in customer carts for packing and distribution, he says.
“Subsequently, a strong on-demand or short production management software needs to offer or be integrated to various order intake sources,” Ellsworth stresses. “This will drive maximum demand and volume into the daily batch of aggregated orders, which is critical to scaling the business profitability.”
Oakley agrees, finding it funny how people can invest $100,000 on a new press, but they hesitate at the thought of spending the same amount on software to run their shops.
“We have a centralized ERP that houses all the information for orders of one piece all the way up to 20,000 pieces and the reason is that it's so important to have a central source of information for everyone in your company to have access to and to not be running around and looking for different pieces of information in different places,” Oakley shares. “I would highly recommend looking at investing in a good ERP, as once the jobs become smaller and smaller, it's easy to start missing pieces of the workflow.”
Shifting Mindset in an On-Demand World
As run sizes continue to shift, Biberstine tells shops to “look at the changing landscape of order size not as a burden on your business but as an opportunity to evolve. The small runs of the past that you had to turn away may just be the opportunity to add a new sector to your developing business.”
And while it may not be feasible for shops to take on heat-applied graphics, screen printing, embroidery, and DTG or DTF in-house, Ellsworth reminds apparel decorators they can lean on contract decorators — often being the key to order management success.
