Okay, so how long ago are we talking about? In truth I have to admit that I am going back 25 years or more and before you ask, yes I can remember those times. In fact, that was when I had my first taste of an industry that has kept me clothed and fed ever since. You have to understand that although embroidery was not a new thing (it has been around since the dawn of man, or maybe just after dawn), machine embroidery and electronic embroidery machines in particular were new.

The first machines were known as mechanical as the pattern mechanism was driven by pins passing, or not as the case may be, through a jacquard which transmitted instructions to the machine. In the 1980s this changed to the electronic format where the jacquard was replaced by punch tape and the pins by beams of light. Apart from anything else, this enabled the developers to speed up the machines because, as is the case now, it is the movement of the frame that determines the speed of a machine. The needle has always been able to travel faster than the frame.

It was at this time that embroidery really took off, with high street stores such as Marks & Spencer heavily promoting this form of decoration. It would be true to say that the M&S "Flying V" design or "Tail Feathers" as it was also known, could be seen on the majority of men's 21-gauge sweaters. Business was booming and the machine dealers, of which there were much fewer than today, didn't have to sell the machines ... they sold themselves. The dealers simply took the orders.

But what happened? Well two things happened around about the same time. Firstly machine developers introduced a new style of machine, the single and double head models. Secondly, people started to get a little fed up with seeing the same design day in day out and sales started to drop. In order to combat this, the stores introduced patterned knitwear that did not need decoration. Sales of large machines dropped dramatically but, luckily, not all was doom and gloom as other areas of embroidery came on line and the industry recovered. One of the saviours, although it may be hard to believe now, was sock embroidery.

The smaller machines, though, stimulated another market that had previously been ignored or rather un-served, and that was the small order market. The large machines then, as now, did not favourably lend themselves to small orders. Apart from anything else it is not a good idea to have your expensive investment tied up producing ones and twos when it should be producing hundreds and it was here that the newer, smaller machines took hold.

The industry started to change and it was plain that those who did not embrace the change and work with it, would suffer. The embroidery industry was part of the general textile industry and was eventually set to falter in the same way with larger orders moving offshore. The embroidery industry had to change but the level of competition from the machine suppliers seemed to be centred on themselves and not what the industry needed and wanted. Other manufacturers, however, did see the opportunity and seized it with both hands. One in particular, SWF, was already well known in industrial sewing from the Sunstar lockstitch machines. These had become a common sight in many factories up and down the country and both the machine and the supplier were well respected. SWF set its sites on embroidery and embarked on the journey with the same determination that had seen it capture a substantial part of the lockstitch market. The initial target however was not the UK or indeed Europe in general but rather the Asian bowl countries. It was here that SWF honed its skills in developing high quality, highly productive machines and their success served as a reflection of its commitment.

But SWF was not the only new kid on the block. The number of different manufacturers and machines appearing on the market suddenly increased and, it would be fair to say that some of the older and more established manufacturers were caught slightly off guard. The problems that many of them had was that they did not differentiate between the Asian markets and the UK one. Put simply, they thought that the machines that sold there, would also sell here. Your Embroidery Services, however, encouraged them to develop machines more suitable to this market. The rest, as they say is history. The result of the partnerships can be seen in the number of machines and models available. Thankfully, the machine guys were very receptive to the dealers, and machines that fitted into the market criteria soon started to appear. SWF succumbed to the needs of the UK and started to introduce models that satisfied the growing need of the small orders that were becoming more prevalent with the increase in corporate clothing.

Returning to the present day though, we are seeing a surprising turnaround as the larger, high production machines are becoming more in demand again, although it is not that the need ever went away completely as multi-head machines have been steadily selling over the past few years but to a greatly reduced market. What we are seeing now is a rapid increase in the numbers sold and this may be in part due to the newer, more flexible machines, one of the main ones coming from the SWF stable. The Dual Function machines are undoubtedly one of THE major developments in embroidery. They answer a question that has been asked on numerous occasions especially by newer, less knowledgeable embroiderers. "Can I embroider more than one thing at once?" With the introduction of the Dual Function machine the answer could, at last, be yes. The problem was the first models to come out of production were large machines and they were clearly not aimed at this market. To satisfy the UK demands, SWF produced a smaller Dual Function machine, which, at that time, was the correct decision. But as the demand for larger machines once again grew, it had to react once more and start developing models to satisfy this new demand. As in the past, its reaction time was good and new models started to come off of the production line.

The market is now in a position where it can be accommodated by a Dual Function machine no matter what size of market it serves. There is one unanswered question, however, and that is why are the larger orders are returning to the UK? It cannot be because of lower labour costs as that was one of the main reasons they departed in the first place.Well, in essence that is true but actually, on a garment by garment basis, the UK labour costs are lower than you may imagine. This is based on the fact that moving massive quantities of garments around the globe for manufacture and decoration can be cost effective but, if the numbers start to drop, then the cost per garment together with the lead time starts to look a little more prohibitive and that is what is happening. To satisfy the hunger for ever changing fashion, numbers for vogue style orders are smaller, but the number of orders is greater, demanding faster turn round. At the same time the demand by larger corporations for identifiable garments is still growing and this mix of order and demand is ideally suited to larger more flexible machines such as the SWF Dual Function models.

Hence we arrive back where we started. So, as you can see, what goes around really does come around!

For further details about the SWF range of Dual Function machines, please contact Your Embroidery Services Ltd on 01623 863343 or e-mail sales@yesltd.co.uk

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