Calculating embroidery cost

smd1973 · October 5th, 2015, 06:32 AM

Hello, my company recently brought our embroidery in house and we are trying to get a handle on what our costs are to run our multi-head machine. One of the things that we have not figured out is how to calculate the cost of the thread we use. Is there a formula that anyone uses to assign a thread cost to running embroidery? Maybe a rule of the thumb that relates the number of stitches per design to the amount of thread used? Any help is appreciated. Thank you!

LogoAdvantage · October 5th, 2015, 10:00 AM

Honestly at the end of the day thread costs pennies for a garment in most cases.

The issue comes into play that you have to have a assortment of colors and that gets expensive especially when running Multi Head machines where adding on a color adds on multiple cones and we do not use the Mini Cones so when we add a color we buy the full size cones only.

True cost is really pennies per garment in most cases however having a good assortment to offer can really add up.

We fought this for years and now I factor thread cost more like the Light and Water Bill as part of doing business but we do not tie it to a specific job cost if that makes sense.

Backing falls into this same category, except we have standard backings and then we have things that we charge extra to use like Solvy for the added cost and the added time it takes to use it as well.

Own · October 5th, 2015, 01:17 PM

Hi Dear,

Method of Embroidery Thread Consumption:

http://owndigitizing.blogspot.com/20...nsumption.html

smd1973 · October 6th, 2015, 10:35 AM

Great, thanks for the help. The 7mm per stitch method will be perfect for us to get in the ball park with our costs. Thank you!

Robert Young · October 7th, 2015, 10:35 AM

as a digitizer my question is how many stitches in a normal design are 7mm long?? Very rare for us to have stitches that long.

LogoAdvantage · October 8th, 2015, 12:56 PM

Hmm then you gotta factor in that a design has how many colors, and how much thread for each color, so added cones become a cost factor vs single color designs, etc etc etc.

Personally I would use that method to maybe get the pennies it cost per garment and then just say that is how many pennies it cost per garment on an average job. Otherwise the factors get complicated and it still comes down to pennies per garment for most designs.

gnizitigid · October 8th, 2015, 01:10 PM

many use how many stitches

dchap13 · October 12th, 2015, 03:48 PM

I've done cost analysis before, and it's always the same: the cost of thread is less than a penny per garment. It's the custom colors, or "odd" colors (that you only use once) that will end up costing a lot. As you probably know, your biggest expense is your labor. The materials cost is negligible when considered as a cost per item.