ing closely with contacts, and creating
that customer service relationship.”
Th ey pointed out that, especially
at fi rst, there are costs involved with
learning the industry. It’s about more
than just knowing how to apply a bus
wrap, for example. Th e successful
shops in this vertical understand their
specifi c client’s needs, which segments
of the transit market they are looking
to target, and how to get the best response
for each of those segments.
Especially when a shop is involved in
the installation part of the job as well,
logistics becomes a challenge the shop
will need to create effi cient and organized
workfl ows to tackle. “Logistics
are the hardest part of this vertical,”
said Schneider. “When the client asks
you to rebrand 600-plus vehicles in
10 weeks time, and to minimize down
time — or have 20 buses completely
wrapped in 45 days — making sure we
have adequate staffi ng for installation
In February of 2016, Signarama Frisco, TX
received a bid request from Denton County
Transportation Authority (DCTA). They used
a variety of equipment to produce the work,
including the HP Latex 360 printer and HP Scitex
FB750 Industrial Flatbed Printer, Graphtec
8600, and Roland SoljetPro3 XC540MT.
and graphics ready to go are not simple
and straight-forward.”
The Equipment List
Transit graphics are the realm of
wide-format printers, there is no
getting around that. For example,
Spies-Cunningham and Cunningham
said that their location is currently
“We’re very good at billboards - at the end of the day that’s printing big rectangles,” said Andrew
Cousin, CEO, Circle Graphics. “Transit graphics isn’t rocket science, but it is more complicated - there
are tighter specifi cations, the print quality has to be signifi cantly higher.”
running an HP Latex 360 Printer and
HP Scitex FB750 Industrial Flatbed
Printer, Graphtec 8600, and Roland
SoljetPro3 XC540MT press. However,
that was not always the case. “When
we started working with DCTA, we did
not have the fl atbed yet and were still
able to fulfi ll their large mass orders.
Th ey took a lot longer though, and our
profi t margin was not as high as it is
now. We knew a fl atbed purchase was
in our future, so acquiring the account
was important to us. Now that we have
the fl atbed, we can get these large
orders out in no time with very little
cost to us.”
Cousin noted that his shop is also
running a wide range of presses from
the likes of Durst, EFI, HP, Fujifi lm, and
Screen. Nearly all of them, he said, are
solvent or UV-cured, with the exception
of their HP equipment, which are
latex. “For the whole business, we have
88 grand-format printers — we are the
largest grand-format printer in North
America,” he said. “For transit work,
we are using around 20 of those — we
use the higher-end, higher-resolution
presses for that work.”
And resolution is important. Some
wide-format work, such as billboards,
are made to be seen from a distance, so
the resolution can be lower. However,
a bus shelter or subway wrap will be
seen from a foot or two away, meaning
the graphics have to look perfect from
any distance.
The Payoff
So why should a wide-format printer
look into adding the transit vertical to
their product mix? Th ere are many reasons,
but, as Schneider pointed out, one
big one is the ability to get in front of a
wider range of potential customers. “We
are now able to go aft er more, larger fl eet
jobs aft er demonstrating our profi ciency
in completing these projects,” he noted.
Spies-Cunningham and Cunningham
agreed, noting, “We are also gaining
references from DCTA, which has given
us credibility with other government
entities as a true one-stop provider for
anything and everything visual.” Th ey
did note that one way they have made
themselves a go-to partner is by pricing
accordingly. “We consistently charge
them about 50% less than the average
standard order customer,” they said.
“With quantity discounts considered
even on standard orders, and importance
of considering cash fl ow, we feel it
has been more than benefi cial. Vertical
customers have long-term needs, which
can also help you off er them a wide
portfolio of products and services.”
Cousin said that for his shop, the
biggest benefi t has been the ability to
capture more of the work his clients are
purchasing, allowing the shop to grow.
“We defi nitely had to step outside the
comfort zone and develop new expertise
with things we were less familiar
with,” he said, “but the payoff has been
worth it.”
18 Wide-Format & Signage August 2017 PrintingNewscom