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 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
