Decorator Profile
The addition of the showrooms and office space has proved to be a big bonus for Essential. Dorian and Louis believe that Essential is the only garment decorator in the UK that actively works alongside their suppliers to educate customers. Suppliers are given access to the showroom to come in, hot desk and educate and train Essentialʼs sales team. The suppliers then head out on the road with Essentialʼs sales team to train and educate Essentialʼs customers.
Dorian explains: “Working this way allows the brands to influence our customers and get time to talk to them about their products. I think this is how we have seen our growth. This was my biggest want, when it came to new ways of working. “Selfishly, this concept was established because they gave me a catalogue on day one to look through and I was like ʻwhat do you want me to do with thatʼ. Itʼs good as a doorstop and thatʼs it. There are 17 pages of polo shirts and what I wanted to do was let the brands explain whatʼs great about them to my customers. So, Iʼll be honest it was borne from laziness! You have to touch, feel, look at the colours. It makes such a difference.”
String to the bow Another string to Essentialʼs bow was the addition of Essential Workwear – a new division in the Essential family. “Historically we have been very much focused on the promo market,” explains Louis. “We see workwear as a major area of growth for us.”
Essential has the right people and practices in place to guide workwear customers through the entire garment decoration process from inception to finished garment. “We see workwear as something that can help to build a companyʼs brand, which is what we have been doing for the past 20 years – building brands with clothes. We want to bring that side of what we do to the workwear market,” adds Louis.
The division has its own dedicated team, including a national sales manager in the shape of Dean Walker. Heʼs based out on the road, speaking to potential and existing customers up and down the country. Another focus for Essential is the development of five brand pillars; education, innovation, passion, honesty and sustainability. Having these pillars in place lets the staff and customers know what to expect from Essential. In 2019, Essential will be directing focus towards building its sustainability and eco credentials. “Being sustainable is not just a business decision any more. I believe we have to conduct our business in this way for the future of the planet,” says Louis. To achieve this goal in becoming more sustainable, Essential is doing several things, including; making the switch to water-based inks, introducing organic clothing options, reducing water consumption by 30% during screen reclamation, reducing chemicals put down the drain by 99% and baling all waste. Essential is currently undergoing its SMETA audit and aims to become GOTs-certified in the near future.
The future
Essential is on track to maintain 30% growth this year and as George summarises: “Essential is built around quality and service; it is these two pillars that I believe have been the foundation to our success. It makes me proud to look around the factory on any given day and to be working on some of the worldʼs most recognised brands. It is because of our quality and service that we are trusted by our customers to be working on these brands. “In the future Iʼm looking forward to continuing developing our relationships with our customers, as well as trying to bring new and innovative techniques to the market with a focus on trying to make our current processes as efficient and sustainable as possible.”
Ever wondered how much equipment it takes to run a large garment decoration enterprise? Well wonder no more… Below is a list of Essential Embroidery Design & Print’s equipment.
Embroidery ● 10 eight-head Barudan machines (all BEKY – S1508CII) and one single-head Barudan machine that has the capability to embroidery larger items like golf bags, all running the Lemserver monitoring and logo distribution software.
● One TGE automatic vilene cutting machine.
● Various frames and clamps for unusual positions such as golf bags, gloves, socks, pocket pouches and more.
Screen printing ● One MHM s-type 10/12, one MHM s-type 8/12 and a manual M&R six- colour chameleon
● For screen reclamation a Lotus Holland Evo is used.
DTG printing ● Two Brother GTXs.
Transfer printing ● One Roland VersaCamm Print and Cut VS-300i.
● One Graphtec cutting Plotter CE6000-60.
● One weeding lightbox.
● Two dual head presses, three single head presses, two cap presses, and one cup press.
Laser etching ● One Twiga laser etching and cutting machine.
Embossing ● Bespoke embossing press.
Bagging ● Amscomatic K-895 Omni-Bagger.
Sewing ● Three Mitsubishi Flat Bed sewing machines.
Waste management ● Orwak Compact Waste Compactor.
The screen print department
www.printwearandpromotion.co.uk
Testing ● Dedicated washing and testing room (Essential randomly tests garments to QC them).
March 2019 | 69 |
Zentner developer unit along with a Zentner auto coater, as well as a direct to screen Spyder 2.
● One Tesoma Drylight dryer ● For screen set-up, Essential uses a
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96
