Fusion Imaging Orlando: A Wide-Format Company in Transition

In the leadup to the 2025 PRINTING United Expo, the Wide-format Impressions team stopped by Fusion Imaging Orlando (formerly Color Impressions, which was acquired by The Vomela Companies) for a facility tour and a chat with industry veteran Robin Hemphill, general manager, about the company, staffing, equipment, and the wide-format segment.

Wide-format Impressions: What is the specialty of this company, particularly this location?

Robin Hemphill: “So, we've always been primarily a custom house with probably, I don't know, maybe 30% of trade shows and events. The rest would be theme parks and that type of work. Maybe museums, things like that. Now we're moving into more of the trade show and events side and still doing the custom work, but we’re trying to focus on trade show and events.”

WFI: And that trade show and event area, have the production requirements changed in that area at all in the last five years?

RH: “Somewhat. Because fabric is so much more a part of those events and shows. So, we've had to switch over to a lot of fabrics, sewing, and finding people that can do those things. Particularly the sewing thing, I know a lot of companies struggle to find [employees], it's really difficult. People who are really good.

We are always looking for more people that can sew. But we have a couple of people that are really good right now, and as long as we can hang onto them, then they mentor and train the new employees that come in. So, if you have somebody that's good with you, then you're probably going to be okay with the people that you get that are maybe not as skilled.”

Dan Marx (left), content director for Wide-format Impressions, tours Fusion Imaging Orlando with Robin Hemphill, general manager.

WFI: Are there any other positions within the company that are also difficult to fill? To find good people?

RH: “For all of them. Pre-press is difficult. We find that when we advertise for pre-press, we get a lot of people that have gotten degrees in design. And design doesn't necessarily translate into a production position. Because we may have a few design jobs, but that's not what we do.”

WFI: Have you had any success pulling people from other industries for jobs? I know, like in sewing, I've talked to some people who've been to reach into other industries that utilize sewing.

RH: “Yeah, I guess. I think that we've gotten a couple of people that worked in sewing, like for boat manufacturers. So, they're creating upholstery for boats. I think that's probably about it. Maybe people that worked in mattress factories, I've had resumes from them. I don't know if I've ever hired someone, because it's really industrial sewing versus, a home hobby, crafter kind of thing. When I advertise for sewing, I get a lot of resumes from people that have their portfolios with their actual designs, their clothing designs, like wedding gowns and tailoring, and I don't think that's a good fit. You would think that person probably would not be happy. It's like in pre-press where you have someone that has a degree in design. They could probably do it, but they wouldn't be happy.”

WFI: Have you had good luck retaining the people you find?

RH: “I know it's a mixed bag, but I do yeah. Some, like my production manager, have been with me for 22 years. Wow. He started when he was 17. He graduated from high school and came to work part-time the next day.

10 plus years that I always think that's a sign of a good place to work and a good culture. I think I've always tried to make this a place where I would like to work. I think that's important. I think that's the biggest thing. Yeah. Keep employees happy.

I don't think that everyone thinks that way, but I try to make it a good place. I think you need to take care of your people. It's not just keeping them around, but it ties in with the quality of their work and, productivity, and just general happiness on the job.”

WFI: As of Jan. 1st, this company is no longer Color Reflections. Orlando, can you just touch a little bit on that transition to being Fusion Imaging Orlando and how that's been?

RH: “It's still in the works. They're a much larger company, and they bring a lot to the table, and they seem to be really good people. We've increased our sales since that transition. I think probably part of that is due to the sharing of jobs from location to location, which has been great.

We have access to a lot of things that we didn't have as a small company, and we were a really small company. They have a great HR department. They just have things that we didn't have before, and maybe before I had to do that, I had to be HR. I had to be everything. So now, we have people for that. And they're good people.”

The Fusion Imaging Orlando lobby includes examples of decor elements printed by the company.

WFI: How do you think, not the company, but the industry has changed in ways that are good or bad or just different?

RH: “I think it's probably just different. A lot of it is how quickly people need things and how quickly we can turn them. And it's amazing. I started out in the photo industry. There was no digital at that time. And to think about how long it would take to do some of the things that we do now, it's crazy. And in terms of the quality, the printing quality out there, there's no question. When we first started doing digital printing – the dots were huge. And people were okay with it. But now, we strive to get to photo quality with no dots at all.”

WFI: Yeah, there was a wild west period where you knew it would produce a digital print, but not whether it would be good or not.

RH: “That's right. And I saw plenty of people print something out and stand and look at it and go, okay, let's try again. He would just say, ‘no, you have to look at it from 20 feet away,’ or look at it like you were in a car going 50 miles an hour.”

WFI: In terms of technology, do you think there's any technology that's moving out so you can move other technology in, or do you feel like your portfolio is in a good place?

RH: “I think there are pieces of equipment that I would like to have. When purchasing equipment, I would try to buy new technology and move the old technology into another spot, so we’ve had a constant sort of a rotation of new and then stuff that's passed its prime – but it's still operational. But yeah, there's always new technology.”

WFI: Is there anything in terms of automation or other things that make new machines attractive to you at this point?

RH: “There is, but I'm not sure that we could fit equipment like that into this facility because we are cramped. There are board printers that have robots that are loading it and unloading it, and that would be great. But we would have to have a whole additional building the size of this to do that.”

WFI: And when you say there is technology you'd like to move in, can you give some examples of what you'd like to bring?

RH: “Board printer. Flatbed. I think that would be faster for us. I’ve looked at some of the roll-to-roll equipment that you can run without being there. Anything that we could actually run without a person, so it runs overnight. The equipment we have now can't do that. It looks like it could, but it always messes up, one way or another.”