|
|
Your One Stop, Full Service Digital Ceramic Supplier
We had our October group training class at our shop in Glendale this past week and it
was GREAT!. Everyone had a good time and we all learned a lot. When I say we, I
include Mark, Troy and I. I have always enjoyed group classes because in my opinion you
learn as much from the other students as you do from the instructors. This session was
no different.
First a little about the makeup of the group. We had 12 people representing 7 companies (or families) with 0 to 40 years of ceramics experience. Two had already purchased our systems, three were considering purchasing (two of these have since purchased and the third is shortly) and two had purchased competitors systems but were having problems due to the training (or lack thereof) that they had received. This was a perfect size for the class, large enough to have a variety of ceramic, life and business experiences, small enough that the three of us could always give one-on-one help when needed
We spent the morning of the first day on the science of Digital Ceramics, basic Photoshop and CorelDraw, the Ricoh printer and printing. The afternoon was all hands on (we didn't want anyone falling asleep after a lunch of subs and salads). We started by covercoating decals, using both the screen process and aerosol cans. Then we started applying decals. Everyone had a chance to practice until they felt comfortable with the process. We then wrapped up the day by answering questions that people had after actually doing the process.
Almost everyone met that evening for a nice dinner at a local steakhouse. A great time was had by all with good food, beverage and geat conversation. I always like to have the chance to get to know our customers better and on a more personal level
The second day started with answering questions that people had thought of overnight. We then went over building and adjusting color profiles, printer maintenance, troubleshooting the printer, what causes tile defects and how to repair them, and kilns and the firing process. After lunch, we discussed marketing tools and ideas, pricing of products and then had a roundtable discussion about all aspects of the digital process.
We covered a lot of information in a couple of days. Everyone was also taking LOTS of notes and received a binder with the class outline, forms and screenshots. Of course we are alway available for more help via telephone and video calling.
Are you interested in joining us for one of our upcoming classes? We have several scheduled. There is never a charge, even if you purchased a system from our competitors. Click here for more class information and dates
First a little about the makeup of the group. We had 12 people representing 7 companies (or families) with 0 to 40 years of ceramics experience. Two had already purchased our systems, three were considering purchasing (two of these have since purchased and the third is shortly) and two had purchased competitors systems but were having problems due to the training (or lack thereof) that they had received. This was a perfect size for the class, large enough to have a variety of ceramic, life and business experiences, small enough that the three of us could always give one-on-one help when needed
We spent the morning of the first day on the science of Digital Ceramics, basic Photoshop and CorelDraw, the Ricoh printer and printing. The afternoon was all hands on (we didn't want anyone falling asleep after a lunch of subs and salads). We started by covercoating decals, using both the screen process and aerosol cans. Then we started applying decals. Everyone had a chance to practice until they felt comfortable with the process. We then wrapped up the day by answering questions that people had after actually doing the process.
Almost everyone met that evening for a nice dinner at a local steakhouse. A great time was had by all with good food, beverage and geat conversation. I always like to have the chance to get to know our customers better and on a more personal level
The second day started with answering questions that people had thought of overnight. We then went over building and adjusting color profiles, printer maintenance, troubleshooting the printer, what causes tile defects and how to repair them, and kilns and the firing process. After lunch, we discussed marketing tools and ideas, pricing of products and then had a roundtable discussion about all aspects of the digital process.
We covered a lot of information in a couple of days. Everyone was also taking LOTS of notes and received a binder with the class outline, forms and screenshots. Of course we are alway available for more help via telephone and video calling.
Are you interested in joining us for one of our upcoming classes? We have several scheduled. There is never a charge, even if you purchased a system from our competitors. Click here for more class information and dates
Systems - Toner - Kilns - Decal Paper - Covercoat - Flux - Blank Substrates - Graphics - Training - Support
October Training Class
The Digital Ceramics Blog
Thank you all for such a wonderful
class, you all did a fantastic job, such
great hospitality too. Such a great
amount of information is a short time
frame. Lets hope I remember it all!!
Thanks for visiting our blog! This will be the most informative place on the web
about Digital Ceramic Printing. We are going to write about whatever comes up
each week while we are helping customers. It may be new techniques, new
products, troubleshooting ideas, or ???. Feel free to contact us with any topic you
would like to see covered here. Be sure not to miss any postings, you can use the
form to sign up to receive our blog post by email or simply visit here each week. If
you do sign up, we won't sell or rent your info and you won't get emails from us that
you didn't ask to receive.
