Vintage lapel pin styles sell well, but small - batch production strains manufacturers' margins. The solution is strategic automation. For a 100 - unit order, manual production has labor costs of $120 and material waste of $28, while semi - auto production has labor costs of $45, material waste of $9, and machine time cost of $60. Quick - change color cartridges can eliminate 80% of downtime between batches for travel pin collections. Enamel pin badge vendors should invest in semi - automated systems to counter rising labor costs and meet vintage demand.