Tuesday, 11 Aug 2015 11:14 GMT

Trade Supply Finishing

Purchasing manufacturing and finishing machinery can be prohibitive but does this have to limit the services you offer? Brenda Hodgson reviews the trade supply option

Have your cake…

When asked to quote for a sign project for which you do not have the resources or equipment in-house—for example, a job requiring engraving, routing, or cutting—you may find yourself faced with the dilemma of either turning away profitable business or seeking an alternative solution. That alternative solution generally comes in the shape of a trade supplier who has the required expertise and facilities to help you create the end product.

Your choice will depend on the complexity of the project, the specific processes you need—whether standard production procedures or something very specialist—and the customer service and support that is offered. There are many to choose from but here I have looked at some of the major players in the field.   

From small beginnings

Trade Signs UK, based in Tring, Hertfordshire, has many years’ experience supplying routing and cutting services to customers across the UK, including sign companies, exhibition builders, shop fitters, and architects, as well as engineering companies, the automotive industry, and the wood-working and building trades.

From small beginnings, the company has become a major player in its field as client solutions manager, Dan Oliver, explains: “Sign-makers often make CNC routers their first major purchase when building a manufacturing company as the immediate benefits can lead to a major increase in profits and efficiencies. When Trade Signs first ventured into the trade element of sign-making, we followed suit and purchased our first router.

“From the very first day, the change in the capabilities of the company increased ten-fold and over the years, we have continued to invest in the sector, complemented by our 3 x 2m Tekcel and 2440 x 12200mm junior Tekcel machines. Often, businesses can gauge their current workload by how many hours machines are running and at Trade Signs, ours are in constant use from the first bell to the last and beyond.”

O Factoid: Outsourcing: The concept of ‘outsourcing’ came from the American term ‘outside resourcing’ and dates back to around 1981. It means to use outside resources and experts to develop and expand an organisation. O


Its laser cutter is another key component of Trade Signs’ manufacturing capability, enabling them to offer a range of services from laser cut letters to structural plates, 3D/built-up letters, and machined components.

“As technologies have evolved, Trade Signs now prides itself on the level of expertise our staff can offer. Whether it be basic acrylic lettering, harder materials such as aluminium or indeed complex machining profiles with decorative detail, we offer a complete service to sign-makers nationwide,” continues Oliver.

“Within the sign industry, capability, understanding, lead time, and service should be the underlining factors when purchasing machined items. However Trade Signs recognises that, in the cut-throat industry we work in, cost plays a pivotal role and that is why we pride ourselves on being the most efficient CNC operators in the market today,” he adds.

Another company that has grown with the changes and demands of the industry is SignTrade Letters. From its London base the company has, for many years, offered a CNC routing, laser cutting, letter moulding, and sign-making service specifically for the sign trade. The company constantly monitors developments within the industry, in terms of materials and technology, to ensure that it continues to deliver a relevant and high quality service and range of products.


Routed and folded sign tray produced by SignTrade Letters. A standard flatbed router was used to create a V groove. The tray was then folded and riveted to the correct shape and size



“Our investment in top-of-the-range machinery also means that the sign-maker doesn’t need to do so, and can rely on us to ensure that the delivered product is to the highest standard,” affirms SignTrade Letters director, Richard Woolff.

He continues: “Our entire standard lettering tooling is made on CNC machines as are any custom made logos or letters using non-standard fonts. Furthermore, utilising our years of experience in working with plastics and composite sheets, we are able to economically cut simple or complicated shapes from flat sheets ensuring that you get the yield benefits from our optimising software. Our 24 hour service is also very popular as this allows for last minute changes and amendments to the design of the sign.”


Trade Signs prides itself on the level of expertise it offers, including complex machining profiles with decorative details



In addition SignTrade Letters has recently added acrylic built-up channel letters to its increasing range of services. “We have found that customers, being already satisfied with the high standard we offer for our other letters, wanted to purchase these from a reliable trusted source,” Woolff adds.

Sharing specialist expertise

As a well-established and respected designer and manufacturer of sand-blasted, carved, and CNC cut signs, all produced in-house, The Grain Sign Company of Liskeard, Cornwall, developed a fast-track trade supply service exclusively for design houses and sign companies.

“The Grain enjoys a steady flow of projects outsourced from other sign and graphics companies,” says project director, Pete Ratcliffe.


The Grain advises that laser cutting letters regulates the problem of rounded inside corners associated with CNC cut letters



These fall into three main product sectors. The first being specialist interior laser carved/CNC routed wooden signage and 3D signs, with many sign companies choosing to outsource wooden signs due to the fact there are few ready made products/technologies available.

“Exterior signage can lead to severe comebacks and loss of reputation if wooden signs are not made to a durable standard,” Ratcliffe stresses. “Sign companies will, therefore, outsource this specialist work to ensure high standards and customer satisfaction.”

Sign companies will, therefore, outsource this specialist work to ensure high standards and customer satisfaction”


The second sector is laser cut and CNC cut HDU (high density urethane) foam lettering, as laser cutting letters negates the problem of rounded inside corners associated with CNC cut letters.

“When text gets small this is a major problem and letters need to be laser cut,” comments Ratcliffe. “We find sign companies have major problems when working with acrylics and trying to match PMS or metallic colours. Using HDU or Velchromat for interior use negates this problem and allows you to finish letters to any colourway or metallic, even real rust.”


Many sign companies choose to outsource the specialist production of wooden signs as there are few ready made products/technologies available.



