InkWorks Printing expands its digital printing capabilities

Jennifer Parmley

Contributor

October 3, 2023

PLYMOUTH – A Sheboygan County business’ investment in a new digital press has allowed it to expand upon its digital flexible packaging offerings. 

InkWorks Printing, located at 1446 Pilgrim Road in Plymouth, added an HP Indigo 200K digital press to its operation this summer – which President and Owner Bob Travis said offers numerous advantages for customers in a variety of markets due to its expanded capabilities.

“This new press is the latest and greatest in wide-format technology, and it’s already working hard for us,” he said.  

Travis said the HP Indigo 200K expands upon two existing HP press systems that InkWorks has been using since the company was founded in 2009.

According to the product description, it offers many advantages, such as on-demand delivery, no minimum orders, fast setup and minimal waste per job.   

“Our focus is on digital printing,” Travis said. “We want to take digital printing into markets and offer solutions where it’s not typically understood, or where companies can go with it.”

Travis said digital printing creates a value proposition.

Shipping Lead Zach Drescher and Christine Nitsch, account manager, hold the certificate InkWorks received from RCS Empowers as September’s Employer of the Month. Photo Courtesy of InkWorks Printing

“We show customers how they can sell more with digital,” he said.

As a company, Travis said InkWorks focuses on three areas: 
Adhesive labels – beer, wine and address labelsIn-mold labels – which involves inserting a pre-printed label into a mold before molding occurs. An example of this type of application is the back panel on a bottle filling station, indicating where to position a bottle for filling.Flexible packaging – an example of this is resealable pouches, which can contain a variety of products, including food, snacks and other items that benefit from freshness. 
“The flexible packaging industry offers the most potential for growth and is our newest focus,” Account Manager Christine Nitsch said. “We do a lot for cannabis companies.”

The company, Travis said, also offers an online print portal, a customizable B2B e-commerce store that gives customers access to the full order process and order transparency with a click of a button.

“We process about a thousand orders a day for the online business,” he said.  

Consistent growth, innovation
Travis said InkWorks has come a long way since it was founded nearly 15 years ago.

He said he and his business partner, Vice President John Jensen – whose expertise is in material science – saw the potential of digital printing. 

Travis and Jensen said they took advantage of low-interest loans the city offered and found a vacant building that worked for their purposes. 

“We got a lot of help from the City of Plymouth,” Travis said. “There are a lot of great resources in Sheboygan County, including a skilled workforce.” 

Fifteen years ago, Travis said the company began with five employees and a press.

Bob Travis holds the trophy awarded to InkWorks for the company’s first-place win for the National Employee Health and Fitness Day in the Sheboygan County Small Company Category. Photo Courtesy of InkWorks Printing

Today, they have grown to a workforce of about 40.

Travis said the company is also making a name for itself by participating in local initiatives.

Earlier this year, InkWorks participated in the National Employee Health and Fitness Day as part of the Healthy Sheboygan County initiative and won first place in the Small Company Category for paid participation.

Nitsch said InkWorks employees were paid to take scheduled 20-minute movement breaks throughout the day. 

“We got 100% participation,” she said.

InkWorks also was awarded the September 2023 Employer of the Month award from RCS Empowers, a Sheboygan County organization that provides employment services such as job exploration, preparation, placement and job coaching. 

“We hired a young man in high school who worked in their shipping department for the summer and his coach said he had a positive experience here,” Nitsch said.

As a Plymouth-based company, Travis said it is important to everyone at the company to involve itself with the community they call home.

For more information on InkWorks, visit its Facebook page.