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How Wild Blue Technologies transformed its initial imaging business into a successful design-print-build custom environmental graphics and fabrication company.

Wild Blue Technologies began as many large-format imaging business do, with a printer, a laminator, and a small bit of space in which to work. In Wild Blue's case, the space originally sat atop an English pub in Green Bay.

While the drinks flowed beneath, Wild Blue soon began pushing the envelope of its capabilities and the technology available over and above the norm. Founder and president Steve McLean says the company began to change almost immediately after its founding.

McLean's principal philosophy of embracing experimentation while gauging the changing needs of the marketplace would lead to a unique business model that re-defines the boundaries of wide-format printing and its interaction with other environmental elements.

Developing Environments

Today, Wild Blue Technologies is at the forefront of companies that are using their imaging skills to theme and transform environments for their clients. While wide-format printing is an integral part of what Wild Blue can do for its clients, it is a role player on the bigger stage of custom environments.

In addition to its printing equipment, which includes two laminators, two Roland FJ-540s, one Roland FJ-600, a Roland SOLJET, and a DuPont Cromaprint 22UV Digital Printing System, Wild Blue Technologies has a full fabrication shop, complete with a 5x10 router and a multitude of saws and other carpentry tools.

"Everyone who works in finishing has a degree in or experience in model building. They are very comfortable welding and molding various materials for custom structures," says McLean. "We use acrylics, foams, metal, MDF, wood, PVCs, urethane, veneers… Basically, anything and everything."

Wild Blue Technologies keeps a rather large library of dimensional surfaces and patterns for reference to better guide each custom project. And, because almost every project is custom and never duplicated, the variables in both dimensional and inkjet imaging materials are almost infinite. But those variables are almost invisible to the client.

"We don't talk too much about how things are going to be imaged or fabricated, or even what materials we use. We want to know the application, how long it will be in use, their budget, and the type of presence they want to create," says McLean. "Our estimates are intentionally streamlined and straightforward; they rarely discuss much about materials or methodology. They specify the final product, and we will produce the best final product so they don't need to know the difference between 3mm PVC and 1/4-in. Sign Foam, or solvent and UV-curable inks. They give us a few simple answers to a couple of initial questions and we tailor the perfect product to meet their demand."

Because its business is so custom, and so flexible, Wild Blue Technologies does not position itself as either an imaging company or a fabrication company. McLean explains that Wild Blue is positioned primarily as an answers company.

"You can bring on new equipment and increase imaging capacity, but it ultimately becomes an exercise in problem-solving where you have to be right the first time because you know it won't be repeated," says McLean. "So we hire people who have the ability to think longitudinally through the process. They have to understand three steps ahead what will result from each decision in the process. It's paramount for a job shop like ours to have people who are interested in those challenges."

Those challenges, the nature of the company's business, and the relatively small size of its staff necessitate redundancy and the adoption of a Just in Time infrastructure. For instance, the office is wired so that pre-press operators can logon from home, work on files, send the files to the RIPs, and then watch the images print via Webcam.

"The key thing is that it's on-demand, and as we all know in this industry, we as providers made the promise that things could be done very quickly. After awhile the customers take it to heart, so we've made our own bed in that respect. In response to that, your operation has to evolve to keep up with the expectation of the clients that amazing things can be accomplished amazingly fast," says McLean. "It's pretty interesting that a little 50-in. inkjet printer and a laminator can turn your entire business into something else entirely. Our business opened up into what it is by saying yes a lot and figuring it out how to do it afterwards."

From Wallpaper to Artificial Turf

McLean says that Wild Blue Technologies' jumping-off point toward its current model happened soon after the company's formation in 1999. Though it started with typical flat imaging fare, it began to morph rather quickly as the company found itself imaging for more three-dimensional projects, such as oversized packaging and product mockups for corporate brand customers.

Plus, McLean says that once consumable producers began providing a wallpaper product they could image to and wallpaper installers were accustomed to working with, the writing was on the wall.

"It helped make us very competitive on design and environmental products. Additionally, our strategy was to render the space before it was complete as a virtual mockup on the computer, so clients knew exactly what they were getting before they got it. That was an incredible advantage," says McLean. "Then, as that side of it evolved we became familiar with furniture, carpeting, and architectural elements. There's an amazing amount of environmental product in the marketplace, much of it having to do with the Renaissance of the modern aspects of design, which include simplicity, clean lines, subtle colors, and interesting patterns."

The addition of a flatbed UV-curable printer, the DuPont 22UV, was a natural fit in the company's development. It would allow Wild Blue Technologies to reduce steps and image on materials that couldn't be previously imaged with inkjet technology, such as hash marks on artificial field turf used as a set piece prop on a Green Bay Packers' weekly recap show.

"What it's done for our business is reduce steps, and allow us to print on unique materials so we can develop a custom environment piece prior to installation," says McLean. "The DuPont printer has unsurpassed image quality. What DuPont does with its ink, dot placement, and dithering is superior to anything I've seen."

McLean adds that, in addition to imaging unusual materials, one of its strengths is imaging vinyl. Whether it's PVC, rigid vinyl, vinyl roll stock, or vinyl wallpaper, McLean says "vinyl is king" on the UV-curable platform.

"Because we're aligned with a high-end clientele and product, we have to be much more discerning in our material selection. We do a lot of testing and err on the side of caution," says McLean. "Fortunately, our account specialist at LexJet, Lynn Tobin, understands the variables associated with our business, and the sheer number of options. She understands our need to do second-tier testing, and is appreciative of our feedback, because product evaluation across all applications and technologies in our industry is a daunting task. One of the other things I like most about LexJet is the immediate access to information, either through Lynn or LexJet's website. The website is outstanding and a great resource to use, like when it's 9:30 at night and you're looking for something right away."

Through his consultations with LexJet's Tobin, McLean recently found a perfect product solution for temporary mall barricades that need extra adhesion to discourage the prying fingers of the public, FLEXmark BILBRD BWV RTS White Opaque Vinyl for Rough, Textured Surfaces.

"It's a very good, tamper-proof product. We put it through stress tests right away. We imaged it and put it on the side of the building in early March facing south and left it there. It worked as advertised," says McLean.

Wild Blue Technologies' testing and experimentation is an ongoing, daily process that is especially crucial since each project has its own unique characteristics requiring materials that fit the project rather than forcing the project to fit the materials at hand.

"Most of our projects, probably about 90 percent, require some type of printing component, mostly because it's a cost-effective, forward-managing factor. It's easy to create substantial drama with the printing element. There are projects where the component is very minimal and subtle, and others where it's the focal point and everything is built around it. It's the space available and the answers the client gives us to our questioning beforehand that dictates our methods and materials," says McLean.