2. CASE STUDY #1
ThirtyOne Gifts - Embroidery Design Creation
Background
Thirty-One Gifts is a direct marketer of person-
alized accessories that is currently celebrated
its 10th year in operation. Originating as a
home-based business in 2003, the company
has seen stunning growth and now employs
thousands of women across the United States,
while recently expanding to Canada.
The Problem
Thirty-One Gifts had a factory automation
solution for the management of order inventory,
but they lacked a scalable automation solution
for the creation of personalized embroidery.
Originally, orders were entered into the sys-
tem manually and then used by an operator
to create the embroidery file. The files were
passed to the machine operators who loaded
the designs onto the machine and manually set
the thread colors. Since this work was all done
manually, there were many points along the
production cycle in which errors could be intro-
duced. These time consuming and costly errors
resulted in a large amount of lost product and
thread use, as the product had to be discarded
if it was embroidered incorrectly.
In some cases, keen operators would spot the
errors before sewing, but this halted production
while the order awaited a new personalization
file. This unreasonably pressured machine
operators to scrutinize orders for errors that
were avoidable, and reduced their efficiency
when managing the machines. An example of
a common error that can easily be avoided is embroidery
files that are too wide for the sew-able area.
Operating this way was impossible with the increased
sales volume the company was experiencing, so they
connected with Pulse to find a solution.
The Solution
Thirty-One Gifts needed a scalable automation solution
that could integrate into their current production process-
es with very little disruption. They implemented a three-
part solution that included automatic order processing,
personalization generation, and deployment to the em-
broidery machine. Using a sophisticated rules engine and
a powerful stitch engine, the processed order information
was used to automatically generate the personalization.
When the machine operator received the product, it
included a barcode to scan, which automatically loaded
the design onto the embroidery machine with the correct
thread needles assigned. The machine operator needed
only to hoop the product and load it onto the machine.
Benefits
The new automation solution effectively eliminated human
errors by 100%. Once the client entered the order, it was
processed and generated without any further operator
intervention and then downloaded to the machine for
sewing.
The rules engine was instrumental in ensuring the “hands-
free” nature of the system, allowing the company to
specify rules for embroidery generation on a per product
basis. For example: which compression metrics to apply if
the personalization was too big for the sewable area. The
designs were also checked for blacklisted words such as
profanity, which the company would not embroider.
3. Since operators could focus solely on hooping
products and running the design, productivity
increased significantly. The number of ma-
chines a single operator can manage has been
doubled since the introduction of automation.
This has resulted in a much more efficient
machine operation environment, allowing the
company to re-evaluate staffing levels and
re-purpose qualified employees.
Future Possibilities
The implementation of an automation solution
by Pulse has streamlined Thirty-One Gifts’
production process, allowing for rapid expan-
sion over the course of a few years. Automating
their embroidery personalization processes has
created opportunities to expand the solution
into other areas of personalization as well. At
the time, the company also offered digitally
printed family representations that were manu-
ally composed by an operator using pre-crafted
artwork pieces. After experiencing a boom
in productivity from embroidery automation,
the company requested a custom solution
that used the customer’s order information to
automatically generate a print-ready file. This
automation solution for Print and Laser Etching
has been successfully implemented by Pulse
as well, and a variety of projects and updates
are planned for the future.
The company’s goal is to automate every pro-
duction process in order to maximize produc-
tivity by investing in improving infrastructure
and order management systems. Without
automation, growth of this magnitude would
not have been achievable in such a short time-
frame. Thirty-One Gifts continues to experience
growth and reduced production costs as they
further automate their production processes.
4. CASE STUDY #2
A-Squared Group - Digital Print Kiosk
Background
A Squared Group is an award-winning experi-
ential marketing group with an innovative and
unique approach to creating brand awareness
through one-of-a-kind, live interactive events.
The A Squared Group was hired to promote a
major apparel brand at a premiere multi-day
music festival. As part of the brand promotion,
they wanted to provide concert attendees with
a memorable experience and a take-away
item to remind them of the event and brand for
years to come. This idea convinced them to
avoid traditional promotional items that could
easily be lost or forgotten, instead opting for a
system where attendees could personalize and
print their own t-shirts.
This led them to Pulse Microsystems, where
they were introduced to PulseKiosk.
