From Startup to Inc. 5000: How Tidal Wave Scales with ROQ Automation

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ex749-qZIyM

I'm Bradley Su. I'm the co-founder and co-owner of Tidal Wave Print and Fulfillment based in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Tidal Wave Print and Fulfillment was started by my business partner Matt and myself uh in 2021 and it came out of a necessity as previous brand owners of finding a really great partner that could provide great decoration and quick fulfillment.

So for us, it was crucial that we had tools, automation, and services that provided that for all of our clients. So over the past four years, we've grown from a small team of three people and 1,200 square f feet to a 70,000t facility with 50 plus employees. So Tidal Wave Print Fulfillment is uniquely positioned in the fact that we can get our clients products to the customer's hand in record time.

From design concepts to decoration to fulfillment happens in a way shorter period since everything's done under one roof. Titlewave being a part of the Inc. 5000 list is huge. I think it's a great testament to the work we do here, the culture we have. It's it's all possible due to the awesome team we've uh created over the past four years. Being 37th in the nation and number one in Chattanooga is really cool to us. Uh and we're excited to see where things go from here.

Automation for Tidal Wave is crucial. A lot of our clients have strict deadlines and we want to make sure that when we show up that our equipment is running every single day. So that's why we have four automatic presses and several dryers from ROQ.

We know when we come in here, they are going to run and they are going to make sure that we get all of our production needs uh possible. Rock's been a huge part of Tidal Wave since the very beginning. My business partner actually found Rock first and then I was introduced to uh Rob Welch who's been an amazing consultant for our growth over the years.

ROQ has been crucial in every step of our production process. It was somebody that we could rely on. It was easy when it came to the installation process. We were well informed on what we needed to do to prep the space for the equipment and the support after has been amazing.

Anytime we have any issues, things are going to happen. I've never felt like I've been alone. So, they've been a huge help in making sure that we can continue to grow over the past four years. Tidal Wave was actually started from a common issue with brands that they experience today, which is how do we produce and decorate garments and get that to our customers hands as quickly as possible. Traditionally, those are done at two different sites. And when Matt and I started Tidal Wave Print and Fulfillment, we wanted to do that all under one roof.

So, for us, having everything done in-house and then being able to take those decorated garments straight to fulfillment is allowing us to provide that speed to market for our clients that they so deserve. We have a handful of ROQ equipment in our space now. We have four automatic presses. That's going to be two NEXT presses and then two ROQ YOU's. Along with two ROQ dryers, a tunnel and a SAHARA. As we're speaking right now, we have a ROQ Fold & Pack being installed. And that is what I'm most excited about right now.

Being able to automate the final step of production is something we've been missing out for years. So having that move into a oneman operation to the fold pack and eventually the label for us is going to be huge for continuing to support our clients growth.

Having that quick speed to market. Yeah, you're so silly if you don't buy ROQ. That's crazy. Like who in the world is not buying a ROQ today?