Put Your Printer To Use

Though many in-plants have purchased wide-format printers, many aren't using them to their full potential. Find out how some in-plants use new media to tackle new types of work.

By Dan Halkyard

In-plants that have purchased wide-format ink-jet printers to create signage and other graphics have learned an important lesson: having this equipment in-house saves money, affords greater control over final output and enhances the in-plant's overall value to the organization.

The economics alone of owning a wide-format ink-jet printer present a compelling argument—a professional wide-format printer can be purchased for approximately $15,000, about the same amount as outsourcing the production of 100 3x5-foot posters (figuring an average cost of $10 per square foot).

But while wide-format ink-jet printer placements are on the increase at in-plants, they are not being utilized to their full potential. A recent survey of in-plants in the point-of-purchase industry revealed that, in a typical 60-hour work week, 36 percent of wide-format printers are only running one to 10 hours. Another 35 percent are only running 11 to 30 hours.

One of the reasons is a lack of awareness among in-plant managers of the capabilities of their printers, given the right type of media. By making a minimal investment in some of the varieties of ink-jet media available, they can increase the range of what they produce—from outdoor banners to floor graphics to backlit signs—even wall coverings.

Case In Point

One company that has learned to tap the potential of its wide-format ink-jet printers is Huish Detergents, a Salt Lake City-based distributor of liquid and powder laundry detergents and household cleaners. Huish owns and operates its own in-plant, where it prints its detergent and cleaner product packaging.

It also makes its own package prototypes for the marketing department to use in presentations to international retailers purchasing Huish detergents for private label distribution. The purpose of the package prototyping is to confirm to clients how effectively the retailer's private-label brand image will be presented on the packaging developed by Huish.

To improve its prototype production process, Huish recently purchased a new printable laminate material to use in place of traditional photobase media. Huish's new method for creating prototypes didn't require it to change its existing setup, which consists of a Hewlett-Packard DesignJet 5000 and HP dye ink set.

What changed is that the company now prints (mirror-image) onto the new material, which is neither a paper nor a film, but consists of multi-purpose coating (ink-jet receiver, heat-activated adhesive and laminate) on a release liner. After imaging, the package graphics are transferred to a box blank using a traditional film laminator. The excess material is trimmed away, and the release liner is peeled off. The imaged box blank is folded and the ends of the package are sealed.

"This has provided us with an efficient and cost-effective way to provide our customers with more realistic product prototypes faster, with fewer materials and less waste," says Todd Cripps, senior designer at Huish Detergents. "The quality is so good, many clients think they are seeing the final packaging, not a prototype."

The new material's thin laminate protection layer eliminates ink smudging and fingerprints. Its adhesive layer saves a process step while eliminating the bubbling that occurs when the adhesive is applied to the photobase.

By substituting its traditionally used photobase media with this updated ink-jet transfer media option, Huish cut down on materials and time and increased productivity, more than doubling the efficiency of its production process.

Since its initial experience with the new transfer material, Huish has turned to other innovative ink-jet media to address the short-run, wide-format needs of customers. For example, when the company needed to create in-store ceiling-danglers for a major international retailer to test market a detergent brand, it used a new scrim vinyl banner media.

The company is currently evaluating other ink-jet products for use in developing prototype labels for plastic liquid cleaner containers and floor graphics for customers.

More Ink-jet Innovation

Another in-plant that realized great benefits by investing in an innovative ink-jet media is Hobby Lobby, a chain of 308 arts and crafts stores. Several years ago, Hobby Lobby executives decided to promote the chain's unique Christmas merchandise with a series of banners to be hung in each store. Each 3x6-foot, two-sided banner was designed to support a different line of Hobby Lobby Christmas merchandise.

To supply the holiday signage to all Hobby Lobby stores, 741 double-sided banners had to be produced. The job of producing them fell to Craig Stahl, manager of Hobby Lobby's print shop, located in the company's Oklahoma City headquarters. According to Stahl, outsourcing the project was not an option.

"There was never any question that we would do this in-house, given the cost of outsourcing. I had been looking to invest in a new printer for the shop, and the amount of money we could save by doing this job ourselves would more than pay for a new printer," he says.

Traditionally, producing two-sided banners meant printing two separate, one-sided banners and attaching them back-to-back. Stahl knew such an approach would be cost- and labor-intensive, given the volume, so he turned to his supplier, Indel-Davis, for recommendations of other banner materials he might use. Indel-Davis quickly recommended a recent ink-jet media innovation, a banner material designed to be printed on both sides.

After laying out the images for each banner, Stahl began producing the banners in mid-August using a Hewlett-Packard 1055 printer. Though he had never worked with two-sided media before, Stahl quickly settled on a technique for printing one side of a banner roll, then re-rolling it and printing the second side.

He completed the banners in time for the Christmas season and shipped them to each store for hanging, where they helped boost Christmas sales.

As Huish Detergents and Hobby Lobby demonstrate, utilizing the variety of wide-format ink-jet media available can allow in-plants to fill the needs of their organizations at lower costs and further the value of the in-plant to the organization.

Dan Halkyard is director of marketing at InteliCoat Technologies.