Quality Embroidery

Greetings everybody, I hope this month’s newsletter finds all of you enjoying the first half of the year.  First quarter 2016 was the busiest ever at Qdigitizing and second quarter is also looking very strong.  From all of us to all of you, thank you.  Without your continued support we could not enjoy the support you make possible.

Anyone who knows me knows I am a freak about quality when it comes to embroidery and digitizing. And anyone who is in this business knows these two topics are inexorably linked. You can’t have beautiful embroidery without excellent digitizing and even the best digitizing will produce poor results if proper production technique is not used on well-maintained equipment.

While there are countless issues that contribute to quality below are my top 6 factors you can control through understanding and interviewing your embroidery vendor.
1. Use Top Notch Digitizing: Digitizing is a skill developed over many years. Even though technology has improved to a point where newcomers can achieve passable results after a few weeks of instruction on simple designs true skill is achieved through years (yes, years) of trial and error on a host of different fabric substrates and products.  As soon as a digitizer thinks they have nailed a technique a new fabric will be released that changes the game (see https://www.qdigitizing.com/blog/?p=1178.)

Don’t ever let a software sales person tell you otherwise. They are in the business of selling software and will minimize the skill set required to produce quality embroidery. Whether it is Qdigitizing or one of our capable competitors, unless you are prepared to dedicate a significant amount of time and resources you should find a digitizer you can rely on and work closely with. Be sure to find a company you can speak to about your expectations.

2. Give good instructions: The better your instructions the better the chances a digitizer will meet your expectations on a first pass. Be prepared to provide at a very minimum the following information: Design size on one axis, what will the design be embroidered on and are there any elements in the art not included in the digitized design.

Any embroiderer or digitizer who tells you it does not matter what the logo will be sewn on does not know what they are talking about. It makes a HUGE difference. And while some designs will work on a variety of fabrics some absolutely will not. The reasons for this are a blog (or book) on to itself. If you don’t know (and we understand this is sometimes the case) your provider will only be able to use general settings that work in “most” cases to produce your job. When the “live” product arrives there is a very good chance your digitizer will need to tweak a design in order to make it work for a specific product. It might sound self serving but This is to be expected and should be considered part of the process.

3. Unreasonable expectations: It is up to the provider or the sales person to make the end user understand that some designs simply should not be embroidered as presented (see https://www.qdigitizing.com/blog/?p=825) There are some companies and individuals who in the interest of making a sale will accept work that cannot be done well. Ninety-nine times out of a hundred this will revolve around trying to achieve the type of resolution in embroidery that can be printed. You must understand what can and cannot be done in embroidery and then accept the fact that some designs simply will not look good in embroidery. In those cases, be prepared to offer your customer an alternative. Do not force yourself (or your vendor) to compromise their quality standards to produce an order that should not be sewn. If you do, you will have a disappointed customer who is reluctant to place re-orders with you.

4. Embroidery Technique: Simply put, your embroidery vendor must know what they are doing in order to produce quality embroidery. There is far more to embroidery than placing a product on a machine and pressing the start button. Over the years I have been in many shops. I have seen great embroidery and I have seen product I wouldn’t give away. Always ask for a tour of any facility you consider using. If the shop manager will allow you to speak with the machine operators ask pointed questions like, “How is embroidery different on woven or knit products?” If a shop is dirty and disorganized the chances are pretty good the embroidery will be a reflection of the factory. There are exceptions to this rule, but interview the owner or shop manager carefully.

5. Condition of Equipment: Modern equipment is far superior to the machines I worked with when I first got in to embroidery in the 1980′s. Frankly, there is no comparison. The new machines are fantastic. They stitch faster and far more accurately. However, even the best of these machines if not well maintained will produce poor embroidery. As you tour a factory look at multi head machines. If there are several heads turned off and they look like they have not been used in a while (look for thread trees with no thread, tangled thread or dust where the spools would sit) then you are looking at a machine that has not been properly maintained. While one or two inoperative heads does not a bad shop make it is an indicator to other things going on in the facility. Additionally, ask the operator how old their machines are. It has been my experience that unless religiously maintained the effective life of an embroidery machine is about 10 years. After that they become to costly to maintain and tend to fall in to disrepair and produce substandard product.

6. Shop Processes: A disorganized shop can make a lot of mistakes that can cost you a great deal of money. While you might think it is not your business how a shop runs their facility it is of critical importance. Embroidery is a detail oriented business. If a shop does not keep accurate and easy to access order history you will soon find mistakes on your orders. The “lazy” operator will tell you it is your responsibility to keep your own records but a well run shop will be able to tell you what you did on any order you have ever done quickly and accurately. This goes to Quality of Service as much as Quality of Product. To me, there is very little difference in the two concepts.

I could (and maybe someday will) write a book on these topics. You should be aware that when all of the planets are aligned embroidery on modern equipment can go very smoothly and produce incredibly beautiful results. But if any of the factors required for quality work are compromised poor results will quickly follow.

Please feel free to reach out to me at steve.freeman@qdigitizing.com or 877-733-4390 if I can answer any specific questions for you. You are also invited to post a reply to this blog or start your own thread. I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Steve Freeman
Qdigitizing.com
steve.freeman@qdigitizing.com