PUBLICATION CENTER

Wellington Signs utilizes both traditional and progressive methods of sign production to build and maintain a dynamic business. Find out how the company's digital printing department operates as a well-oiled cog in the company's machinery.

For more than 12 years Wellington Signs, based in San Pedro, Calif., has grown with the ever-changing printing technology while retaining the profit opportunities found in more traditional types of signage.

"We're completely licensed and skilled for any type of signage. The company's owners have been making signs all their lives, and just about every type of signage can be manufactured here, except for very specialized work that requires million-dollar machinery," says Erik Sochin, Wellington Signs' creative director.

Sochin has been with Wellington Signs for about four years, and runs the company's digital printing department. Sochin estimates that around 85 percent of the signs produced by Wellington have a digital printing component, with about 35 percent of the total produced using only digital printing, such as banners, posters, vehicle wraps, fleet graphics, and trade show displays.

Wellington Signs has three main departments – digital printing, dimensional/electric, and vinyl cutting – with directors and designers who specialize in each and coordinate work between the departments since so much of Wellington's work is multi-media, from vinyl and printing materials to high-density urethane and aluminum.

In addition to the diverse range of applications Wellington Signs provides, the company has identified Property/HOA (home owner's associations) as a separate category that requires additional attention. The coordination of these projects between management companies, landscapers, developers, and local government is more intense and detailed than a typical sign project.

Keeping it Clean

In order to handle the growing list of customers and the resulting increase in production volume and quality requirements, Wellington Sign has moved most of its printing from aqueous-based technology to solvent (two Mimaki JV-3s).

The company still runs the Gerber EDGE it's had for years because, as Sochin explains, it's perfect for smaller decals and can hit certain spot colors inkjet can't.

Though Wellington Signs has employed solvent printers, which theoretically decrease the amount of lamination needed, Sochin insists that Wellington's Seal laminator is its most important piece of digital-printing equipment.

"It's all about finishing. It has to look good when it's finished, and laminating the prints allows us to provide texture, different gloss levels, and that extra barrier of protection. We try to sell everyone on lamination, because unless a print is protected behind glass in a case, you just don't know what's going to happen to it," explains Sochin. "Granted, it's solvent, and there will be a certain level of protection, but you can't trust everyone to treat a graphic the way you would treat it, so you need to have that peace of mind. Laminating is like insurance; it's that simple."

Ironically, it was this finishing aspect that helped drive Wellington's decision to go solvent. Sochin insists on constant cleaning throughout the process to ensure a solid bond between print and laminate.

"You have to constantly wipe down the print as you're laminating, whether it's with a cloth or your hand. That's hard to do with aqueous, because everything likes to stick to it," says Sochin. "Any little speck – a shaving of aluminum, dirt, or dust – will compromise your graphic. You also have to be conscious about where you leave the rolls of material, particularly in a shop like ours with multiple departments where they're doing a lot of cutting with dust and shavings. You need to make sure the edges of the rolls are extremely clean, so we keep them in a climate controlled hallway, away from the production areas."

Most important, says Sochin, is to use quality materials, particularly when it comes to laminate. "You cannot scrimp on that," he says.

"I'm very excited about LexJet films with PreLume for trade show applications. It saved the day recently when I was able to recover the account of one of our bigger clients with LexJet materials. The number one problem I saw was delaminating, and LexJet got it right with that solvent acrylic adhesive. You simply can't do rollable graphics without it. You're in jeopardy if you use anything else," says Sochin.

Of equal importance, says Sochin, is detailed printer maintenance. When there's a mechanical problem with the printer, it can usually be traced back to some lapse in maintenance.

"You have to keep the printers clean, because 90 percent of your problems come from having a dirty printer. It's really just like a car. You need to do the suggested cleaning and maintenance routine. If you stay on top of it, problems don't have a chance to snowball into bigger problems. You can usually trace the big problems, such as a head replacement, all the way back to cleaning. The sequence of events that create large catastrophes can be avoided by paying close attention at the beginning," says Sochin.

Correct Color

These cleaning routines are practically invisible to the customer, unless, of course, the laminate fails. Still, all they know is that it failed, and could care less whether or not it had to do with dust particles that made it between the print and the laminate.

However, what they do notice and care about is color. If the color's not right or doesn't meet their expectations, they may demand a re-print. Unlike mechanical errors in the production process, proper customer education beforehand can mitigate any issues once the project is completed and installed.

"The most important thing about color is educating your clients. It's a natural part of the dialogue. I have sign-off sheets, especially if it's a client who doesn't understand graphics. The sheet very specifically outlines that wide-format printers are not Pantone devices; colors will be close, but not exact. I make a big stink about it so that they understand from the beginning. If you set up the reality going in, then you don't have these awkward expectations," explains Sochin.

As part of this conversation, Sochin uses the Pantone Color Bridge book, which, as he puts it, explains the difference between fantasy and reality. The swatch book demonstrates how the Pantone colors change between the different color processes – RGB, CMYK, and HTML.

"When I show them the book, they get it. Luckily for me, I can do better than what the Pantone book says in most cases, but when it comes to those neon-like colors you need to bring people down to earth," says Sochin. "So, the sign-off sheet and the Color Bridge book are my top two tools for setting customer expectations."

Sochin says he's found that customers are increasingly educated and experienced with color, and are becoming more familiar with the nuances between different media. Moreover, as far as discerning industry trends, whether it's color or printing technologies, Sochin says industry research is important, but will only take you so far.

"You find out a lot through your clients, so I make sure to listen closely to what our clients are asking for, weed out the information, and sort it properly," says Sochin.

Toward that end, Sochin says the digital printing department's next step will most likely be toward UV-curable printing. "It's where the industry is going to go, but now it's a matter of figuring out when to make that move since the majority of the work I do is on standard materials that don't require the capabilities of UV-curable."