Clothing and accessory personalisation made easy

The textile and clothing industries are currently undergoing a radical change that is also impacting on the market for embroidery machines and digitalization software. More and more embroidery machine manufacturers are now offering smaller inexpensive entry-level models alongside the large multi-head machines. These devices are often purchased by private individuals, clothing manufacturer studios, textile institutes and are increasingly in evidence in retail traders’ showrooms.

One supplier of these so-called “semi-professional” machines is Mountek, the Tajima dealer for Germany and several other European countries, with headquarters in Winterlingen/Baden-Wuerttemberg. The SAI weighs less than 40 kg and is meant to be easy for novices to operate. It offers eight colours, speeds of up to 800 stitches per minute and an embroidery space of 20 x 30 cm. A further highlight is the Writer PLUS digitalization software that is included in the price of the machine and contains several digitalized fonts alongside many other practical features.

The most exciting feature of the Writer PLUS software is the so-called “sketchbook mode” in which patterns or text drawn by hand on a touchscreen are transformed into embroidery data and sent directly to the SAI embroidery machine within seconds, where they can be embroidered immediately. The customer can watch his own handwriting or drawing being reproduced directly on the fabric.
Writer PLUS offers a wealth of different possibilities, including, e.g. embroidering souvenirs at a theme park, reproducing a grandchild’s drawing on a cushion as a present for grandparents, or a personalized T-shirt created on site in the store.

Whenever one of these machines is demonstrated live – whether in a city centre store, a fair, or even at the zoo – it always attracts an impressed huddle of spectators. This system offers brick-and-mortar stores a significant advantage over what online retailers can offer as it means that they can decorate an authentic and unique product independently without the consumer having to wait weeks for delivery. These are arguments which will no doubt generate a lot of enthusiasm.

Images: SAI: Fa. Mountek / other images: Reiner Knochel
Text: Reiner Knochel