The Requirements
In order for this idea to be a success in such a
fast paced environment, the system they used
would need to be intuitive, easy-to-use and fun
to work with. It also needed to quickly generate
high-resolution print ready files for the on-site
direct to garment printer.
A Squared wanted the ability to use the sys-
tem at future events with different themes as
well, so it needed to be a highly customizable
system without requiring any further develop-
ment. The portability of the system was also an
important concern, as it was frequently relocat-
ed and stored between events and operation.
The Solution
PulseKiosk, with its accompanying Adminis-
trator application, fit perfectly with A Squared
Group’s needs. Purchasing multiple licenses
allowed the program to run on numerous de-
vices at the same time, including highly portable
touch-screen computers and tablets.
With PulseKiosk, the concert attendees could
add both images and lettering to the shirt of
their choice. Additional effects like font styles,
crops and distress let users customize the shirts
to their taste, and a special custom component
ensured that patrons purchased the shirt from
the cashier on-site before it was physically print-
ed. Once paid for, a high-resolution print-ready
PNG file was generated and sent to the on-site
printer. A few minutes later, the user was able to
pick up their personalized shirt and put it on.
With the Administrator application, the company
could easily change the application offerings
to suit the style of the concert event. Changes
included adding new products, updating font
and image selections, and setting garment sizes
and colors. All of these changes were possible
without further development. Since the Admin-
istrator application is web-based, it also allowed
the company to quickly make changes to their
offerings while the event itself was in progress.
For example: once a shirt size or color was out
of stock, they could easily update all the client
applications to remove it as a selectable option.
Benefits
A Squared Group provided patrons with a unique
event experience and take-away that serves as a
reminder of the event and the brand. It received
additional publicity outside of the concert event
as well, with various attendees publishing articles
and blogs praising the ingenuity of the booth and
brand. The event was considered a great suc-
cess that created a lasting impression on event
attendees, and the customizable nature of the
software ensures that A Squared Group can use
PulseKiosk for future events as well.
5. CASE STUDY #3
Retailer of Lifestyle Brands - File Transfer & Machine Report-
Background
One of Pulse’s most successful clients is part
of a billion dollar holding of multi-channel
direct-to-consumer retailers, including multiple
e-commerce websites for leading home and
apparel brands. Their objective is to modernize
their production processes and to improve oper-
ator performance.
The Requirements
The company needed a system that would
provide them with the production statistics re-
quired to improve efficiency and performance of
the personalization process. They also needed
a system that would allow a single machine
operator to manage multiple machines at the
same time with increased efficiency and reduced
production errors.
The Problem
The company has offered garment personal-
ization for quite some time, but their ageing
production processes compounded with op-
erator inefficiencies were severely slowing the
turnaround of products. The company still used
disks to transfer designs to over 20 embroidery
machines, which was a slow and inefficient
process that often resulted in errors and lost
designs. In addition, it also made design management
very difficult and space consuming. The company rec-
ognized that the machine operator’s production levels
were below capacity, but they had no way to compile
the statistics required to implement changes needed to
improve performance.
The first goal of the company was to eliminate the
use of disks for file transfers to reduce the number of
production errors, as well as the time spent fetching
designs. They aimed to combine a centralized design
database with a barcode scanning system to allow their
embroidery machines to automatically load completed
designs from a queue of jobs. The second goal was to
be able to create detailed reports in order to form the
groundwork for a performance based incentive program
for embroidery machine operators. This would allow
them to see the statistics for specific machines and
operators to determine how efficiently embroidery jobs
are being completed.
6. The Solution
In addition to networking the embroidery ma-
chines, two custom applications were required:
a networking application to pull designs from a
file server, and a custom reporting application
to produce specific reports about machine and
operator production.
Networked machines were organized into pods
of up to four machines, with one operator
required for each pod. Designs were sent to a
pod and remained in a queue until loaded onto
one of the machines. The networking appli-
cation supported barcode scanners so that
operators could quickly retrieve designs from a
centralized database, reducing the error rate.
Machine data was then collected and stored
in a central database. Operators logged in or
out of a job with a unique operator identifier,
making it possible to produce custom reports
with statistics for a pod of machines, a single
machine, or a specific operator for any date/
time range requested.
Benefits
Using the data collected, the company imple-
mented an operator incentive program. This
program was used to motivate machine oper-
ators to meet daily production targets in order
to receive various bonus incentives. It also al-
lowed the company to reward those operators
who consistently exceeded expectations and to
note those who continuously underperformed.
