# Mobile DTG venture



## mustangFWL (Feb 27, 2012)

Hey all...

At the moment I screen print, but I am already planning ahead for my next step into the future. The main company I print for often goes to events (sporting events mostly) but they do some street fairs and other things. We are working out a deal where they would "rent" me and my equipment for these events. 

My next expansion is going to be a DTG printer (already have the printer picked out.. just have to wait a bit to get it), I am going the DTG rout because I see the great possibilities in the equipment, and full color prints would be an easy addition to my current business.

Anyway.. I want to take my DTG printer on the road. Going to all sorts of events, races, shows, everything I can get into. So my question is... 

-How well do the DTG printers hold up in transportation

-Anyone that already does this.. What special things do I need to consider?

- I know good printing needs to be done at a "perfect" level of temperature and humidity, is there any give to that?

-What else am I missing from my list of things to acquire
-Truck and Trailer (Im thinking a concession style trailer?)
-The DTG
-Heat Press
-Enough Power to power everything
-Storage for shirts
-Extra inks
(Those are the big things I believe I would need, I know there are smaller things, but that list could go on for pages)


I would love to hear some insight on this topic from you all that have been doing this sort of thing


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## EricDeem (May 7, 2011)

Climate control will be your biggest hurdle IMO. The printers don't seem to be very conducive to a mobile environment.


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## treefox2118 (Sep 23, 2010)

I'm working on this very project as we speak and I've done a ton of due diligence to consider the upsides and downsides.

The upside is promotion: if you do fests and events, your buy-in gets you a lot of promotional eyes, especially if you have an online presence.

The downsides are major. I don't mean a little major, I mean huge major. I can't even list them all.

Is it worth it?  Depending on the event. I spend 2 years looking at various events, going to them, discussing with vendors their profitability, etc. I can't share the information freely, but I can tell you this: EVERY event that I assumed would be a huge money maker was actually the worst for income, and the best for profit were events I had never heard of before.

Also, I would not do this without backups. One printer, one heat press? That's a big danger when you're shelling out $1000 - $1500 to join an event. If you're just doing a mobile "food truck" type of deal, you can get by with just 1 of each, though.


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## mustangFWL (Feb 27, 2012)

treefox2118 said:


> I'm working on this very project as we speak and I've done a ton of due diligence to consider the upsides and downsides.


The events that I would be going to (at least at first) would be ones that the company I print/work for currently gets invited to.. so I wouldn't have to pay any type of fee to gain entry. 

They only downside (I have been doing events with transfers for 5 years so I have seen major stuff go wrong) is see (other than things going wrong, printer not print, ect) would be the time it takes to print the shirt.. now Im sure people are willing to wait the few minutes for the shirt to print, but a large thing people like is the quickness of shirts being printed in front of them..


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## mustangFWL (Feb 27, 2012)

Dekay317 said:


> Climate control will be your biggest hurdle IMO. The printers don't seem to be very conducive to a mobile environment.


So if I could come up with a climate controlled environment inside of the mobile trailer, that would be best?


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## treefox2118 (Sep 23, 2010)

True, but here are some things most people don't consider:

1. Get that printer level. I mean super level. You'll need an adjustable table to confirm it's flat.

2. Moving printers can and does cause printhead damage -- I know, I've bought dozens of different inkjet printers over the years and if you're not careful, stepping on the breaks can send that previously locked down printhead sliding into something it shouldn't. Let me tell you about that $3000 Mimaki printhead that was ruined once...

3. Humidity and temperature: expect to spend quite a bit on making sure you separate the sales portion of the trailer with the production portion -- and don't forget to account for the electricity needed to run the humidifier.

4. Artwork? If you're just offering on-demand art from a catalog, that's not too hard. If you're offering custom art, how will you get the end customer to design it? Will you have a designer on hand?

5. Outages: what do you do when there's an outage (generator fails, runs out of gas, electricity provider is over-run due to the restaurant trucks pulling too much, etc).

I have a list of 10 pros and over 100 cons. I'm still going to set up a fest truck, but I have to be very very particular about how I plan the business income side of things. Throwing away $50,000 isn't fun, ha.


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## Don-ColDesi (Oct 18, 2006)

Hi Scott,

In regards to the "portability" of direct to garment printers, that will depend on what unit you have selected. It would be advisable to discuss the pitfalls of going mobile with the specific printer you have selected with the distributor as they should be able to give you input on their experience (as well as some folks names who have tried it).

In regards to power - if you must be stand alone/self powered - you want a generator that has seperate circuits that will allow you to isolate your heat presses from the printer & computers and either a built in or seperate line conditioner. It is not a bad idea to invest into some high end battery backups for the printer and computer to further protect them as well as keep you running while you refuel the generator.

