By Cassandra Balentine
With increased competition on the store shelves, brands need to stand out. Fortunately, today’s graphics and display companies overcome limitations with the latest technologies.
Middlestreet Graphics & Display, LLC, a Division of G&J Pepsi-Cola Bottling Co., provides G&J Pepsi and related brands with end-to-end services including design, prototyping, project management, digital and offset printing—both small and large format, digital and analog die cutting, assembly, packing, fulfillment, and logistics.
The company operates out of a 100,000 square foot facility with 55 employees in Reynoldsburg, OH. It has experienced significant annual double digit growth—both in top line revenue and operating income over the past several years.
The print provider was founded in 2017 as an in-plant print service provider (PSP) for G&J Bottling Company, a third generation, family owned company in operation for 99 years. Today, G&J Pepsi operates several bottling and distribution faculties in and around Central OH, as well as in Northern KY and Western WV.
Before Middlestreet Graphics & Display was formed as an in-plant provider, G&J would outsource its work to local print providers. Eventually it decided to bring the work in house to achieve better control over the quality and turnaround time of its graphics and displays.
“They weren’t seeing the outcomes they were looking for. They wanted faster responses, lower costs of doing business, and just more dedication and understanding of the type of displays they merchandise,” offers Dean DeMarco, GM, Middlestreet Graphics & Display.
For the first few years of operation, most of its business was for G&J and other bottlers. However, it expanded its client base and today the majority is down to about 65 percent relevant to G&J with business from additional brands making up the other 35 percent.
Approximately 80 percent of its workload is considered wide format, which is produced with a line up of Durst Image Technology US, LLC printing equipment, including a Rho 312R dedicated roll-to-roll printer, a hybrid P5 250 WT with flatbed and roll-to-roll capabilities, two high-speed Rho 2500 Series corrugate printers, and a Rho P10.
On the finishing end, it invested in a Elitron Kombo TAV-R automated cutting table, which operates alongside multiple Zünd tables.
Above: Middlestreet Graphics & Display operates an Elitron Kombo TAV-R modular digital cutting system in house.
Merchandiser Displays
Middlestreet Graphics & Display is fluent in floor, pallet, counter, and end cap displays; standees; faux walls; and merchandisers.
Merchandiser displays are among the PSP’s most creative offerings. These can be temporary, semi permanent, and permanent. Temporary displays are typically made with corrugate; while semi-permanent options are made from substrates like Falconboard from Packaging Corporation of America or Xanita board as well as injection molded pieces; and permanent displays are metal or wood.
With injection displays, the PSP provides refresh packages with corrugate, pressure-sensitive vinyl, or magnetic media to easily and affordably change up the look.
Custom Corrugate
Being a creative-led company, Middlestreet Graphics & Display places a high value on design and service for its clients and brands.
DeMarco feels that the display business is unique in that it’s an art that requires both creative and engineering skills from its staff. To support this, it invests in both the technology and talent that enables it to produce functional and engaging structural designs.
It also is skilled in printing to corrugate, which is known for being porous and uneven. Temporary merchandiser displays are usually directly printed to corrugate with the Durst Rho 2500, or lithographic label is used that can be mounted to corrugated for longer run projects. For media, the PSP prefers corrugate board from Independent Corrugator Inc. of Canada.
To cut these displays, it continues to move corrugated work to its Elitron Kombo TAV-R system, which was installed in early 2022. The biggest feature that stands out to DeMarco about the Kombo TAV-R is automation. The machine features a fully automatic cutting table with automated loading, cutting, and unloading as well as integrated conveyor system.
“We purchased the Elitron Kombo TAV-R in late 2021 and installed it in the early part of 2022 with the understanding that it would greatly augment our current digital cut solution,” shares DeMarco. “Post-print operations are often overlooked in the grand scheme of the overall workflow, so having the Elitron Kombo TAV-R as a production piece really helped us eliminate bottlenecks in that area.”
With the Elitron Kombo TAV-R, Middlestreet Graphics & Display has a fully automated and unattended solution to move pallets through the system seamlessly.
The automation provided in its feeder and stacker allows the print and display provider to run the Elitron Kombo TAV-R almost nearly unattended for two-plus shifts a day.
Seamless Partner
Middlestreet Graphics & Display strategically invests in the talent, skills, and technology necessary to steadily expand. Serving well-known international brands, it delivers quality and speed from beginning to end of the design, prototyping, and production process for display work.
Apr2024, Digital Output
