The dark factory has housed and kept safe the thousands of little latex balloons overnight and indeed for years. As long as they are stored in a cool and darkened environment, they will not perish or start to biodegrade. At 8.a.m sharp the bright lights and noisy and cold balloon printing machines are switched on awaiting the fate of the little beasts.
In the office, smoke comes from our telephones where you are calling for quotes and chasing delivery of your promotional balloons. The computers are set and ready for the fifty or sixty enquiries we receive from our customers. We expertly quote you and advise as to the best available dates, colour schemes and ordering procedures.. We enquire as to your accessory requirements and ask to see your artwork. When the Purchase order is received, is has top priority. We process it and send you a proforma invoice and our Graphics Lady who is a whiz with artwork will prepare and send you an artwork visual containing your logo. If you are happy with the visual and the colours for the balloons and the inks, and you then pay for your soon to be personalised items, we send it on its way into the factory.
There, the crew pick the balloon colours and set up the ink trays. Our Lord and Master is the expert as making the silk screens. He subjects himself to darkness, foul smelling liquids and produces a perfect replica of your logo. This screen is set up on the machine. Last minute adjustments are made before the noise and printing process begins. Each balloon is automatically picked and blown up by the computerised machinery, the screen comes down on the precise printing area 125mm diameter. The ink is pressed through the screen from a tray and then the balloons are let down, eventually dropping off the end into a plastic bin. 100’s or 1000’s of these later, the tumble dryers are loaded with the freshly printed balloons. The drying process is a necessary procedure to dry the ink and return the balloon to its original size. Then they are quality checked, packed and/or valved accessories added. They are boxed and a delivery note is produced, when sealed the boxes are entered onto our Interlink system by our expert printer/order processing lady who has been with us since the year dot. She can single handedly operate anything even the forklift! FINISHED. Perfect little things all ready for their owners to use to their best ability.
Interlink comes and takes for delivery the very next day. Meanwhile
The phones ring and the emails come thick and fast. “Can we have our balloons yesterday” Continued in the next blog..
