Events & Promotion
Conference merch in 19 days, twice a year
An events company needed speaker gifts and staff kit produced after the final headcount was confirmed — with no room to be late.
- 19 days
- Artwork to delivered
- 4,200
- Pieces per event
- 0
- Missed deadlines
The problem with event merch
Event merchandise has an unmovable deadline and a headcount that is not final until roughly three weeks out. Order early and you over-produce; order late and the boxes arrive after the doors open.
Orbit Summit had been splitting the difference and eating both costs — a pile of leftover XL tees after every event, plus air freight surcharges.
The approach
We pre-positioned the slow parts of the process:
- Fabric held on our floor. Greige fabric for their two chosen bodies is reserved and dyed to their standard colours ahead of the event cycle.
- Approved base samples on file. No fit approval loop each cycle — only the artwork changes, and artwork approval takes days, not weeks.
- Size curve from prior events. Three events of actual data replaced guesswork; the leftover XL problem largely disappeared.
That leaves 19 days from final artwork to delivered cartons, by sea, at standard freight rates.
Results
Four consecutive events delivered on time, 4,200 pieces each, with no air freight. Leftover stock fell to under 3% of the run, which Orbit now carries forward as spares rather than writing off.
Have a similar problem?
Send us your current setup and target numbers — we'll tell you what we'd change.