A few instances have popped up in the last few weeks, where we know we aren’t being compared equally. It’s all about attention to detail.
Example one… We ask about the thickness of a laminate on a dry wipe board, it comes in two thicknesses – 25 mic and 100 mic. As you can imagine, we know the difference and why you’d use one over the other. And yes, it does affect the costings of the end product, yes the 100 mic, is more expensive and requires different application techniques in production, which are more bench time-consuming. So, for example, one of Apples or Pears.
Example two… We’ve seen various Hoodies and Apparel recently which have made us slightly curdle at the poor quality of the embroidery. We assess every job and ensure that the structure of the image, and logo being embroidered will actually work as you’d expect with edges which are clear and non-raggy etc. Getting this right is important, firstly it’s the quality of the job, it might have more stitches in it, which yes is chargeable. Secondly, a lesser considered or thought through with fewer stitches will wear considerably faster, than one that is properly constructed with the right stitch detail. Key members of our garment print team have been trained by relevant industry suppliers in threads, backings, file construction and associated technologies. Of course, cheaper suppliers have to cut corners to offer cheaper rates. However, you will end up buying twice. Again, are you comparing Apples to Pears?
Example three… Sticking with Hoodies and Apparel. Our DTF Print for garments uses globally recognised ink technology, which has high degrees of stretch-ability, a colour gamut which renders images correctly, and importantly is accountable. We also use industry benchmark heat presses by Adkins, combined with finishing materials which stabilise and provide the right finish to the relevant surface which has been printed on. Yes, in recent weeks we’ve seen Glossy non-finished prints on a Scout Group’s kit, which we know will lift, peel and degrade quicker for lack of appropriate finishing. So again, cutting corners on this is a false economy – so Apples to Pears?
Example four… A print broker who placed regular work with us, whilst under pressure from the client to cut costs, due to funding issues, spread a round of quoting further afield than usual. Please note, this is not us being bitter, but the facts of us losing the job, were purely down to a non-like-for-like specification. The paper we used on the job, was fully FSC accredited from UK merchant routes. However, on finding out who eventually won the job, we lost out to lesser accredited stock (Asian cheap imported, with lesser, if any accreditations), printed using a different method to ourselves. We are aware of caveats in funding for the arts, where a level of responsibility is expected, so care should be taken to ensure specifying meets expectations. Yet again Apples to Pears comparison.
So how do we overcome this?
We have a print audit tool, which for tangible print users, we can identify what matters, and tailor our approach to making your print work harder for you. We can assess ways and means of achieving minor shifts in purchasing habits to maximise how the budget works.
We are a responsible Print Service Provider, signed up to TwoSides and the industry body for a better understanding of the use of paper and board products.
We exist as a proper face-to-face print service provider, as this relationship between you and us, allows us to understand you and equally achieve what you want.
Like all things you pay for what you get, if you cut corners, then specification, and service will diminish. We describe ourselves as a “proper” print service provider. Based on honesty and realism within what we do and deliver.
Please note: this is a live blog, and will have updates to this post
So you’re here as your a trades person looking to take the phaff out of maximising your brand presence. If you like making your working life easier – we can help you. Whether you want us on an adhoc basis or commit to our subscription service with trades advantage club benefits. See below for our Trades Advantage Club.
You can see our guide to our services at:-
Garments and workwear, we offer embroidery with our six head Brother machine, MagicTouch DTF print – this is highly comparable to traditional silk screen, plus offers the ability to have finer detail and full colour, both made easily accessible through this new technology. For certain products we will advise sublimation print which bonds dye to the fibres in the fabric to print the image.
Quick overview of our favourite workwear ranges:
Great everyday workwear – ultimate clothing collection
Hardworking true trades wear. Functional exceptional specification. It’s Scandinavian heritage shows and gives an excellent. One of our product reviews of the brand can be seen here:
One of our go to brands for sensibly positioned price performance specification. Giving functional workwear at realistic prices. One of our product reviews of the brand can be seen here:
Performance for tough workwear with a pedigree of a well known brand. Alongside it’s sister brand of Craghoppers, there’s excellent choice for making the apparel fit your brand through stylish functional kit. New brand into our portfolio for Summer/Autumn 2024.
