Convergent Print Group Embraces Automation

It might not be a tale as old as time, but it’s certainly one that will resonate for many wide-format printers. Convergent Print Group began as two separate companies — BPGraphics, founded in 1961, specialized in billboard posters — and Vincent Printing — which started in the 1940s, produced movie posters for theater lobbies. The two companies came together in 2023 and have since been on the path to becoming a powerhouse in wide- and grand-format graphics.

Convergent Print Group CEO Curt Carpenter

With locations based in the cities where the two companies originated — Phoenix; and Chattanooga, Tennessee — success isn’t just about combining the collective 140 years of expertise. As CEO Curt Carpenter notes, it is also about embracing automation.

The ERP is Key

There isn’t a single process or element in the operation that hasn’t been touched by some form of automation — and listing it all out makes for an impressive read. However, Carpenter says that just looking at a list of automation initiatives “doesn’t really make clear that most of our automation is all centered around our ERP (enterprise resource planning).”

Carpenter continues, “What has made so much of our automation possible is the fact that our ERP has been developed entirely in-house, starting in 1993. In fact, we have every order that we’ve ever produced since January of 1994 still available in the current iteration of our system.”

And there is a good reason for that development. “One of the challenges we faced is that so much of the automation available commercially seems to be centered around small-format printing, especially when it comes to automation of ganging, nesting, ripping, etc.,” Carpenter says. “So, in many ways, as we looked at ways to further automate, we were forced to do it on our own. We don’t make widgets — everything we make is custom and has so many different paths it can follow in the production process.”

The ERP system they developed is called Verge, and Carpenter notes that every department keeps a running “wish list” of ways they would like to see it added to or refined. In particular, he says that automation just for the sake of it doesn’t help drive the business forward. Rather, it’s about making sure the people have the right tools and information when and where they need them.

Another key element is figuring out what to do with the massive amount of data they have at their fingertips.

“A big current initiative is to improve our internal KPI metrics and reporting. We have a huge amount of data — we know every time someone ‘touches’ a job order, or an estimate, or when anything happens,” Carpenter says. “Now we have to find better ways to analyze that data and make it actionable. It doesn’t really do any good to have the data if you can’t see it in a meaningful way and then use it to make business decisions.”

Further, Farther Integration

Convergent Print Group handles the complete process, including installation. | Credit: Convergent Print Group

Ultimately, automation isn’t just about getting a single job out the door faster. It’s about having a leaner, more efficient operation where waste is minimized, and work progresses seamlessly from beginning to end. Unsurprisingly, Artificial Intelligence (AI) is also part of that future.

“Another important area is the continued integration of AI,” Carpenter says. “Right now, we’re using AI in a limited, but still tightly integrated fashion, with our ERP. We have our own internal AI server with a GPU (graphics processing unit) running a LLM (large language model) and we’ve figured out how to import a lot our ‘knowledge’ about what we do into the system, but we’ve only begun to scratch the surface with what’s possible.”

As for the future, Carpenter shares they will keep looking for new tools, new ways to automate, and new ways to remove friction from the process for both employees and customers. Because ultimately, he wants Convergent to be a business his customers enjoy working with.

“Our goal is to make doing business with us as easy as possible, and we have to be ready and able to interact with our customers the way they want to interact with us,” he says. “Some customers want to email an order, others want to place it online, still others want to use APIs to further automate the process. We can’t dictate how our customers interact with us — we need to give them options.”

Words to the Wise

For those looking to follow Convergent’s example, Carpenter acknowledges that not everyone has the size, scale, or expertise on hand to build a system like theirs from the ground up. However, he says that shouldn’t stop everyone from embracing automation.

“There are many commercially available ERPs on the market, which do certainly automate a number of very important tasks,” Carpenter says.

That said, he continues, “If a company can pull together the resources and know-how to either create their own systems or integrate with a third-party solution, it will allow so much more. I don’t want to make it seem like every tool we use we wrote from scratch — we have integrated a number of important third-party tools into our processes. Even without a customer ERP, that can be done.”

Automation is baked into Convergent Print Group’s DNA, and that has helped set it up on a path that positions it for future success. Innovation doesn’t have to be a one-and-done process. In fact, as Convergent demonstrates, creating a culture of innovation — one that stresses constantly searching for ways to improve and change — can be a winning strategy.