A Wild Wide-format Ride
there’s a lot of stuff that’s totally redone on an annual basis,” he points out. “It hasn’t been a real issue with prints failing before their time.”
While the VersaCamm is the only printer that the wide-format shop uses, it also implements a GBC cold laminator, which helps increase the durability of the signage. Kniceley explains that lamination provides the finished product an extra protective element that guards it from issues stemming from physical contact.
“It’s not necessarily for durability as far as light or moisture, but just handling,” he says. “It’s a nice abrasion guard to have. And with the extra layer it’s easier to apply.”
Staying Ahead
While the in-plant does need to react quickly when signs within the park need to be repaired or replaced on the fly, Kniceley explains that the workflow schedule at the amusement park has the in-plant producing items well in advance.
For example, when explaining his work to those outside of the park, they are often surprised by how busy the shop becomes during the winter when the park is closed. He explains that during that time, items can come into the print shop to be measured and tested.
“People still ask me, ‘Oh, you work during the winter?,’ ” Kniceley relates. “But it’s actually our busiest time. Once the park is open...that is when things are just a little bit easier.”
But that little bit of down time is brief. During the fall, Cedar Point becomes a haven for Halloween activities, which require plenty of wide-format printing for sets, backdrops and signs.
“We have a major HalloWeekend event in the fall,” Kniceley explains. “That keeps our summers really busy now because as soon as our park opens for the season in May, we start working on what we’re going to put in for HalloWeekend, which begins in September.”
Kniceley explains that once the park closes during the fall season, an assessment can be made as to what signs, graphics or items need to be repaired or replaced. New jobs will be sent in from the various departments, such as the foods division or live entertainment division.
In many cases, Kniceley says a full-on replacement can be avoided with a little maintenance work. He says that these repairs are typically done on expensive jobs or ones with a large or challenging structure and substrate.
“Sometimes if it’s on a really simple substrate, we will just replace it,” he says. “If it’s something that’s part of a custom-shaped background, we’ll work on repairing what’s needed for the structure of it. Then usually we’ll peel off the old print and reprint when it’s inside the sign shop.”
Custom Cuts
Because many of the items printed for Cedar Point have intricate shapes and are not the typically rectangular items most print shops produce, Kniceley says the shop makes good use of the VersaCamm’s contour cutting feature. With that feature, the shape of the sign can be designed using Adobe Illustrator and produced automatically on the printer. Kniceley explains that this ability to add some creative freedom to the sign design was an important factor in bringing the VersaCamm on board.
“That was a really big selling point for us—the fact that not everything you do has to be a rectangle,” he says. “We can do shapes like the game signs. We can print that on the Roland, then it contour cuts it to match that shape exactly and then we just mount it on there.”
For smaller items, the in-plant also uses a 30˝ Gerber S-750 plotter. Kniceley explains that this piece of equipment is well suited for cutting one-color items, such as adhesive vinyl letters or numbers that can be adhered to vehicles or roller coaster cars.
Having the equipment and skill set in-house to produce the array of wide-format printing necessary for an amusement park has been beneficial to Cedar Point, Kniceley says. Printing within the park’s grounds not only ensures it’s getting done faster, but getting done right, he says.
“It’s helpful we have the ability to do it in a quick turnaround in an effective way,” he explains.
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Cory Francer is an analyst at NAPCO Research. He formerly served as editor-in-chief of Packaging Impressions.