What does more automation mean for DTF?

Written by Aaron Burton on October 3rd 2024

Automation is a popular term, but that can make it feel like a buzzword rather than a benefit. So why is it important to ignore the hype, and what does ‘more automation’ mean for DTF?

For the most part, automation simply means adding a piece of equipment or software to your production workflow, to remove a process that’s costing time and money. Most printers decide to automate because they’re looking at the bottom line: any investment in a new machine is more than offset by profit margins increasing, due to production speeding up or the end-products becoming more competitively priced overall.

There can be other advantages too, such as increased accuracy and reduced risks. But automating your production workflow doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll be removing people from your team. Quite the opposite – and this is one of the main advantages of automation, for printers of all sizes.

Automation gives you the freedom to redeploy people in and around your business. People can do what machines cannot – they can sell, improve customer service, get creative, and start working on other aspects of growth. The truth is, you may not realise it, but if you’ve already moved to DTF, then you’ve already embraced automation. DTF printed garments don’t need pre-treatment; they don’t need weeding; the entire process is geared to removing the human factor that slowed earlier technologies down … DTF is a faster, lower-cost process, due to automation.

The other benefits of DTF (longevity, colour applications, and durability) aren’t taking second place, but those are all benefits for customers – whereas automation delivers immediate benefits to you, the business-owner. So, if you’ve already taken the first logical step towards automation by introducing a DTF printer, doesn’t it make sense to move that DTF business forward again? Definitely. And the next logical step in DTF automation is automated cutting.

To date, this is the one part of the DTF process that’s very definitely needed an element of human intervention. When all those stunning designs have been printed and approved, it made sense for one of your team to start wielding the scissors (carefully). Unfortunately, whenever there’s a blade involved, there are health and safety risks for operators, and there are production risks too. We’ve all done it. It’s far too easy to damage end products by accident. Above and beyond the immediate cost-benefit analysis, that’s why automated cutting makes so much sense. DTF is closely associated with no weeding – removing a negative process from your workflow – and automated cutting removes the ultimate negative influence on your production: risk.

It’s the ‘magic eyes’ in automated cutters that make the difference. Automation removes human error from the cutting process. We have an award-winning XY cutter in our showroom that uses mechanical, optical analysis to measure where and when to cut precisely, but this isn’t an ad for NEOLT – we know that other automated cutters are just around the corner. However, mechanical cutting means instantly smoother cuts, far more accurate cuts, and the ability to duplicate cuts exactly … intrinsically, automated calibration is far more reliable than a ‘close enough’ judgement-call. That said, we could be forgiven for making this sound as though automated cutting is only for DTF mass production. It’s not.

The other two advantages of automating the cutting process in DTF are traceability and repeatability – both of which are essential, no matter how large or small your business is at the moment. As soon as a piece of software is introduced into your workflow, you can replicate a job precisely and reassure your customers, there’s an independent means of verifying product quality at any point in time. It’s much harder to pin-point where things went wrong with the scissors.

If you have DTF printers in your business, then you know this is true: in addition to putting up your profit margins by speeding up production, automated cutting in DTF will greatly reduce the risk of losing money by removing human error. And these days, none of us have money to throw away. Automated cutting is definitely the next step in DTF.

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