Revenue Surges After In-plant Adds DTF Printer

By Bob Neubauer

Blaine Gabriel (left) and Roger Williams stand with the new EZ-Jet Pro 24 direct-to-film printer at Ohio University Printing Services.

Ohio University Printing Services enhanced its booming apparel-printing business by installing a new EZ-Jet Pro 24 direct-to-film printer from Equipment Zone in its Athens, Ohio, in-plant.

The busy 12-employee operation prints 500-600 T-shirts, sweat shirts, hoodies, hats, and other apparel items per week with the new printer and three heat presses. This business generates about 20% of the in-plant’s $2.8 million in annual sales and represents the in-plant’s second highest profit margin after wide-format printing. The in-plant produces shirts for university groups and for local businesses.

“We are just ecstatic with the way this thing’s taken off for us,” said Gabriel. “It’s a very big revenue maker for us.”

Apparel printing is just one example of how this in-plant has looked beyond printing on paper. After using an engraver for many years to create name badges, plaques, wood products, and wooden lapel pins, the in-plant purchased a Mimaki JFX 200-2513 flatbed printer seven years ago to print directly onto notebooks, three-ring binders, ceramic coasters, and more.

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Bob Neubauer Author's page

Bob has served as editor of In-plant Impressions since October of 1994. Prior to that he served for three years as managing editor of Printing Impressions, a commercial printing publication. Mr. Neubauer is very active in the U.S. in-plant industry. He attends all the major in-plant conferences and has visited more than 180 in-plant operations around the world. He has given presentations to numerous in-plant groups in the U.S., Canada and Australia, including the Association of College and University Printers and the In-plant Printing and Mailing Association. He also coordinates the annual In-Print contest, co-sponsored by IPMA and In-plant Impressions.