Printing 2000 mugs

[a few more words]

We do a small amount of Dyesub work and currently use a single mug press.
We have been asked to quote for printing 2000 mugs with a company logo. We haven't pinned down the exact printing requirement yet, but it may not require full colour, but instead be just 3 or 4 solid colours.

We are looking at either getting a multi-head press and doing this ourselves or farming it out to someone else who is geared up for much larger volumes and thus avoiding the labour input.

Does anyone on here regularly do such large batches ? ... or can you recommend any company that has this capability ?

Thanks
Tom

[socialgiraffe]

If they are solid colours it would be worth you getting a quote from Listawood for screen printing. It may work out cheaper at this sort of quantity.

[Designandgift]

hi a few more words...
i have not got orders of 2000 + mugs yet
but i do get orders of 500 or so every couple of months from a local business
i find the quickest way to do these kind of orders is with a combo of a heat press (single) and a halogen oven
you can buy these cheap if you are looking to buy the extra heat press anyways
and the halogen oven i find is easier and you get a more vibrant look to your mugs
i suggest you invest in a halogen oven and keep your hard earned money to your self

Carl
Design and gift

[socialgiraffe]

you get a more vibrant look to your mugs

No you don't, I would say there is something wrong with your mug press!

i suggest you invest in a halogen oven and keep your hard earned money to your self

Depends on if you value your time or not, by sending the job out to a bulk screen printer you can earn money while they do the work, plus carry on with other work and subsequently earn more than if you were sitting there with a mug press and an oven.

By the way Design and Gift, like your website. Its quite refreshing to see a website that has no copyright infringements, vary rare in this industry

[Designandgift]

social giraffe i find i get a better look from my oven than from my heat press.
i have 2 heat presses and will refuse to use them on bulk orders

the halogen oven i will work with constantly and as 4 are cooking im taping up the other mugs
time is what i have at the moment so i am just suggestion what i have found best for me

Carl
Design and Gift

[Designandgift]

why start a small business if you are going to get the products you like making to another company to make
be realistic with your prices and your time scale and your customers will be happy to wait

keep small business going!!

lazy people pass the work on

Carl
Design and Gift

[socialgiraffe]

why start a small business if you are going to get the products you like making to another company to make
be realistic with your prices and your time scale and your customers will be happy to wait

keep small business going!!

lazy people pass the work on

Sorry Carl, but that post is so inaccurate on many levels. I am a small business myself and most of the work I produce is produced inhouse. However GOOD business sense means that some things I will farm out, this could be because it is cheaper or it could be because I do not have the time to meet the deadline (most customers will not wait in my industry because they can't).

Also, by using a company like Listawood are you not only supporting your small company but also larger companies? I presume you only shop in farm stores as a supermarket simply buys at trade and then sells on.

If it is a business then, assuming quality is guaranteed, the only thing to look at is the bottom line. Would it not be far more sensible business wise for Tom to send the job out and make money off of it and leave it to a company that is geared up with the proper equipment to handle such large orders. If my memory serves me right, an oven takes about 10 -15 minutes for four mugs. That means a maximum of 16 mugs per hour, which means 128 per day which means that 2000 mugs will take 15-16 days, 2000 mugs should take two to three days with the right kit.

[pisquee]

why start a small business if you are going to get the products you like making to another company to make
be realistic with your prices and your time scale and your customers will be happy to wait

keep small business going!!

lazy people pass the work on

Carl
Design and Gift

No, business people do sub contract work, because they are "realistic with prices and time scales" as they can make money on a job with no involvement, whilst their time is spent on work they can make more money for their time and expertise. One person can only do so much, so you can expand your businesses production capacity by employing other people - either by officially taking on employees, or by subcontracting to other businesses. This doesn't go against your mantra of "keep small business going" as you can still farm stuff out to other small businesses, even local ones to you, to keep your finances supporting your local area.

[pisquee]

We are looking at either getting a multi-head press

Does anyone on here regularly do such large batches ?

Be careful with multihead presses - unless it's a reassuringly expensive one, you'd be better off with seperate presses, it will give you more versatility and redundancy in the long run, or even the opportunity to sell off some presses if you don't need to church out so many mugs in the future.

We print in fairly large batches, but usually to ship out to shops around the UK, rather than shipping to one client, but the production basis is still the same. With a shed load of blank mugs on one side of the room, a load of presses set up on a bench in the middle of the room, and empty shelves/boxes on the other side of the room, and you're set!

[Designandgift]

as i said socialgiraffe i can only comment on my experiences pal
i did mention i use a combo of the heat press and halogen oven but for bulk i will use the halogen and the wraps for the oven... 500 does take time admittedly (18mins for 4) but i enjoy doing it so i guess it all depends like you say on time scales...
but no i would not use another company to make mugs i have advertised to sell, i suppose that is just me. i can see the sense in it i aint just would not be interested but i guess there will be a time when i do, so i should never say never
as for farm stores, i dont know what you mean. we have proper stores where i am...

Thanks
Carl

Design and gift