By Digital Output Staff
Vehicle wraps remain a consistent and reliable marketing tool. Designers, printers, and installers that successfully serve this space are true masters of the craft. These businesses have the process on lockdown from beginning to end, pumping out wrapped vehicles at high volumes.
Above: Rockwall Wraps repeatedly works with Bacon Services to wrap its fleet of vehicles using 3M media and ColorPainter M-64 printers.
Reaching into Wraps
Rockwall Wraps—also known as Wrap Garage—began in February 2007 with two employees. Originally, the print provider only offered signs and banners, but began producing wraps soon after its launch. Located in Rockwall, TX, these early days involved local outreach to clients in the Dallas and the Fort Worth areas.
Today a total of 14 employees serve customers in 43 states and five countries. Vehicle wraps are 95 percent of the business. What was once three to four wraps a month, the shop’s production team can now finish three to four partial or full wraps each day.
A subset of vehicle wraps is fleet wraps, which account for 75 to 80 percent of Rockwall Wraps’ business. Fleet wraps, which can be made up of many different makes and models of vehicles, are a lucrative opportunity for any print service provider (PSP) with the skills and infrastructure in place to design, print, and wrap multiple vehicles at one time.
Rockwall Wraps started offering fleet wraps “because of the ease of minimal design time per unit and printing the same file for multiple units,” explain Jeff Chambliss, partner and Brad Ivey, partner, Rockwall Wraps.
To achieve eye-catching graphics for its fleet wrap work, the PSP relies on its ColorPainter M-64 printers, which today are available through Mimaki USA, Inc. At press time, Rockwall Wraps had three ColorPainter M-64 printers running in its production facility.
“These printers are workhorses and have very little downtime. All three run eight to ten hours daily. The 64-inch model works best for us because we rarely print on any media wider than 60 inches,” say Chambliss and Ivey.
Speaking of media, 90 percent of the wraps produced out of Rockwall Wraps use 3M Controltac Graphic Film with Comply v3 Adhesive IJ180Cv3 with 3M Scotchcal Luster Overlaminate 8519. It is preferred for the long life generated when both products are combined; also the ease of install and ink coverage is consistent, which is important for branding that needs to match from vehicle to vehicle.
On specialty wraps the staff elects to use products like 3M Envision Print Wrap Film LX+SV 480mC. For color change film it favors 3M Wrap Film Series 1080 and 2080.
The broad media portfolio paired with the three ColorPainter workhorses allow Rockwall Wraps to offer its customers a blank canvas when it comes to wrap requests. “We offer all design aspects and price points for different budgets from your basic, single-layer fleet wrap to multi-layer with specialty vinyl incorporated in with different laminates for different finishes,” note Chambliss and Ivey.
Rounding out its equipment mix, finishing tools include a cutter from Fotoba as well as the new Graphtec America, Inc. FC9000 cutter and a SEAL Graphics 64-inch laminator.
Collective Work
Repeat customer Bacon Services called on Rockwall Wraps to design, print, and install graphics on its fleet of vehicles.
The client wanted its latest round of wraps to really stand out. Rockwall Wraps was able to achieve this using its ColorPainter M-64 printers and media from 3M. Therefore, the newest designs include 3M metallic film to give a “rich look,” according to Chambliss and Ivey.
The turnaround time for this job was no different than any other process undertaken by the PSP. Units are delivered to Rockwall Wraps from the dealer. Then VIN and vehicle numbers are uploaded into the company’s tracking system. The vehicles are turned into production and ready for install within 48 hours. Normal turnaround time is two days and then the finished wrapped units are returned to Bacon Services.
Quick Turn
Rockwall Wraps has fleet wrap production down to a science. With tried and true hardware and media selections, it is able focus on great design and installation techniques for fleet wraps.
Sep2020, Digital Output
