Chief Blazes New Trails in Digital

The U.S. Independent Installs the First HP C500 Press in the U.S.

“Pioneers in Printing” was the headline of a feature article about Chief Container that ran in Corrugated Today more than 12 years ago. At that time the company was flexo printing 120 line screen, running grayscale and achieving near perfection in four-color process on its seven and eight-color Bobst Martin DRO presses.

Printing is in the company’s DNA, Reuben Guthrie, President, says. Indeed, in the corrugated industry the name “Chief” is synonymous with high-end graphics and award winning packaging and displays. The independent manufacturer in Acworth, Georgia, has invested millions of dollars and hundreds of thousands of man-hours to perfect the process and in turn earn the reputation as one of the best corrugated printers in the U.S.

While direct print flexo has often received top billing, the printing process never had exclusivity. For nearly two decades, Chief has been blazing new trails in digital printing as well. The first machines were an HP Latex LX600 printer to produce banners, wall posters and signage and an HP Scitex FB700 industrial printer for rigid substrates.

As the product mix expanded, it became clear that analog and digital were two separate businesses so in 2011 Chief Digital was established. “We already knew there was a different mindset required,” Aaron Hayes, General Manager of Chief Digital, says. “Your numbers aren’t the same. There are differences in quality and lead times and how you communicate with the customer. It made sense to split up the companies and run them as separate profit centers.”

By 2013, Chief Digital had two HP Scitex FB7600 industrial presses and in 2015 installed an HP Scitex 15500 corrugated press. The company also has an EFI H1625-SD wide format printer for thermoforming applications and two Kongsberg XL and XP digital cutting tables.

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