Every once in a while when he is out in public, Grant Beaulieu will notice someone wearing his work. It might be a hat with a complex logo or a t-shirt with an embroidered chest design but he can spot it right away. “My daughter laughs at me sometimes,” say Beaulieu. “She’ll say, ‘Okay dad, I know you did that job.’”
As the head of the embroidery at Budd Bay Promotions and Apparel, Beaulieu is responsible for making sure that orders of all sizes and levels of complexity get filled on time and to customers’ satisfaction. Though the role may conjure images of a room full of people diligently sewing, the modern reality is digital. In some ways, Beaulieu is more like a mechanic or engineer than a tailor.
“We have these industrial embroidery machines where you can load the design and program it,” he says. “They run themselves unless the thread or needle breaks. They are new machines and they should last about 10 to 15 years. We want to make them last as long as possible because they are an investment.”
With the high volumes Budd Bay is accustomed to, systems and protocols are critical. Another aspect of Beaulieu’s role is putting procedures in place to maximize efficiency and help projects go smoothly. “We coordinate to make sure everything gets here in a timely manner before we produce,” he says. “We don’t want to run half of a job because some stuff is on backorder. It’s pretty fluid. I may come into a day thinking I’m going to accomplish all of these projects and then something will come up. It’s constantly changing.”
Communication is key. Everything begins with the art department and design, and different departments have to rely on each other to do their part. “When you have a small business everyone wears a lot of hats because you have to,” says Beaulieu. “We’re constantly communicating our needs with each other. That comes with doing specific custom jobs rather than mass production.”
Once a design has been agreed on, garments will come in and be decorated within approximately one week, unless there’s a rush order. “In those cases, they come in, we check them and make sure everything has arrived that is supposed to be there, get them hooped and ready, set them up and we’re ready to roll,” says Beaulieu.
His favorite types of orders are the most complex. “I like jobs that entail all aspects,” he says. “There may be an embroidered left chest design and a full back screen print and a heat press name on the arm. Those are fun because you’re coordinating with each other and planning your strategy on how to tackle that assignment. Everybody is involved.”
Beaulieu has been with Budd Bay for nearly 15 years, starting out in sales but helping in production. “I would go back and fold, do heat press, and create art from time to time,” he says. “I’ve done pretty much everything. I was a drafter, so embroidery made sense. When you’re dealing with so many small parts and lubricants, there’s a lot to keep track of.”
Six years ago he decided to dedicate himself to embroidery full time. “We needed an embroiderer and I knew how to do it,” he says. One of his first actions was to figure out ways to improve efficiency. “There are processes that had gotten lost over time that needed to be revisited,” he explains. As an example, the team meets every week to go over the workload for the week and what’s coming up, looking for what is working well and what could be done better.
The industry itself is changing, with new and upgraded machines coming on the market constantly. “With heat press, it’s almost every week that you have a new process,” says Beaulieu. “There’s always something to adjust to because there are new products out there.” The embroidery field has changed dramatically, from operating off of floppy drives to using USBs or direct cables. “Those floppy drives are kind of hard to come by nowadays,” he laughs. “Now we have more storage and you can load designs and keep them stored for extended periods of time.”
Due to his former role in sales, he knows many of Budd Bay’s customers and they’ll pepper him with questions about different jobs. “I can inform them about how things work so they’ll understand why we can’t do something at a particular size,” he says. “I can explain their options.”
His favorite response from clients? “Anytime a customer says, ‘This is awesome. I love it. Thank you so much.’ That happens quite a bit,” he says. “It gives us a real sense of accomplishment. We want them happy.”
For more information, visit the Budd Bay Promotions and Apparel website or call 360-709-0483.
Sponsored
