Andy Rogers, Marketing Director (UK & Europe) at Stahls share the top 3 heat printing productivity hacks to experience at FESPA Global Print Expo 2024. These hacks include heat print on demand, fast learning process and print almost anything.

Heat Printing is a top choice for custom garment decoration for many reasons. Not only does it allow you to print high quality garments on demand—it’s easy to incorporate heat print technology into any custom apparel business. The barriers to entry are lower, you can print on any location on any garment, and you’ll experience an increase in productivity and profitability. To learn from these master decorators and producers alike, visiting FESPA 2024 in Amsterdam is your one-way ticket to increase productivity with heat printing.  

Let’s dive in and look at three ways in which successful garment decorators can increase their productivity with heat printing.  

• Heat Print on Demand 

To offer Print on Demand is to focus on what’s important. This includes structuring your time efficiently, making sure your staff is trained and being a fast and reliable partner for your customers.  

With the obvious benefits of Print on Demand being low cost of investment and quick turnover times, entrepreneurs and small businesses have used this production method for nearly a decade now. With just a heat press, on-demand-ordered-blanks and transfers, these businesses are able to produce highly personalized items in next to no time.  

The benefits of Print on Demand for small businesses can also be easily scaled to work for larger companies.  

It does not take a lot—all you need is an efficient and easy-to-use heat press, plus reliable partners who can deliver transfers and blanks within a couple of days. Add to that your well-educated staff as well as a few heat printing accessories and every heat printing business can push their productivity to the max and offer Heat Printing on Demand. 

• Fast Learning Process  

One of the biggest benefits of incorporating heat print technology into your business is the rapid skill acquisition. Heat printing is easily mastered and requires minimal training to produce optimal high quality results. 

If you want to offer on demand or on-site production, many companies offer video tutorials on how to heat print. You will be amazed at how quickly anyone can learn to print textiles using a heat press and the proper heat transfers. In fact, many companies already using other forms of decorating technology often have a heat printing department to take care of jobs they are unable to do with screen printing, direct to garment or embroidery.  

Remember, FESPA 2024 is one of the biggest fairs for textile printers. It is the perfect opportunity to meet the most important people of the industry, to have in-depth conversations with them or to book a masterclass that is tailored to your individual goals and challenges. 

For quick answers to your questions, it is also worth checking out YouTube for tutorials on how to use heat presses and transfers. 

• Print Almost Anything 

Sometimes you need a few accessories to get the heat printing job done. You may need to print on a sleeve or the leg of a garment. You may want to print on a sports bag or a cap. With heat printing, you can print just about anything, thanks to the right accessories.  

 The field of heat printing accessories is vast – from platen protectors over exchangeable lower platens all the way to bespoke alignment systems. There are a lot of products that help you raise the quality of your prints or to expand the range of items you are able to decorate. But some accessories are specifically made to increase your productivity. Here are the most noteworthy. 

• Quick Slip Platen Covers 

Keep a lookout for Teflon™ covered slip covers. These sheets are heat resistant and go on top of a lower platen. When working with a heat press that has Threadability™, the anti-static coating allows you to slide your garments onto the platens much more easily. This simple accessory can take 5 to 10 seconds off the time it takes you to load your garment onto the press. If you just do 100 prints each day, a quick slip platen cover can save you a full working day, each month.  

• Heat Press Caddies and Equipment Carts 

If you are heat printing in a small workshop, look for a way to make production more ergonomic and ultimately easier for your staff. A heat press caddie is a product that you can mount your press onto. It is height-adjustable, so whoever works the heat press can set the perfect height for themselves. Many heat press caddie stands also come with castors. This makes your machine mobile, and you are able to move it wherever you need it at a given moment. 

• Alignment Systems 

A big improvement for any heat printer are alignment systems. Existing products work through a grid of lasers – once they are set up, this grid works as a guideline of where to place your designs on the garment. Especially for those tricky left-chest decorations, this saves a lot of time with every print.  

Advanced projection systems are also being developed. The placement of designs is one of the most time-consuming steps in the heat printing workflow and thus a vital one to explore for increased productivity. With FESPA as the leading heat printing fair in Europe where new technologies are frequently being shown, it is an opportunity that you cannot miss if you are looking for ways to grow your business.  

If you want to learn more about Heat Printing on Demand, get to know the experts of the industry personally and get an exclusive first look at the newest technologies of the industry, visit FESPA 2024, 19th – 22nd March in Amsterdam. 

Visit Stahls Europe at FESPA Global Print Expo 2024,  Europe’s leading print and signage exhibition at stand 12-E30. Taking place from 19th – 22nd March 2024 at RAI Amsterdam, Netherlands. Register here to visit and use promo code FESJ420 for a 30 euros discount.