ImagesMagUK_Digital-Edition_Dec17

Mark Somerfield with the Dekken folding machine www.images-magazine.com DECEMBER 2017 images 53 PRE-PRESS & POST-PRESS EQUIPMENT Direct Textiles: Dekken Fully Automatic Garment Folding Machine, from Adelco Mark Somerfield, director Tell us a bit about your business Direct Textiles has been in business for over 15 years. We have grown steadily to become one of the largest trade- only garment supply and decoration companies in the UK. We have the capability to produce over 50,000 printed and 5,000 embroidered garments a day. What is the latest packaging and/or folding machine that Direct Textiles has bought? To keep up with the volume requirement we recently added a Dekken fully automatic garment folding machine; this runs alongside a Beck automatic packer. We purchased this at the last Fespa exhibition after looking at all options available to the market. The main driver for choosing this combination was the quality of the folding and packing. The machine also offers us the option to ratio pack, add barcodes and, unlike most machines, is able to pack sweatshirts, hoodies and other bulkier garment types. We also have a full Amscomatic line, which we tend to use for larger volume, promotional T-shirt jobs; this machine is faster but is a little limited, being T-shirts only, in my opinion. What other machines did you look at before purchasing this one? We obviously looked at a number of other machines; the Roq machine also looked a good option, but we had little experience of their back-up so opted for this machine as we had UK back-up through Adelco. What do you think are the main advantages of the Dekken machine? The quality of the finished product was the main reason for this particular purchase; our customers are now demanding more of a retail finish and this machine is designed to provide exactly that. Is there anything you’d like to see in an upgrade or don’t particularly like about it? The packing team love the machine. There is a configuration process initially, which is a little time-consuming, but once you have set that correctly for each garment you never have to change the settings. Do you have any tips on how to get the most out of it? I think the key is to put the correct job on each machine to maximise your production throughput. We have 12 MHM automatic printing machines to keep up with and although not every job needs folding and bagging, this number is increasing. Packing can easily become a bottleneck, so our packing teams tend to run longer shifts to make sure this is not an issue. What size runs and what type of work is the machine used for? We use the Dekken machine for all types of printed, transfer and embroidered garments so there is really no limitation. If the job is very small we do still tend to manually fold and bag the garments, but I would say that 80% of what we do now runs through the machine. What would be your advice to others thinking of buying a packaging and/ or folding machine? Think carefully about the type of work you do and the volumes you are not only doing now but what you plan to do in the future. Your machine needs to be capable of growing with your business and the varying garment types you plan to produce. Buying a folding or bagging machine represents a significant investment, but used correctly it can save big labour costs. It’s all about doing the maths to make sure the machine will work for your business. www.directtextilesltd.co.uk