Power Scheduler is a crucial tool that shops nationwide use to simplify their production schedules and stay organized. Learn more about the feature here, and scroll on to learn about Relentless Merch.
Nebraska-based Relentless Merch has built a name as the go-to merch provider for touring bands and artists. They pride themselves on consistency and rapid turnarounds, which are essential for the music business since many bands need fresh merchandise while they’re on the road and don’t have extra time to wait. Thanks to that attention to key areas, they’ve grown the business by supporting major tours across the U.S. over the last few years.
We chatted with Matt and Nathan Richardson from Relentless about how they run their main business and their D2C company Atonal Headwear on the Print Hustlers Podcast. Check that out here:
More recently, we checked back in to learn more about how their business has grown and how they use tools like Printavo Power Scheduler.
Meeting Growth Challenges
As Relentless Merch grew, it upgraded its equipment to run four automatic presses and handle multiple services, such as screen printing, embroidery, woven tags, and DTF printing.
The expansion was significant for the business’s name. Still, Nathan says there was a stronger need for tools to maintain order accuracy, speed, and communication across the business’s departments, especially with multiple production shifts.
Originally, the company relied on old-school verbal handoffs, and production targets occasionally slipped. Miscommunication also periodically popped up. They sought out new software to meet the shop’s more rapid demands.
A shot of neck label prints from Relentless Merch’s Instagram page.
Utilizing Power Scheduler
More recently, Relentless implemented Printavo to establish a single source of truth for their production. In particular, they use the Power Scheduler as their primary tool for scheduling production and maintaining deadlines.
The duo says that thanks to a smooth training process, the scheduling feature quickly became part of the daily rhythm and helped connect all the necessary team members, including sales, production, and leadership.
“It’s our accountability hub,” says co-founder Matthew Richardson. “It lets us coordinate between departments without hallway conversations or Slack messages flying around all day.”
A few ways Relentless Merch uses the Power Scheduler include:
- Scheduling jobs by press and decoration type to maximize the usability of all shop equipment and reduce slowdowns.
- Running promotional product orders and auxiliary services like woven tags or bagging through the same pipeline without confusing production deadlines.
- Scheduling automated check-ins and reminders with clients via API integrations with task-management platforms like Monday.com.
- Providing live production updates to the sales team, empowering them to share timelines with customers confidently.
Seeing Improvements
Since implementing Power Scheduler, Relentless Merch has seen gains in several areas. Overall, the duo says it’s made for smoother operations on both the customer and production sides.
Some noticeable improvements include:
- Rush orders: Short-notice orders for touring musicians (often 1-2 a day) are handled accurately and precisely so that merch arrives at designated tour stops without delays. This improvement has also helped Relentless build its reputation as the go-to shop for tour merch.
- Communication: Team communication across production, sales, and customer service has dramatically improved.
- Spoilage: The business currently keeps its spoilage under 4%. That low number is reinforced by an incentive plan in which the Richardsons show their employees the dollar value of each spoiled product instead of just tallying an arbitrary number or overall item quantity.
- Customers: Increased satisfaction has been achieved with fewer surprises and delays, especially for time-sensitive band merch deliveries.
“We’ve got ‘on time’ printed on our trucks and our floor mats—it’s the culture now,” says Nathan, “The team knows we don’t miss deadlines.”
Moving Forward
As Matt and Nathan continue to assess how they can scale their business, they’ve considered how Printavo could eventually be integrated for their D2C operations with Atonal Headwear, potentially with contract decoration offerings.
Meanwhile, their team uses forecasting tools they’ve built in-house to keep up with rapidly growing demand from major artists.
Relentless Merch shows what’s possible when artistic skill meets systems thinking. It is anchored by a clear vision, a tight team culture, and a few powerful tools used well.
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