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The evolution toward small orders in the U.S. embroidery market has accelerated the development of versatile 2- to 8-head machines.
Feb 1, 2008
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While small multiheads, in particular 4- and 6-head machines, have always represented the first step up from a singlehead for the owners of small shops, only until the past five to 10 years have they become the machine of choice for many large shops. This evolution has occurred as embroidery demand has shifted from a few large orders to many small orders.
CONSUMER INFLUENCE
Embroidery business owners have simply found that operating two 6-head machines vs. one 12-head gives them the speed and flexibility they need to fulfill these smaller orders. Time and again during the past five years, we've heard stories of shop owners upgrading their equipment to small multiheads when the leases were up on their large machines.
The franchise movement has added further impetus to the use of small multihead machines. Poke your head into any EmbroidMe or Instant Imprints franchise and you'll see that their basic embroidery setup consists of a singlehead and 4-head machine, with EmbroidMe using Brother equipment and Instant Imprints Texmac's Happy machines. The singlehead and 4-head take up only a small amount of space and give these shops the one-two punch they need to process the small but frequent orders of custom embroidered products for their customer base of local businesses, sports teams and schools.
About 25% of the full-time embroidery respondents to the 2006 Impressions Decorated Apparel Universe Study reported that they have five to 10 embroidery heads, which typically describes a singlehead and 4-head or singlehead and 6-head setup. In addition, 12% of full-time screen printers reported that they have five to 10 embroidery heads, which indicates the preference of screen printers for this setup as well. In fact, 27% of all survey respondents who reported ownership of this many embroidery heads were screen printers, compared to 65% embroiderers.
The compact size of many small multihead models also makes them suitable for home-based operations, where the machines can be found in dens, basements, living rooms, garages and outbuildings. According to the Impressions survey, 40% of the respondents who identified their primary business as embroidery also reported that they work out of their home, followed by 37% in retail locations and 23% in commercial/industrial locations.
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TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS
The interest in small multihead machines has spurred development of new multihead technology. SWF, for example, now offers a range of dual-function machines from a 1+1 2-head model up to a 6+6 12-head model. These machines allow the same design or two different designs to be sewn on the heads located on each side of the centrally located control panel. By the same token, different items can be embroidered on the same machine, such as hats on one side and shirts on the other. Designed especially for the U.S. market, these machines give embroiderers a new way to achieve flexibility and efficiency.
In addition to the dual-function machines, SWF recently introduced its line of high-speed Dream Machines, small, 15-needle multiheads capable of achieving maximum speeds of 1,500 stitches per minute (spm) and that run comfortably at 1,200, according to James Buck, president of Fort Worth, Texas-based Mesa Distributors, which sells SWF machines west of the Mississippi. These machines were designed and engineered from the ground up to overcome the limitations in pantograph movement that previously prevented high-speed multi-head operation. The pantograph has to move twice as fast as the needle, Buck explains. It has to accelerate, decelerate and move in the blink of an eye.
The result is a 40% increase in performance over conventional multiheads, says Buck, who remembers when 300 spm was considered fast. Anytime you achieve 40% more efficiency, you become much more competitive, he says. That includes competing internationally, he adds.
At any time, Inbro may introduce its unique single-needle, multicolor machine in a small multihead configuration. Currently, Tajima USA Sales & Support is offering its stretch 8-head in conjunction with its line of Seit bridge lasers for laser appliqué, a technique used to produce the intricate and oftentimes complex multilayer designs that are in demand at retail.
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VERSATILE CONFIGURATIONS
In addition to doing standard embroidery, small multiheads also can be configured for specialty embroidery, including sequins and chenille. Almost every manufacturer offers a factory-installed sequin attachment, and Barudan, Tajima and ZSK offer multihead chenille or combination chenille/embroidery models.
And finally, small multiheads can be networked with one another or with other size machines to provide a seamless and efficient design-to-production operation. Network solutions are available from the manufacturers or from after-market suppliers such as VeriStitch Inc., Hutchinson, Kansas.
Furthermore, two companies, Pantograms Mfg. Co. Inc. and Melco Industries Inc., which respectively offer the Toyota and Amaya singlehead machines, argue that networked singleheads perform more efficiently than similar size multiheads and should be considered as an alternative. To bolster its position, last year Melco began offering its Amaya for sale in 4- and 6-head modules, the XT4 and XT6. However, to maintain an apples-to-apples comparison of small multiheads, we've elected not to include networkable singleheads in the accompanying table.
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