Think extremes, this is where Stormtech performs. Exceptional high specification performance. One of our product reviews of the brand can be seen here:
Come in a see our samples in our showroom by booking a 1-1…
Book a 1-1 with Stuart (links will be added)
Book a 1-1 with Chris (links will be added)
As a one stop solution provider, we can also support you with a bureau service for plan prints, with high capacity KIP plan printer and HP Designjet options we can flex to meet needs. With priority service for Advantage Club members.
Need service reminder stickers, On site job NCR forms, referral cards and other traditional printed stationery – we have a full offering with speedy turn-around available.
Need sign signage? Look no further, we have a suite of Health and Safety signage ready to go. Or just need pavement signage to say you’re working on a site as a marketing tool.
Trades Advantage Club
Our Trades Advantage Club gives you additional benefits and support to help you achieve more, through partnering with us. Provides 2 levels to our advantage club
Advantage club – regular offers through placing regular orders with us, gain access to useful offers to support you.
Monthly subscription options – which offers more privileges and support on top of standard registered Advantage Club offers
Extras and more to help you, simply by being registered with us and a regular customer
Only applicable to signed up trades businesses.
Standing artwork for your branding exists with us.
Accounts cannot be in arrears.
Example offers:
Order £500 plus of workwear – we’ll credit your plan print account with 30 A0 b&w plan prints!
Set up costs waived on embroidery and dtf garment production
Order any 4 more item garment set for your team of 6 plus and we’ll include hi-vis baseball caps Free!
We will remove the first the fee for first off plan prints on A1 colour prints and A0 B&W prints
Safety Check stickers free when you order £500 plus of workwear
Free Job sign off sheets, 4 pads of A4 50 two part sets, black only print, When you order £500 plus of workwear.
Want to join our Trades Advantage Club – drop us an email at [email protected]
The underpinning thread of the start of 2024 has been: –
What have we learnt from the last few years?
Equally what has it taught us?
How have we changed?
The pace of change is now monumental in society and expectations have never been greater on what people expect and when they expect it. We’ve watched our peers across the graphic arts industry and needless to say, failing to innovate and develop genuinely leads to a weakness in the marketplace. We’ve been fortunate that we’ve never put all our eggs in one basket, having a split of sheet-fed digital print, large format print and garments has meant we’ve been able to juggle the ebb and flow of customer business requirements. It has also allowed us to build a base where we can meet customers’ needs by being a reliable partner.
I will be the first to say, that this level of pace of change, has put pressure on all staff across HAD-Print. I am grateful for the commitment and support the extended team has delivered. The demands and the requirements to be commercial there are extremely challenging. However, this has meant we’ve been in the position to say yes more.
Admittedly some of these changes and developments detailed here started at the end of 2023 however really only came to being implemented properly in Q1 and Q2 of 2024.
Full replacement of our ageing pro-production digital press, which has significantly “beefed up” our performance benchmark. Our ageing Canon Imagepress 6011 was retired last year, leaving us with 2 Canon Imagepress C700’s and a C800. We were well aware of the challenges we faced with customer work that required something more robust.
The opportunity arose to bring in a Canon Imagepress c10000vp, which didn’t just support our need for more board stock compatibility but also the long sheet format. It has since wowed us with its near litho-like print quality and speed performance.
This addition to our studio really puts us in the capabilities of probably the punchiest digital print firepower in Calderdale.
Meeting the needs of customer expectations both timely and capacity issues, has meant further expansion with our garment print department. We’ve now brought embroidery in-house, giving us a cracking capacity for production with a multi-head machine. In our true form, we have “started at a relevant point for us on the ladder”, getting the balance between quality expectations and capacity has taken us on a deliberate path. The extreme learning has been highly significant over the last 2 months. This is very much an enabling opportunity for our garment printing provision, as it builds capacity, coupled with the DTF our garment print and embellishment offering has never been greater.
