Dear all,

Greetings from PACOM! It's now July, and obviously this means that I am late with the updates! (Cue throwing stones)

In all seriousness, I think I've been the busiest I've been since I arrived here, and really haven't had the time to organize the happenings at PACOM in a manner that is suitable for consumption, because there are a lot of things happening. But oh well, we'll give it a go. Onto the news!

Travels

In March and April, PACOM was at London and Bologna respectively, as we displayed our wares and met with both current and potential clients. While it is no secret that companies bring their best work to these events, it was nevertheless a moment of pride that the people who visited the booths and took a close look at the products in store were all complimentary of the quality.

In addition to the major book shows, members of the PACOM staff were on the ground in various other countries in Asia to discuss potential cooperation (in fact, one of our higher officers is currently in Japan). All in all, heady times for the company!

Visitors

Since the last update, we've had both familiar guests (all from Europe) and new guests. One such guest was a photographer currently residing in Seoul, who found us via our website and contacted us. We've had a couple of successful projects that all began with a small cold e-mail this year so far--the wonders of the Internet.

From abroad, we've had guests from France and Switzerland come visit for press checks, amd some of them will be coming back again in the near future. Now that the restrictions are just a distant memory (remember quarantines?), PACOM has been frequented by clients both new and familiar, and we're happy as can be in that regard!

Innovations

Those of you familiar with our work know that we manufacture a lot of calendars every year. A few years ago, we were given a task--find a way to efficiently produce plastic-free calendars (i.e. without shrinkwrap).

After the usual fretting about having to change our existing shrinkwrap calendar manufacturing systems, we went about trying to find a solution. It wasn't easy, but we managed to find a way.

First, the calendar design had to be changed, as we couldn't rely on shrinkwrap to hold the calendar together. Thus, the design of the calendar was edited so that there is a "flap" that looks like an envelope, which serves to enclose the calendar.
Second, we managed to devise a new piece of technology which would allow us to fully automate the binding of plastic-free calendars while maintaining production speed.

The end result is an automated process which allows us to maintain the volume of calendars produced while achieving the goals of the products being plastic-free. Through a combination of reimagining the saddle stitch binding process and investing in the necessary technology to make such ideas a reality, PACOM managed to reach the target of plastic-free calendars procuced en masse, all within our facility. It is a transition and end result that we are extremely proud of, and one which we have yet to see as being replicated elsewhere.

Even though 25 years have passed since the inception of PACOM, the industry doesn't sit still, and neither can we. Thus, we worked to find a solution that fit evolving customer demands, and devised a new process which allowed us to meet those demands while maintaining production volume.

New happenings at PACOM

We're making changes to the space seen previously where we moved our digital presses and equipment. We're creating a hybrid space where artists can come in and freely come and go, and have the opportunity to turn their creations into tangible, physical products on the spot.

Also, in that space we have set up a new label printing line, equipped with laser cutting capabilities. As digital printing becomes more of a factor in the print industry, PACOM will be responding in kind by beefing up capacity in that regard, what with equipment and personnel.

We are also going to be adding a major piece of equipment to our facility, estimated around the end of Q3. While I can't spare the details yet, we are very excited that we were able to acquire this item, and once you see it, you will be too.

Finally, there will be an even bigger change which means great things for PACOM, probably in the 4th quarter of this year. I'll keep you guys informed on what is going down.

That is all for this edition of PACOM Update. Until next time!