Impressions - February 2016 - 29

"Today's machines run faster
and are quieter than ever."

recently celebrated 25 years of being in
the embroidery industry. I remember my
first days as a technician at a machine
distributor. It was January 1991 and someone
requested a paper tape of a particular design.
I remember thinking, "Paper tape became
obsolete 20 years ago, didn't it?" I found out
that while the machines at that time had builtin floppy disk drives, many embroiderers still
used this ancient technology.
In those days, embroidery machines were
somewhat of an enigma. On one hand, they
were technological marvels that were accurate to within 0.1 mm and could cut thread,
change colors and detect thread breaks. Even
more amazing is that much of that technology
had been around for years.
On the other hand, manufacturers were
somewhat slow to adapt to the changing
technology. Just as paper tapes were slow to
give way to floppy-disk readers, floppy disks
were slow to give way to USB drives. Color
displays and other features often were slow
to permeate the machine market.
Today, embroidery machines are the most
technologically advanced they've ever been.
Machines typically achieve more than 1,000
stitches per minute,and designs are loaded quickly
and easily. There are more hooping devices to
embroider just about anything and more tools
to help with design alignment.
Although the basic concept of the embroidery
machine remains the same - it still features
a sewing head and a pantograph, albeit in
different forms - the surrounding pieces have
changed dramatically.

embroiderers start with single-needle sewing
machines with an embroidery attachment
and then move into commercial embroidery
machines. This has boosted the market and
forced manufacturers to create machines that
meet that demand.
The current trend is for increasingly smaller
singleheads that are simpler to use. It has ebbed
a bit, as machines have gotten so small that
they can fit just about anywhere and feature
sewing fields large enough to handle almost
any job.
Companies with a variety of singleheads offer
a diverse number of needles and sewing areas
(field sizes). In truth, one word can be used to
describe the singlehead trend: customization.
In addition to number of needles and field
sizes, other custom features include sequin
settings, and lasers for cutting appliqués and
even chenile. While these options also can be
added to multiheads, it is often cost-prohibitive.
ELECTRONICS
Most embroidery machines primarily rely
on USB technology to get designs into the
machine. The growing trend is to network
a singlehead or multihead with a computer
via a LAN cable. Wireless technology trends
are making networking even easier. Some
machines already have options for a barcode
reader. Even better, some models can send
production information back to the computer.
You can see the total of runs, how many
times the thread has broken and numerous
other production statistics.

While these systems still are predominately
PC-based, tablet-based apps are available for
certain sewing/embroidery machines in the
home market. It is just a matter of time until
it filters its way into the commercial market.
Other emerging features also include
customizable machine menus, the ability to
change sewing speeds on particular needles,
setting a color sequence, and loading and setting
up a design while another one is sewing.
Such innovations are major in terms of
productivity. Having the ability to set metallic
thread to sew more slowly while ramping up
the speed of other colors can help avoid thread
breaks. Moreover, since the most downtime
a machine has is during the change from one
design to the next, being able to do this while
another design is sewing is a big time saver.
Almost all machines can "perimeter trace," or
trace a square around the outermost dimensions
of a design. However, more machines currently
on the market can trace around the outline of
the design. This technology is coupled with a
laser pointer built into the head (or first head of
a multihead machine). Some even have builtin cameras to assist with alignment. They use
positioning stickers or even a scan of the sewing
area with the screen design superimposed over
it so placement is more accurate.
SEWING SPEEDS
Today's machines run faster and are quieter
than ever. This involves a lot of mechanical
engineering to accomplish. Sure, you can
make the machine run faster, but if the design

RISE OF THE
SINGLEHEADS
For years, the singlehead embroidery machine
was king of the market. Back in 1991, it had
become an afterthought. Large multiheads
were the flagships of machine manufacturers.
Now, those same companies cater to the
singlehead market, with many offering two,
three or more models of these machines. Others
have dropped multiheads altogether to solely
focus on singleheads.
There are numerous reasons for this. First, the
demise of domestic textile manufacturing has
severely diminished the market for 12- to 15head machines. Also, much of the embroidery
business has become a cottage industry. Many

Custom features
on some singleheads
include lasers
for appliqué.
February 2016

P.29

Impressions - February 2016

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