Opinion Here's a Chat that I had with a large sign wholesaler....

Sounds like they don't do that. Maybe there is a reason they don't.

 

They could have at least responded.
Bad business in my book.

 

Ask them if they have any left-handed coroclaws in their toolbox. Pretty sure you can cross-cut with those.....

 

They're a volume supplier and that's a custom request. I would say no as well. It may seem simple to you but when you ask employees to do this 1 random order different than how they do things 100 times a day 5 days a week, it usually doesn't work out well. In order to work, the person that took the order will have to spend their time babysitting this 1 $50 order through the entire process just to make sure that it gets cut right. This is the sort of thing that slows down production and causes places with high volume/low margins to start bleeding.

 

Honestly.....custom orders or requests like this is where we as a wholesaler excel. We would do that for you...no problem at all. Its that one custom order in my opinion that adds to our relationships with clients...new and old. Larger volume shops are rigid in their capabilities or what they would and wouldn't do as you found out. Our phone number is listed below and we can always be reached for requests of this sort.

 

Zsigns
there is a reason, alright. it does seem like a simple request. perhaps scoring coroplast with a razorknife is a lost art, like doing plastering, or shoeing horses...

 

I feel in favor of S365. If you are asking for something they do not do and you want them to do it your way, they probably figure you are not going to like the way they did it and it will be a pain dealing with you after the fact.
You complain you do not like shipping and charging more and now your complaining they don't do something they are not set up for.

 

I think some of y'all have a very good point. You don't go to a soccer store to buy a football or a tennis store to buy golf balls. When you have a well oiled machine running, there is no reason to stop everything, just to please some oddity. It says it right in your title..... they are a wholesaler. They mass produce large quantities of things. You, on the other hand are a small custom sign shop. Let them print the signs and you cookie cut it however ya want when ya get them. If that's too inconvenient, ya might hafta look elsewhere if you're not capable of doing it in-house.

 

I'm with S365 on this one, the amount of volume they produce does not lend them to custom 1 off jobs with custom instructions, there is a good chance a human doesn't touch the product until it's put into a box.

A high volume online wholesaler is not the correct vendor for this.

 

Yep, that's why I like to use Wyld, they are flexible and actually look at what they are making

 

I would imagine that there is still a big risk of the coroplast tearing along the cross cut eventually.
If i were supplying this i would not guarantee it.

 

Signs365 used to offer to score and fold. It's been a while, but I got a few 4x8s folded down to approx 2x4.
It's possible they no longer do this, or that it's common knowledge for production staff and there is very little direct contact between customer service and production (due to covid, working form home, etc) Just a guess...

 

This is what we offer here: https://www.firesprint.com/yard-signs-10mm-heavy-duty-digitally-printed/

 

I'm curious... how do folded signs look after you take them out and make them 4x8 again? Do they look like its been scored?

 

Of course you'll see the score line. Take a look at a corrugated paperboard box...they "crimp" score where the flaps fold (cross flute). It would be the same principle with the coro.

OP: Check with your local fab shop. A guy could do the same thing with a press brake...all it would take to score coro is a light kiss between a piece of bar stock in the lower v-die and the upper punch. Two score lines approx twice the material thickness apart will produce a perfect flat fold with no stress.

Best of all, it would remain strong because NO cutting takes place. It would be similar to a living hinge.


JB

 

Yes, they do. Dark, heavy ink coverage shows it more of course. This is one of those moments when a good designer with a solid understanding of production could save a company a bunch of money while keeping brands looking their best.

Not to rant too much here, but I feel some may think of design as 90% art and 10% science/technique. I think in our world, it has to be closer to 50/50 to really get a great result.

 

We have scored them plenty of times without an issue. Clients were quite happy with the results.