The final step to producing large format graphics occurs in the finishing department. This is where bottlenecks occur and can wreak havoc with meeting deadlines. Trimming, mounting, laminating, framing and sewing too, puts the finishing touches on your ready-to-display graphic. But it is at this final stage where mistakes can totally disrupt the workflow of your completed job. Starting all over again is a disappointment to both the producer and receiver of these services. “To err is human, to forgive is divine,” said Alexander Pope. Let’s face it, most agency and exhibit deadlines don’t have enough wiggle room in their scheduling to forgive!

Eliminating the human errors is beneficial in two ways: no opportunity for trimming errors, and providing an even more efficient and expeditious trimming of multiple ‘nested’ graphics when printed on a single large panel. Manually trimming digital prints, whether on flexible or rigid substrates, simply stated, is labor intensive. Skilled and meticulous attention to detail and immense patience are required to make the cut accurately, every time!  Slow, cautious labor obviously drives up the expense of labor burden which has to be passed along to you, the consumer. Experience shows that large format graphic print providers using automated trimmers are your best defense as deadline insurance!

As the project manager for your organization, you are constantly trying to manage the timetable for graphics collection until installation is completed before the opening day. It is a no-win situation for you nor theprint service provider when deadlines are missed. You cannot afford to miss your deadline, as it means you could get fired over it.  And your print service provider cannot afford to disappoint you with missed deadlines, as it is likely the last job you’d ever do with them. Missed deadlines and inefficiency can mean loss of employment and loss of profits, as well as a good working relationship.
So how do you insure your quality and deadline needs will be met?  As an image collector of large format graphics, displays, signs and exhibits seek out providers who not only possess a great toolkit at their front end, but at their  back end as well. This very concept was written about by Cassandra Ballentine in this January’s issue of Digital Output magazine.  The message is,””automation is king” and that all print service providers of large format graphics should be investing in the  automation of the finishing process! This whole process approach will get you what you need need! Maintaining superior quality in a time efficient manner is what  my company, does, and so we purchased one back in November. Specifically, you will see the Zund’s G3 in our graphics production toolkit!

This machine possesses a solid state-of-the-art printing efficiency and is so dependable that most don’t bother to purchase a service contract for breakdowns. It is an extremely reliable machine! Speed and quality equipment matches the speed and quality equipment of the front end of the print production processes! Tight production schedules are no longer a threat to us and I promise, they won’t be for you either!  In you search for a great large format graphics provider, always look for this model of having great printing equipment at the front and back ends!! This changes everything, its analogous to remaining on cruise on a four-lane highway, rather than suddenly being squeezed down into a single lane at the end of the process! Seek out a large format graphics provider who has optimized his or her workflow with tools in their toolkit to keep up!

Important to know is that automated digital cutters can allow for “advanced nesting” of your graphics, such that the single supportive substrate is efficiently ganged all on one sheet whenever possible. This not only minimizes materials waste for the provider, it also means your job gets done even faster when multiples can be trimmed out almost simultaneously. An entire set of your required graphics can be cut out in just a matter of minutes, instead of several hours or days. This is especially awesome when contour cuts are required for your job! Different types of cuts can now be accomplished in what seems like no time at all.  Automated trimmers are the computer driven routers (CNC) which are capable of  multiple trimming tasks. Most automated trimmers have a vision system which can out to survey the landscape of  cut marks among your graphics, and then orient itself to the required cuts. It takes that programming and goes out for the final cutting in a matter of minutes. This is a significant improvement in turnaround scheduling for you, 100% accuracy, and reduced material waste which all can lead to time and possible cost savings for you!

So if you need to keep your workflow optimized so that the production of your graphics will assuredly meet your deadline, then  you should locate a provider of large format graphics who keeps an automated trimmer in the toolkit!

Efficient digitally printing + efficient finishing services = an optimized workflow which benefits you.

Call 1(800)829-4562 or contact us @ www.photoworksgroup.com or for efficiency, click below.