Issue link: https://nbm.uberflip.com/i/1451382
G R A P H I C S - P R O. C O M S E P T E M B E R 2 0 2 2 • G R A P H I C S P R O 1 9 small prototype basis. At that time, Rapid used only small roll-fed printers. In 2006, the company purchased its first flatbed printer and then didn't upgrade again until 2015, when it installed its first "workhorse flatbed printer from Durst," he says. Everything kept expanding, and orders changed from five to 10 prototypes at a time to orders of 500 to 1,000. "While we were still doing prototyping for one-offs – it was still a key part of our business – we added on the short run and production run volumes we are doing now." e pandemic changed everything. Walmart's business dipped when the country began to shut down because of "supply chain issues and logistics. Nobody was innovating or doing anything new. ey were just trying to get products to stores," says Jack. "We were fortunate we picked up e-commerce business at that time. It took off and added to our expansion pretty heavily." Now, a large part of Rapid's business is making bespoke boxes for home subscription services. TRANSITION AND GROWTH Prior to 2015, Rapid had a very early Durst RHO 205 flatbed printer that was "fairly entry-level," Jack says. "For the time, it was innovative. Significantly better than what we had before that." In 19 years, Rapid has gone from four employees to 62.