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The
owner and president of Automatic Transfer Inc., Alfred
W. La Costa has been in the business of embellishing onto
shirts for the past 20 plus years with the digital transfer
process. His first printer was a ribbon thermal printer
known as the Shinko 335 using a transfer paper from Foto
Wear Inc.
When the CLC
Canon color copiers were first introduced he developed a special
process using a RELEASE transfer paper,and a special coating he
developed to be applied to the paper after printed. He also developed and
manufactured a Hydraulic heat press that had 95 psi that pressed the transfer
onto the shirts. The process had such a soft hand without staining the
perimeter of the printed area that the designers in the N.Y. Garment district
contracted their T-Shirt printing to his company over screen printing.
They were most impressed with the quality of the product but also the variety
of designs in full color that could be done without any set up time lost
and any quantity they needed for just in time shipping to their accounts.
The company employed 25 personnel in a 7,000 square ft. bldg with 3 color
copiers that cost $40,000.00 each and only 2 of the Hydraulic heat presses
he manufactured. Mr. La Costa was producing between 40 to 80,000 shirts
per month with this process to all of the major stores in the country.
Through this
experience he was intrigued with the toners that various manufactures
used in their copiers and when the opportunity arrived he purchased a
small toner facility and began manufacturing sublimation toners
in 2001.
Mr. La Costa
bought the 11,000 Sq. Ft. building in Alpha, New Jersey that
ATI now resides in and closed the plant in Mass. as it was
less expensive to outsource his toner to a larger manufacture.
ATI and Mr. La Costa continue to distribute and developed
their products and have 2 patent pending products within the
last year. The one is the HOTTEE transfer paper and
the other soon to be released for market is a white toner and
paper to transfer onto dark shirts with the color laser printers.
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