by The Embroidery Coach | | Embroidery Business Planning, Embroidery Production
Here are 9 Tips To Increase Your Embroidery Production that will help to save you time and increase your profit!
- Organize each one of your work areas to save steps. Have all of the tools used in that area, or during that process, stored in that area. You may have duplicate tools; this is OK. I have scissors in my area where I cut backing, in my area where I trim off the backing, and on my machine. You do not want to leave an area to get a tool!
- Keep each area as neat and orderly as possible. Sometimes this is hard, but it takes more time to constantly move stuff out of the way so that you can work.
- Keep all of your threads stored and marked by color. This saves time looking for a thread color.
- Order your backing in cut sizes and store it on a shelf close to your hooping area. You will need several sizes for this to work. If you order by the large rolls, cut enough ahead in the different sizes for many jobs. Cutting it up for each job is a huge waste of time.
- Keep your thread colors for a design on the closest needles to each color on the machine to save color change time. Example: If you are using 4 colors in a design, put those 4 colors on needles 1,2,3 and 4. This gives you the shortest travel distance between needle bars as the head moves to the next color which saves time.
- Store the thread for each machine as close to the machine as possible. If you have several machines, you must have your thread in a central location but as close to the machines as possible.
- Keep track of where your needles are in your embroidery machine. Having a system in place is important for keeping track of your needle changes. I have a form called a needle replacement sheet. It is designed for a 15 needle machine for this purpose. If you have a single head you only need one sheet. If you have a multi-head embroidery machine you will need one for each head. Each time you change a needle, note on your sheet the size, type, date, and reason for changing. Store the sheets in a binder under the machine.
- Before starting production each morning, brush out and blow out the Rotary hook and Knife area of your embroidery machine. Place 1 drop of oil on the rail of the rotary hook just outside the bobbin case.
- Stop production early on Friday afternoon to do all of your weekly maintenance. This pays off huge dividends the following week and helps to start Monday morning off knowing that all of your machines are in tip top condition. You are ready to begin immediately without the fear that the embroidery machine will break down during production!
If you have found some time saving tips to increase your embroidery production, I would love to hear about it. Please respond to this post and share them.
Joyce Jagger
The Embroidery Coach
by The Embroidery Coach | | Embroidery Education
In our last post, we talked about how to find a good digitizer and the qualities that you should look for in a good digitizer. Today we are going to expand on that and talk about what you can expect to pay for embroidery digitizing charges.
There is a huge range when it comes to pricing for digitizing and different approaches to the way that they price their digitizing. Some digitizers charge by the stitch count only. The range for most good digitizers is from $7.00 to $20.00 per thousand stitches. You may even find a good one that will charge less than the $7.00 per thousand. Sometimes they charge by how long it takes and sometimes it is by the complexity of the design.
There are even good digitizers that will give you a choice and will create designs based on a scale. If you want a lot of detail it will cost you more than if you want less detail. If you want color blending this is an additional charge on top of the stitch count. If you find someone that is charging less, then you had better try them out on a design that is for a customer that would not complain if it is not the kind of quality that you envision. If the price is low, I would truly beware.
This brings me to the subject of going overseas for your designs. Yes, their designs are very inexpensive; but can you communicate with this person or is it a company that employs a lot of digitizers? You have no control over who you are going to get. Sometimes the designs are OK and sometimes they are horrible and you cannot specify who you want to digitize your design. This can also be true in this country if you are dealing with a large company. They will send your design to the next person that is available. Sometimes they even contract them out to other companies and maybe overseas. In this case, you can expect to pay a lot less for embroidery digitizing charges.
I am not saying that all digitizers in other countries are not good digitizers. I have found some very good ones, but you have to be very careful.
Embroidery Digitizer Must Sew Out Designs
Make sure that your digitizer sews out the designs before sending them to you. Many digitizers with such a low fee do not sew out the designs before sending them to you. Many of this type do not even own an embroidery machine. If you have a design that you have purchased for a low price and it has a lot of issues with it, it will cost you money in the end. It will drive up your production time so far that it will cost you money to do the job.
You want to make sure that you are working with someone that will give you a trouble-free design and you can make money on their work. This is truly one area that you do not want to skimp on in your embroidery business! This is one area where you get what you pay for. Don’t forget you are going to charge the customer for the digitizing fee. This is not a charge that you absorb in any way shape or form!
Embroidery digitizing charge are basically all over the board, you just have to shop around for a good one. Send the same design to several different digitizers and see who does the best job.
Click here for more information on what to charge for your embroidery and digitizing fees. It is very important that you charge for your setups and your digitizing. DO NOT absorb these costs. It will eat up all of your profits!