The tail end of 2023 saw us launch our subscription print service for regular business consumers of print. We now have several clients on this scheme and reaping the rewards of being on contract and having a schedule of dedicated print when they need it, at a competitive price point.
Trades’ “advantage club” launching soon, will have two tiers to the club, which will offer access to packages and promotions relevant to “trades” based businesses, when coupled with our subscription offering, we will future enhance the offering on the “advantage club”.
Supporting our offering to trades-based businesses we now have access to some new brands within our product ranges:-
Jobman – highly functional, well specified Scandi workwear – absolute top of the class.
Jobman Workwear – again a silent giant which is gaining ground in the UK. A sister brand to Craft Sportswear – which is renowned for its performance in running and cycling. Jobman believes Workwear should withstand the toughest conditions. Using strong, proven materials in their garment puts them under rigorous scrutiny at the point of specifying. This is matched through being a Scandinavian brand with high sustainable credentials.
Regatta Professional Navigate range presents excellent opportunities for stylish branded workwear.
Regatta Professional. A well-known name, which sits in a portfolio of well-established brands like Craghoppers – which is well-known in the outdoor industry. This pedigree of performance has moved on to Regatta Professional. Creating apparel which is well designed, well specified and has good price points. The interesting movement for 2024, is their Navigate range, which sees a two-colour tone option delivered into the selection which enables smart apparel to work with your branding.
Another new item for May 2024 is we are now on the authorised network for Joma Sportwear. Supporting our offering for Grassroots football and meeting some of the challenges or gaps presented by our existing wholesale partners, we now have a fuller offering for sports apparel.
Improvements made to our plan printing facilities; we’ve always had the capability for print printing bureau service. We have a number of tradespeople who use us for the service. We’ve just replaced our monochrome plan printer, so the capacity for speed and A0-sized drawings is back to where it has been previously.
New product range: short-run (50-250 quantity) presentation folders. Building on previous experiences and product knowledge our Castle Range of presentation folders, provides an easy access route to small quantity presentation folders. Pre-set-up templates, and standardised pricing, see the utilisation of the upgraded digital press mentioned earlier and better utilisation of our digital die cutter.
Talking of Digital Die Cutter – one job recently completed was The Kirkwood at-home collection boxes. Very apparent that the combination of digital print and digital finishing opened up this opportunity making it effective for them to use us. We have joined The Kirkwood Business Club which has a two-fold effect of supporting them, plus creating a vibrant business cohort to which we now belong.
Maintenance of “keen pricing” in a rising market…. We know this is challenging, not just for you but also for us. We endeavour at every point to keep things as keen as we can. Nothing goes without review, including large format items, where through better supply chain relationships we’ve brought in the same without incurring additional costs. Paper and board – we are again harnessing management of relationships with suppliers to purchase more effectively. We’ve shifted our habits in the last year to again build better relationships with one of our key garment wholesalers, where on larger projects we are getting more leverage to help maintain competitive pricing.
We still have the challenges of the power at what now seems an excessively high unit cost due to our supply being through our landlord. However, we are doing our best to mitigate this through upgrades to lighting within the print studio.
What’s on the horizon….
• Greater level of templates existing cutting formes for digital die cutting
• Opportunities for more embroidery within our garment offering. We have some blisteringly impressive work to be scheduled through our Direct To Film (DTF) transfers for t-shirts and hoodies
• Further building of our garment product offering to the outdoor education and leisure sectors
• Scope for a wider offering in selected sports apparel
• Addressing our product and pricing offering around book printing.
Whilst this is the highlight, much has been going on here at HAD-Print. We endeavour to innovate our offering for you, the big challenge, is if you don’t say or talk to us, we can’t exceed your expectations with our offering!
We know that we will always be innovating and changing. We have watched businesses we have respected disappear from the marketplace in the last few years, and I will say openly their challenges have been around innovating and supporting customers. I like to think we are pushing the boundaries and developing new exciting things within HAD-Print, which will hopefully keep us fresh. However, we always welcome conversation around pushing the boundaries and developing how we support you.
