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— Operations & Technology Consultancy

The penny drop moment.

You know your business is losing money somewhere. You can feel the friction. The workarounds. The systems that don't talk to each other.

I help print, embroidery, workwear, and promotional merchandise businesses decode exactly what's happening in their operation — and build a clear plan to fix it. Plain English. No jargon. No vendor agenda.

25+
Years in the sector
Clarity guarantee
100%
Independent — no vendor agenda

I work with

“If I spent a day in your business looking at your systems, your processes, and your technology — how confident are you that I wouldn't find anything costing you money you don't know about?”

That question is worth sitting with. Most owners can't answer it honestly.

— The cost of standing still

What disconnected systems actually cost you

These are the numbers I see in businesses like yours, every week. Not hypothetical. Not worst-case. Just the quiet cost of systems that don't talk to each other.

3–6 hrs/week

Lost to manual re-keying between disconnected systems

3–5%

Of inbound stock at risk from disconnected inventory

2–4 hrs/week

Spent on manual invoicing and reconciliation

1–3%

Of orders affected by picking and despatch errors

Based on operational audits across print, embroidery, workwear, and promotional merchandise businesses.

Garment Decoration
Print & Promotional
Workwear & Teamwear
Signs & Graphics
Awards & Engraving
Labels & Packaging
25+
Years inside these businesses
6
Sectors with deep expertise
0
Vendor relationships
— About Craig Blackman

Someone from the industry.
Not parachuting in.

I've spent 25 years working inside the businesses I now advise — print, embroidery, workwear, promotional merchandise, and branded apparel. I've been through what you're going through. I know where the money disappears and why the systems don't connect.

Most technology advice fails businesses like yours because it comes from people who've never processed a decorated order in their life. I built Decoded Ops because product-based businesses with a decoration service deserve someone who genuinely understands their operation from the inside.

Start with a free 60-min call

The Translation Gift

I take what you’re trying to convey — often half-formed, vague, hard to articulate — and reflect it back as a solution or a clear path forward. Business owners feel understood in a way they often haven’t been before.

Out-of-the-Box Problem Solving

When a system can’t do something, I don’t accept the limitation. I find a different way — connecting things not designed to connect, reframing the problem so the existing tool handles it differently.

The Facilitation Gift

In a mixed group — directors, warehouse staff, office teams — I ask the question that makes everyone stop. People adopt the result because they built it. That’s how change actually sticks.

What the right technology does

Published ERP implementation benchmarks, 2024.

−23%
Operational costs
−22%
Admin costs
+24%
On-time delivery
91%
Improved stock accuracy within 12 months

Ready to find out what's really going on?

The discovery call is free, takes 60 minutes, and comes with no obligation. Just an honest conversation about your operation.