Client
Capitol Distributing
Role

Service design, interior organization, process design, visual design, print production

Tools

Illustrator, Powerpoint, InDesign, Sketchup, Excel, Monday.com

Overview

With the construction of a new distribution center, Capitol Distributing would have the space to house an internal print shop. The shop is intended to serve existing customers including Jacksons Food Stores, smaller chains like On the Fly, and single owned stores. This involved every aspect of creating the shop from choosing equipment to defining services and products. I worked with accounting to establish product pricing and supply tracking, the Capitol sales team and vendors to establish sign programs, and created generic ‘always in stock’ signs for customers to order on demand.

Final Deliverables

  • Equipment selection, purchasing, installation, and layout
  • Material selection, testing, and storage
  • Cost analysis and pricing matrices for accounting
  • Multi-tiered sign programs sponsored by vendors
  • Simple sign shop logo & branding

Print Shop

PLANNING
Planning for the print shop began long before construction on the new distribution center broke ground. I selected the production printer (used for booklets and more) and guillotine cutter years prior with this in mind. I discussed sign needs with customers, especially our larger chain, prior to selecting materials. I visited a few shops and attended a huge industry trade show in Las Vegas to see all the machines in action. I used sketchup to find the most effective use of the space due to equipment and personnel needs.
 
Taking customer needs and return on investment in mind, I settled on the required equipment. I then created a two stage approach to procurement, getting the most important items in first for testing and training. 6 months later, as jobs started to pick up, the rest of the equipment and furniture was ordered. I am still in discussions to get the custom cabinetry constructed.
PROCESSES
As the print shop is a new department, new processes needed to be created from scratch. All basic equipment and software interactions are documented for reference. Each material has an internal item name (eg VM3-54, Vinyl Matte 3mm) that follows it from inventory all through the software and equipment naming to simplify procedures.
 
All orders are tracked in Monday.com, which allows me to add a ton of custom fields to each item. Each field is assigned an owner and a priority, all job details are recorded, each step of production has a status to be set with many options for accuracy, a completion date, and a spot for notes.
PROGRAMS

In addition to premade and custom signs, I also designed a multi-tiered sign program. Vendors sign up each year to offer product discounts to customers on the program. I consult with the vendors on the items and to ensure the deals appeal to our customers. I then create a sign & POS suite around these deals. Customers sign up for a sign kit tier which determines both which items are in their kit and if they are branded for the specific store or generic. Each customer chooses which deal they want per period and receives the kit for the level they have signed up for.

A sales flyer containing information for the tiered programs and a catalog showing all the ready-to-order items are available to all retail consultants and customers. A custom ordering system that will provide customers with updates on their requests is currently under development

GRAPHICS

A quick logo was created to match the style of the other Capitol brands. This is helpful in ordering items that only sell to print shops. CMYK was chosen as the brand colors. While not the most innovative, it definitely conveys the ‘Print Shop’ feel.