Billboard Insider’s Dave Westburg moderated a panel titled All You Need to Know About Vinyl at last week’s IBO show. The panel included Robert Arnold of Associated Posters, Alex Job of OAI Visual Technologies and Cody Golliher of Circle Graphics. Yesterday the panelists discussed vinyl turnaround and vinyl life. Today they discuss technology, sustainability and what to do with old vinyl.
How are you using technology to improve your business?
Robert Arnold: Automation is key and something we spend a lot of time researching. Especially with poster production. The margins are very slim on poster production and without automation, we cannot offer a competitive product. We have invested a lot of time and money automating our finishing processes to get the best product with minimal overhead and fastest posible production times. Automation is also key on the front end with order processing and metrics. We have invested a lot of time in a fully automated and transparent order tracking system where clients can view their order from start to finish with time stamps at each step. We can even build customer markets to make the ordering process as simple one step with using just a unit number. A focus on automation helps eliminate the human factor or what I call “fat finger mistakes”.
Alex Job: We’ve got a Client Hub that is visible allowing the operator to monitor the order from initiation of the order to proof sent to operator to approval of the proof . Production scheduled, complete. Shipped methodology and tracking. Manifest if multiple boards.(Clienthub.oaicorp.com).
Cody Golliher: Circle was built around automation and advancing with new technology. Automation of poster production and finishing allows us to print 2000 posters/day. We have a Flex Capacitor welds both bulletin pockets on width side in less than a minute. Digital Work Flow (DWF) automates our prepress department and turns proofs around instantaneously when files are uploaded in accepted format.Our online ordering system (MyCircle) is continuously being updated and improved based on customer feedback. We now allow our customers to make their own order edits and we provide 24/7 visibility and live status updates throughout the order process
Should sustainability matter to out of home companies and what are you doing to promote sustainability?
Robert Arnold: When our customers care, we care. Recycling can be a hassle but I feel it is worth doing. However, at the end of the day, we produce what our clients order. Sustainability comes with sacrifices. Installers can be very picky about what they hang and PE does not hang the same as PVC. That being said, some installers fight change and other embrace it. For those that embrace change, we have options available. If they don’t care then we cannot make them.
Cody Golliher: Circle is heavily invested in sustainability and strongly believes in making a difference with our environment. We offer EcoPosters (Posters), EcoFlexx (Bulletins) and EcoBacklit (Shelters). You also need to be aware that brands and agencies are paying attention to sustainability and are asking questions about sustainability.
Any tips on what to do with my old vinyl?
Robert Arnold: There are some great companies like Rareform that have programs to reuse billboards to make bags and there are numerous charitable institutions that ship used billboards to countries and communities for temporary roofs. With some effort, there are opportunities but sometimes the amount of effort is not worth the savings. We produce a lot of scrap and that is not a sought after commodity for reuse programs but would be great for operators to take advantage of.
Alex Job: We have companies that will come and pick up old billboards for disaster relief and art programs. We have also had companies that have upcycled the product from time to time.
Cody Golliher: Rareform and local recyclers. Also farmers will take old vinyl. Please ask them to use the vinyl face down to protect trademarks.
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