QRST’s Adds Kornit DTG Technology, Gets 60% of Its Business from Competitors

Established in 1989, QRST’s serves broad print needs in the Boston area, printing and embroidering t-shirts, sweatshirts and sweatpants, tote bags, towels, mugs and other apparel and accessories. In addition to screen printing presses and embroidery, the company has been using Kornit Digital (Booth 1815) direct-to-garment technology since 2010.

The impact of this technology on their day-to-day operations and business model has been profound.

“Sixty percent of our business comes from competitors who can’t handle the jobs with screen printing,” says Peter Rinnig, Owner. “Even without active selling and marketing on our part, jobs that demand DTG capabilities find their way to us, because screen-print shops know we can handle it.”

The logic of going digital has long been clear for QRST’s. “In the internet age, people want more customization, which means the market has trended from fewer large orders to many more smaller orders — so DTG printing has gotten more use,” Rinnig says, who has supplemented his operation with five Kornit Breeze systems for single-step DTG printing. “It’s the best way to do small orders, and do them quickly.”

Others have resisted the move to digital, a move that has only served to drive greater opportunity for operations like Rinnig’s.

“When we started with our first digital press more than eight years ago, a lot of print shops were hesitant to move towards digital, and many remain so now,” Rinnig says. “But it’s been a great boon for us, as we can create custom goods, short runs, long runs and we can deliver them quickly, sometimes the same day. We can offer designs far more detailed and much more colorful than we could before, without the extensive setup of traditional screen printing. We turn a great profit on even the shortest runs, so turning away jobs is rare.”

“You can print photorealistic artwork,” adds Jenna Simon, the shop’s Lead Digital Printer. “That’s something screen printing cannot do.”

“You become a different shop when you have DTG printing at your disposal,” Rinnig says. “The opportunity it creates more than justifies the investment.”

After surveying available DTG products, Rinnig quickly found the Kornit Breeze system a perfect fit for his operation.

“Kornit Breeze put out more quality prints, at a cheaper cost per print, than any screen printing, and we can even print on black polyester, which we hadn’t expected,” Rinnig says, noting that the system’s unique single-step process — which includes integrated pretreatment for a cleaner, simpler print — saves his employees considerable time and effort.

“Going digital means we can deliver what the customers want and expect, in their timeframe, and that’s a great place to be for any business, print or otherwise,” he says, adding that “Kornit’s service has been immaculate. For anybody who is looking for a high-end, quality digital printer, I would absolutely recommend Kornit.”