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For print providers, there are few more challenging and competitive fields in which to ply their trade than the retail industry. This is a business that depends on a continuous string of sales and promotions for its very lifeblood. And because prices and promotions can change in a New York minute, nimble responsiveness is required of any vendor turning out retail signage and printed point-of-purchase advertising.
The challenges of serving the point-of-purchase and retail signage markets have changed over the years, said Kirk Green, president and CEO of Ferrari Color, with offices in Salt Lake City, San Francisco, and Sacramento. One of the positive changes is that buyers of retail and POP signs have become more sophisticated with time.
While exceptions exist, the days when buyers imposed impossible expectations on providers are largely gone, said Green. "Now there's a wonderful sense that most buyers know what can be done, and what the limitations are," he noted.
What hasn't changed is the competitive nature of retail, which still demands that print vendors step lively and meet rapid turnaround schedules. That's a big reason Ferrari Color runs 24 hours a day, with round-the-clock staff to handle printing, make adjustments, and field calls and emails from customers. There are clients, Green said, who will call the night crew to discuss a project and when it can be completed.
Addressing the fast-changing, fast-moving demands of clients reminds Green of an incident that occurred several years ago. Ferrari Color was producing signage for a casino in one of the Western states, and the casino operators had given the shop plenty of time to generate signs promoting a headline act on one of the casino's stages.
Suddenly, the headliner became incapacitated, and the signs Ferrari Color had produced were instantly worthless. New signs had to be created—and pronto.
"We built our business to be able to handle that kind of situation, and we turned it around in 24 hours," Green said. "When your client has invested a lot in a promotion, then our element of that promotion absolutely has to be in place at the proper time. It's execution and meeting your obligations. That's one of the reasons we have retail clients that have been with us for 15 years."
While its 24-hour capabilities served Ferrari Color well in this and many other instances, round-the-clock demands occasionally take their toll on personal time. "The days of companies saying we're in operation from nine to five, with a one-hour break for lunch at noon, are over. The digital imaging business is played at a high speed, at a high level, at a high volume. It is played by smart and demanding clients, as well as by competitors who are very agile, and very intelligent. So if you want to choose to participate in that game, by its very nature you've chosen how you're going to play."
Technological Change
Like Ferrari Color, the big challenge at New York City's Visual Graphics Systems is meeting very tight production schedules for point-of-purchase signage. "The challenge is time," said director of digital imaging Martin Salcedo.
"We are in New York City, and what people don't have here is time. Everyone is very demanding, and everyone wants the best."
For that reason, Salcedo said, the company is always seeking new and better equipment as it attempts to stay ahead of the technological curve. The Durst Rho 600 flatbed printer is an example of a printer that has helped in that quest.
Before the advent of the Rho 600, Visual Graphics Systems would have had to print a sign on vinyl or paper, then laminate and mount that image on wood, sintron, or other substrates. "The beauty of the Durst is we don't have to print on paper or on vinyls, we can print directly to the substrate media," he said. "By doing that, we are saving money on the paper, on the vinyl, on lamination and mounting. We are also cutting labor costs, because we don't have to have personnel involved in those steps."
The shop also relies on an Océ LightJet, which allows Visual Graphics Systems to provide its POP clients with exceptionally high resolution; a Falcon printer for outdoor signage; and HP printers for signage destined to appear in indoor settings.
Appropriate training for company personnel on different printers is a given. But in addition, serving the retail signage and point-of-purchase needs of clients requires learning a lot about media, Salcedo said. "There are some machines that require specific media," he reported. "So you have to spend time investigating different kinds of media and their benefits.
"That's one reason we go to trade shows, find out what the new materials are and request samples before placing orders. We first request a sample, print, and sometimes it doesn't work because that material was created for different equipment and different solvents. It may take a little time before you find the right media for your equipment and your solvent."
For his part, Green doesn't feel keeping abreast of the swift evolution in printing technologies is in itself the secret of surviving and thriving in this marketplace. "I don't want to overemphasize the technologies," he said. "Anyone with a checkbook can buy the technologies. It's the execution of the technologies on a daily basis. That to me is more critical to the success of our clients than saying we have a specific type of printer."
The choice of equipment was more crucial and much more difficult a decade ago than it is now, he believes. Back in the mid-1990s, purchasing the wrong printer could put a shop out of business within a few months. But in the years since, the equipment manufacturers that have survived have all learned to exceed minimum requirements and provide equipment capable of performing acceptably.
"We try to buy very good equipment, and to stay focused and up on technology," he said, but adds that's not the issue. What is at issue is whether a print provider can use the printers and other equipment they have acquired to meet clients' needs. In that sense, printing is not unlike a NASCAR race, where the winning team's victory isn't dependent on its specific car, but on honing the processes it needs to win, he adds.
Ferrari Color owes its ability to keep up with technological change to one of the company's partners' interest in information technology. "There are three of us involved in managing and owning the business, and one of us has as his core responsibility continuing to look over the horizon," Green remarks. "That has allowed us to make good decisions in technology. He will spend a lot of weeks on the road, at trade shows, corporate events, openings and tours, doing anything he can to help us stay current."
Showpiece Signage
Any print provider serving the retail signage and point-of-purchase needs of clients has work of which they're proud. At Visual Graphics Systems, the staff is most gratified by its work for New York City's Museum of Modern Art, where the abundance of masterpieces calls for signage of correspondingly high quality. For MOMA, the company produces outdoor signage promoting specific exhibits, as well as indoor directional signage pointing museum visitors toward a variety of exhibits
Ask Green about some of his firm's proudest achievements, and he has a ready answer.
"I'm most proud of the project we shipped last night," he said. "We're only as good as the most recent project we produce. And I'm most proud of the fact that yesterday we produced some very good projects, and hopefully we'll do it again today."
author: BY JEFFREY STEELE