Issue link: https://nbm.uberflip.com/i/1451382
2 0 G R A P H I C S P R O • S E P T E M B E R 2 0 2 2 G R A P H I C S - P R O. C O M In 2015, Rapid upgraded to a Durst P10-250 HS flatbed printer. e shop also has five Kongsberg cutting tables. Every time it needs to add a cutter, it buys the latest model. It has XL, XP, C-series cutting tables, and a ¾ automated C64 that is much less labor-intensive. When Rapid got into e-commerce packaging, it started look- ing for solutions to produce a lot of smaller quantity orders faster. Rather than printing 10,000 of the same box, it needed a way to print orders of 30 or 50 unique boxes at a time. "We needed a way to run through those quickly and be able to switch on a dime, multiple pieces per sheet," Jack says. at was what the Kongsberg C64 allowed it to do. In January 2021, Rapid paired the Kongsberg automated worktable with a Durst P5 350, which has increased the company's footprint. In 19 years, the company has gone from four employees to 62. Once the pandemic started to ease off a bit, Rapid's e-commerce business continued to grow, and its prototyping and packaging business began to take off again. Walmart started ordering new displays and new features. at, paired with Rapid's e-commerce growth, forced it to expand again much earlier than expected. Kyle Jack began looking at what percentage of his business was being done on a somewhat smaller format rather than large sheets and decided to purchase a Highcon Euclid 5C digital laser cutter. In January 2021, Rapid paired the Kongsberg automated worktable with a Durst P5 350, which has increased the company's footprint. There are a lot less of the exotic-type materials being manufactured right now. We are seeing challenges with some of that. We used to be able to offer more customized things that right now we can't do because we can't get the material for it.