10/26/2011 8:12pm
The Advantages of Having Supplies Stocked in the US
10/31/2011 9:45am - by Joel
Happy Halloween! Recently a potential customer asked me why it was so important to have all of the consumables stocked in the
US. I began explaining the costs of International wire transfers, shipping, exchange rates, duties, etc. She asked for specific
numbers and I realized that it would be a good exercise to look up some of the invoices from when I had a German toner system
and run the exact numbers. Here are all of the reasons to have supplies stocked in the US as well as the actual savings.
Delivery Time
Ordering from our competition -
First you place the order through the US Distributor. They then forward it to Germany. In 1 – 3 days you will get an invoice from the Germans. Now you go to your bank and send an International wire transfer. It usuallytakes 4 -6 business days for them to receive it. After receipt your order ships in 2 – 4 days. Normally it ships via 2 day service. About 80% of the time, it clears customs without problem and arrives in two days. The other 20% of the time it is delayed in customs, usually only a day or two. However I did have one order that was delayed for 2 weeks. Of course it seems that this long of a delay only happens if you desperately need the supplies. Average time from order to delivery is 2 weeks
Ordering from DCT -
You call us to place the order, we take your credit card for payment. We either ship that day or the next. Everything but liquid and aerosol covercoat can ship via overnight. This means that if you need toner tomorrow, you can have it first thing in the morning!
Duties
I never quite figured out how the duties worked. Some orders we would owe duties and others we would not. The times we had a bill for duties, it seemed to be 8 – 15% of the invoice amount. With DCT you always know there are no extra fees.
Wire Transfers and Exchange Rates
Our competition bills everything in Euro. As I write this the exchange rate is $1.377 per Euro. In the past year, it has ranged from $1.494 to $1.287. This means that in the past year, their toner price has ranged from $2838.60 to $2445.30 per Kg. Our price is always a constant $2200 per Kg
All banks also add a margin to the exchange rate, my bank charges between 5.5 and 6.5 cents per Euro. For the price invoice examples, I am using 6 cents. You will also pay a wire transfer fee, my bank charges $40 per wire
Actual Invoice Comparisons -Click on the invoice number to see the invoice
Invoice #3601 for 500g of toner
1027.1 Euro - $1515.94
DCT's price for 500g is $1,100
Shipping UPS 2nd day air to area code 04402 - $29.58
Total 1129.58
Total savings – $386.36
Invoice #3123 for 1.5kg of toner and 1kg of covercoat
3035.4 Euro = $4401.87
DCT's prices
1.5kg of toner - $3,300
1kg of covercoat - $48
Shipping UPS 3day to area code 04402 - $38.76
Total $3386.76
Total savings - $1015.11
Invoice #2798 for 200 sheets of A3 laminating paper and 2.5kg of covercoat
668.05 Euro = $999.98
DCT's prices
200 sheets of A3 laminating paper - $500
1kg of covercoat - $170
Shipping UPS 3 day to area code 04402 - $89.72
Total $759.72
Total savings - $240.26
As you can see, having all of the supplies in the US makes a huge difference in service and price. So why would you purchase a Digital Ceramic Printing system from a company that doesn't even stock any of the products you need to operate it?
Delivery Time
Ordering from our competition -
First you place the order through the US Distributor. They then forward it to Germany. In 1 – 3 days you will get an invoice from the Germans. Now you go to your bank and send an International wire transfer. It usuallytakes 4 -6 business days for them to receive it. After receipt your order ships in 2 – 4 days. Normally it ships via 2 day service. About 80% of the time, it clears customs without problem and arrives in two days. The other 20% of the time it is delayed in customs, usually only a day or two. However I did have one order that was delayed for 2 weeks. Of course it seems that this long of a delay only happens if you desperately need the supplies. Average time from order to delivery is 2 weeks
Ordering from DCT -
You call us to place the order, we take your credit card for payment. We either ship that day or the next. Everything but liquid and aerosol covercoat can ship via overnight. This means that if you need toner tomorrow, you can have it first thing in the morning!
Duties
I never quite figured out how the duties worked. Some orders we would owe duties and others we would not. The times we had a bill for duties, it seemed to be 8 – 15% of the invoice amount. With DCT you always know there are no extra fees.
