Graphic Solutions Group Installs Esko Kongsberg C64 Cutting Table & Software

Atlanta, GA, – Graphic Solutions Group, founded in 1983, acquired the Esko Kongsberg C64 Cutting Table as the finishing workhorse in its large format operations. Graphic Solutions Group provides conventional offset, digital and large format printing, as well as offering fulfillment, mailing and promotional items. Graphic Solutions Group counts on their experienced team of over 70 professionals, most of whom have been in the printing industry for over 20 years.

Graphic Solutions Group has been producing large-format printing products for nearly a decade and places a high priority on quality and consistency. They previously utilized local vendors to do their specialized cutting and routing. While customers were satisfied with the end result, having to outsource this part of the production process delayed turnaround time and added to overall costs. Determined to keep the work in-house to control both production time as well as quality, Graphic Solutions Group went on the search for a digital cutting system that would meet all of their needs.

“We required a machine that could do it all, cut, route, score and kiss-cut most any material we can think to print on.” said Mark C. Pope IV, President. “Being able to produce short-run packaging, custom display items as well as the day-to-day finishing of standard board and roll materials was our ultimate goal.”

As the digital print and finishing industry continues to evolve, Graphic Solutions Group is dedicated to embrace new ideas and tools to satisfy the customer’s needs. “A part of our commitment in this area is cutting-edge finishing capabilities that the C64 excels at”. Said Pope.

In acquiring the Esko Kongsberg C64 cutting table, Graphic Solutions Group has reduced their need to increase manpower, finishing jobs in 1/5th the time it took before the cutting table was installed. In the past, standard turnaround time for small jobs was 3 business days. Now, many small jobs can be turned around in one day, and large projects with tight turnarounds are now produced in-house and ahead of schedule.

“We have been able to drastically reduce the time and manpower associated with finishing our large format work that would’ve been impossible for us to do without this equipment,” said Ron Sandy, Digital Services Manager. “We chose Esko primarily for the quality and speed over their competition and we couldn’t be happier. High speed without exceptional quality is just unacceptable work done fast, and we refuse to pass that along to our customers.”

The Esko Kongsberg C64 chosen by Graphic Solutions Group allows cutting or routing board materials up to 126” x 126” and cutting roll materials 126” wide by an unlimited length. Graphic Solutions Group also opted to integrate Esko’s i-cut Suite, a collection of pre-production software designed to preflight PDF files, prepare graphics, create layouts and finish in perfect registration.

“In today’s business environment we needed a solution that would give us an advantage over the competition, we needed precision with fast production speeds that allows us to keep finishing projects in-house,” said Shawn Perez, Vice President of Manufacturing. “We investigated every manufacturer. After seeing samples and running speed tests, the Kongsberg C64 was the clear winner.”