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Buses get a Union Pacific makeover for this year’s political conventions.
By Ryan N. Fugler RepRiNted FRom WRAPS i September/October 2008
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The word “change” echoed loudly from Denver to St. Paul in late summer, as both cities grew in numbers and efforts to make the groundbreaking Democratic and Republican National Conventions a major success. As change became an underlying theme in the speeches delivered by both presidential hopefuls, another change had begun to take place immediately prior to the start of the conventions. This change was more of a transformation—and it happened quickly. Two weeks is usually enough time to enjoy a long vacation. For Husky Signs & Graphics Inc., there was no such luxury. In fact, the 3M Certified and PDAA Master Certified sign and vehicle wraps business was pouring all efforts into its latest wrap project—sacrificing sleep for square feet of vinyl coverage. It took the Boulder, Colo.-based company exactly two weeks to print and install five bus wraps used for shuttling Union Pacific Railroad’s VIP dignitaries and corporate guests attending the DNC and RNC to various events. “The timeline for the job happened fairly quickly,” says Jamin McKee of Husky Signs. “We got the job a month-and- a-half ago and then we got final artwork by Aug. 8. We had one week to print.” While finishing the job on such a strict time regiment is impressive, actually winning the job in the first place may have been the most extraordinary part of the project. In a David-versus-Goliath-type scenario, Husky Signs rose to the occasion. Husky Signs’ Mark Johnson, left, Jamin McKee and Joshua Fouts put in plenty of extra hours wrapping five buses in two weeks for the Democratic and Republican National Conventions. 08 Convention Wraps
It took one full day to print each of the five 45-foot bus wraps, and another day for each install.Five employees were dedicated to the entire project, with three of them wrapping a bus at all times. “We had one guy on one side, one on another side and one guy following behind tidying up— trimming and tucking,” says McKee. RepRiNted FRom WRAPS i SeptemBeR/oCtoBeR 2008The prints were output from a Seiko 64 in panels about 4-feet wide. Each side of the buses used 11 panels. The project featured a fairly new 3M bus-wrapping material, Controltac IJ46, which is particularly suitable for short-term projects.
“Basically, the client called me and said he had a couple other companies out of California and New York bidding on the job,” recalls McKee. Union Pacific Railroad, the customer, had been looking for a company to complete a small fleet of bus wraps; an Internet search turned up the company at www.HuskySigns.com. “I talked him through everything,” says McKee. “He desperately wanted to use a local, Colorado-based company and I was pushing for him to use us.” Because there is always the risk of problems arising during a wrap, McKee knew that Husky would have an upper hand on its competition, being located just minutes away from the DNC in downtown Denver. Any unforeseen challenges could be tackled on the spot with a local company instead of “having to call somebody up, explaining to them how to fix it.” And, as McKee notes, “with a project of this size, the client was in total agreement. So I was close on numbers with everyone else, but I got the job because I was local.” It can be daunting competing against large companies out of major metropolitan areas. The bigger print houses normally have more money and man-power than smaller companies, which is why winning this job was especially sweet for Husky Signs. “As far as I’m concerned, with an event in an area like this, it almost should be mandatory that it’s done by a local shop,” says McKee. “But it wasn’t and we still won the job, which was cool.” Getting to Work While being local may have helped Husky Signs win the wrap job, the actual project would be on display for a national audience. The five 45-foot buses— all of different makes—were to serve as shuttles during the four-day Democratic event in Denver before being driven to St. Paul, Minn., to perform the same du
Although considered a relatively small business, Husky’s proximity to Denver and the DNC gave it the chance to prove to Union Pacific that it was the right shop for the job. RepRiNted FRom WRAPS i SeptemBeR/oCtoBeR 2008ties at the Republican Convention. The design for the wraps was done by a company out of Omaha, Neb., so while waiting for the job to arrive, Husky Signs prepared. “We figured out how long it would take to print, so I could tell them when we would need final artwork so we could physically print the bus before we installed it,” says McKee. The prints would be output from a Seiko 64 in panels about 4-feet wide. Each side of the buses used 11 panels. “Our printer prints 175-square-feet an hour, so it took one full day to print one full bus,” says McKee. “And plus we needed to gas out the vinyl for 48 hours. I had to do a little bit of leapfrogging because I had to always be two days ahead.” Five employees were dedicated to the entire project, with three of them wrapping a bus at all times. The lead installer, Joshua Fouts, organized and executed the install effort. “We had one guy on one side, one on another side and one guy following behind tidying up—trimming and tucking,” says McKee. “Two guys were sticking each side, figuring out where those panels needed to be.” Though the process sounds as if it operated like clockwork, there were some factors that created obstacles. First off, the company strayed from its usual vinyl film choice to use another recommended by 3M instead. Husky Signs opted for the different film “since the vinyl was only going to stay on for a month, and to help us hit numbers against a couple of large competitors.” McKee called 3M and talked to Mike Miller about his recommendations for material. “If it wasn’t going to be Controltac IJ180 (which the company normally uses), he told me to use IJ46, which is a fairly new bus-wrapping material.” The particular challenge, McKee explains, is that you can wrap slight compound curves, but there is no air egress feature in the IJ46 film. It’s an intermediate vinyl but it is removable, and it was developed to hit a price point to wrap big buses for temporary applications. “We’ve used IJ180 and have seen the wonderful characteristics of how bubbles and wrinkles just go away. This stuff doesn’t work that way,” says McKee. “You need to be on top of your game as far as installing or you’ll get product failure and customers who are unhappy with the finished product.” The 3M Controltac IJ46 came off easily in sheets after four weeks with no residue, Johnson noted.
