ImagesMagUK_January_2022

IS DECORATOR PROFILE www.images-magazine.com 34 images JANUARY 2022 “When we were doing orders such as leaver hoodies, we were doing the printing and then shipping it to an embroiderer so this made sense as we are able to do it all in-house in one place,” Shabbir explains. “The one drawback of print-on-demand is every order is different so digital and Melcos lend themselves perfectly to it. Rather than having one larger multi-head machine running just one item, you can do individual orders on individual machines.” He predicts that embroidery, which also makes it possible to decorate caps, is a section that is set to grow in the future. Snuggle has started investing in greater automation by installing two Sharp Pregis CE SX bagging machines and a Texfinity folding machine in 2020. “We thought we’d try them to see how we got on with it,” Akil says. “It’s worked quite well so we’ll potentially look at something a bit more automated.” Snuggle’s set-up also includes four Mimaki UJF 6042 MkII flatbed UV-curable inkjet printers and a Mimaki JFX200-2513 for items such phone and tablet cases, but this is now a relatively small part of the business. All orders are processed through Snuggle’s system, developed by its own in-house IT specialist. Recruitment With such rapid and substantial growth has come the “massive” challenge of recruitment. “It is an endless search,” Shabbir says. “Peterborough is quite an agricultural area and normally dependent on foreign labour coming in but, when Brexit kicked in, we found the labour force was wiped out. We are also competing with big distribution centres such as Amazon.” With the workforce up to 34 at the end of last year, Snuggle continues to recruit, including office support staff. In the autumn, the company created a smart new meeting and showroom space and will eventually consolidate its operations at a single site of between 50,000 and 75,000 square feet – nearly as big as the pitch at Wembley Stadium. “Our ultimate goal is to get into a site where we have ample space to double or triple in size without any issues,” Akil says. “We’re holding back on that as long as we can as what we don’t want to do is take on a large unit and then have to move again.” The focus will continue to be in DTG, especially as the quality of DTG printing improves. “The technology has advanced so much since we first started,” Shabbir says. “Before, people might complain that it was not as vibrant or thick, but that’s not really the case anymore. You can often get colours that stand out so well that you’d be surprised that they have not been screen printed.” Customer requirements are also constantly evolving, he adds. “There are new blends coming out on the market, new styles that customers want and lots of smaller fashion brands that keep popping up. Every couple of days we get an enquiry where we wonder how we’re going to tackle it. But that is what makes it interesting – every day you have something new.” www.snuggle.co.uk The Texfinity folding machine One of single-head Melco embroidery machines with Madeira threads Printing on the new Kornit Atlas Max The technology has advanced so much since we first started