# My Experience With a Hardgoods Sublimation Business



## GordonM (May 21, 2012)

I've been absent from the forums for a while as my business has now gone in a different direction. I thought some readers would find my story interesting.

For many years I've worked in recording studios in Hollywood. I've created custom hardware and software for the television, motion picture, and audio industries, such as special-purpose teleprompters and recording systems for facial motion capture. 

Over lunch one day a producer I was working with mentioned how his musician clients liked to have customized branded equipment -- their names and logos printed on the gear they used in their own studios and while on the road. So I worked with him developing a side-business creating branded face panels for the standardized 19" rack equipment these folks used.

Now, these people are known to have so much money they don't know what to do with it, so spending $200+ on a single replacement front bezel for their Auto-Tune doesn't faze them. I already had the CNC machine for cutting out the blanks from sublimatable aluminum, and I bought several Epson 7010s for the sublimation printing. 

Things went well for about two years, and I produced some nice plates for a number of artists. Average billing was three or four hundred, and I spent about $30 in materials. Not bad, though it was very time consuming, as I'd often have to make several to get one good panel. 

Then a "competitor" -- actually a friend of mine -- had a better idea, not to mention about $25K in his pocket, which he spent on a 24" UV flatbed printer. Rather than rely on sublimation, he printed directly to any substrate that the customer wanted, which included rosewood, walnut, exotic dichroic plastic, even frosted glass.

Simply put, there was no way I could compete with the variety and quality of these panels. UV printers print in CMYK, but also have white ink and clear -- the clear is used as a protective overcoat, but can also be applied in layers for a raised feel. 

After a while, I got fewer and fewer calls, until eventually I didn't get a single call for two months. I decided to sell my client list along with my CNC files to my friend, and converted my last working Epson to a regular pigment printer.

The lesson to the story, if there is one, is that technology marches on. Sublimation is now an old technology. Whenever possible stay ahead of the game with the new technology that's being offered. Example: If you're making phone cases using the flat aluminum inserts, look at the 3D sub systems, too. 

For my particular business, a different type of printing process was superior, and even slashing prices to stay competitive couldn't help. I'm no longer in the equipment rack panel business (funnily enough, this is how Richard at Cobra started out), but if I ever do anything similar in the future, I think I'd try to find a way to get a lease on a decent flat bed.


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## Printor (Apr 16, 2015)

Nice friend. That was really cool of him to offer to partner up with you. I mean not. I agree, as life long screen printer. Tech. is making it harder to compete on the smaller jobs. Starting to play with other types of printing, but I do enjoy screening. I still get a greater sense of accomplishment out of it than I do from my push a magic button machines.


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## GordonM (May 21, 2012)

To be fair, my friend did ask if I wanted to partner with him on the machine. At the time I didn't feel that I had the money to spare, and in general, I don't much like partnerships, as it's too easy for things to go sour, leading to a bad situation all the way around. 

For a while he used my services for cutting out the panels, so I still got some business out of it. It just wasn't business I particularly enjoyed doing. The art of making the panels was much more fun.

The old school in the recording biz still uses rack equipment, but increasingly it's all software, operated by a touch panel like they have in the Star Trek movies. So even the full-art panel business isn't here to stay.


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## allsport (May 5, 2014)

Thank you for sharing your experience. You are completely right.


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## skdave (Apr 11, 2008)

Man I just bought 30,000 metal blanks for Dye Sub and Gordon declares dye sub dead. Hope not.
No problem.


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## feckman (Jun 30, 2007)

Interesting insight, thanks for posting! That said, I don't think the issue is sublimation at all, and I would disagree that it is an "old" technology. In fact, I think it's one of the most promising and evolving print technologies around.

I've been using large-format solvent and aqueous printers for the better part of 20 years. 8 years ago I bought an Okidata laser printer and some laser sublimation toner to test the sublimation waters. We made maybe 20 mouse pads and a few mugs before coming to the conclusion that the technology just wasn't ready for prime time.

Fast forward 8 years and I decided to look into it again while evaluating options for a new product offering. I was blown away by not only the quality of the prints, but also the breadth of what can now be sublimated, specifically using large-format printers. It's not only perfect for our new product, but the breadth of items that can be sublimated is growing all the time. And I think that there are people pushing that envelope more every day. To me, it's a very promising time to be involved in sublimation printing. So promising that we have invested in a 64" Roland dye-sub printer and a 64" x 44" Geo. Knight Maxi-Press Air to compliment our other Roland eco-sol and Canon aqueous printers.

Regardless, "old" or "new" technology isn't the issue. Screen printing is about as old as it gets, and there are plenty of people making a living at that. I think the issue for you was the very limited vertical market in which you were trying to operate. I know this all too well -- my company also operates in a number of very vertical markets which are highly dependent on market whims and technological changes. It's a scary and tenuous position to be in for sure.

"To a man with a hammer, every problem looks like a nail" is something I consider every day. It keeps me thinking about what we do, how we do it, and what the other options are for doing the same thing. I never want to be a man with a hammer -- I want to be a man with a toolbox. No print technology is "right" for everything. UV printing certainly isn't "right" for flexible or fabric substrates, and I also don't think it's right for high-production repeated images, archival photography, etc. There are better options for all of these things.

In your case, UV printing may have created a situation where your market share shrank, but that doesn't mean that sublimation is dead. It just means that your nail became a screw. That certainly doesn't mean there aren't plenty of other nails out there that need hammering.


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## deehoney (Dec 16, 2010)

Thanks for your post, I appreciate it. I'm currently working on how to expand my current business and I've been thinking the same thing. I need to stay ahead of the game.


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## GordonM (May 21, 2012)

Never said sublimation was "dead," just that some of the newer technologies can have a decided competitive advantage. 

I was also involved in "traditional" sub work such as phone covers, tiles, and the rest (didn't do clothing), but the panels work had the biggest margin and profit. I decided that for me, when that dried up, there wasn't enough in the remaining work to keep it interesting. My purpose for entering the business was to serve a particular market; I wasn't a sub printer looking for markets, though I did some of that too for extra income.


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## carpediemandmore (Feb 4, 2013)

Gordon,
Life does not ends here, my advise is, do not loose hope technology and budget may led you down but it should not take away our passion for survival,do not sale anything stand up and stand tall my friend, 
we need you to do some really cool sub stuff in garments if hardgoods printing biz is getting to its end.
when there is will & skill there always is a way. 


Best Regards


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## Printor (Apr 16, 2015)

''Where there's a skill there's a way'' yet another T design good one


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## EddieM (Jun 29, 2009)

Great story and dead on track. I am missing a lot of business to others using the newer printers as they can print on so many things i can not. Plus they do not have the higher cost for the blanks that we have so they can out price us as well.
If i could afford it or maybe in a few years after i get all my websites making more money i would like to get one of the newer printers i could expand this very fast then..
With so many people doing cool sub stuff in garments i am staying away from that.

I still have a lot of Dyesub blank Ts FS in many sizes at some point if they do not sell i will print them and sell them on ebay for $12 each to get rid of them.


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