Sign Shop Profile: Prints and partnerships

by marika_gabriel | 14 November 2024 10:00 am

How Sleek Signs stays ahead by placing people and relationships at the core of its business model

By Marika Gabriel

Sleek Signs began in a garage in 2006, but from the start, it was never just about signs and printing—it was about people. Built on a belief in fast, reliable service and strong relationships, Sleek Signs has grown into a thriving company with more than 40 employees and three locations in two Canadian provinces. The firm’s focus has always been on empowering the team, valuing collaboration, and treating clients as true partners.

Sign Media Canada spoke to Sleek Signs’ CEO and president, Carl Weger, to learn more about the shop’s journey from humble beginnings to becoming a leader in the industry. Weger shared insights into the company’s growth, its focus on fostering meaningful relationships, and the importance of building a dedicated team. He also discussed how Sleek Signs has navigated industry changes, embraced technology, and maintained its commitment to delivering exceptional results.

Sign Media Canada (SMC): What is the history of the shop?

Carl Weger (CW): Sleek Signs was founded in 2006 in the garage of original owner Curtis Baylak. Curtis was an entrepreneur and trailblazer investing in the emerging large-format print technology. His focus on out-of-home (OOH) printing quickly gained him a large customer list and led him from his garage to a 510.9-m² (5,500-sf) production facility in Regina’s Warehouse District, Sask. Initially, Sleek produced and rented mini billboards. As the company grew, Sleek transitioned to just printing and worked successfully with two of the country’s largest OOH companies at the time—CBS Outdoor and Pattison Outdoor.

In 2013, Curtis sold Sleek to its current owner Brad Hertz who saw the emerging industry as an opportunity and set out to streamline processes, widen the product offering, and invest in the latest digital equipment. Although Brad had no direct experience in the print industry, his ability to eliminate inefficiencies, consolidate purchasing, and invest in automation proved to be a powerful catalyst for growth. I joined several months after the transition as part-owner and helped with marketing and sales. The last 11 years have been quite a rollercoaster. Sleek has grown from a local company of five employees to a company shipping nationwide with three locations and more than 40 employees. We changed about everything we could and made every mistake along the way.

SMC: What makes your company unique?

CW: Sleek Signs was built on speed. Our focus on consolidated communication, shared centralized preproduction, and extended production hours has let Sleek compete with companies several times its size. We believe in empowering our designers to be CSRs. This streamlined communication has led us to getting things into production quicker and shortens the time from request to delivery. Sleek also has overlapping shifts allowing for better utilization of staff and equipment. Extended workdays make what was once considered unreasonable urgency now a standard part of business operations. However, the most unique part of our business is our people. We have been able to attract some of the best print professionals, new graduates, and talented installers. The team is just that—a team. We offer a career in an industry that often offers a job, and their efforts and talent have made Sleek a success.

 

SMC: How large is the facility?

CW: Sleek Signs has 40-plus employees in three different markets Regina and Saskatoon, Sask., and Calgary, Alta. Our flagship facility in Regina is more than 2,322 m² (25,000 sf) featuring three installation bays, a dedicated printing building, and another for finishing/shipping. Our 0.5 ha (1.3 acres) fenced compound allows for easy staging of fleet customers and provides unique capabilities in the Prairies. Our Saskatoon facility is mainly used for staging our installation team but allows for smaller installations. Sleek’s most recent expansion in 2022 to Calgary added another 929 m² (10,000 sf) of production space and state-of-the-art equipment.

SMC: What type of signage does your shop install?  

CW: Sleek Signs is not a traditional “sign company.”
We are a large-format print facility, and as such, do not do any electrified signage, pylons, or monument signs. Sleek focuses on OOH, special event, tradeshow, architectural, and development signs. We build relationships with clients who need repeat brand/marketing materials. We install billboards throughout Saskatchewan in partnership with Pattison Outdoor as well as transit ads in both Regina and Saskatoon. Sleek also does a large volume of vehicle wraps, frosting applications, wall murals, development signage, and pageantry prints (mesh banners, coroplast signage, decals, tradeshow displays).

SMC: What type of projects have you been working on recently?