The elimination of disks also reduced the amount
of production errors, while significantly speeding up
the file retrieval process at the same time. No longer
were disks being lost or misplaced, ensuring that all
designs were available to any machine operator at all
times. Each operator is now able to manage up to 4
embroidery machines at once, reducing the number
of laborers required to complete the same number of
jobs or more.
Future Possibilities
With the addition of networking and barcode scan-
ning, the company is perfectly positioned to fully
automate their production process by adding auto-
matic generation of personalization files. The au-
tomation system could utilize order information to
automatically generate the embroidery file using the
company’s own rules for embroidery creation. The
auto-generated design could then be queued to a
pod, awaiting an operator to scan the barcode and
download to the machine.
By implementing Pulse’s strategic changes to their
production processes, the client increased the
performance and efficiency of their machines and
operators.
7. Background
Universal Screen Arts offers a number of popular
catalogs under various brands, such as “Signals”,
“What On Earth,” and more. They have seen signif-
icant expansion over the past few years thanks to
their increasingly popular catalog offerings and new
online store. As a successful catalog and ecom-
merce company that specializes in amusing trinkets
and clever apparel, the company carries a large
variety of garments and products that are perfectly
suited for personalization. They have many unique
gift items developed exclusively for their business,
and now offer personalizations on many of these
products to make each item completely one-of-a-
kind.
CASE STUDY #4
Universal Screen Arts - Complex Variable Dataing
The Problem
The customer was producing personalized images
for their Kornit digital printer manually by editing a
series of templates from Adobe Illustrator, Adobe
Photoshop and Adobe In-Design. A graphic artist
had to create each image file individually by replac-
ing the text in the template with text from an order
spreadsheet, and then assign the proper parame-
ters for the setup of the Kornit machine. In addition,
some of the company’s templates required that the
graphic artist replace text based on formulas provid-
ed by the customer, which often required mathemat-
ical calculations to create the results that would be
printed. The process was too labor intensive and re-
quired many manual inputs, which greatly increased
the likelihood of errors.
Much of their profits from personalization were being
spent on the labor required to complete them, so
they needed a system that would reduce the design
time required for each order. The bottleneck effect
that occurred when many personalization orders
were received was greatly slowing down produc-
tion. With the increase in sales volume of their per-
sonalized products, they would not be able to keep
up with the pace at which they received orders, if
they had to manually create each order, so they
connected with Pulse to find a solution.
The Solution
Pulse implemented an automated solution that
reads the company’s existing order files and au-
tomatically generates machine-ready design files
based on their predefined templates. Each order
received by the company contains information
such as the order number, template name and the
text to be replaced in the various text fields of the
template. The PulseID automation system imports
the data containing personalization information for
multiple orders at once, automatically calculating
the customers’ formulas and inputs to be used by
the selected templates. This creates a production
ready image file for each order based on the cus-
tomer’s inputs and the company’s rules without any
manual input. This hands-free process completely
eliminates manual design from the personalization
process, so Universal Screen Arts’ graphic artists
are now free to create new templates and static
garment designs for additional revenue.
Pulse also provided a symbolic “language” allow-
ing the artists to insert codes into their templates
to control the resulting designs. For example, a
text element containing “S2MC” will automatically
substitute the second text entered by the customer
and force “mixed case” – first letter upper case,
and remaining letters lower case. So if the custom-
er enters “SAm”, PulseID will transform it to “Sam”,
because of the instruction from the artist.
8. In order to prevent the final production image from ex-
ceeding size and personalization character limits,
PulseID automation will automatically apply compres-
sion to the text if it is required. If the maximum com-
pression has been reached and the personalization still
cannot be completed, the system will generate an ex-
ception for the job to alert the staff that the specific file
requires attention. In addition, this hands-free process
also links the completed image files to the correspond-
ing setup information required by their Kornit machine,
so it can be sent directly to the printer without any
person handling the order.
Benefits
Using PulseID’s automation and variable data
application creates a hands-off approach to generating
images, allowing graphic artists and machine operators
to focus on higher value tasks rather than manually
producing each individual order. Images are now gen-
erated automatically with the push of a single button,
saving hours of work each day and reducing the man-
power required for each order.
