Family-run South East Workwear specialises in selling workwear online and from its Abingdon shop. It also provides an embroidery and print service for up to 700 customised tops a day for a variety of work, promotional, sports and events wear from its factory right next door.
Complementing its sewing operation is a print service which has just undergone a major technology upgrade following the company’s first investment in a digital direct-to-garment printer – the Epson SureColor SC-F2000 – and a heat press and pre-treater, all supplied by Xpres.
“We have been keeping an eye on the development of the digital printers for some time now but until we looked at the SureColor SC-F2000 we weren’t totally happy with the performance of the other options on the market,” says Adrian Burton, MD. “Our goal was to reduce the labour involved in printing, while increasing productivity and grow the business. As a small company, we must be sure before we invest in new kit. It must operate day in and day out, be cost-effective to run, and make a significant impact on the business. The SC-F2000 did that very quickly after installation.
“Before we chose the Epson printer we tested all the direct-to-garment printers on the market,” says Adrian. “The SC-F2000 stood out as delivering everything we needed. It is easy to use, produces superb quality on both white and dark coloured fabric, is fast and needs only 10-minutes daily maintenance. Because this printer is so flexible and quick to set up, use and maintain, we have been able to add more printed products to our range and treble our daily productivity. I can’t praise it highly enough and it’s boosted our turnover. We can produce a T-Shirt in just two minutes, including pre-treatment and heat pressing, which mean we can be a lot more productive.”
The Epson SureColor SC-F2000 is the only printer on the market where everything has been designed and made entirely by one company, including the dedicated CMYK + white ink and pre-treatment fluid. “This gives me confidence that the whole solution has been optimised to work together to the best degree and the vivid, crisp colours we are producing on light or dark shirts is proof,” explains Adrian.
New business opportunities
The SC-F2000 has enabled South East Workwear to compete with screen print companies for the first time, particularly on complex jobs. For example, up until now screen printing has been the only way that school leaver sweatshirts and hoodies, which carry a lot of names in a small typeface and often in white on a dark background, could be printed. However digital printing can handle these with ease, and very cost-effectively. “The SureColor has opened up a new market for us,” says Adrian. “My son Sam can process 300 of these hoodies a day very easily on one printer, which means we can take on more work and turn it around much faster.”
“The SC-F2000 is a superb production centre and its performance and reliability wrapped up in a printer that is also very competitive is making it extremely popular with printwear specialists,” says Phil McMullin, Business Manager, Epson UK.
