Better through research

Eight years ago, Direct Textiles + Bags introduced to its customers a new digital transfer. But without realising it, the team had unwittingly created a new product to rival the new direct to film systems currently flooding the garment decoration market. P&P editor Melanie Attlesey speaks to Clive Allcott, commercial director, to find out more.

On a sunny day in June, I was invited for a guided tour around DTB’s sites in Old Dalby and Lincoln to see first-hand just how tranSMART transfers are printed and to hear how they are changing the perception of digital transfers along the way.

Before I dive into exactly what tranSMART is, let’s rewind and take a look at the background of DTB.

DTB’s foundations began in 2003 when Direct Textiles was founded. Direct Trade Bags followed in 2008 and over the following nine years the company acquired and purchased several print and embroidery businesses to grow substantially to the point where it is now one of the biggest bag suppliers and printers in Europe. In 2018, the company rebranded to become Direct Textiles + Bags, the company that we know today, and now offers customers a complete range of decoration options from screen printing to embroidery.

To give scale to the size of the operation, here are a few facts:

• The Old Dalby head office is the size of three football pitches.
• 160 staff members are employed across both sites.
• Three million items are in stock at any one point.
• 70,000 products are created daily. (That’s 1.5 million per month!).

It’s off the back of this evolution and growth as a business, that tranSMART was created for DTB’s customers. The direct to paper product’s origins can be found in the early adoption of digitally printed screen backed transfers. During the last eight years, transfer specialist Nathan Jones, managing director Ian Ault and their team have tirelessly researched and developed the tranSMART product for it to become the quality transfer it is today – making a product that’s ‘better through research’. Since 2014 millions of products have been decorated using tranSMART, which is surely a testament to its appeal.

Worked to perfect

The tranSMART product is made possible through carefully managed and precise variables of printer, paper, screen, backer, adhesive, time, temperature and pressure – something which Nathan and his team have worked to perfect over the years.

First, FSC approved paper is digitally printed using a modified commercial grade laser printer. Nathan has worked with ink specialists to produce a specific formulation of water-based ink suitable for the transfers. This printer is capable of printing at around 900 A3 sheets an hour, making it faster than a lot of current DTF print systems available. These sheets of paper are then fed through a modified rotary screen print machine where a white backer is applied. After this the adhesive is applied and the papers are automatically stacked at the end of the production line. Depending on customer requirements, the artwork on the sheets of paper can be cut to size using an industrial guillotine.

At this point, customers can either choose to have DTB apply the transfers to products in-house or receive the transfers in the post to apply themselves for their own customers. Turnaround time currently is a maximum of seven days, with most orders being fulfilled in three. The ultimate aim is to get this down to 24 hours.

Given the recent influx of direct to film systems to the UK market over the last 12 months, the team at DTB felt that 2022 was the right time to introduce this product to a wider audience.

Reap the benefits

“We saw DTF suddenly take off and thought, hang on a minute we’ve been doing this in-house for years! Why keep something to ourselves when we can help others reap the benefits of direct to paper? Why would a decorator spend thousands on hardware and consumables to produce digitally printed products themselves, when they can buy these beautifully soft transfers from us? All someone needs is a heat press and away they go. We have made the investment and committed to ongoing R&D so that our customers don’t have to,” says Clive.

Not only does tranSMART save decorators from initial outlay costs, such as pricey printers and costly consumables, but it also offers other benefits that DTF and DTG printers don’t. The direct to paper technology means that the waste product is FSC approved paper and not a polyester film, so can be fully recycled after use, making it an incredibly sustainable product. The quicker press time reduces energy consumption and increases efficiency, so ultimately makes the unit price more cost effective. It also takes away the headache of machine maintenance and pre-treatment worries that come with direct to garment printing, and tedious weeding that comes with other transfers.

tranSMART also offers great flexibility. Due to customer demand, the transfers can also be fire retardant and chlorine resistant, so are suitable for industrial working environments and swimwear. They can also be used on a huge variety of products, from garments to umbrellas to notepads. Compared to traditional digital transfers which have a hard and plasticky reputation, tranSMART prints have an incredible soft feel and almost feel a part of the garment.

“The quality of the transfers has got better and better over time as we perfected the process,” explains Clive. “Now we carry out around £3 million worth of business to customers on an annual basis just with tranSMART alone.”

And with a volume print price as little as 40p based on an A6 size, it is easy to see why tranSMART is fast becoming the smart choice for decorators.

Visitors to Printwear & Promotion LIVE! in April were among the first in the UK to hear about tranSMART. The DTB team decided to exhibit to see if there was a place for tranSMART among the many options available to decorators and they could not have been happier with the response.

“We had over 370 enquiries from visitors, many of which have since turned into orders,” says Clive. “The feedback we have received from customers about the product is 10s across the board.”

Education is key

For DTB it’s not just a case of selling and marketing a great product, but educating their customers along the way.

“We are always one step removed from the coal face and don’t always deal with the end-user of the product,” explains Clive. “We want to become the expert at what we do and that means educating our customers.”

The ultimate plan is to open an education centre for distributors to visit to learn more about what DTB does and what exactly garment decoration entails. With ‘DTB Connected, as the centre will be known, the aim will be to cut back on unnecessary questions and communication between DTB, their customers and their customers’ clients, as the customer will already have the answer to their clients’ questions and will be able to instruct DTB with exact requirements. Garment suppliers and clothing experts among others will be invited along to share their expertise with customers.

“We see the ‘DTB Connected’ education centre as a key step in helping us print and embroider,” says Clive. In a nutshell, frictionless business, integration and alignment from IT to human interface.

A full website with an e-commerce option and full instructional videos is currently under development and should be ready in September, all with the aim of rolling tranSMART out to a wider audience. And with account manager Stuart Blair on hand to guide customers and assist with any queries, DTB is in a prime position to bring tranSMART to the masses.

Direct to film has helped bridge the gap between direct to garment printing and traditional transfers, but tranSMART and direct to paper could be the missing component that you need in your business.