Custom Ink closing Reno and Charlottesville production facilities; 338 jobs

[Dottonedan]

Custom Ink closing Reno and Charlottesville production facilities (rgj.com)

[rusty]

Yeah they just had an auction for all that stuff. I guess they didn't anticipate a slow or maybe the stretched themselves to thin with acquiring a few platforms like swag.com and printficient.com

They seem to be going big towards corporate promo. They opened a store in NYC but it looks like appt. only but its right in the middle of midtown with offices. Don' know how that will work out with more corporate people working from home.

I thought this was an interest look in how they run things in their shop. Spoiler alert: not good

http://www.ourtownreno.com/our-stories-1/2023/1/11/former-inkers-from-custom-ink-relieved-to-leave-company-in-their-past

[ebscreen]

130 production employees, 245 non-production employees. 2:1 office to floor? I don't know about all that.
To be fair they aren't the only company that has found the Reno labor talent pool shall we say challenging.

From the auction pics it looks like their facilities were setup by the "guy that knows everything".

With the price sheets they were sending around, and the way they treated one of their first contract shops
(encouraged to expand for them, then rug pulled when they opened their own facilities)..... good riddance.

[GraphicDisorder]

Happy to see it other than a lot of people lost their jobs. I am sure some of them did good work and cared.

[brandon]

I saw this coming but for different reasons. Interesting

[Atownsend]

I was just up there at the Cville auction site on Monday picking up some things. one of the riggers who is working there bought one of their IT technologies auto reclaim units for 1K... he is about to scrap it for the stainless steel. If anyone wants it I can put you in contact with the guy. I took a peak in it and it looked like it was running when they left it, but its been sitting since they shut down several months ago. PM me if anyone is interested, they're trying to have the place totally cleared by the 23rd I think.

[Dottonedan]

A couple months ago, before the auction, I was offered to go in on buying 3 of the I-Image machines.
Once I got into looking at what was available, (already crated, would not confirm if they are operational, would not confirm if they removed the ink from the machines before crating). We had no idea what would be wrong if any. Chances were good that the heads (3 heads each) were bad now. Not to mention that they also do not come with the PC, so all would need a computer and all software re installed. They were going to sell three for 10k total. After learning all of that, we bailed.

[Atownsend]

A couple months ago, before the auction, I was offered to go in on buying 3 of the I-Image machines.
Once I got into looking at what was available, (already crated, would not confirm if they are operational, would not confirm if they removed the ink from the machines before crating). We had no idea what would be wrong if any. Chances were good that the heads (3 heads each) were bad now. Not to mention that they also do not come with the PC, so all would need a computer and all software re installed. They were going to sell three for 10k total. After learning all of that, we bailed.

The CTS units I saw up there looked very rough... I think you dodged a bullet. None appeared to be operational. The Saati laser units looked good though. The one I saw went for 60k and looked like a good deal.

[T Shirt1]

That's pretty interesting. I haven't seen their TV spots for a while. Thanks.

[ebscreen]

their IT technologies auto reclaim units for 1K...

Why do auto-reclaim machines never sell? I know they are large but wth.
There was one at a large shop auction in socal, came with like 600 gallons of the chemical.
Sold for scrap.


Also, looks like PM's on the board aren't working? I received an email notification
of one but can't reply as it doesn't show in my inbox?

[Evo]

Why do auto-reclaim machines never sell?

We just swapped out to a new one. These things get worked hard and there is a bajillion moving parts, some of which are custom fab stuff. The stainless chassis/tub is all welded as one piece and should last forever. It's all the stuff attached to it that makes it a headache.

Power, air, water, drainage, brushes, nozzles, spray tips, pumps, belts, ducting, etc etc. You'd have to nuts to try to refurb one. It would be your new full time job for months.

[Frog]

Also, looks like PM's on the board aren't working? I received an email notification
of one but can't reply as it doesn't show in my inbox?

Maybe another issue our new tech will handle once he's aware.
I just sent you a message. Anything?

[ebscreen]

Maybe another issue our new tech will handle once he's aware.
I just sent you a message. Anything?

Got it. Notification shows too.