A Tasteful Makeover

How do you turn a rusty, 20-year-old delivery truck into the talk of the town? If you’re an in-plant with wide-format printing equipment, you wrap it in colorful promotional images and send it back onto the streets.

That’s what the staff at The Hershey Company’s in-plant did to an old Isuzu box truck. They used their 54˝ Roland Soljet Pro III XJ solvent ink-jet printer to transform the truck from an embarrassment into a gem.

“Usually we hid this truck away, because it was pretty old and not nice looking,” says Bob Wamsher, manager of Printing Services at the Hershey, Pa.-based in-plant. “But now it’s got a new life.”

The in-plant staff undertook this box truck makeover project to launch its new vehicle wrapping service. It went so well that the shop is already bidding on jobs for outside companies interested in revamping their own vehicles, Wamsher says.

The in-plant installed a Roland Soljet Pro about six months ago, primarily to print vinyl banners for outdoor use. When Wamsher decided give vehicle wrapping a try, he enlisted the help of Avery Dennison, which supplied the shop with its MPI 1005 Easy Apply RS cast vinyl film, made to conform to curves, rivets and corrugation.

“It took about six hours to get all that printed,” says Wamsher—plus another hour to laminate everything with a Seal laminator.

Avery Dennison employees trained Hershey staff how to apply the material to the truck and worked side-by-side with them during the project. Blow torches were used to soften the material that would cover the truck’s rivets.

“I was surprised how easy it was to apply,” says Wamsher. “The training is really key to this application.”

He completed the truck’s makeover by getting chrome covers for its rusty wheels.

Wamsher feels that any in-plant with a wide-format printer capable of using solvent inks can offer this new service. He gives Avery Dennison high marks for helping his shop get started. He estimates that, with all the jobs the in-plant has run on the Roland Soljet, it paid for itself in just six months. And as for that old truck, ever since getting its new lease on life, it’s been paying the in-plant back every day.

“It’s nice advertising as it makes its rounds through Hershey,” Wamsher says.