From Warning Labels to POP Displays HOW LAGUNA TOOLS + DESIGN DYNAMICS EXPANDED EACH OTHER'S CAPABILITIES IN THE SIGNAGE INDUSTRY Design Dynamics is a wide-format digital printer and signage manufacturer based in Orange County, California. Its core market is industrial warning labels, such as those used to warn against corrosives or shock hazards. They also print directly to rigid substrate, such as PVC and acrylic. This technique is a staple for contoured signage and POP display applications used by retailers. Expanding their capabilities to efficiently cut complex shapes is what led them first to the requirement for a router and then to Laguna Tools. Owner Lorin Young began to think about adding a router to his graphics factory as he finalized the acquisition of a UV flatbed printer for rigid graphics work. Young had grown dissatisfied with the labor expense and potential for failure that accompanied the traditional manufacturing process used to convert printed vinyl to rigid signage. “A flatbed printer is a significant investment,” observed Young, “so I had mixed feelings when I heard others tell me that you’re going to start wanting a router almost as soon as your flatbed printer is delivered.” Knowing he couldn't afford the traditional signage router, he looked outside of his industry to other industries known for using routers to do great work. “The SmartShop | MT was the best investment I could make for us,” Young added. “There are a number of jobs we have undertaken that we simply couldn’t have done without it, either because of time of production or expense.” One such job was an order from a popular restaurant chain for 100 “danglers,” or hanging promotional signs that attach to ceilings and roofs at the chain’s stores. To make the double-sided signs, ¼-inch foamboard was cut into 18-inch diameter circles, and then drilled with a pin hole that allowed fishing line to be strung through them for easy hanging. The signs began as a four-foot by eight-foot printed sheet. The printed sheet had 11 signs nested on it that was then drilled and routed into circles before the fishing line was threaded into the individual signs and packed for shipping. “The MT saved us countless hours on this job,” said Young. “It took as long to thread the line as it did to cut out the signs themselves.” “We are doing four of the five printing methods commonly used in the wide-format digital world,” observed Young. “To make these methods cost effective, I need to accomplish what I call ‘moving the bottleneck.’ To me, it is the most exciting part of owning and operating a small business. I was tired of printing a job faster than I could finish it. When I added the Laguna CNC to my production floor, I found we now finish faster than we can print. Laguna CNC has really sped up our operations.”
- Lorin Young, Design Dynamics
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- Lorin Young, Design Dynamics