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In the giant inflatable marketplace, Above and Beyond clearly rules the blue skies. Since this Irvine, CA-based shop first opened for business back in 1991, it has seen its business rise from a small two-man operation into a worldwide supplier of giant advertising messages in the form of balloons, blimps, and banners.
Today, the firm's inflatables proudly soar over retailers, dealerships, trade shows, sporting events, swap meets, and festivals, adding that visual punch that only a giant, floating 3D sign can provide. "If you can imagine it, we can create it," said Mike Chaklos, who co-owns the company with his brother Paul. "We can take almost any object and create a giant 3D inflatable from it."
To print these bigger-than-life ads, Above and Beyond utilizes the Roland AJ-1000, which they added to their printer mix last year. With a top production speed of 968 sqft/hr, advanced Eco-Extreme solvent inks, unattended printing capabilities, and numerous high performance features, the AJ-1000 delivers the fast, precision images Above and Beyond relies on.
"We have a very simple design philosophy," Paul Chaklos said. "The more customized the better. And the AJ-1000 gives us just what we need to make to make a customer's vision come to fruition."
Paul said they already had the Roland 740 in house for a number of years but they were looking to upgrade. "We wanted a bigger and faster machine. The AJ-1000 fit our needs perfectly. It had the high speed printing capability, along with the wider printing size we were looking for, all at an economical price point. It also didn't hurt that Roland is located right down the street from us."
Paul was impressed with the unit's automated media feed and take-up system for precision high-volume printing, even when unattended. The pre-assembled unit includes front-mounted feed and take-up rollers and a dual idler roller system that together ensure correct media feeding. "The biggest reason why we purchased this unit was the tension roller system. It helps keeps the material you are printing on straight. With this machine, we are able to load a roll of material and have it print overnight."
Paul said they print directly onto the balloon material. "The material is softer, lighter weight…its about sev to 10 ounces. With this material, tracking is a key so that's why the tension roller system really comes in handy with the tracking for long print runs. We are a very busy shop with tight deadlines. So the unattended printing capabilities are critical for us. We can confidently leave the AJ-1000 running overnight and we get great finished output the next morning."
author: BY BILL SCHIFFNER