Data from the company’s order entry system is verified
to ensure that order information corresponds to quality
standards defined by the company, and images are
generated directly from the data provided by their order
entry system, virtually eliminating the possibility of
errors. Once the production ready files are available, the
variable data personalization application will automat-
ically assign setup information for each image that will
be used by the Kornit QuickP software, which further
reduces the setup time on the machine.
PulseID solutions are designed
to be easily expandable as a
business grows, so additional
templates can be added at
any time with no programming
required. The architecture of the
application matches the ap-
proach used in the automation
systems Pulse creates for other
media such as embroidery,
laser etching and rotary engrav-
ing as well, making it easy for
the business to diversify and
expand into other markets.
Future Possibilities
With the proper systems in place, Universal Screen
Arts has been able to significantly reduce the amount
of time it takes to create a personalized garment, and
re-purpose employees to other profitable lines of work.
They have eliminated human error from their personal-
ization production process, and increased the efficien-
cy of their entire operation using Pulse’s automation
solutions.
A comprehensive Variable Data and workflow solu-
tion has become integral to any business that plans
on making personalization an important part of their
product offerings, and their business is well equipped
to handle growth in the future thanks to PulseID’s easily
scalable automation solutions. The company is now
planning to incorporate some of this technology into
their website in order to offer fully customizable gar-
ment decoration to their customers.
9. Background
Thirty-One Gifts is a direct marketer of personalized
goods and accessories based in the United States.
Originating as a home-based business in 2003, the
company has seen stunning growth and now employs
close to 2,000 people. Thirty-One Gifts has been
able to capitalize on the current trend of personalized
apparel and accessories, which has recently enabled
them to expand their business internationally.
Personalization is an area of garment decoration that is
currently experiencing phenomenal growth because it
provides a very high profit margin, especially if opera-
tional costs are kept low. The demand has increased
as a result of the interests from several different groups
including sports teams, clubs and special event
groups.
Thirty-One Gifts specialize in both print and embroi-
dery garment decoration and personalization. They
have partnered with Pulse to implement several new
technological innovations to help improve their person-
alization offerings and processes.
The Requirements
Thirty-One Gifts came to Pulse for help with creating
and implementing a very specific mass personaliza-
tion solution for decorating garments. The idea was
to offer personalized cartoon characters to appear on
bags and other items, such as notepads and cards.
They needed their customers to be able to pick from
a selection of faces, hair styles and clothes to cre-
ate customized characters to represent their family,
friends, classmates or teammates to appear on a se-
lected garment. The characters are then personalized
with the appropriate name and/or number before being
sent for production.
The challenge here was to create a way to accomplish
this in as few steps as possible, while maximizing
quality and minimizing manual labor and production
errors. Without an automated solution, this type of ser-
CASE STUDY #5
ThirtyOne Gifts - Variable Data Templates
vice would take an incredible amount of time and manual
artistry by graphic designers. Thirty-One Gifts needed
a template-based solution to facilitate everything from
receiving orders through to production.
The Solution
Based on the requirements outlined by Thirty-One Gifts,
Pulse began working on a Variable Data solution to help
streamline their processes. Together, they implemented
PulseID, an order processor that actually builds graphic
characters from customer orders using sophisticated
rules, powered by a scalable vector engine.
PulseID is an Automation solution that works by using
customizable templates from a standard design pro-
gram, such as Adobe Illustrator. This allows for both the
text and graphics properties of a design to be swapped
or edited without the need to resize or reposition these
elements before sending them to production.
PulseID is a powerful tool on its own, but is most suc-
cessful when coupled with automation, as happened
with Thirty-One Gifts. The entire process is streamlined
by the use of barcodes, which are automatically gener-
ated for each job, eliminating the possibility of human
error. This barcode is then scanned into the machine by
an operator to quickly produce the personalized product.
The PulseID solution gathers information from a compa-
ny’s existing order processing system to automatically
create design files based on their customer-approved
specifications.
10. Benefits
PulseID Automation improved productivity by sig-
nificantly reducing the time it took Thirty-One Gifts
to create multiple personalizations that are similar in
appearance. A single template became the base for
hundreds of different garment designs.
With PulseID, all of Thirty-One Gifts’ personalization
files were generated on the same server, using fonts
with the same appearance, rules, and vector engine.
