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What is the capital cost of the hybrid, and the ongoing costs? CM: The hybrid system excluding the screen printing press starts at £9,950. This does include the direct-to- screen process, CMYK white T-shirt printing and, of course, dark garment printing when used for hybrid print- ing. Running costs are very low due to the R-Jet/Free- Styler using thermal print heads. This makes it practically zero maintenance with the benefit of never replacing expensive print heads. NV: The Hybrid can come in different configurations (different number of print heads, different size, etcetera) so the capital cost depends on the chosen configuration. Something that the owner of a digital printer must have in mind is that the print heads are replacement parts, and their replacement is a significant cost. Their lifetime is shorter than the lifetime of the machine. We can make an analogy between the print heads and the tyres of a car: if a car has a normal level of use, the tyres will not last the lifetime of the car – they will wear out. JW: If the customer already has a manual carousel or a single station, with micro-head adjustment, the only additional cost would be the Texjet DTG printers and the necessary brackets for the screen press. Ongoing costs would simply be the DTG inks and any necessary con- sumable parts on the printers. ME: The FreeStyler computer-to-screen with the optional DTG Hybrid option with a starter pack of CMYK inks and T-shirt platens will retail in the UK for £10,995. The only ongoing costs are the ink cartridges. Print head reliabil- ity is not a factor with the FreeStyler as the print head is integral to the ink cartridge and is therefore a disposable item. OL: The price of the Paradigm system is 110,000 Euros. The only investment one will have is the system itself as it uses the existing screen printing infrastructure. After that, you will have the ink and consumables cost which are typically low as the digital component will print only the CMYK portion of the image, not the white. And you should calculate some amount for an extended warranty after the first year. GB: Cost can vary from around US$100,000 to over US$800,000 depending on the unit. Ongoing costs are the minimal costs associated with routine maintenance.

What’s the best way to make money from a hybrid? NV: The real deal here is that a printer will be able to output jobs that they couldn’t before and almost no-one can today. They can run a production of 450 pieces an hour with digital printing quality and add to it glitter or foil or any other special screen printing effect, and do all of this in the same process with one, maybe two operators. When you are able to supply a higher quality service, you are able to charge more. That is how a printer can make money with the Hybrid. And of course if the customer only needs digital, they can do it, and if the customer needs only screen printing, they can also do it. With the Hybrid the options are endless. JW: By utilising the superior print quality and feel, it will enable the garment decorator to increase the margin in their printed apparel. It is definitely a unique selling point, which will enable them to achieve a higher sale price, along with the benefits of quick turnaround on small to medium size runs, which ordinari- ly attract a higher margin. ME: Fundamentally the cost of DTG printing is always going to be more expensive than conventional screen printing. Therefore concentrate on how it adds value to the garment decoration process such as short run, specialist designs or medium run prints on dark shirts where substituting a screen print white underbase for the digital white ink can produce cost savings. OL: In garment decoration, margin is a direct function of cre- ativity in the business model and in the design. In terms of run length, the ‘sweet spot’ will be medium run lengths–50 to 500 units per job–and jobs with multiple screens as this is where you can save most compared to screen printing only. GB: By combining the four-colour digital process with the speciality printing techniques of screen printing at competitive price points, you will be able to achieve the higher efficiency and lower cost to manufacture from the hybrid set-up. CM: The complex colour designs used for textile printing are very well suited to hybrid printing. When the print run is too low for a multiple screen set-up or too high for DTG printing, this is where the most money can be made. All systems are different, but as a general rule anything from 10 to 200 dark shirts will normally be best suited to hybrid printing.

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