2023 Wide-Format Innovators: How Image Options Drives Wide-Format Innovation

From an editorial standpoint, it’s difficult to cover the wide-format space and not frequently come across Image Options, the Lake Forest, California company, founded in 1999, that is a leader in the surface imaging, display, and visual communications industry. To describe the company as “forward-thinking” comes off as somewhat of an understatement. “Forward-acting” is a better description.

It’s not just the printing that defines Image Options. It’s also planning, coordination, and execution. | Credit: Image Options

Image Options’ quest for innovation — to find new markets and opportunities, and to find more effective ways to serve them — is one of the things that sets the company apart. From building bespoke software to add greater customer connectivity on large retail accounts, to the implementation of dye-sublimation on a high-production scale, to building valuable and largely-uncharted paths in surface decoration for architectural and construction clients, the company has stayed in the lead — and not by accident. There is a mindset among the company’s leadership, including chief strategy officer, principal, and co-founder Brian Hite, that involves seeking what’s next. Here’s a deeper dive into their approach.

WFI: What does innovation look like in today’s wide-format segment?

Brian Hite: It is difficult to describe what is truly innovative in the large-format space today. Innovation should always continue to drive the large-format space, but with the industry reaching a mature state, innovation has slowed. I’ve personally not experienced or seen any significant moves of the needle.
That being said, there are companies which have developed unique attributes and efficiencies: from adapting equipment designed for another industry and applying it to large-format, to introducing new processes, and adapting automation where appropriate. The industry has always been full of creative and forward-thinking solutions.

With printing and fabrication in-house, Image Options has capabilities for differentiation and market growth. | Credit: Image Options

Despite it being a while since I’ve toured other facilities, I’m aware most of our competitors strive for incremental increased efficiency through software tools and automation. There really has not been a “silver bullet” solution to the challenges we all face. For instance, automation doesn’t really exist if each piece is unique. As a company, our opportunities to automate are fewer: file acceptance, automating processes for print-ready files, loading, and unloading. Though automation is difficult, it doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try. Anything we can do ahead of time helps, though sometimes it’s not practical.

As a company, we address new opportunities and whether to pursue them by being aware of our core competencies — what we’re good at and what we lack — in relation to the opportunity we’re exposed to. As an example, we focus on print and fabrication, not on digital activations. While that is an opportunity that dovetails with what some of our customers want, we don’t have that expertise. We have to ask, what is the cost to hire a subject matter expert? To educate sales? To build production? How quickly can we build that to offset the costs? But if an opportunity is adjacent, and you’re just missing a small piece to get there, then it makes sense.

WFI: How important is training and team development?

Hite: Most companies do not devote the resources required to properly train and onboard new employees. The typical approach is to hire for a specific position and expect the person to perform well with minimal training or introduction to the rest of the company. Most applicants will tell you, when asked, that they were shown briefly how to do what they were hired to do, worked with someone for maybe a day, and then were expected to do the job.

Even at Image Options, where our normal hires get more training than at other companies, we do not perform what I would consider a comprehensive training and introduction to the company. When hired, we send a card to their home welcoming them. On their second day, their manager, other available department heads, and a partner take them to lunch, but there is not currently a great deal of follow through. It is difficult to put in place or practice a more methodical process that works for all employees.

We’re committed, however, to comprehensive training to ensure all employees can excel and feel the value we place in them. We can do a better job internally to communicate when we do a good job, and externally to the industry, where we always talk about our people. We recently engaged a consultant to speak with each employee anonymously about the company, their specific role, what they lack and what we could do to develop a better process.

There was much feedback from that effort, on the business, the process, and on individuals. As a company, you want people’s impressions and what they see. You want new ideas. Based on the commentary presented by the consultant, we found reasons to make improvements to our culture and practices, and to address some inconsistencies we located in communication. We also became more aware of our team’s wants and needs, personality conflicts, and the need for constant coaching. The effort was worth our time.

WFI: Why do sustainability and compliance matter?

Hite: Sustainability and ESH (environmental, safety, and health) are important to customers, and at Image Options, we’ve placed a high emphasis on sustainability. But I believe many give it lip service and do not take seriously a commitment to be truly sustainable. This applies to both companies and the customers. Sustainability is at the heart of what we do. We’re SGP (Sustainable Green Printing Partnership) Certified, and we continue to educate our employees and customers about the importance and benefits of sustainability. We also have a committee responsible for safety and sustainability that meets once a month.

Regarding OSHA, our commitment to employee well-being and growth extends beyond job-specific training. We work with a service that conducts random spot audits of our facilities and provides monthly training on important topics like workplace safety, sexual harassment, and OSHA regulations. Safety and process are discussed at every employee meeting. We’re committed to ensuring a safe and respectful workplace.

Serving as a Model for Innovation

Over the last couple of decades, Image Options has served as a model for innovation by sharing honestly about its journey. Even for this article, Brian Hite shared not only the approaches that make the company an industry leader, but also challenges facing the industry, and ways Image Options can improve. It is this humility, and a willingness to practice transparency by serving as a panelist at numerous industry events, that makes Hite a person to be listened to, and Image Options a company to watch.