www.images-magazine.com APRIL 2022 images 45 DIGITAL PRINTING / DTF Telling it like it is: Direct-to-filmprinters The Site Supply Company: Sublistar DTF3200 from Midwest Four garment decorators tell us how their direct-to-film (DTF) printers are working out for them Martin Bullock, managing director Tell us a bit about your business. The Site Supply Company is a workwear and uniform supplier which has just proudly celebrated its 20th year in business. We ran two Mimaki CJV15075 [printer/cutters] and a Graphtec CE 6000-60 [cutting plotter], which were employed 8 1/2 hours per day, five days per week, producing 8,000 prints in a basic week. Why did you move into DTF printing? We had used vinyl printing for more than 18 years with great success, spending more than £10,000 per month on printing consumables! The work was very labour-intensive, which meant that we could not really compete with screen printers for bulk orders. DTF has very much changed that, while enabling us to continue to be competitive with small runs. What DTF machine did you buy and how much did it cost? We bought the Midwest Sublistar DTF3200, which cost us in the region of £16,000. Why did you choose the Sublistar? Midwest has been our embroidery machine supplier for many years. Dean [Goodwin, Midwest’s MD] contacted me on the day I was going to pay a deposit on another DTF machine; after attending a demo we decided that the Sublistar was the machine for us. The machine has been a triumph, allowing us access to the whole print market by allowing us to reduce the labour and consumable costs of our printed items. Is there anything you’d like to see in an upgrade or don’t particularly like about it? Currently nothing. Everything is just perfect up to now. Do you have any tips on how to get the most out of it? An attentive, tech-savvy operator who understands that maintenance is key to trouble-free printing, along with a clean, warm environment. What sort of work is it used for? We have completed orders of 6,000 pieces alongside single item jobs to fulfil our usual range of sales orders. Has your DTF machine replaced any of your original machines? We have kept one Mimaki CJV150 and the Graphtec CE6000, although they get very little use these days. What would be your advice to others thinking of buying a DTF machine? These machines do need a different approach than the one used for vinyl printers, more akin to conventional printing. The operators need to retrain to a degree from what they were used to doing. Martin Bullock believes DTF is the future of garment printing Is there anything else you’d like to add? We are converted! We looked many times at DTG as an addition to our general vinyl printing, but we were always put off by reliability and speed problems. In our view, this is the future of garment printing. www.hivis.net
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