In addition to the panels on the body of the buses, both sides were also wrapped with full window perf from Clear Focus. Impact and Challenges Just as both presidential candidates must be enduring, McKee and the rest of the Husky Sign team spent some late nights while accomplishing their goal. “Late nights and lots of printer fumes,” he says. However, McKee admits that the only element he really worried about during the project was meeting the deadline. “The only real problem we had was a design issue with the design firm,” he says. “Basically, they were doing artwork two weeks before I got the files and, in the rush of the job and how fast things had to happen, we had to print as soon as we got them.” With just enough time to quickly survey the design before sending it to the printer, Husky Signs was hurried to get the graphics going. “If we didn’t hit the print button, it wasn’t getting done,” says McKee. So, the team cranked up the Seiko and got the job moving forward. However, after the printing was finished and the installation commenced, it was discovered that the design firm miscalculated the templates. “When we gave templates to the design firm, we also supplied the artist with photos of the buses,” explains McKee. “I also took a couple of key physical measurements to double-check the photo with the measurement.” The purpose of such careful preparation was to be able to go back and forth between the template, photo and measurement to remain within an inch or two of the actual install. Plus, the installer could reference the photo for any different molding scenarios on the vehicle—which happened to pose a problem during the job. “What happened was the designers didn’t necessarily cross-reference the photo and did it off the template in some situations,” says McKee. “There was an area where a very important brand went right through a molding and, with certain types of rubber, the vinyl won’t stick.” Husky Signs faced the dilemma of placing thousands of dollars of vinyl on a bus, only to have the most important part—Union Pacific’s logo—lost on top of a molding. “We knew someone was not going to be very happy. That’s when we basically fixed the problem by reprinting the brand and reinstalling it below the rub rail.” With the problem sidestepped and the project back on track, Husky Signs breathed a sigh of relief. Putting the finishing touches on the five buses, the deadline was met. McKee believes a very vital lesson was learned while working with the third-party design house. He stresses “the importance of using templates and photos and actual measurements, because these things are not easy to pull off when you’ve got designers designing, printers printing and installers installing. You’ve got three different people trying to make one thing work in the end and it’s that all-too-famous miscommunication problem. You need to figure out how to deliver the best product possible and avoid problems before they happen.” Fortunately, McKee and the Husky staff possessed the skills to execute a high-quality wrap, even in the face of adversity. The next task was to remove the vinyl after the conventions concluded and the buses returned. That portion of the project, according to Mark Johnson of Husky Signs, went off without a hitch. But while the wraps remained intact, they served their purpose, and brought a new wave of exposure to the small sign shop in Boulder at the same time. And, as the client will testify, the job was handled with professionalism and precision. Husky Signs received a formal thank you from Senior Vice President of Union Pacific Railroad, Charles Eisele, during the events in Denver. It was a gesture that the guys at Husky Signs will not soon forget. You need to be on top of your game as far as installing or you’ll get product failure and customers who are unhappy with the finished product.
RepRiNted FRom WRAPS i SeptemBeR/oCtoBeR 2008 Reprinted from Wraps September/October 2008 © 2008 National Business Media, Inc. all rights reserved Please visit the Sign & Digital Graphics Magazine web site
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