The Transfer Print Column Work smarter, not harder
Sometimes, throwing more hands or money at a problem won’t solve it. Instead, you may need to get savvy with how you find a solution. In this column, Andy Rogers, marketing director at Stahls’ UK gives a few hints on how to make workflow more efficient.
Save time at the press Incremental gains
During a recent productivity audit for a large UK decorator, we identified a hidden bottleneck on a job with a diagonal print placement.
Two operators were spending 20s to 30s per garment checking each other’s placement. The reason? A lack of confidence that placement would be consistent across the run.
At 100 garments per day, that “quick double-check” equated to 355 hours of lost productivity per operator per year – around 46 working days.
By auditing the process and correctly implementing the press’ laser alignment system, placement time dropped from 30s to just 5s per garment.
That single change delivered a saving of 36 working days per operator, per year.
I
f you’re decorating garments with heat transfers, productivity isn’t just a buzzword; it’s the difference between hitting deadlines, protecting margins and scaling with confidence. The question is: how well do you really know your numbers?
Productivity audits
Heat printing with transfers is already one of the most efficient and cost-effective decoration methods available. But efficiency isn’t static. Processes drift, bad habits creep in, and seconds quietly turn into hours.
When I speak at Printwear & Promotion LIVE! I always open with a simple question:
“Do you know how long it takes to fuse a T shirt?” The answer surprises most people. On average, it’s 41s. That number matters. The time a garment spends on your heat press is one of the most critical productivity metrics in your business. Once you understand it, you can unlock incremental gains that compound across every shift, every operator and every order.
Bad habits are slowing you down How many things happen in your production flow simply because “we’ve always done it that way”? One of the most common productivity killers is unnecessary process creep. A classic example: re-pressing transfers after peeling the carrier.
This extra step adds five to 10s per garment, yet delivers no improvement in durability or finish when using a high- quality heat transfer. In reality, most modern transfers require only a three to five second pre-press, followed by a 10s to 12s fuse, depending on the transfer type. Eliminate that unnecessary second press, and you can achieve 30% to 50% time savings per garment, instantly increasing capacity and reducing turnaround times – without buying another machine.
| 84 | February 2026
Now ask yourself: what could your business achieve with an extra 36 days of production time per operator in 2026?
How to audit your process
A productivity audit doesn’t start with a stopwatch – it starts with your people.
Empower your team and explain why the audit matters. Faster, cleaner workflows benefit everyone. 1. Set your benchmark
Take your most common garments and transfer types. Time the full fuse process from start to finish. This is your baseline. 2. Challenge every step
Step back and question the flow. Are there bad habits? Extra checks? Redundant presses?
Re-read the transfer fusing instructions and time the process again. This is your new benchmark. Save just five seconds per garment, and at 100 shirts a day, you’ve already reclaimed four to five working days per year.
Make your equipment work harder for you Accessories matter. For example, a quick-slip bottom platen cover can save up to 11s per garment, while a threadable or hover press stand can save a further five seconds per garment.
At volumes of 500 garments per day, these changes alone can return up to 55 working days per operator, per year.
Every second counts
Transfers are already fast – but they can always be faster. The decorators who win in 2026 will be the ones who truly understand their process, measure it relentlessly, and remove friction wherever it appears.
Because in a modern print shop, seconds aren’t small – they’re scalable.
www.printwearandpromotion.co.uk
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