Tajima Embroidery Machines | Buy or Not Buy

Top 3 Multihead embroidery machine comparison: Tajima, SWF and Ricoma

Buying a multihead embroidery machine is a big investment no matter the size of your business. Just like most investment ideas, you probably started your research by checking what other shops you’re connected to are using.

Or maybe you search online forums or just did the typical “best multihead embroidery machine” search on Google.

And you uncovered the Tajima name and a cadre of devoted fans in every corner.

The Reasons for Tajima’s Popularity

One of the big reasons that the Tajima has such a commanding brand in the embroidery machine business is LONGEVITY.

First to Market Often Wins

Tajima either introduced commercial embroidery machines to the West – multineedle machines, multihead embroidery machines – or were one of the first few brands to do so.

And this made-in-Japan product offered great quality and often the only multihead available, to the biggest businesses in the market.

If you’ve ever purchased a SECOND piece of any equipment for your business you’ll understand the pull, and the ease, of sticking with the brand you know. And once you make a decision like that it’s just natural to want others to make the same choice because it reinforces yours.

SWF Multihead Embroidery Machines Enter the Market

SWF embroidery machines entered the market almost a decade later than Tajima. This South Korean brand offered the same or better quality at a more competitive price. Plus, they innovated in several important areas like maintenance, hooping and software. But by this time Tajima already had the first-to-market advantage.

Ricoma Comes to the UK

In 2015, the first high quality Chinese manufactured machine entered the UK.

Ricoma proved much of the stereo type wrong by producing very good quality, reliable embroidery machines at a low price. In fact, the Ricoma multihead embroidery machines are by far the cheapest industrial embroidery machines in this comparison.

But, even though the marketing/advertising for the Ricoma brand is some of the best in the industry, this brands’ adoption is still impacted by the Tajima machines first-to market advantage.

Does Tajima Make the best QUALITY Embroidery Machine?

Japanese embroidery machines have a good reputation for quality across the board. And Tajima multihead embroidery machines, especially the early ones, certainly live up to that reputation.

But over the years Tajima has actually started to manufacture more and more of their embroidery machines outside of Japan. So there’s no more inherent advantage (perception) due to where it’s made – and the change means that the accumulated reputation of Tajima may no longer be deserved.

Having shone a light on all that, quality is not the reason to avoid a Tajima multi-head embroidery machine. But it IS a good reason to consider SWF and Ricoma alongside.

SWF Quality

When SWF Korea first started developing industrial embroidery machines, they were specifically targeting the Tajima line from a competitive standpoint.

What that meant for their engineering team is that they needed to match the quality of the then-Japanese models AND add their own creativity to innovate where Tajima did not.

They succeeded! Today’s SWF machines are STILL made in South Korea, and like Samsung electronics and many other tech brands they’ve heavily reinvested in engineering and tech advancements over the years.

Dual Function embroidery machines are one of the most productive and innovative ideas in industrial embroidery machines. Read more about more flexibility and increased productivity of the dual function multi-head embroidery machines here.

All this adds up, YES Group offer the best warranty of any industrial embroidery machines on the SWF products – a 5 Year standard warranty and a SEVEN YEAR stitch quality guarantee!

Even though SWF doesn’t have the historical volume of users that Tajima does, they DO have a devoted customer base – and many converts from Tajima users!

Ricoma Multihead Embroidery Machine Quality

Chinese made embroidery machines in general do not have the best reputation for quality here in the UK.

Some of that has been earned by manufacturers coming too early to market, not providing the documentation that UK buyers expect, or simply not providing technical support at all. And of course, sometimes a buyer with a small budget isn’t always prepared for the relative complexities of an industrial machine.

But none of that really applies to Ricoma multihead embroidery machines!

Ricoma has a US headquarters where the ownership, sales and technical team operates from. That gives them a completely different approach to the market. In fact, you can think of them in their own category – a US company with good quality manufacturing facilities in China that they own and operate themselves, just like Apple, a market leading world brand!

All this is why YES Group decided to help bring Ricoma to the UK after pioneering SWF decades earlier. Learn more about Ricoma machines here.

Tajima Multihead Embroidery Machine Price

Price is ALWAYS going to be a consideration.

And the Tajima embroidery machines are among the most expensive in the world. The best thing you can do to really determine if it’s worth the additional £10,000, £16,000 and even £30,000 is to see what other manufacturers, like SWF and Ricoma, have to offer!

The Good News about Tajima Embroidery Machines

… is that you have feature rich, high quality alternatives.. and will save you thousands of pounds!

And that each one of the companies on that comparison chart makes good equipment. For which you’ll find raving fans and long term successful users.

That means that you can focus on the features you need and the company you want in your corner supporting you.

Contact YES Group by calling or completing the form on this page today to get help choosing the right machine for you shop and learn why people say YES to us every day.

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