Imaged Glass Panels (Adobe PDF 186K)

Taking on a Challenge Considered Impossible


When Korean-headquartered Samsung built a new $3.5 billion semiconductor facility in Austin, Texas, the electronics manufacturer wanted to use printed glass and mirrors as a central design element in its employee locker room and smock room.

Samsung wanted to regularly clean the rooms to eliminate dust, static and contaminants, and provide an attractive employee environment. Samsung originally planned to image large glass and mirror panels — reaching 2.99 m (118 inches) tall and ranging from 1.32 m (52 inches) to 1.52 m (60 inches) wide — in Korea and then ship them to the US facility.

However, the company was concerned about the logistics and possible panel destruction. As it became more important for Samsung to have the job completed on time, the company looked for a local product source and turned to an SGIA member based in Austin to offer some print samples.

The printing company says it faced several challenges with the job, including a language barrier. The contractor and SGIA printer member did not speak Korean and Samsung’s Korean designers spoke little English.

However, the SGIA printer member found the print samples it sent to the Korean designers spoke the right language. The designers were “flabbergasted” by the print quality of the sample pieces.

It took a few tries for the SGIA printer member to get the right quality for the test samples. The shop only had its flatbed printer for two months before getting the Samsung job. Several varying preparation and curing methods were used to finally find the right formula for the job.

The quality in the test samples was the access the Texas printing company needed to progress with the job. This had become more challenging with the tight time frame in which Samsung wanted the work completed.

From the moment the SGIA printer member accepted the job from Samsung, the print shop only had 15 days to print and deliver the job, which would include 26 tempered glass panels, 15 mirror panels and several PETG panels.

The print shop’s staff worked three shifts for 10 days to meet Samsung’s deadline, which was its grand opening for the facility. Since the print shop had never previously worked with glass panels, the owners consulted with their flatbed supplier EFI VUTEk to make sure the device’s conveyor belt would be able to hold the panels, which weighed roughly 300 pounds each.

The print shop brought in a technician for the initial test printing of the panels, the print shop says, noting the technician offered guidance on minimizing any damage to the printer. In addition to their weight, the panels’ size also was an issue. The shop’s employees had to carefully move the bulky pieces as quickly as possible while not causing any damage.

Installation of the panels was done by another company at the Samsung facility, resulting in seamless graphics along the walls.

While the project tested the print shop’s capabilities, it has opened up new avenues for the SGIA printer member, allowing the business to offer more creative projects like it.

SGIA printer member Austin Graphic Inc. (Austin, Texas) provided the printing for the Samsung project. The company can be contacted at www.austingraphics.com or 512.832.4100.