PulseID became essential to Thirty-One Gifts in terms
of profiting from garment personalization. When com-
bined with automation, it saved them time and labour
costs. The result was greatly improved productivity
and, more importantly, a highly profitable mass per-
sonalization business.
Future Possibilities
When a company experiences phenomenal growth, it is
important to have the equipment and systems in place to
keep up with increased customer demand, while maintain-
ing a high quality product standard. A great Automation and
Variable Data solution is one that is streamlined and scal-
able, growing with the organization and increasing the rate
at which orders can be handled and processed. Employing
the comprehensive PulseID solution has become essential
to any business that hopes to provide quick and easy mass
personalization of garments.
CASE STUDY #6
Stella & Dot - Engraving and Embossing
Background
Stella & Dot is a San Francisco-based social sell-
ing company that creates flexible entrepreneurial
opportunities for women. They sell jewelry and per-
sonalized accessories exclusively through in-home
trunk shows and online. The in-home trunk shows
are organized by independent stylists who earn a
commission off of their sales.
The company has recently expanded overseas to
Germany and the UK and has now paid out over
$100 million in commission to their stylists, while
reaching over $200 million in sales. Stella & Dot
have recently been named one of the 500 fastest
growing companies on the United States.
The Today Show, The Wall Street Journal and The
New York Times have all praised Stella & Dot for
their innovative social shopping concept that brings
together the best of e-commerce, social media,
personal service and
passionate earning
to create the ulti-
mate home based
business. Their one
of a kind collections
are designed by
celebrated New York
designers and have
been featured in var-
ious forms of media
including Gossip Girl,
In Style and Lucky
Magazine as well as
on the wrists and
necklines of fashion-
able celebrities.
The Requirements
Stella & Dot reached out to Pulse because they needed to
automate their process of producing personalized engraved
and embossed goods. Their original process for engraving
included exporting orders from their website and manually
importing names into proprietary software that was creat-
ed by the engraving manufacturer. This process was quite
time-consuming and prone to costly errors.
Stella & Dot required a system that could automatically cre-
ate production-ready files and send them directly to the en-
graving machine without an intermediate step. The solution
needed to save them time and unnecessary costs related
to production errors. Stella & Dot also needed to implement
the same type of system for embossing, which was in their
plans for the future.
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The Solution
To address these issues, Stella & Dot partnered
with Pulse and implemented PulseID, an automat-
ed solution that read their existing order files and
generated machine-ready vector files. All person-
alization files were generated on the same server,
using fonts with the same appearance, rules, and
vector engine.
PulseID allowed Stella & Dot to automatically
generate personalizations directly from their order
information. The new system reads information
from the existing orders system, harvesting the
required information for the automatic generation
of personalization files for both their engraving and
embossing production.
An essential attribute of the PulseID software for
Stella & Dot was that the system could be imple-
mented with minimal disruption and using their
existing machines. PulseID adhered to this request
and the system was installed seamlessly.
Benefits
The result of Stella & Dot’s PulseID implementation
was consistent, high-quality production that saved
the organization time and money. The new system
is easily scalable and has expanded as company
demands grew at Stella & Dot.
Stella & Dot’s file transfer to machines was also automat-
ed through the PulseID solution. The addition of barcode
scanning ensured a fully automated system for person-
alization production. At Stella & Dot, PulseID created a
virtually error-free environment with the removal of the
manual transferring of order information. Stella & Dot are
now producing personalizations at an incredibly improved
rate and have seen a drastic drop in expenses related to
production errors.
Pulse addressed Stella & Dot’s key requirements by using
PulseID’s advanced technology to create a hands-free, er-
ror-free environment for the generation of personalizations.
Specifically, the benefits of the PulseID system imple-
mented at Stella & Dot included the elimination of manual
errors, adherence to customer-defined rules, consistent
high-quality personalizations, enhanced personalization
offerings, minimal disruption to current production pro-
cesses and easy integration.
Future Possibilities
Pulse continues to work closely with Stella & Dot on au-
tomation projects for various forms of apparel decoration.
Pulse works with its
customers to adhere
to any special require-
ments or requests
necessary to take
business and produc-
tion to the next level.
The PulseID solution
is not restricted to
embossing and en-
graving, as it can also
be expertly applied to
businesses
specializing in em-
broidery, digital print,
sequin, rhinestone and
other forms of deco-
ration.
