by The Embroidery Coach | | Embroidery Business Planning, Embroidery Production
Always match the customer’s original embroidery order to the packing slip as you open up the boxes of blank goods. These blank goods can be dropped off by the customer or be sent to you by the distributor.
If you are a contract embroiderer, your customer should have sent you his order before you received the goods from the distributor or manufacturer.
Sometimes the customer will drop off his order and garments at the same time. As a general rule, they never look at the packing slip or check it before they deliver the order to you. They just assume that what they have received from the manufacturer or distributor is correct.
Many times the original orders will not match the packing slip. If there is a discrepancy in the amounts, sizes, or colors, you must find out exactly what you have before you call the distributor or your customer.
If the garments are packed in plastic bags, remove the bags and check the sizes. The size tag on the outside package is not always the size that is marked on the garment. This is the first thing to check.
Lay out all of your garments in stacks by sizes and then count each size. Make a list of each size with the amounts. If the colors are not correct, list the colors with each size and the amount.
Now you can call the distributor or the customer and let them know exactly what you have and what the order states that you should have. I have found, being a contract embroiderer, that my customer will often substitute a color, size, or style if the distributor was out of a particular item and forget to write it on the order.
Distributors will often substitute a size with a different one and neglect to include this on the packing slip. The person responsible for picking the order may pick up another size and add it to the order instead of letting you know that you are short that one size.
The number one rule here is to make sure that your order matches the packing slip, or find out why it does not, before you do any type of production on your product. Once an item is embroidered, you cannot exchange or replace it.
Do you have problems with customer orders not being correct?
Joyce Jagger
The Embroidery Coach
by The Embroidery Coach | | Embroidery Education
Continuing your Embroidery Education is very important and is vital to your overall Embroidery Business Success!
Do you ever get the feeling that you just do not have the time to sit down and learn something new? Are you just so busy doing the day to day stuff that keeps the customers happy and coming back that you feel trapped?
I know that very same feeling and I have found that if I take out just a few minutes each day for learning something new or refreshing my memory, that it actually rejuvenates me and gives me a huge lift!
Continuing your embroidery education is something that is vital to your Embroidery Business Success. Do you feel like you just cannot keep up on all of the new processes, applications and products that are changing so quickly?
There are some things that never change! They are the basics! The basics of creating designs and embroidery application do not change. Its those basics that we sometimes forget, and we need to refresh our memory with from time to time.
Do not let your embroidery video training programs, articles, and other embroidery information that you have saved, gather dust on your shelf. Take them out and review them from time to time so that you can remember those basics. They are the foundation of great embroidery and those basics will never change!
Joyce Jagger
The Embroidery Coach
by The Embroidery Coach | | Embroidery Business Management
Every embroidery business owner wants a profitable embroidery business. Controlling costs equals more embroidery profits. Whether you are just starting your embroidery business, trying to grow your embroidery business, or want to create a more profitable embroidery business, learning how to control costs is extremely important. Controlling or reducing your costs can create the difference between losing money, breaking even, or creating a small or large profit. There are 3 costing factors that you must be aware of and keep a good eye on at all times that will help to reduce these costs.
- Production Costs
- Inventory Costs
- Production Wastage or Spoilage Costs
How To Cut Your Embroidery Production Costs
You must carefully analyze all of your Production Costs! You should know what each and every piece of your production is costing you. Review all of your production processes to see if there is a way for you to develop an easier method or a shorter time for each one of your processes.
If you have not done so in the past, start timing each of your processes. Each operator should be carefully observed as they are performing each step. Maybe there is something that was missed in their training. Are they are taking an extra step that could be cut out? This is very important. Each job process should be timed over and over to determine the most efficient way of performing that task.
Each separate process of the job should be kept track of from start to finish to determine its true cost. An easy way to do this is having your operators punch a time clock at the beginning and end of each process. An inexpensive time clock can be purchased to be placed in the center of the production area for this purpose. This will not be the same time clock that is used for clocking in at the beginning of the day. That clock needs to be in the entry way as they come in the door.
When an employee knows that they are being timed, they have a tendency to move quicker and more efficiently. It is very important to start this process from the time that the order is taken until it is shipped out of the door. You over look a lot of time that it actually takes to produce that finished product if you are not carefully tracking every single movement and moment of time.
This is an area of your business where the Production Costs can really make a huge difference. Therefore, controlling costs equals more embroidery business profits!
Click here to read about your Embroidery Business Inventory Costs and Production Spoilage Cost.
by The Embroidery Coach | | Embroidery Business Marketing
How can I write a blog post? I cannot write! How do I know what to say? This is what I hear over and over when I am working with my students, helping them to create their On-Line Embroidery Marketing System.
I understand where you are coming from and what you mean! I have been there myself and I finally discovered that writing a blog post is not hard!
Write Your Blog Post As If You Are Talking To One Person At A Time!
I always thought that I was writing to a large group of people, and I did not have a clue as to what to say. I then discovered that I had to write as if I was talking, and you are merely talking to one person at a time.
Before you start trying to write, create a picture in your mind of the person that you are writing to. He or she is not just a customer, they are a person.
- Who is your target audience?
- Approximately how old is she or he?
- What are their interests?
- Is this a small business person?
- Is this person an end user of your product?
- What type of a relationship do you want to have with this person?
Once you have a clear picture of that person in your mind, it is easier to create your message.
- What is it that you want them to know?
- What do you have to offer them that is going to help them?
Remember: keep it short and to the point. People do not have the time to read long posts. You are creating a relationship with that one person. This may help you to overcome your fear of writing. It worked for me! Leave a comment and let me know if this has helped you!
Joyce Jagger
The Embroidery Coach
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
