How Our Sales, Design, and Production Staff Work Together
At Merchy’s, bringing your vision for custom apparel—whether screen printed or embroidered—into reality depends on seamless collaboration among our team. From first inquiry to final delivery, our Sales, Design, and Production staff each plays a vital role. We believe in accountability, transparency, and teamwork so you always know who handles what and what to expect.
Why Teamwork Matters
Working in stages—sales, design, production—is standard in custom apparel printing. According to guides on the apparel business and custom teamwear processes, these departments need to communicate clearly to avoid delays, miscommunication, and mistakes.
Accountability ensures each step is checked and verified—so prints are correct, embroidery is clean, color matches, sizing is right.
Transparency gives you clarity on what’s happening, when, and who is responsible, which builds trust.
How Merchy’s Handles Each Part
Here’s who does what in our workflow, how they work together, and how accountability and transparency are built into each stage.
Sales Team
Responsibilities:
First contact: answering your questions about prices, options (screen printing, embroidery, etc.), and timelines.
Gathering information: what style of apparel, quantity, color, design files, deadlines.
Providing quotes: breaking down costs for fabric, print or embroidery, shipping, etc.
How they collaborate:
Pass along design briefs to the Design Team clearly, including your requested formats, artwork, sizes.
Check with Production about lead time before giving you an estimated delivery date.
Follow up after Production to ensure shipping is on schedule.
Design Team
Responsibilities:
Receiving your artwork or helping you develop it (logo clean-up, mockups, adjustments).
Preparing design files in formats suitable for screen printing vs embroidery (e.g. vector vs stitch files).
Producing proofs or mockups for your approval.
Accountability & quality checks:
Confirming colors, placement, and design specifications before sending to Production.
Ensuring designs are optimized for the chosen method (e.g. embroidery needs different considerations than screen printing).
Production Team
Responsibilities:
Executing the printing or embroidery following confirmed artwork and method.
Managing materials: selecting the correct garment blank, thread, ink, etc.
Quality control: checking prints, stitches, color match, alignment, durability.
How they collaborate:
Working off approved designs from the Design Team.
Providing feedback to Sales and Design if something is not feasible (e.g. very small detail in embroidery, fabric limitations).
Reporting progress and raising flags early if something could delay delivery (e.g. supply issues, color mismatches).
Our Process: Step by Step
Below is a simplified view of how a typical order flows through Sales → Design → Production at Merchy’s, including accountability and transparency check-ins.
Inquiry & Quote Request (Sales Team)
You provide details: style, quantity, design, delivery date.
Sales gives you a price quote and estimated timeline.
Design Brief & Artwork Submission (Sales & Design)
Sales relays your design brief to Design.
Design reviews artwork, asks questions if needed (e.g. resolution, file format).
Design creates mockups/proofs for your review.
Approval (You + Sales + Design)
Production Scheduling & Execution (Production Team)
Production schedules the job (screen printing, embroidery, etc.).
Materials are sourced or checked.
The team executes the printing or stitch-work.
Quality Control (Production)
Checks for defects, color accuracy, design placement.
If issues are found, they’re caught early so corrections can be made.
Packaging & Shipping (Production + Sales)
Follow-up (Sales)
Sales checks in with you to ensure the order arrived and met expectations.
If any issue arises, Sales works with Design & Production to resolve it.
Customer Guidance: What You Can Do
To make this teamwork even more effective, here’s how you can help:
Provide clear, high-resolution artwork (vector files if possible), and specify placement, colors, fonts.
Be specific about the printing method you prefer (screen printing, embroidery, etc.), or ask for recommendations.
Give realistic deadlines—if you need something fast, let our Sales Team know early so Design and Production can plan.
Review design proofs carefully, and respond promptly.
If you have concerns during production or delivery, contact us—our team will be transparent about status and any adjustments.
Our Commitment to Transparency & Accountability
We assign point persons for each phase (a Sales Associate, a Designer, a Production Lead) so there’s no ambiguity about who you can contact at each step.
We maintain internal checklists: design proof approval, pre-production review, quality control checks.
We communicate regularly: confirmation emails, production updates, shipment tracking.
If at any stage something doesn’t meet our standards (or yours), we take responsibility and work to fix it.
FAQs
Q: Who should I contact if I'm unsure about how to prepare my artwork?
A: Start with our Sales Team—they’ll connect you with a Designer who can guide you on file formats, color requirements, and design readiness for screen printing or embroidery.
Q: What happens if a design isn’t suitable for the printing or embroidery method I chose?
A: The Design Team will flag issues early. We’ll recommend adjustments or suggest alternate methods. You’ll always see a proof before Production begins.
Q: Can I see samples or mockups before full production?
A: Yes—Merchy’s offers mockups and, in many cases, pre-production samples so you can confirm appearance, size, color, and placement before full run begins.
Q: How is delivery timing estimated, and what if there’s a delay?
A: Delivery estimates are made by Sales in consultation with Production, based on order size, method (screen printing vs embroidery), and materials in stock. If an unexpected delay arises (e.g., supply chain issues), we’ll notify you right away and offer solutions.
Q: Who is responsible if a mistake is found after delivery?
A: We take errors seriously. If any mistake in print, embroidery, or garment quality is due to our process, Production will assess, and Sales will work with you to make it right—whether that means a reprint, repair, or other remedy.
If you’d like to meet individual team members or learn more about a specific role, feel free to reach out—we’re proud of our staff and their commitment to delivering high-quality custom apparel for customers in San Diego and beyond.
