Impressions - September 2018 - 35

320Ink at a Glance
C ompan y n ame: 320Ink
address: 59 Sanford Drive, Gorham, ME 04038
Foun ded: 2007
no. oF employees: 11
deCoraTIn G meTH ods oFFered: Screen printing, embroidery, finishing,
and specialty and water-based inks
C ompan y WebsITe: 320ink.com

Started from owner Drue
Nickerson's basement, 320Ink
now sits in an industrial facility,
with plans to soon move into a
10,500-square-foot space.

Getting the Job Done

The Art of Evolving

The company currently employs 11 people
and operates with two eight-color M&R
automatic screen-printing presses, an M&R
Sprint 2000 gas dryer, two Hopkins Intl.
six-color manual presses,an M&R six-color
manual press, and a smallerWorkhorse dryer
for the manual presses. For embroidery, a
Barudan six-head and four-head machine
get the job done.
Nickerson says the shop will add a third
automatic press this winter after moving
into a new, 10,500-square-foot space. He
also says using specialty inks has helped set
his shop apart from the competition and
increased the products offered and sales.
"We are screen-printing geeks, so we like
to play with new processes and experiment
by using and offering these inks," he says.
"I think it makes us more experienced
and knowledgeable printers."
Nickerson says the company's strategy
for success is to continue being an expert
at what it does, instead of trying to be
everything to everyone.
"I think a lot of companies fall into this
trap where they don't want to let anybody
walk away, and so they find themselves
making signs, wrapping cars, and selling
pens and Frisbees," he says. "For us, specializing in high-quality, screen-printed
and embroidered apparel has consistently
worked out well for us."

Growth presents a natural challenge for
any business, and such has been the case for
320Ink. Nickerson describes a "perpetual
state of growing pains" as he prepares to
move to the company's fourth location
in 10 years.
"We have purchased three businesses
along the way and added equipment and
people," he says. "One of the most difficult things about growth is managing the
new volume efficiently, so the customer
experience doesn't suffer during our transitional times."
The shop implements systems and procedures to keep everything organized and
on track. Nickerson says 320Ink's hiring
strategy - "3Dubs" - also is key when
expanding. He says it identifies the "where,"
"when" and "who" during the talentacquisition process.
Where: Nickerson says having a real
understanding of the position being filled
is important, though not always obvious.
"Sometimes you might think you need
a position in production to solve a problem, when really that problem is due to an
inefficiency in the front office, or maybe
even the process itself," he says. "Before
we hire, we always try and see if the issue
can be solved by improving efficiencies
and processes."
When: Nickerson says this can be trick-

ier. "I do not believe in hiring and then
laying off in the slower season as some
shops will do," he says. "I try [to have]
balance to make sure when I hire a new
full-time employee, we truly need that
position. I also hire enough in advance
not to over-strain the current team."
Who: Hiring people that will fit
320Ink's culture is important.Above experience, Nickerson values a potential
employee who is hard-working, willing
to learn from others, kind, respectful and
a team player.
Looking Forward
Nickerson says the buildout for 320Ink's
new space will be well planned and customized. In fact, it recently purchased an
embroidery company, bringing multiple
decoration services under one roof.
"We are in the process of matriculating
customers and getting that process fully
dialed in from a front-end-process standpoint," he says. "Bringing embroidery
in-house has been a long time coming
and will allow us to provide a much better customer-service experience for our
embroidery customers. In the new location, we will be able to add much-needed
presses and processes that will help with
turn times, as well as customer service."
He explains the meaning behind the
name: "Since 320 degrees is the temperature required to properly cure most
screen-printing inks, the name is a play
on quality, something that has always been
a core value." 
Jennifer Morrell is an award-winning writer who
has written for a number of national consumer
and trade publications. For more information
or to comment on this article, email Jennifer at
jennmorrell@hotmail.com.
SEPTEMBER 2018

P.35
http://www.320ink.com
Impressions - September 2018

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