The last sector is laser engraving and fine carving. With many companies keen to portray eco-sensitive, environ-mentally friendly branding, natural laser carving has been very popular in recent years. Recognising this growing market, The Grain has invested £250,000 in the leading laser engravers from Epilog and Eurolaser to enable engraving of panels up to 2.5 x 1.5m.


The Grain adds finishing touches to this 9m cedar fascia sign with mermaids



Ratcliffe describes how combining technologies with other sign companies can lead to stunning results: “For example, we will occasionally combine laser and digital print process onto wooden panels, working jointly with companies like Graphique Digital Print at Roche. Although we have the skill-sets to produce the wooden elements and carved graphics we need the expertise of the digital printers to ensure the colours ‘pop’.”

Personal service

Group101, based near Thurrock in Essex, works closely with a number of other sign-makers and design agencies around the country, helping to turn their ideas into feasible end products. Its trade service is designed and aimed at individuals who want to offer CNC as an additional branch to their services.

Having once been a sign-maker himself, managing director, James Sahota has an informed perspective regarding the qualities needed to be a good trade supplier. His experience has helped him create a uniquely informed strategy that has seen him build and develop his company into one of the country’s most highly regarded trade supply enterprises.

Sahota aims to position Group101 as a company that deals with its customers as individuals—no-one is, ‘just a number’, and it is this approach and attitude that he believes is winning Group101 friends and business.

“In our business,” says Sahota, “there’s a lot of churn. A lot of the business we gain seems to be at the expense of suppliers who may have had a supply upset of some sort with their customers. We approach the business with an incredible level of detailed attention focused on the customer and his needs.”


With advances in CNC router cutters and tooling, Trade Signs can produce end-product quality finishes, which reduces the time spent on clean-up work, allowing sign-makers to pass on cost savings to their customers



Now in its seventh year of business, Group101 will go to some lengths to ensure that its involvement in the supply of signing remains confidential. In terms of the detail, that means using customers’ own branded packaging tape if needed, handling transport through confidential couriers and enclosing bespoke documentation where needed. “It’s all in the detail,” Sahota affirms.

Dealing as an extension of others’ brands means it is essential that Group101 maintains the highest standards of quality. Accordingly, the company has invested in what it has researched and believes to be the best manufacturing hardware available. That means a fully specified Tekcel EXR production routing and knife cutting system which sits at the heart of the company producing finished output and working through very large work-loads day in and out.

Sahota applies his own high standards to everything his company produces. He believes that some accreditation should be made available to suitably qualified companies and that the bar should be set high enough so that only the very best can achieve the grade needed to succeed. Until that happens, he is entirely confident in his own credentials and in his record.

“Being the very biggest in any area of business,” elaborates Sahota, “is entirely a function of the volume of business you do. That’s not always a result of you being the best. A lot of business can be bought on the basis that it’s good enough, that it gets the job done. Lots of business can be lost by the same philosophy. I have no ambition to be the biggest. I put everything into ensuring we’re thought of as the best though. That’s where my ambitions take me.”

Fully committed to its mission as a dedicated trade supplier, Group101 will soon be moving to spacious new premises near Thurrock. The new premises will house the entire operation and include space allocated to a new 3.2m dye-sublimation system. Mindful of the need to keep things simple for customers, a state-of-the art web portal will enable ordering and offer round-the-clock support to customers.

“Being there whenever customers need us,” is Sahota’s justification for taking this ground-breaking step.

Another innovative step Group101 is taking will put an unbranded sales pack at the disposal of the company’s customers. The pack will support Group101 customers as they go out and generate interest and orders for the company’s full range of products.

Saucing up your offer

There are a number of reasons why sign-makers might choose to outsource some aspects of production, and the benefits can be significant.

“The benefits to sign-makers and designers alike are easy to see,” asserts Woolff. “No investment in expensive large machinery, being able to rely on a company that is very experienced in dealing with all artwork queries, with a wide range of different packages to process any file, and a company which understands that quality and reliability are paramount to our, and our customers’, continued success.”


Group101 operates state-of-the-art routing hardware, assuring its trade customers the benefit of the highest quality production



Oliver expands on this theme: “Complexity can often lead to designers passing over routing options without asking for a solution, but with the numerous advances in CNC capabilities in recent years, almost anything is achievable; and working alongside designers and sign-makers, a solution is never far from being found.”

“With advances in router cutters, in terms of size and the unique finishes that our CNC routers can achieve, the options are limitless. By not only investing in our machinery, but also our tooling, Trade Signs produces finishes that create finished items, limiting clean-up work and thus reducing manufacture time, which can then be passed on to customers across the board,” he concludes.

With advances in router cutters, in terms of size and the unique finishes that our CNC routers can achieve, the options are limitless”


The Grain’s Ratcliffe highlights the significant benefit of increased profitability that can be achieved by out-sourcing specialist processes: “Specialist projects that require a specialist process will always ensure a premium price. We find that many sign companies are able to maintain healthy margins by outsourcing these specialist services; we do this ourselves on several products. This will ultimately lead to satisfied clients and repeat orders. When several specialist processes are combined, projects often achieve stunning results.”

Clearly, the key message here is to look at the options available before turning away complex projects, or work which you do not have the equipment or facilities to produce in-house. Then choose an appropriate and reputable trade supplier who can help you achieve the required end result. This way, you can enhance both your offering and profitability. This really is one of those situations where the whole can be greater than the sum of the parts.


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