CW: Sleek has seen a great deal of activity in Calgary as it experiences rapid growth, with development and show home signage being some of the biggest opportunities.
As Saskatchewan enters an election season, coroplast, banners, and OOH have also been a large component of our work. Our fleet work has been growing, including several rebrands and fleet expansions now that the vehicle production backlogs have been settling out.

SMC: How much of the sign installation process is handled in-house?

CW: In Regina and Saskatoon, we mainly handle all our installations. When outsourcing, we try to be transparent and partner with the installation company, so our clients understand what is within our wheelhouse and what we need to partner on. In Calgary, we do not have any full-time installers and work with partners for all our installations. The Calgary market has many specialized installation-only companies, and we have found this makes it much easier to balance the workload and meet peak demand/timelines. These companies also then give us the chance to produce for them, making the relationship mutually beneficial.

SMC: What tools/equipment do you use?

CW: At Sleek, we are very proud of our production capacity. We have four 2.44 m (8 ft) hybrid flatbed/roll-to-roll printers, three 3.05 m (10 ft) latex printers, four 1.52 m (5 ft) latex printers, four 3.05 m (10 ft) solvent printers,  and a newly installed 5 m (16.5 ft) Durst printer, bringing us into the super-wide format space. Our newest flatbed DigiTech TruFire three-quarter automation in-line print and cut solution paired with a Colex cutter has changed the game when it comes to speed and efficiency. Our goal is to have over-capacity, redundancy, and the widest capability to serve our clients in the fastest possible way.

SMC: What does your planning process involve?

CW: Our projects are very time-sensitive and not too complex, so we don’t plan projects as much as triage them. Our planning is done in advance, making sure we have the people, products, and processes in place to respond to our clients’ needs. We plan by keeping a high volume of material on the floor, scheduling extended hours, and creating standard operating procedures to help us scale. We are planning for the unexpected order, but the order itself doesn’t need much planning.

SMC: How is technology changing your business?

CW: Our company sees technology in three very distinct categories: Production, automation, and communication. In production, we look for trends in materials and equipment that might provide time/cost savings or offer novel solutions. It is nice to have the latest and greatest, but often balancing your needs versus wants offers a more sustainable solution. We feel one of our strengths is adopting technological automation. Automating repetitive tasks, QR codes, automated task allocation, and software scripts, all play a significant role in our competitiveness. Communication is the last technology on our list. We are excited about generative Artificial Intelligence (AI), large language models, and content creation using the newest platforms such as ChatGPT, Midjourney, and Dall-e. However, to date, we are still old school with regard to our communication. We create our messaging/content, have a real person on the phone, a professional replying to your emails, and a salesman in the flesh. It is hard to build a relationship with a robot, and we are in the relationship business.

SMC: What is the key to staying successful in this industry?

CW: Our key to staying successful is what made us successful to begin with—relationships. We need strong relationships in the industry, with our clients and employees, but perhaps most importantly, our staff. We have reliable industry partners in our suppliers, installers, and wholesale partners. We feel being involved in the industry builds success. We have built our business in a relatively small market, and reputation goes a long way to help or hurt companies.

Our most important relationship has been with Pattison Outdoor, and we can attribute much, if not all our success, to them. That relationship has allowed us to learn from our mistakes and understand what great companies expect. They helped us grow and build capacity with the trust of continued business. Clients like these are more partners in your success than customers. Our company culture has helped us recruit and retain truly incredible employees. When you have happy people work for you and you give them a career, they attract more great people. Finally, the staff relationship is often overlooked in my opinion. Co-workers need to respect each other, have accountability and autonomy, and know they will be supported. We are a team, everyone has a role, everyone has different talents, but everyone is valuable.
A team wins and loses together; at Sleek, the competition is never with your colleague.

SMC: What are the plans for your business?

CW: Brad is more the planner and the future vision partner; I’m more day-to-day. He is always researching new equipment, software, and markets to expand into. So far, there has been a pretty good balance between the two of us. I think most companies have plans to grow. Sleek is no different. We plan to invest in our team, procedures, and relationships. We are planning for greater competition, higher expectations, and a difficult labour market. Our plan to address these challenges is to build relationships, efficiencies, and a world-class team.

Source URL: https://www.signmedia.ca/sign-shop-profile-prints-and-partnerships/

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