Issue link: https://nbm.uberflip.com/i/1451376
G R A P H I C S - P R O. C O M 2 0 2 2 J U L Y G R A P H I C S P R O 2 9 unavailable material. Be sure you review options with your cus- tomer and bring them in on the decision. Material shortages affect every industry, so explaining options to a customer assures them that you're working to find materials that will still accom- modate them. STOCK We've printed and installed 10 full wraps and eight spot graphic/partial wraps in the last three-week period. is is a light workload for some shops with bigger crews; for our four- man shop, this is a pretty busy schedule. We print, laminate, contour cut, finish, and install constantly. We simply can't run out of media, so it's an ongoing process of keeping on top of sup- plies and options and bringing in what we can. We've had an easier time lately keeping stock of our IJ180 wrap media, and the last time we were able to get a hold of Arlon's 3310 laminate rolls, we went ahead and brought in a pallet. Carrying a larger inventory means more outlay of cash at a time, but it ensures we don't run out of materials in the middle of a project. DOCUMENT Sometimes it sounds like we're talking in a foreign language around the shop. "Is this IJ180 or IJ40 on the printer?" "Which lam is 3310 again?" "What's 8509?" "ese are vertical door graphics; can we use 8518 to conserve the 8548?" We've all gotten pretty good at memorizing material numbers, but it's still a good idea to document and make notes to help keep it clear. e last thing you want to do is laminate a big roll of premium wrap media with a calendared overlaminate because you confused the rolls. Our cutter is in a central location between the printers and the laminator. We stuck a piece of tape to the cutter with all the dif- ferent material types on it and their identifying numbers. When a printed roll of media comes off the printer, we write the corre- sponding laminate number in the corner of the backing paper, so it's easy to group rolls together. Since the backing paper of both IJ180 and IJ40 look the same, you would have to see the inside of the tube to check the manufacturer's label. When the roll is loaded on the printer, you can't see this label, so we use a couple of engraved magnets to identify which roll is loaded on the machine. Another critical step is to document in the customer's file the vinyl and laminate combination used on their project. It's impor- tant to be able to check a customer's paperwork on reorders to see what material was used. SPECIALTY We have a couple of specialty films that have rotated into our arsenal over the years. One of the films is 3 M IJ180mC-120, a printable silver metallic. It's a wrap film that gives you the option of a metallic wrap in unlimited colors. Having to expand into new manufacturers and media types can get a bit confusing. Simple labeling helps us decipher which roll is which to avoid mix-ups.