HP INNOVATION FALL / WINTER 2022 27 the plant , most of them on the manufacturing floor , but every winter an additional 700 temporary employees are hired to get through the holidays . The HP Indigo presses are key to keeping the entire operation running smoothly as that workforce gets up to speed .
SHUTTERFLY LAUNCHED IN 1999 as a pioneer in customized printing and grew as digital printing technology developed to allow for individual , ondemand print jobs . No longer would printers have to print thousands of copies of a single design to make the press run worthwhile . Since 2017 , some 21 million customers have ordered small batches of everything from canvas prints and coffee mugs to calendars and coasters , which are delivered right to their door .
“ We introduced all these products with photos on them over the last 20 years , and that ’ s been a huge hit ,” says Jim Nelson , Shutterfly ’ s vice president of manufacturing . “ It ’ s not just about a photo anymore . It ’ s also about design and personalization .”
Shutterfly , which today has three divisions — Consumer , Lifetouch , and Shutterfly Business Solutions — is expanding into the creator marketplace and going beyond photo personalization with a new line of designer-produced products that let individual makers share their work with a larger consumer base . In 2021 , the company purchased Spoonflower , which enables independent artists to create fabric-based home decor items like tablecloths and print-on-demand wallpaper that they can sell to a global market online . Shutterfly also makes customized cell phone cases using a printing technique called dye-sublimation that prints directly onto metal surfaces , or uses direct-to-product printing on curved surfaces like tumblers and wine glasses . Consumers can now custom design over 600 different products and choose from 4,000 artist-led designs on the Shutterfly platform . Altogether , the Shutterfly family of brands is the largest manufacturing and ecommerce platform for personalized printing , products , and custom designs .
Key to that expansion and Shutterfly ’ s work as an industry leader is its collaborative relationship with HP . In 2020 , after Shutterfly was an initial beta tester of the HP Indigo 100K presses , the company purchased 60 of the Indigo 100K and 12000 presses , moving their entire fleet to HP ’ s electrically-charged ink products . It was a landmark deal , catapulting the company to a position as HP ’ s biggest customer for large-format presses and helping Shutterfly improve consistency and quality in all its prints , usher in a new era of personalized printing , and become more sustainable .
“ We ’ re absolutely innovating together ,” says Oran Sokol , HP ’ s Global Head of Strategic Accounts for industrial printing . “ The partnership with Shutterfly is one of the most collaborative engagements we have .”
THE WORK IN PLANO is powered by a fleet of
20 HP Indigo digital presses . In the past year , those presses have printed 21 million sheets alone . The flagship of the fleet is the Indigo 100K Digital Press . While it ’ s running , three drums whir around , lit from inside like Back to the Future ’ s flux capacitor . In the blink of an eye , a tiny laser moves across the surface of the first drum , adding a positive charge where the ink should go . Four BIDs ( binary ink developers )— one for each color — add negatively-charged ink from each canister that electrically bonds with the charge on the drum . That ink is transferred to the ceramic blanket on the second drum , which then spins onto the paper being carried around the third and final drum .
On the other side of the press , each sheet is ejected onto a tray — just like your printer at home — where press operators can inspect it for flaws . HP has a built-in quality standard , but Shutterfly says they ’ re looking for minute details as part of their nationwide quality-control system . It could be a problem if something printed in Plano looks slightly different than something printed in Tempe , Arizona , for example , so consistency is critical .
Plus , Shutterfly ’ s Mooney explains , these printed products will likely become important mementos for their customers , as they have for him , commemorating his kids ’ graduations , their weddings , the birth of grandchildren , and even sadder occasions , like the death of a loved one .
“ We ’ re creating products that , in all likelihood , may outlive me , or whoever ’ s buying them ,” he says .
As the massive HP presses roll on one side of the
Shutterfly ’ s director of manufacturing operations Chris Mooney on the facility floor in Plano , above ; fresh prints spin through rollers to dry , left .