Laser Focus

A close-up look at the most profitable applications and markets for the red-hot laser bridge machine.
May 1, 2009

This shirt was produced for sale on the Barack Obama campaign Web site. The design is a laser-cut applique in red, white and blue tacked down with tonal bean stitches. "Obama 2008" was screen printed. About 2,000 shirts were produced as part of the Runway for Change campaign. Photo courtesy of Sportco, Naperville, Ill.

By Deborah Sexton, Contributing Writer

Eric Withaar knew the look he wanted to offer customers — the hip, creative style that's so popular now at retail. "It's that look of cotton twill with frayed edges," he says. However, it simply wasn't cost-efficient for his shop to offer customers the highly sought-after look — until he purchased a laser bridge machine last year.

"Now we can get the new, creative look that you see at retail and offer it to sporting goods dealers, booster clubs, teams, college bookstores, etc.," says Withaar, president, Sportco, Naperville, Ill. Before, it was too labor-intensive."

Like Withaar, some apparel decorators have found that investing in a laser bridge machine allows them to offer the popular distressed appliqué looks, along with other unique effects. In fact, decorators say this versatile technology inspires them to offer imaginative (and profitable) multimedia designs; do laser etching on a wide variety of fabrics and other substrates; and vastly speed up production on all types of appliqué jobs.

"We can produce so much faster because we can cut material right on the machine," says Withaar, whose company purchased a laser bridge machine in April 2008 to handle its large volume of appliqué business. "We have 16 embroidery heads hooked up to it."

"One of the new things we are taking on is high-tech fabrics," says Henry Bernstein, North American director of SEIT Laser, Hirsch Intl., Hauppauge, N.Y. Bernstein spends a lot of time at the Hirsch Solutions Studio in Solon, Ohio, experimenting with the laser system to create unique apparel decorating techniques. "These materials can't be screen printed or embroidered because the process takes away from the character and nature of the material. So how do you maintain that but still embellish it? With laser etching."

An Array of Applications
A laser bridge basically cuts or etches fabric, to which embroidery can then be applied in a seamless progression — allowing decorators to create "sophisticated embroidery quickly, beautifully and profitably," says Ed Balady, president, Bito USA, Oceanside, N.Y., distributors of the Proel laser bridge.

In fact, the technology can generate some eye-popping increases in production speed. "In some cases, we've seen production output increase by more than 1,000%," Balady says. "Nearly all of our customers have enjoyed at least a 100% increase. It's like having multiple appliqué cutters, and all the operator has to do is push a button. You can use it just like a traditional laser cutter, but with 10 times the speed."

While a laser bridge machine can create customized appliqué names and numbers, its versatility extends far beyond that. For instance, you could have the laser cut a three-piece appliqué job on a 10-head embroidery machine and then, while the job is being stitched, the laser could be used to engrave pens or perform some other function. Creative decorators also are using laser bridges to cut nontraditional appliqué fabrics, suppliers say. "That's what it's all about: working with new fabrics that we couldn't dare use in the past, like light Mylar and even light plastics," Balady says.

Withaar, who uses his machine 70% of the time for appliqué and 30% for etching, says he does some shopping at local stores to find new fabrics. "I spend some evenings at Jo-Ann [Fabric & Craft Stores], finding things to experiment with," he says. "When we find something that works well, we'll purchase it in bulk from a wholesaler."

Rob Dubow, president, Dubow Textile, St. Cloud, Minn., says laser etching on performance wear is "wonderful. It works well with medium colors, royal blues, reds and so forth; you don't want to go white or black."

Withaar says his shop lasers directly into polyester fleece and has combined screen printing with T-shirt appliqué lasered over it. "We also sew letters onto garments, and then cut out the center so that the shirt shows through," he says. "We're doing things that people can't usually do without this kind of equipment. There's still tons more that we can learn, and we're excited to do it."

Also on the horizon: Suppliers are looking at ways to marry the laser bridge with screen printing presses, as well as direct-to-garment printers. "We see the laser bridge as the machine of the future," Balady says. "And of course, there's still a lot of growth within the embroidery industry itself because integrated cutting while a garment is still hooped is simply the cat's meow for embroiderers. I believe the best is yet to come."

Ultimately, the decorators who get the most out of the machine will be those who experiment. "R&D is the backbone of any production shop," Balady says. "Because of the fundamental change that a laser bridge offers, by marrying cutting and stitching, there's no telling what we could end up with in another year or so."

Laser Bridge Markets
Efficiency-focused embroiderers — namely, contract decorators — will benefit from a laser bridge by its ability to produce at a faster pace, Balady says. "You can produce great results very economically and efficiently," he says. "Cutting and stitching together, without compromising the integrity of the garment, is the key to getting things done quickly."

In fact, the ability to produce on-demand goods with quick turnaround is one of the technology's key benefits. Orders for contractors using the laser bridge are generally 2,000 to 4,000 pieces, Balady says, although they can reach 5,000 to 10,000 for special events.

Laser bridge technology's speed and efficiency also may help reverse the tide of offshoring by allowing decorators to handle jobs that previously went overseas. Instead of hiring workers to gather and cut pieces, which would have made domestic jobs too expensive to be competitive, decorators can automate the process with the laser bridge. "All of this work went offshore, and this is a way to bring it back," Balady says.

Adds Withaar: "We used to offer a four-week delivery time, and we're now consistently at a three-week time."

However, the technology isn't strictly for large contract shops. Specific markets for jobs done using laser bridge technology include the following:

• Athletic apparel. Decorators who cater to the uniform market will benefit enormously from a laser bridge, suppliers say. "They're among the biggest gainers in production output, as the laser bridge dramatically simplifies their production process. It's certainly the machine for producing names and numbers galore, all day long," Balady says.

• Promotional products. "Now we have the ability to get creative in the corporate world and beyond," Dubow says. "We're doing distressed appliqué, laser etching, reversed appliqué and custom looks. We're giving the corporate world a cool, cutting-edge look."

• Schools/spiritwear. "The kids want that Abercrombie look, and we can accomplish that with a laser bridge," Dubow says.

• Corporate apparel. Bernstein calls this a "terribly untapped market." "Many of our customers have seen terrific growth for corporate apparel," Balady says. Adds Dubow: "Corporate is our biggest single market, followed by schools and resorts."

• Resort wear. Dubow says he's reaching resorts through his promotional products distributors, often selling them reverse appliqués on T-shirts. Meanwhile, Withaar says his shop has done "a ton" of town and city names for resorts, mostly on fleece or on T-shirts (using lasered T-shirt appliqué).

• Retail. Balady says that he knows of a Los Angeles-based decorator that does production for big retail names like Quiksilver and Guess. "We want to go after the retail market — large production runs for companies like Nike and Reebok," Withaar says.

• Other possibilities. Other possible markets include home furnishings, auto and boat interiors and flags, suppliers suggest. Environmentally conscious customers also may prefer etched designs over screen printing or embroidery. "It's very green. You could etch a garment and there's no backing, no waste, no thread, no adhesive, no appliqué," Bernstein says. "It's green all the way."

Also, customers who want garments decorated with no hand will gravitate toward etching, suppliers say. "We don't know the full potential yet," Bernstein says. "We think there are things that can be done with the laser that we haven't yet found."

Deborah Sexton, the former editor of Impressions, has been in the decorated apparel industry for more than 25 years. She currently does marketing and public relations for decorated apparel companies. For more information or to comment on this article, e-mail Deborah at dsexton@ sbcglobal.net.

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