"When you’re in the retail signage and point-of-sale promotion business, size, consistency, quality, and localized message matter. No matter where you live, whether you’re walking down the main boulevard in Miami or visiting a mall in any city, retailers demand eye-catching graphics to lure business into their stores. That’s the task of Classic Graphics (Charlotte, N.C., USA)" a printing, finishing, and fulfillment that described itself as part of the Imagine! family of companies.

Classic has been growing its business exponentially over the past decade and gaining a sterling reputation for its innovation and technical astuteness for its customer base of top national and international brands. But this Charlotte-based business is not content with its current status quo. Rather, the firm is increasing its footprint in the region and investing in its first large-format printing press to expand its capabilities and its reach among its customer base. Its Charlotte facility, set in a low-rise building amid an industrial park, will take delivery of a new KBA Rapida 164 64-inch hybrid UV press in December. It will complement their fulfillment and production department which will move this fall to a newly-constructed facility in the Concord Airport Business Park. Classic also operates a second facility in Research Triangle Park (Morrisville, N.C.). In all, Classic’s business encompasses 385,000 sq. ft. of space and 350 employees.

"This is a tremendous investment for us," said David Pitts, president of Classic. "Our new seven-color, 64″ KBA Rapida 164 hybrid printing press will support our growing UV business with increased production speeds, fast makereadies, and precise in-line quality control. Not only are we acquiring our first large-format press but our facility expansion includes a full range of large-format finishing and kitting capabilities, enhanced design services, and triples the size of our current fulfillment center, increasing our secure storage options and boosting our digital print-on-demand capabilities."

The point-of-purchase signage market has continued to dramatically become personalized and localized as well as requiring the highest quality, fastest turnaround, and color fidelity to the product and brand. The KBA Rapida 64-inch press will bring those new enhanced capabilities to Classic’s pressroom. Its inline camera control system, says Pitts, will bring Classic’s operation to a new level, ensuring consistency throughout the run, and evaluating each sheet inline without operator intervention. The maximum production speed of 15,000 sheets per hour on the new KBA Rapida 164 along with its larger size of 64-in. in contrast to the firm’s existing 40-inch presses will expand the amount of work being produced on press.

"Our goal is to continue offering our clients customized, targeted solutions," says Pitts. "We’ve become more and more granular for our customers printing five different versions of their signage or printing 500 versions. Our customers might have 1,000 stores each with unique signage, different products for their area, and localized pricing. Not only do we print for them but we manage the signage going into these retail stores. Each location has specific signage based on what it sells. Our reputation is based on producing multiple signage versions with fast changeovers and quick makeready. That’s what sets us apart. Our vision is to be the best-in-class consumer outcomes company."