Transformative Projects

Companies speak of guiding principles, vision statements and of strategic objectives. Companies proudly track significant achievements on timelines as a memorial to their evolution. I think it is important to have this perspective as Carl Sagan once said “You have to know the past to understand the present.”

Since our founding in 1985 we have important events we keep track of, most are facility expansion benchmarks required to keep pace with a continuous increase in projects moving through our shop floor. One of those transformative projects found its way back to the floor recently.

For some it seemed a bit out of place. Older technology, tattered graphics, comments like “it just looks used”. For others it marked an important point in our trajectory as an organization, a turning point that has led us down a pretty incredible path. It was here on our floor again because the client wanted to update it with the latest technology installed on the new printer recently put into production.

This was the first industrial inkjet printer we designed and built in 2009 to bring the customer into the digital manufacturing revolution.  This engineered solution was built to solve two important problems, first to cut labor cost and secondly to cut product loss….Could we design a first of its kind machine, completely unique in their industry in a way that made financial sense?

This new digital machine had to replace six separate rotary table pad printing cells that required nine full time operators running in three shifts a day, seven days a week. There was a perceived need to eliminate inefficiency of changing out inks and clichés after each 144 print count, every day. Production had flat-lined and the product margins were being squeezed by an increase in overtime pay. The project proved difficult but those challenges the team encountered changed our company and the functional teams approach and ultimately our companies’ philosophy. Our (long term) partner broke through their comfort zone and took a risk on an unproven design.

After successful factory acceptance testing the machine was put into production on the facility floor. As the initial weeks went by there was a enthusiasm from the shift staff about the level of production they were achieving. Each day they noticed output improvements and were eventually able to eliminate the weekend shifts. Worker morale improved because the difficult change-out process had been eliminated. The machine software was integrated seamlessly into the internal SAP system helping streamline the ordering process.

A year later a second printer was installed at another site. Finally a third system was ordered in 2014. Each machine took advantage of design improvement and new technologies. LED cure inks became available, resulting in a reduction of energy consumption while eliminating the need for elaborate cooling systems. There was a new smaller more efficient flow through ink management system with better control of ink viscosity

The original printer will be productive on a manufacturing floor again soon.

The machine is not viewed as an eyesore now.  It is viewed as a part of the proud legacy that shaped the direction of our company well into the future. The original project ushered in a new direction for EPS. This project was the catalyst behind the words ‘engineered’ and ‘solutions’ in our company name.

A vision is not where you are now.  A vision is where you want to be in the future. Our partner for this project had a vision and was willing to take a risk that led to completely project cost recovery in three months by reducing the number of operators, overtime and nearly all product waste.