Scalable Press Announces DTG Changes
Changes aim to improve DTG quality & turnaround.
Scalable Press has announced changes to their DTG (direct-to-garment) product line and production times. The announcement was made August 2nd, 2021 and is expected to take effect on October 4th.
The changes are centered on how Scalable Press manages it's DTG catalog and inventory. Starting in October, Scalable Press will be stocking it's most popular DTG product in-house. That means faster printing times, and better quality control. They have provided the following timeline for the upcoming changes:
- 8/2 (today): Announce plans to improve DTG offering
- 9/1: Release new list of available DTG products
- 10/4: New DTG products go live in our catalog
Until now, Scalable Press has operated using an on-demand / just-in-time inventory model, meaning they order blanks from their suppliers on an as-needed basis. That approach has a lot of advantages, such as making it possible to offer a huge and diverse catalog (Scalable Press currently has over 20,000 SKUs just for DTG products). But it also has some trade offs, namely increased lead times and more complicated workflows. This new direction indicates that being able to fill orders quickly is become a greater priority in the POD world.
In order to make the switch to in-house inventory, Scalable Press is taking the necessary steps of reducing it's catalog. This means they will be removing the least popular DTG products so that they can focus on the most in-demand products. Their updated DTG catalog will be made available to customers on September 1st.
Significantly, these changes are set to take effect just a few weeks ahead of the holiday shopping season. Assuming that Scalable Press is able to iron out any kinks before Black Friday, the improved handling times could provide a significant advantage for their e-commerce clients.
Making the switch to in-house inventory is a big move, and has likely been a long time in the making. By stocking their inventory in advance, Scalable Press expects to bring down their production times from 7 business days to as little as 3 business days. That would reduce turnaround by more than half, a shift that is likely to put pressure on other print on demand providers in a time when 7 business days is still considered normal for DTG fulfillment.
Over the past decade, POD fulfillment has had a tremendous impact on the e-commerce landscape. These changes go to show that the print on demand industry is continuing to evolve at a rapid pace.
