2022 year-in-review · Figures · Sectors · Lessons learned
2022 in merch: workshop year-in-review
The summary of the year 2022 in workshop operation: pieces produced, sectors served, plazas covered, printing methods most used, regulatory compliance and the operational lessons we carried into the following year. The year 2022 marked workshop consolidation after the pandemic.
2022 figures
During 2022 we delivered eighty-one thousand pieces to seventy-two corporate clients. Revenue grew eighteen per cent against 2021. Average ticket per programme stood at one hundred and eighty-five thousand MXN before VAT, with a range from twelve thousand MXN on exploratory programmes to two million eight hundred thousand MXN on multi-site programmes with quarterly calendars. The percentage of orders delivered on time landed at ninety-three per cent; late deliveries concentrated on events with restrictive venue logistics.
The percentage of non-conformities reported by customers was one point five per cent of total pieces delivered. Each non-conformance was documented with 8D format or equivalent and closed with verified corrective action. Non-conformance traceability is kept for at least three years for audit purposes. The operation grew year-on-year with the addition of three enterprise clients on annual programmes.
Sectors served in 2022
The five sectors with the highest revenue during 2022 were IMMEX manufacturing with twenty-two per cent of total, banking and financial services with twenty-one per cent, mass consumer with fifteen per cent, hospitality and tourism with twelve per cent, and government and public sector agencies with ten per cent. The remaining twenty per cent was distributed among fintech, higher education, technology companies, industry associations and special projects.
The sector with the strongest growth against 2021 was banking and financial services at forty-three per cent, driven by internal communications programmes on anniversary motifs and the return to in-person operations. The sector with the strongest stability was government with recurring tenders and fixed calendars. CFDI 4.0 invoicing was impeccable — no SAT or customer internal audit observations during the year.
Plazas covered in 2022
Operation concentrated in six plazas: CDMX with thirty per cent of deliveries, Monterrey with eighteen per cent, Guadalajara with fourteen per cent, Querétaro with nine per cent, Mérida with seven per cent and Puebla with five per cent. The remaining seventeen per cent corresponded to point deliveries in Tijuana, León, Cancún, Veracruz, Cuernavaca, San Luis Potosí and Chihuahua.
Direct operational coverage in CDMX, Monterrey, Guadalajara, Querétaro and Mérida was maintained with local staff and delivery fleet. Deliveries to secondary plazas ran with national logistics operators with agreed SLA. Average delivery stood at six business days with a variance of two to ten days per plaza and product type.
Printing methods in 2022
Distribution by printing method: screen printing fifty-one per cent of total customised pieces, embroidery twenty-eight per cent, sublimation nine per cent, digital transfer four per cent, laser engraving six per cent, and DTF two per cent. Screen printing dominated by unit cost on large runs; embroidery by presentation on polos and jackets; sublimation by sports and recognition pieces; laser engraving by premium and high-value pieces.
The strongest growth against 2021 was DTF at four hundred per cent, starting from a very low base but with growing adoption on programmes with photography personalisation. The second strongest was laser engraving at twenty-five per cent, driven by premium piece demand from financial and consumer sectors.
Regulatory compliance in 2022
One hundred per cent of textiles delivered complied with NOM-004-SCFI-2006 on labelling. One hundred per cent of electrical items complied with NOM-024-SCFI-2013 on commercial information, and those connected to mains additionally complied with NOM-003-SCFI-2014 on safety. One hundred per cent of beverage kits complied with NOM-141-SSA1-SCFI-2012 with verification of the authorised producer documentation.
Invoicing was issued one hundred per cent under CFDI 4.0 with payment complement where applicable. We had no customer internal audit observations or SAT observations during 2022. The Carta Porte was issued on the percentage of shipments with logistics operators that required the receipt. Lot-level traceability was kept for three years for audit purposes.
Events served in 2022
During 2022 we served twenty-two in-person events at venues, including international fairs, industry congresses, product launches, corporate anniversaries and recruitment fairs. Each event had a local lead coordinating with the venue dock window, the on-site consignee and the signed delivery receipt.
Events with multi-audience kits — staff, press, VIP and speaking — had a single programme lead coordinating audience separation and delivery with correct name and company. The distribution error rate at events landed at zero point four per cent. Invoicing broke down per event and product line.
Six lessons for 2023
One: short runs with full-colour personalisation migrate from traditional screen printing to DTF and sublimation — we added DTF capacity the following year. Two: lot-level traceability becomes a requirement from the brief, not only at delivery — we strengthened the record from raw material intake. Three: the IMMEX regime requires the right pedimento from the start — we strengthened the integration with the customer's foreign trade area.
Four: CFDI 4.0 invoicing with payment complement becomes standard across all clients — we maintain continuous SAT updates. Five: audience-based bundling with differentiated composition gains ground over the single kit — we added pre-built bundling templates. Six: delivery with plant staff and scheduled appointment beats conventional shipping — we started evaluating the expansion of in-house delivery staff.
Talk to us about 2026
If your corporate is planning the 2026 merch programme and wants to ground it in what was learned during 2022 and the years since, let's talk. We deliver a forty-five-minute discovery session with no commitment.
The 2022 summary is a retrospective observation of the workshop. Operating figures are representative of the year and are delivered to the customer in their programme log. Corp-Merch.MX is a Mexican workshop for corporate merch; we operate independently.