ColorDynamics Powers Up at PRINTING United Expo

Allen, Texas-based commercial printer ColorDynamics — first founded in Chicago in the 1920s as Argus Press — specializes in point-of-purchase (POP) displays, commercial printing, direct mail – both digital and sheetfed offset – managed solutions like online B2B customer portals, and fulfillment, as well as trading card printing.

Much of its POP work includes convenience stores, quick serve restaurants, and retail displays. Its commercial print offerings include products like calendars, brochures, and folders. Mass mailers, targeted campaigns, personalized communication, and the like make up its direct mail products.

Despite ColorDynamics’ wide range of print offerings today, Argus Press started out as a modest family-run letterpress operation that supported a small set of businesses. In the 1980s the business moved to its current home in Texas, and that’s where the ColorDynamics business boomed.

“The ColorDynamics name took hold as the company increased its foothold into the commercial print arena,” says David Dey, executive vice president at ColorDynamics. “As ColorDynamics grew, it went from sheetfed production exclusively to adding heat set web capabilities. In the early 2000s, digital equipment was acquired through a strategic purchase, and then in 2017, a wide-format company was acquired.”

The ColorDynamics team in front of the Agfa Tauro H3300 UHS LED press. | Credit: ColorDynamics

Those key equipment and company acquisitions positioned ColorDynamics to be the print powerhouse it is today. Its top three services include wide-format printing, including fulfillment (making up 31% of the business) with trading card printing and commercial printing falling just behind wide-format. The company’s main customer base includes regional and national accounts looking for services beyond print, like mailing, print management, and warehouse offerings, Dey says.

ColorDynamics’ Printing Capabilities

With its plethora of offerings comes quite the roster of equipment. ColorDynamics’ current lineup includes:

• Two Agfa Tauro H3300 UHS presses (one with full automation and one hybrid with a master roll-to-roll attachment)
• Two HP15000 Indigo presses
• One Heidelberg XL106 8-color perfecter with dual coating towers (UV)
• One Heidelberg XL106 8-color straight with coater (UV)
• One Heidelberg CX104 6-color with coater (UV)
• One Harris M1000 8-color heat set web with dual roll stands and Scheffer inline finishing

The Tauro H3300 UHS LED MRTR was purchased at PRINTING United Expo, in 2022, and it was no accident, Dey says.

“Our Agfa sales representative had been working with us for several months on transitioning from some past technology,” he shares. “We needed additional throughput and improved two-sided accuracy on roll material. With Agfa’s help, we knew that moving to two Tauro UHS machines could replace four current devices while adding extra capacity. ColorDynamics invested time to travel to Agfa corporate in Belgium to see the machines in action and talk to the key people in R&D and engineering of these printers.”

Asked how the Tauro UHS with MRTR has been put to use, Dey says it takes on wall and window graphics, banners, and other flexible POP products. “Many of our solutions are two-sided and require tight accuracy,” he adds.

And it doesn’t just deliver on accuracy. Dey says the new printer has tripled ColorDynamics’ capacity. “The master roll-to-roll management has allowed us to run larger rolls to reduce time through fewer roll changes,” he adds. “It also improved the rewind process to help the cutting processes downstream.”

The purchase of the second Tauro UHS after the Expo was part of the plan to increase speed and capacity. “This was also strategic: to have solid redundancy of printhead and ink to best control our customers’ brand when producing at ColorDynamics,” Dey notes.

How PRINTING United Expo Helps Businesses Advance

Talking Expo, Dey says the overall range of exhibitors is a major highlight. “Equipment, software and consumables all within the same show,” he says. “Any attendee, whether from a big or small company, will walk away with ideas and new options to enhance their business.”

For this year’s show, happening Sept. 10-12 in Las Vegas, ColorDynamics’ focus will be a little different. Because it has made investments in wide-format, digital, and offset in the last five years, this year is all about improvements in bindery and finishing, Dey shares.

That's the beauty of PRINTING United Expo: Print businesses can go with plans to expand or improve upon current print segments and explore new and adjacent profit centers. Convergence and diversification are the name of the print game these days, and Dey argues the Expo is the place to make those dreams come true.

“I think the Expo exposes the attendees to options outside the services they currently support,” Dey says. “It is a great place to learn and apply new things that can enhance or improve your business.”
Want to take your business to the next level? Register for PRINTING United Expo 2024, where you’ll find top industry suppliers, education, networking, and much more.