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Why We Make The Best Custom Embroidered Patches In The Industry (Part 1 of 6)
People often ask us “how were you able to make that small text look so good?”, or “how were you able to embroider that detail, when the last company I used said that it was impossible to reproduce that detail with embroidery?”
There are six major reasons why we believe that we make the best embroidered patches in the industry. This is going to be a 6 part blog series about why our patches are the best in the industry. In no particular order the first reason is that we use the best tools in the industry. The second reason is that we have very well trained in house embroidery digitizers that use the best digitizing software available in the market. The third reason is that we don’t really outsource the production of our patches. The fourth reason is that we use the very best embroidery materials, which includes high quality thread, twill, and backings. Fifthly we believe that nothing is impossible and we create truly customizable patches. Sixthly our graphic designers are in house and very well trained. This blog post is going to first focus on the tools that we use to make our embroidered patches. The tools that we use to make our embroidered patches are mainly Tajima embroidery machines, a laser cutting machine, sewing machine and heat press machine. Almost all of our patches are produced using Tajima embroidery machines. The only patches that we make that don’t use Tajima machines are very simple patches such as this “Endurance Conspiracy” patch or “Spencer 5” patch. These patches are mainly made out of twill (50% embroidery), and are simple text. It is impossible to tell the difference between a patch sewn with a Tajima and non-Tajima machine for these very simple type of patches. However, when producing all of our other patches, we use exclusively Tajima machines. At our access is 12- 20 head Tajima machines, and 10 – 16 head Tajima machines and 5 – 12 head Tajima machines. If necessary for large orders we can even increase our network of embroidered patches available to us beyond this capacity. For example we once had to produce 300,000 patches within two weeks. We simply turned to our network, to temporarily increase our production capacity. The fact that we produce almost all of our embroidery patches with Tajima machines is special, because most of our competitors don’t produce patches with Tajima machines. Tajima machines are manufactured by the Tajima Group which is a Japanese company that began making embroidery machines in 1944. Tajima embodies the the Japanese business cultural of excellence. Two of Tajima’s most prominent motto’s are “there is no border for quality products” and “Caring about accuracy of 0.001mm is the essence of our high quality products”. Excellence and precision is part of the DNA of Tajima, and is the reason that Tajima is known throughout the world as producing the best embroidery machines in the world. In fact Tajima machines are sold in 100 countries around the world. However, as they say you get what you pay for. Tajima machines are the Ferrari or Porsche of embroidery, and their machines are expensive. A 20 head Tajima machines costs around $100,000. Compare this with Chinese made machines which are in use by most embroidered patch manufacturers. Chinese made 20 head machines go for about $15,000 to $20,000. This is the reason that most of our competitor’s and their suppliers don’t use Tajima machines. We are fortunate that are two largest suppliers only use Tajima embroidery machines. As mentioned earlier if it is a simple patch you won’t be able to tell the difference between a Chinese machine and a Japanese Tajima machine. However, when it comes to patches with fine detail, the differences are striking. Here are some examples of patches that can only be effectively sewn out well on either a Tajima machine or a few other German, American or Japanese brands (that are not very widely used). Look at the text of the Panthers military patch. The text on the top looks beautiful and crisp. At this size most embroidery machines would have failed to properly execute this design. Next in the compass themed outdoor patch, the small text is another example of the precision of the Tajima embroidery machines. Look at this desert camo interpretation of the American flag patch. The crispness of the stars could never be achieved with any other machine. Lastly look at this “bordering on insanity” patch. At only 3.5 inches, again it would be impossible to get this level of detail with any other type of patch. In addition to the precision of Tajima machines, Tajima machines are also quicker than almost every other machine on the market, which helps us to achieve quick turnaround times to meet your tight deadlines. Furthermore, the Tajima machines have a capacity of sewing out 9 different thread colors, without changing the threads. This is why we are able to offer 9 colors free of charge while many of our competitors only offer 7 colors free of charge. Here are some pictures of our beautiful Tajima work horses doing what they do best. Producing beautiful custom embroidered patches 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Obviously the most important tool for producing custom embroidered patches is the Tajima embroidery machines. However, there are other important tools that we should also mention. The second most important tool is the laser cut machine that we use for our patches. Again because of pricing most of our competitors actually cut the patches by hand using a flame and scissors. We also cut the patches by hand using a flame and scissors but we first apply a laser machine to our patches. We only use a flame and scissors to do basic clean up work on the patches. Enclosed is a picture of our laser cut machine. Look at the “borders of insanity patch” and the other four patches attached here. None of these patches could have had these fine cuts by hand. It is absolutely necessary to use a laser cut machine, and then clean the patches up, using handwork. In fact the great thing is that we use the laser cut machine on all of our custom patches, and we don’t charge extra for it. We fill that to truly call your patches custom patches, you must have the ability to create any shape patch for your customer, besides the traditional, circle, square, rectangular and badge shaped patches. If a customer wants to emulate a saw blade and have 100 incisions (which we have done before), we should be able to do it for the customer, without charging extra. Lastly for all of our Velcro Patches and Hook & Loop patches, we use a technique where the embroidery machine sews the Velcro onto the patch. This is a special attachment that was purchased for the Tajima machines. Most companies sew the Velcro separately onto the patch, which is not as professional or clean as our method. Some companies even glue the Velcro onto the patch, which is absolutely hideous looking, and the Velcro will eventually fall off of the patch. Finally, we use a heat press machine to adhere the iron-on backing to our patches. So this is why we believe that our patches are the best in the industry. It starts with using the best tools, and we are confident that our tools are the best.