Wire Transfers and Exchange Rates
Our competition bills everything in Euro. As I write this the exchange rate is $1.377 per Euro. In the past year, it has ranged from $1.494 to $1.287. This means that in the past year, their toner price has ranged from $2838.60 to $2445.30 per Kg. Our price is always a constant $2200 per Kg
All banks also add a margin to the exchange rate, my bank charges between 5.5 and 6.5 cents per Euro. For the price invoice examples, I am using 6 cents. You will also pay a wire transfer fee, my bank charges $40 per wire
Actual Invoice Comparisons -Click on the invoice number to see the invoice
Invoice #3601 for 500g of toner
1027.1 Euro - $1515.94
DCT's price for 500g is $1,100
Shipping UPS 2nd day air to area code 04402 - $29.58
Total 1129.58
Total savings – $386.36
Invoice #3123 for 1.5kg of toner and 1kg of covercoat
3035.4 Euro = $4401.87
DCT's prices
1.5kg of toner - $3,300
1kg of covercoat - $48
Shipping UPS 3day to area code 04402 - $38.76
Total $3386.76
Total savings - $1015.11
Invoice #2798 for 200 sheets of A3 laminating paper and 2.5kg of covercoat
668.05 Euro = $999.98
DCT's prices
200 sheets of A3 laminating paper - $500
1kg of covercoat - $170
Shipping UPS 3 day to area code 04402 - $89.72
Total $759.72
Total savings - $240.26
As you can see, having all of the supplies in the US makes a huge difference in service and price. So why would you purchase a Digital Ceramic Printing system from a company that doesn't even stock any of the products you need to operate it?
Yes, please send me your blog.
DCT's Digital Ceramic Decal Paper
This week we received the first pallets of our all new decal paper. This is the first
decal paper ever developed especially for Digital Ceramic Printers. This is the
culmination of months of consultation, sample batches and testing with one of
the World's most progressive paper makers.
I know that you are asking "what's so special about it"? Can I just say EVERYTHING? All kidding aside, here is why this is the only paper you will ever want to use.
Thickness
At 148 gsm, this is a medium weight paper. Most of the decal paper currently sold to the industry is either 170 gsm (TruCal and others) or 120 gsm (FotoCal from Tullis-Russell). The advantage of the 148 weight is that it is flexible enough to feed easily and jam-free through all printers yet stiff enough to be easy to work with when covercoating.
Release
Nothing is more frustrating than waiting forever for a decal to release or tearing an image while trying to get a decal to release. With that in mind, we designed our paper with a special base paper and the perfect thickness of gum to ensure a quick, unbelievably smoothly release every time.
Finish
Advanced coating equipment means that the gum coat will be perfectly smooth on every sheet. This assures consistency in printing, fusing and covercoating you decals
Size
Because we get the paper in large sheets and then cut it, we can offer a wide selection of sizes as well as custom sizes.
Price
You are probably thinking "wow, can I afford this amazing new paper?" The answer is YES! Actually our pricing is the lowest we could find. A3 is as low as 28 cents each and A4 is as low as 20 cents each (in reams of 500 sheets). It is available in packs of 100 and 500 sheets with no minimum order
Want to try our paper? Call us or Click here to order a free sample pack.
I know that you are asking "what's so special about it"? Can I just say EVERYTHING? All kidding aside, here is why this is the only paper you will ever want to use.
Thickness
At 148 gsm, this is a medium weight paper. Most of the decal paper currently sold to the industry is either 170 gsm (TruCal and others) or 120 gsm (FotoCal from Tullis-Russell). The advantage of the 148 weight is that it is flexible enough to feed easily and jam-free through all printers yet stiff enough to be easy to work with when covercoating.
Release
Nothing is more frustrating than waiting forever for a decal to release or tearing an image while trying to get a decal to release. With that in mind, we designed our paper with a special base paper and the perfect thickness of gum to ensure a quick, unbelievably smoothly release every time.
Finish
Advanced coating equipment means that the gum coat will be perfectly smooth on every sheet. This assures consistency in printing, fusing and covercoating you decals
Size
Because we get the paper in large sheets and then cut it, we can offer a wide selection of sizes as well as custom sizes.
Price
You are probably thinking "wow, can I afford this amazing new paper?" The answer is YES! Actually our pricing is the lowest we could find. A3 is as low as 28 cents each and A4 is as low as 20 cents each (in reams of 500 sheets). It is available in packs of 100 and 500 sheets with no minimum order
Want to try our paper? Call us or Click here to order a free sample pack.
Mark checking out a couple of the pallets of
decal paper we received this week. Each
pallet holds 8,000 large sheets which will be
cut into the sizes we sell. 8,000 sheets will
make 48,000 A4 sheets.
“The most successful businessman is the man who holds onto the old just as long as it is good, and grabs the new just as soon as it
is better.”
