by Cassandra Balentine
The repercussions of the COVID-19 regulations were felt hard among many industries, printing was no exception. While many print service providers (PSPs) remained open amidst nationwide lockdowns, it was necessary to shift business strategies to fill evolving community demands for items like personal protective equipment (PPE), safety supplies, and informative signs and graphics.
Above: Berry & Homer/Roe Solutions Group is a print provider, fabricator, and installation company. This Spring, it shifted its business to provide PPE and other safety materials during the COVID-19 crisis.
Established in the late 1890s, today Berry & Homer operates two locations with a staff 42 employees. The headquarters is based in Chester, PA and a second facility operates out of Landham, MD for a total working area of 160,000 square feet. The company is in the process of a rebrand that combines the talents of Berry & Homer and Roe Fabricators to form the Roe Solutions Group.
Roe Solutions Group serves a national base, featuring fabrication and installation primarily focused in DC, DE, MD, NJ, NY, PA, and VA. Its core offerings include large and grand format digital printing, custom sign and fixture fabrication, as well as precision and large scale installation.
The single-source printer and manufacturer utilizes its in-house talent, starting with file preparation through to final installation with 100 percent accountability. “We have decades of experience and are experts in producing with multiple materials and applications. Our team is professional, our equipment state of the art, and our capabilities and capacities are second to none,” exclaims Brett Roe, president, Roe Solutions Group.
Getting Refocused
Like many businesses, Roe Solutions Group’s regular workload slowed drastically in March of 2020 as government mandates required the closure of non-essential businesses.
While essential PSPs could remain open, they had to refocus business strategies to stay busy. As a fabrication company in addition to a print provider, the business was in the position to manufacture much needed supplies including face shields, safety dividers, floor graphics, aerosol boxes, and medical tents.
“COVID-19 mandates have been detrimental to our core operations,” says Roe. “Although we were quickly deemed an essential business and remained open, our primary customer base has not. Within days we identified a need for PPE—specifically medical grade PETG face shields—and within 36 hours had designed, produced, and approved prototypes in production.”
The company quickly adapted its staff and equipment to support the medical community and the heavy demand for PPE.
“We are a solutions-oriented team and are very good at solving problems. We set up an assembly system to maintain distant and sterile workstations to produce more than 50,000 face shields, 5,000 safety dividers, and thousands of various social distancing/informational graphics,” shares Roe.
Medical Support
During the coronavirus pandemic, Roe Solutions Group worked quickly to shift its business model and utilize its staff and equipment for PPE and related items.
During the crisis, it did some work for the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. The goal of the project was to protect and inform patients, employees, and visitors of the need for social distancing. The fabrication and printing created for the hospital included counter top safety shields and dividers, retractable signage, and wall and floor graphics.
To produce these items it utilized Arizona and Colorado printers from Canon Solutions America and automated cutting tables from AXYZ and Zünd.
The turnaround time for this project was less than five days from approval.
Shifting Gears
Roe Solution Group’s initial response to the COVID-19 shutdowns focused on the need for PPE. Roe says these orders are thankfully decreasing while retailer, customer, and public safety products ramp up as the economy reopens. “We expect these products to continue to evolve and be in demand,” says Roe. DO
Jul2020, Digital Output