For over a century, Hodges Badge Company — a family-owned enterprise — has manufactured awards, ribbons, and rosettes for various occasions including dog shows, academic events, and corporate recognitions. The company recently partnered with Engineered Printing Solutions to transition from hot-foil stamping to cold-foil printing technology.
Rick Hodges, the company’s president, highlighted significant operational improvements. The production workflow accelerated dramatically:
“With no dies to make, our lead times went from two days to two hours.”
— Rick Hodges, President
The new cold-foil method also enhanced design quality, allowing finer lines than hot-stamping, which occasionally produces unwanted foil bridging between adjacent lines. Additional advantages included eliminating die-storage costs.
However, the transition presented challenges. Hodges noted there is “a bit of a learning curve, as digital inkjet printing requires a completely different skillset than traditional tool-and-die manufacturing.” He credited EPS’s post-sale support in facilitating the company’s adaptation.
The speed-to-market advantage opened new commercial opportunities. Variable-data products and single-unit production runs became economically viable, expanding Hodges’ addressable markets. Hodges expressed confidence in maintaining competitive advantage, asserting competitors cannot match their quality, variety, and speed-to-market.