The American & Efird folks were fabulous as usual. We’ve been having a problem with looper threads breaking on the cone for a while that they diagnosed immediately. They sent us the special felt pads we needed to correct the problem this morning.

We spent a fair amount of time with a Lectra tech going over our environment and needs. Same with the Assyst/Bullmer folks (though, AB was a bit pushier on the sales side than I liked). We spoke at length with the Pathfinder founder and he was helpful.

The guys at SewnProducts.com were very helpful as well. One showed me how to take apart my Eastman Chickadee knife and fix a short (the fix didn’t work, but he also offered to let me send it to him and he’d fix it.) The other went over manual spreading options with Amy and I in detail and is going to quote us some options this week.

Thermopatch had a nice setup showing off their Deco-Print heat transfers. They’ve just released a combination machine that allows you to use reel-to-reel heat transfers as well as ink transfers. The ink transfers are perfect for tagless inside labels (e.g. size/care/content) while the heat transfers will work well for exterior logo-ing. The ink transfers can be pre-printed or done off a plate - either way its about 2.5 to 3.0 cents per imprint. Heat transfers are more in the $0.12-$0.15/each range. I expect we’ll be picking one of those machines up promptly.

We spent a ton of time Wednesday morning in the Juki booth with our fabric and their hemming machines proving that it was possible to get them adjusted properly to sew off our hems flat (something our current machine has a problem with). They even had an air-assisted hemmer which was really neat.

We probably spent the most time with America’s 21st going over the TSS demo. We’re planning on bringing them out to our shop and see whether we can convert over.

The most disappointing thing for us was who wasn’t there. Yamato and Siruba both skipped the show this year, which is unfortanate. Both companies are strong on knits and we were really hoping to get a good look at all their machinery.

I owe Kathleen a more in-depth trip report as well, in which I’ll go into more detail on everything we saw.

Every three years is too long a gap. I think we’ll have to start going to one of the international shows each year (Singapore, perhaps?)

I suggest it would behoove them to publish fewer hard copies and divert a portion of that expense toward developing an electronic version, similar to Henderson’s or Banasch’s sites. My frustration, however, is that their business model is eating them alive - perhaps that’s a different topic for more sympathetic discussion, later.

I suppose the higher business context is that: if a catalogue is the only driver of sales (for any company), then it needs to be easily accessible.

I know they will sell it but among equipment suppliers, selling catalogs is frowned upon so they rarely suggest it. I think it is worth paying for.

I guess 25 machines means you’re serious. In any event, I have 8 machines that perform at least 3 functions, each, so I’m counting them as 24. I also have a DUNS number and sundry other credentials to support the validity and seriousness of my business, so I submitted a request for a catalogue.

It happens that I received an email this morning advising me that they are out of print and that they “may send me one if they decide to reprint.”

I wrote back saying: “Please do. I really want to price Strobel lapel pad stitching machines. It would be a shame if I had to place that business with someone much more attentive.”

Let’s see what that does…