A single press turns out about 60 shirts an hour. Put two presses and two printers together, which is our standard station, and a steady line gets 100+ an hour. From order to hand-off, each guest waits about two minutes.
Real days run under the ceiling. Every added ink color costs time at the press, a guest who can't pick a design holds up everyone behind them, and printers bouncing between screens and DTF lose time on both. The hat bar runs slower still, around 30 to 45 caps an hour per press, and embroidery takes 6 to 12 minutes a piece, so we plan each of those as its own station.
Presses per Louisville crowd
- A crowd under 150: one two-press station, which is plenty for a NuLu gallery opening or a Whiskey Row tasting night.
- Roughly 150 to 400: a third press or a second station keeps waits short. An Oaks-day hospitality tent often sits in this range.
- Over 400, or everyone arriving at once: multiple stations, the build a busy KICC booth or a KFC Yum! Center concourse needs at a break in the game.
Throughput belongs to the press, so it's the same in every city. Louisville crowds are what differ. A convention aisle feeds a queue all day and usually earns a second press. Derby crowds show up late and stay late, so we set a hard last-order time about 45 minutes before the window closes. Each added press is another crate on the truck from Fullerton, so pin the headcount down early and send it with your quote request.