I would say you should plan on investing $3000-4000 on your power setup to be safe.

In regards to climate control - heat is no so much a problem as low humidity. A decent humidifier should keep a concession trailer in the optimal operating range - verify what that range is with your printer distributor.

Good luck in your venture.


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## allamerican-aeoon (Aug 14, 2007)

This have been done so many times by Dtg owners. Problems is enough money? If answer is yes. We can do all, how hot how cold how far how dry how what you name it I have a answer. We always try to find greens in desert. We can do it all. Travel Dtg is great, do not need to shake ink. Level is not important from ground. Eye level is good enough 100%. Power buy used on eBay. Try to get it from near stores or public bathroom. It could be nice vacation while we making money. Bring your wife gf or partners! I am sure where you going go place is nice places. People there paid to come and they are in money spending mood. We have to get out, if we stay in because of dangers out there this will make us a loser. Anybody need partner? Let me know.
Cheers! I will take refrigerator for my beers too.


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## kevrokr (Feb 26, 2007)

We had a customer who did this with two trucks using our Flexi-Jet years ago.

Here is a video of his endeavor: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EcSqXWNDBB8&feature=plcp


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## mustangFWL (Feb 27, 2012)

Thats exactly what I want to do.. wish he had a walk through of his truck.. but the short vid gave me come good ideas


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## mustangFWL (Feb 27, 2012)

allamerican said:


> This have been done so many times by Dtg owners. Problems is enough money? If answer is yes. We can do all, how hot how cold how far how dry how what you name it I have a answer. We always try to find greens in desert. We can do it all. Travel Dtg is great, do not need to shake ink. Level is not important from ground. Eye level is good enough 100%. Power buy used on eBay. Try to get it from near stores or public bathroom. It could be nice vacation while we making money. Bring your wife gf or partners! I am sure where you going go place is nice places. People there paid to come and they are in money spending mood. We have to get out, if we stay in because of dangers out there this will make us a loser. Anybody need partner? Let me know.
> Cheers! I will take refrigerator for my beers too.


Moneys not really an object.. I just have to wait to pay of my first loans, then it is DTG City... Is there a temperature range for the Neoflex to preform best? I plan on having a heater/AC to keep the temperature constant.. but I guess hudimity is another problem to look into too...

Names would be important too... not really sure how to work my Business Name into it haha.. Maybe "Pandemonium on Wheels"... I actually like the sound of that..


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## mustangFWL (Feb 27, 2012)

Don-ColDesi said:


> Hi Scott,
> 
> In regards to the "portability" of direct to garment printers, that will depend on what unit you have selected. It would be advisable to discuss the pitfalls of going mobile with the specific printer you have selected with the distributor as they should be able to give you input on their experience (as well as some folks names who have tried it).
> 
> ...


I was thinking about 2 generators, one for the Printer and Heat seal (a large one) and then a smaller one for the computer and other accessories.


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## Don-ColDesi (Oct 18, 2006)

Whatever you need for proper amperage - one or two generators, but i would put the printer & computer on the same one and ona backup power supply. Don't go cheap on generators - good units like Onan & Honda are the cream of the crop.

A second thing to consider when going mobile with a direct to garment printer is the speed of the printer. Most of the time a mobile application calls for a quick turnaround as folks are not going to want to come back to pick up the garment. Slower machines (mostly the 4880 based units) don't generally fit this sort of application - they print slower and are generally better suited for loading multiple shirts at a time on and running production. The smaller "desktop Epson based units" (mostly Epson 1900 based in today's market - AnaJet Sprint, MOD-1, Veloci-Jet, Free-Jet, etc.) and purpose built machines like the Brother Grafitee, AnaJet MPower and the DTG M series can produce one off/custom garments at a rate that will make them profitable in "live fire" situations.


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## kevrokr (Feb 26, 2007)

mustangFWL said:


> Thats exactly what I want to do.. wish he had a walk through of his truck.. but the short vid gave me come good ideas


That's cool that you got some ideas. Unfortunately, his business model took him into a 'brick and mortar' location direction. I can ask him if there were any "snags" that prevented him from continuing in this direction.


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## mustangFWL (Feb 27, 2012)

kevrokr said:


> That's cool that you got some ideas. Unfortunately, his business model took him into a 'brick and mortar' location direction. I can ask him if there were any "snags" that prevented him from continuing in this direction.
> 
> I'll send you a PM of what I find out.


That would be awesome, thanks!


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## mustangFWL (Feb 27, 2012)

Don-ColDesi said:


> A second thing to consider when going mobile with a direct to garment printer is the speed of the printer.


