Two of the driving forces behind every successful business are credibility and quality. The two, as with the many other factors of success, go handⁱ-in-hand though they are both equally individual. Quality—the creative, unique and professional products you produce—affects your credibility, how creative, unique and professional the services you offer are. And, to those who are painfully aware, it only takes one sub-quality product out of a million to ruin years of hard-earned credibility.

Used to be that screen-printed special effects were the province of the few and the exceptionally talented. Prior to the explosion of technology in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s, only plants that had the resources to invest heavily in R&D—both at art and print stages—had the competitive edge. Otherwise, reducing inks or changing mesh counts were, in many respects, the only tools available to do something “different.” All that’s changed, now.

SFX history

When I set out to write an article about printing jackets, try as I might, it started to sound like the same old rehash of the same old information available from every ink manufacturer and information site on the ‘Net. How, I asked myself, do I write an article about printing jackets and not sound the same as scores of other articles?

The Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA) has an immediate, broad-reaching effect on the screen-printing industry which has led to considerable confusion and uncertainty. Textile screen printers faceⁱ a series of challenges ranging from understanding what the act covers to how they can be certain they are compliant with requirements for product certification and labeling.

With a mission to create global public awareness of the threat posed by high-carbon-footprint living, Carbon Teeshirt Limited’s climate and carbon-neutral Ts sport a simple footprint design on the front and footprint-reducing message in back. Making their way into celebrities hands during last year’s Emmy Awards and onto the Discovery Channel’s Planet Green series, all within its first year of business, the T-shirts help the company achieve its earth-focused initiative while employees strive to set an example, getting a handle on their own planetary impression.

No matter how superior you believe your product quality to be, or how dependable your delivery record has been, a decorated-apparel business is only as good as its people—the good folks who interact with your clientele and give your company its reputation. One can appreciate the fact that many employers are making tough fiscal choices to deal with the economy these days but, unfortunately, some of those decisions are shaking the confidence of the very people that could buoy a business to deeper, safer waters.