How one apparel decorator elevated quality, speed, and efficiency with Brother’s fully automated DTG system.
When Jeff Meilander founded Redwall in 2002, his mission was simple: print shirts for his band and friends in Milwaukee’s music scene. Two decades later, his company has evolved into a high-volume, full-service apparel decorator serving national clients with screen printing, embroidery, sublimation, and digital direct-to-garment (DTG) production.
Now headquartered in Oak Creek, Wisconsin—with more than 135,000 square feet across two facilities—Redwall continues to push the limits of what’s possible in on-demand apparel production. The latest leap forward came with the installation of the Brother Digital Line, a fully automated DTG production system that integrates pretreating, printing, curing, folding, and labeling—all managed by a single operator.
Redwall’s DTG journey began in 2015.
“At that time, most of our work was screen printing,” Meilander recalls. “But we knew digital was the future, and we wanted to get ahead of it.”
His first three DTG machines were industrial-grade units that helped his team learn the basics of workflow and logistics—but they also came with challenges.
“We ran into a lot of issues,” he says. “They weren’t bad machines—they just didn’t fit what we needed. We wanted to expand our digital production, improve quality, and boost efficiency, but those early models couldn’t get us there.”
That’s when Brother entered the picture.
“At first, I thought Brother was only for small shops or startups,” Meilander admits. “But after taking a closer look, I was impressed. The print quality was excellent, the price point was right, and the parts were readily available.”
He also saw major advantages in scalability, flexibility, and ease of use.
“The cost to run the machine and replace parts was lower, and it was more user-friendly,” he explains. “Their system just made sense for what I wanted to do—add more machines as we grew.”
The offline pretreat workflow was another highlight. “Printing on a dry shirt instead of a wet one was new to me, but it made a noticeable difference,” Meilander adds. “Brother’s printers held detail better and ran faster. Once we started working with them, they got to know us and became an awesome partner.”
In 2018, Redwall began building DTG pods using Brother GTX printers alongside Synergy + Firefly systems for automated pretreatment and drying. That setup laid the groundwork for something much bigger: the Brother Digital Line.
“Brother first showed us the concept in 2018,” Meilander says. “It was this massive, automated system designed so one operator could handle everything—from pretreating to packaging. Seeing that early rendering come to life was amazing.”
By 2021, Redwall had installed the first DL1000 automatic pretreat module, and in 2022, they became the beta site for the world’s first Brother Digital Line.
“As the first shop to have it in production, we went through a lot of testing and fine-tuning,” Meilander says. “Brother sent techs from Japan and the U.S., recorded data, made programming updates—it was a true collaboration. They were incredibly supportive through the entire process.”
Now, the production team runs the DL2400, a powerhouse system featuring four GTX600 printers connected in sequence.
“A shirt is loaded, pretreated, printed, cured, folded, inspected, and labeled—all automatically,” Meilander explains. “This single machine does the work of four to five people from our old setup. The efficiency is incredible.”
Today, Redwall operates:
33 Brother GTX printers of varying models
Two Synergy + Firefly All-In-One Production Systems with Linx Software
One Brother Digital Line 2400
Their DTG facility spans 35,000 square feet and runs parallel to a 100,000-square-foot screen printing and embroidery operation across the street. Together, they make Redwall one of the most technologically advanced print operations in the country.
“The Digital Line is a game-changer,” Meilander says. “It’s efficient, consistent, and scalable. For us, it’s not just about producing more—it’s about producing smarter.”
Through every phase of Redwall’s evolution, the partnership between Brother and Hirsch Solutions has remained central to their success.
“Brother didn’t just sell us a printer—they invested in us,” Meilander emphasizes. “From the early testing to the system we’re running today, they’ve been right there helping us innovate.”
For decorators like Redwall who want to step into the future of digital production, the Brother Digital Line represents more than just automation—it’s a pathway to scalability, quality, and next-level efficiency.
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