Posted on: July 15, 2009
“Wide-Format Imaging,” Green Trends, September 2008
USA Image Technologies opened its doors in Louisville, KY on October 1st, 1994 and at that time its sole focus was on grand-format digital printing — from the ground up. Fourteen years later, that remains its focus today. While other companies have added grand-format printers to their smaller equipment and photo houses and sign shops have added digital printers to “catch up” with the digital wide-format market, USA Image has only concentrated on grand-format printing—and, it’s still the only thing they do.
According to Judd Morgan, sales and marketing with USA Image, specialization has given USA Image a unique opportunity. While many printing firms call themselves grand-format printers when they produce 4×6-foot banner, USA doesn’t hold anything back, producing graphics from a simple 4×6-foot banner all the way up to 80×120 feet.
As the industry has continued to evolve, USA Image is not standing still. They’ve used the increasing awareness of environmental responsibility and sustainable practices to grow their business.
“The greening of our society’s business practices had led to a revitalization for the printing industry, not only for suppliers to develop new eco-friendly products, but for printers like ourselves to offer new, ‘value added’ services to existing clients, and a new avenue to market to green thinking consumers,”
said Morgan.
But why “green” materials and why now? According to Morgan, there are a few reasons printers are switching to ecofriendly materials:
- They are committed to sustaining the environment and its resources
- Client demand has increased or grown to the extent that it cannot be avoided
- Green materials are spec’d in RFP’s
- Printers are looking to expand offerings or charge premium prices for a premium.
Green Trends
“It would be my opinion that one or all of these influences has crossed printing managements’ minds often in the past two years,” said Morgan.
USA Image faced this same decision and turned to UltraFlex for its media choice—specifically its BioFlex FL product. BIOflex FL is a 15 ounce matte finish, strong, indoor/outdoor, front-lit, biodegradable banner/billboard material for UV, solvent or screen-printing. Very similar in all around performance to UltraFlex’s Ultima Supreme, BIOflex has one major difference; in landfill conditions (darkness, high heat, moisture, and lack of oxygen), it attracts microbes that break down the PVC within three to five years. BIOflex contains no toxic materials and is tear, fade, and fungus resistant. Widths range from 54 to 196 inches.
For this specific project, USA Image needed to create several graphics for the Forecastle Music, Arts, and Environmental Activism Festival. The ad message directly reflected the sustainable, renewable practices incorporated into the Finlandia product life cycle—as it was illustrated in a series of smaller banners. The main backdrop was a cross promotion piece for the Forecastle Music Arts, and Environmental Activism Festival along with Finlandia and Southern Comfort, two of the exclusive sponsors of the event. USA Image decided to print all of the graphics on Bioflex FL on one of its VUTEk 5330 printers. Everything was finished in-house utilizing RF welds rather than a non-biodegradable sewn thread.
“So essentially you have two proven, environmentally driven sponsors commissioning a backdrop for a festival on environmental issues, then printing and showcasing it on Bioflex, an environmentally friendly product,” said Morgan. “It’s truly a win, win, win, situation. Previously the ad would have been printed on a non-biodegradable PVC vinyl and would affect the congruence of an overall environmentally friendly message.”
Has this project helped to change other client’s minds about the viability of environmentally-friendly products and options? According to Morgan, definitely. “At this point every printer has the chance to utilize greener practices, whether it be changes to business acumen, sourcing new green materials, or a bit of forward thinking in equipment purchases to reduce their overall ecological footprint. We have seen an absolute increase in demand and excitement for eco-friendly products. As with any new printing substrate you are paying more for the product
initially to compensate for research and development on behalf of the manufacturer, but most consumers interested in the product will not mind an up-charge for a new, exciting material,” he said.