---Robert P. Vanderpoel
I had been screen printing for 30+ years: garments, wallcoverings, fabrics, signage, and my passion, ceramics. Decorative tiles, wall tiles, floor tiles, pool tiles...from 2”x2” all the way up to 20”x20” tiles. Lamp bases, sinks, toilets have all entered the shop as plain white ware, and left meticulously adorned with hand screened decorations that will last for ages. Creating artwork, cutting films, exposing screens, the set-ups, the clean-ups, the screw-ups... all that effort to be rewarded with a finished product that I was proud of and fun to make. Screen printing was the only way to go!
Or so I thought...
And then several years ago, a colleague sent me “that tile”! As soon as I inspected it, I knew. The writing was on the wall. A digitally printed tile. The color...great, the finish...awesome, the resolution...amazing! Exactly what I feared at the time... the ability for a competitor to produce the same product I was producing, less labor intensive, less waste, more cost effective, and higher quality. Screen printing was going to die.
Or so I thought...
Since getting involved with digital ceramic imaging, I have come to realized that this “high tech” process is an amazing addition to my printing foundation of screen printing...and vice versa. The marriage of both printing processes has expanded the scope of products we are able to manufacture. Custom, “one of a kind” items, as well as hundreds of “one of a kind” pieces are truly a relatively simple process utilizing both techniques in conjunction with one another.
Here is an example of using both printing processes to solve a potential problem I wanted to avoid. A customer wanted to have some military logos printed on some 2”x2” deep, navy blue pool tile for a waterline. The logo tiles needed to be the exact same color and finish as the field tiles, or else they would stand out and not look like they “belong”. I could of printed a 2”x2” digital image with a blue background, but it would of been a daunting challenge to try and exactly match the background. Tile manufacturers themselves will print caveats regarding color from lot to lot. So, using my squeegee and a screen engineered to print a circle the same size as the logo, I printed a white onglaze mask and fired the tiles. After this preliminary firing, I then transferred the digital logo decals onto the tiles, carefully aligning the image with the white background so the white print would be completely hidden. The tiles were then fired a second time, achieving the desired goal...good, strong colors on a dark background tile. The exact same tile as the rest of the waterline installation.
As I continue with this blog, I intend to share other ideas, projects, techniques, etc. of how you can take advantage of both processes. I like to think of it as “farming”. If I “plant” a few ideas, or “seeds”...I hope that your business can grow like ours has. Stay tuned...
---Robert P. Vanderpoel
I had been screen printing for 30+ years: garments, wallcoverings, fabrics, signage, and my passion, ceramics. Decorative tiles, wall tiles, floor tiles, pool tiles...from 2”x2” all the way up to 20”x20” tiles. Lamp bases, sinks, toilets have all entered the shop as plain white ware, and left meticulously adorned with hand screened decorations that will last for ages. Creating artwork, cutting films, exposing screens, the set-ups, the clean-ups, the screw-ups... all that effort to be rewarded with a finished product that I was proud of and fun to make. Screen printing was the only way to go!
Or so I thought...
And then several years ago, a colleague sent me “that tile”! As soon as I inspected it, I knew. The writing was on the wall. A digitally printed tile. The color...great, the finish...awesome, the resolution...amazing! Exactly what I feared at the time... the ability for a competitor to produce the same product I was producing, less labor intensive, less waste, more cost effective, and higher quality. Screen printing was going to die.
Or so I thought...
Since getting involved with digital ceramic imaging, I have come to realized that this “high tech” process is an amazing addition to my printing foundation of screen printing...and vice versa. The marriage of both printing processes has expanded the scope of products we are able to manufacture. Custom, “one of a kind” items, as well as hundreds of “one of a kind” pieces are truly a relatively simple process utilizing both techniques in conjunction with one another.
Here is an example of using both printing processes to solve a potential problem I wanted to avoid. A customer wanted to have some military logos printed on some 2”x2” deep, navy blue pool tile for a waterline. The logo tiles needed to be the exact same color and finish as the field tiles, or else they would stand out and not look like they “belong”. I could of printed a 2”x2” digital image with a blue background, but it would of been a daunting challenge to try and exactly match the background. Tile manufacturers themselves will print caveats regarding color from lot to lot. So, using my squeegee and a screen engineered to print a circle the same size as the logo, I printed a white onglaze mask and fired the tiles. After this preliminary firing, I then transferred the digital logo decals onto the tiles, carefully aligning the image with the white background so the white print would be completely hidden. The tiles were then fired a second time, achieving the desired goal...good, strong colors on a dark background tile. The exact same tile as the rest of the waterline installation.