Printing time on a white shirt is generally around a minute to two minutes, and they will be entertained by the tv.. (or strip polls for the 21+ Crowd around back ) Right now we do alot of events with transfers and people love the quickness.. but they are just gonna have to learn and wait for greatness!


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## kevrokr (Feb 26, 2007)

kevrokr said:


> I can ask him if there were any "snags" that prevented him from continuing in this direction.


I just got off of the phone with Ron and he gave me some really good info about the vehicle and some good tips about the whole set-up.

- They beefed up the AC unit to one that is used in a mobile home and pointed the vent toward the printer which was towards the front of the vehicle (Florida heat....ugh).

- The heat press was located more towards the door at the rear of the truck to allow the heat to escape faster.

- He found that customers were kinda frustrated waiting for custom designs to be printed because of the set-up and print times of the 4800 series, so he recommended that you have a catalog of images on hand to reduce that wait time (I would do this even if you use a faster machine).

- When the vehicle was in motion he would take the printer module off of the base unit and store it on foam padding to reduce the possibility of damaging the unit in transit.

- For the "awe" factor (this is my favorite), he mounted a small camera which pointed at the printer as it printed and mounted a 13" monitor outside of the vehicle so customers could see the shirts being printed in real time.

- He did hint at the fact that the truck (which Microsoft dropped $85k into) may be available but is no longer in his possession.

He did say that if you had any questions, he may be available next week. Send me an email or PM if you need further details.


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## mustangFWL (Feb 27, 2012)

kevrokr said:


> I just got off of the phone with Ron and he gave me some really good info about the vehicle and some good tips about the whole set-up.
> 
> - They beefed up the AC unit to one that is used in a mobile home and pointed the vent toward the printer which was towards the front of the vehicle (Florida heat....ugh).
> 
> ...


Thanks for the info!


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## mustangFWL (Feb 27, 2012)

Yes, it will not be a 7 day a week mobile operation.. More of the weekend event or college football game event type situation


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## Resolute DTG (Jun 27, 2010)

mustangFWL said:


> Yes, it will not be a 7 day a week mobile operation.. More of the weekend event or college football game event type situation


In the UK event printing is taking off big style. If you ignore the rain we are pretty lucky with the weather, humidity is generally ok. Many shows in the UK do not charge and most provide power.

There are a few dtg printers designed to be used specifically for mobile printing. Equipment zone now sell a portable dtg that can be carried by one person quite easily.

We did a test weekend in the UK as market research and easily turned over £1000 in two days. Speaking from experience this is a highly lucrative weekend job. You don't need a truck to work from in the UK, £300 for a good 6m x 3m pop up and you have your mobile shop. We put together a kit list of the basics which has had over 600 downloads in the first month !!!


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## Stitch-Up (May 26, 2007)

Inkster UK said:


> In the UK event printing is taking off big style. If you ignore the rain we are pretty lucky with the weather, humidity is generally ok. Many shows in the UK do not charge and most provide power.
> 
> There are a few dtg printers designed to be used specifically for mobile printing. Equipment zone now sell a portable dtg that can be carried by one person quite easily.
> 
> We did a test weekend in the UK as market research and easily turned over £1000 in two days. Speaking from experience this is a highly lucrative weekend job. You don't need a truck to work from in the UK, £300 for a good 6m x 3m pop up and you have your mobile shop. We put together a kit list of the basics which has had over 600 downloads in the first month !!!


We're all readied to do a few events Colin and really interested to read your comments.

What was the show you attended - theme etc?
Did you print dark shirts at the show or stick with light colours?
Did your shirt designs follow the theme of the show?

I got one of these with a full awning - side-walls etc & 27' long. Also got a 2.8KVa pure sine wave silent generator and have a 6.5KVa noisey one!










I decided to get a motorhome with a big rear garage so I can get my machinery in 

Any tips appreciated.


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## Resolute DTG (Jun 27, 2010)

That looks perfect John, the show we did was a Harley event with about 600 attending. We found some stock artwork created interest and got the customers to walk in and look around.
The real money spinner was the custom designs done on the laptop, we gave people the chance to call back but most wanted to watch the printer !!! It was like a magnet and definately got all the attention.

All shirts were pre treated prior to the show and transported on a hanging rail. We also took a small summa cutter for vinyl and this did come in handy for the simple stuff.

Quite a few people wanted to place orders and have them shipped so they didnt have to carry the shirts home. At Resolute we do not offer a trade printing service to avoid competing with our own customers. If we had I think we would have gained quite a few good clients with regular work. The money aside I think it will be a very good marketing tool.

All you need now is an R-Jet 4+ or Midi and you really wll be ready !!!

Hope it all goes well for you.


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