As I continue with this blog, I intend to share other ideas, projects, techniques, etc. of how you can take advantage of both processes. I like to think of it as “farming”. If I “plant” a few ideas, or “seeds”...I hope that your business can grow like ours has. Stay tuned...
1/31/2012 9:45pm - by Mark
When I started this blog, I promised myself that I would write every week. I had great
intentions but then the last few months happened. Posting became a causality of too
much to do and not enough time to do it. Luckily, we had recently brought Troy onto
our team and he had begun to take on more and more responsibility.
He recently began to do all of our system installations. When our customer receives their system and are ready to install, they call Troy and he walks them through the setup step by step. It is amazing the tools that are available. He can use live video to teach procedures and use the customers webcam to diagnose problems. With TeamViewer he can see the customers monitor to assist with installing print drivers, show the proper settings and teach basic photoshop. We find that this personal “live” assistance with setup really helps everyone get started with a minimum of problems or stress.
Troy is very talented. In addition to installs, he helps with technical support, makes samples, works on the production of orders, does great Photoshop work, runs our weekly webinars and even edits our youtube and training videos.
Just before Christmas, Shawna joined us. She originally came on just for a week or two to help with a couple of projects. However she impressed us so much that we quickly made her a permanent part of the team. In a short time, she has taken over shipping, invoicing, the telephones, and much more. She also was a big help at our last training class.
When I call them part of our team, I mean it. We really are a team, everyone works well together, all helping one another. And while we all work extremely hard, we have a good time doing it.
Other improvements here in Arizona include a new phone system, improved network, new accounting software and a new customer management package that includes online supply ordering and tracking and a knowledge base accessed through our support portal. We will be rolling these features out over the next few months.
So why are all of these changes important? They are all a part of our commitment to be the most customer oriented company in our industry. It can be scary to start a new venture or learn a new technology and we will be there to make it easier. We never forget that if our customers are successful, then we will be successful.
He recently began to do all of our system installations. When our customer receives their system and are ready to install, they call Troy and he walks them through the setup step by step. It is amazing the tools that are available. He can use live video to teach procedures and use the customers webcam to diagnose problems. With TeamViewer he can see the customers monitor to assist with installing print drivers, show the proper settings and teach basic photoshop. We find that this personal “live” assistance with setup really helps everyone get started with a minimum of problems or stress.
Troy is very talented. In addition to installs, he helps with technical support, makes samples, works on the production of orders, does great Photoshop work, runs our weekly webinars and even edits our youtube and training videos.
Just before Christmas, Shawna joined us. She originally came on just for a week or two to help with a couple of projects. However she impressed us so much that we quickly made her a permanent part of the team. In a short time, she has taken over shipping, invoicing, the telephones, and much more. She also was a big help at our last training class.
When I call them part of our team, I mean it. We really are a team, everyone works well together, all helping one another. And while we all work extremely hard, we have a good time doing it.
Other improvements here in Arizona include a new phone system, improved network, new accounting software and a new customer management package that includes online supply ordering and tracking and a knowledge base accessed through our support portal. We will be rolling these features out over the next few months.
So why are all of these changes important? They are all a part of our commitment to be the most customer oriented company in our industry. It can be scary to start a new venture or learn a new technology and we will be there to make it easier. We never forget that if our customers are successful, then we will be successful.
2/02/2012 6:21pm - by Joel
The Old and The New
Time Flies
We recently sold a system to Mudfire, a pottery studio in Atlanta,
GA. ( www.mudfire.com ) Erik and Luba then came in for one of our
2 day training classes. It was great having them as we learned more
about pottery and the studio business while we tought them about
digital ceramics. Here are some of Erik's blog posts about pottery
and digital printing.
Pottery and Digital Ceramics
What's New
One of our customers is using his new system to apply
Native American art to all types of products. The artwork is
absolutely beautiful.
Officer Jones was killed in the line of duty. We made this
plaque for a local school to remember his sacrifice.
These optical illusion tiles are being istalled the the
bathrooms of a major science center in the Western US.
Watch for more pictures and information soon.
New systems continue to roll out the door. Here Mark
works on converting a batch of four printers. We get the
printers in bulk from Ricoh, usually nine at a time. This
allows us to get the best pricing. We are one of the top
resellers of 430DN printers in the US.
Here are two kilns that we were able to find used. One will
be used as a third kiln in our shop, it's perfect because it is
sized in between our small test kiln and our larger
production kiln. The other is going to be shipped to
Guadalajara, Mexico to be used by Jesus Nunez, our
distributor for Mexico and Central/South America.