ReproMAX is always interested in Partner company employees who make a difference in their business. Each month we want to take a snapshot of someone who brings special talents to their position and makes a difference in how their company operates. If you have someone employed in your company who you think would be the most interesting employee of the month, let us know!
Michaela Mullin
Production Coordinator & Purchasing Agent
Beeline & Blue
Michaela Mullin brings an attention to detail that’s downright extraordinary. She is the Production Coordinator and Purchasing Agent for Beeline & Blue (among other titles). But she’s so much more—
- She’s the first person to make sure substrates are properly ordered and received
- She’s the last person to see most jobs before they go out the door
- And she makes sure the invoicing captures any and all change orders, and goes out when the job is completed
All that and she has a PhD in Philosophy, Art and Critical Thought!
Michaela has been employed at Beeline and Blue for four years. When she came to Beeline, she had already earned her Master’s Degree in Creative Writing (Poetry) and was working on her PhD.
And as some infomercials claim…But Wait—There’s More!
-
She is Associate Editor for a publishing company-- NomadicPress.org, where she edits mostly poetry collections, short story collections and some novels.
-
Michaela also works with a local art gallery writing exhibit text.
-
She works with a non-commercial arts organization that helps artists develop business acumen and specific skills important to a career as a professional artist.
Here are a few questions we posed to Michaela and her answers might surprise you!
What are your biggest assets at work?
My memory is my best friend in getting the jobs done here every day. And of course it always helps to work with good people. We have such excellent color production team members. A good team and a good memory makes my job a lot easier.
We hear you’re a substrate expert, what drew you to this?
I suppose through requiring vendors to take corrective action, I have become an expert. I look at how the substrate arrives, is it undamaged? Most important is how the vendor takes corrective action if the substrate is damaged or flawed. If they can work well with me and they want to make “good”, then I’m willing to continue working with them. Of course, there is a limit to errors that are the responsibility of the vendor, not the manufacturer. I want them to be proactive.
How does your advanced degree help you in the digital print industry?
Since my post-graduate work is partly in the arts, I am making more connections in the local and regional art communities to spread the word about Beeline and Blue’s fine art specialist, Mary Williams. Because of her amazing work we’ve become a magnet for artists in this region. We also have the only Cruse museum-quality scanner with a 40” x 60” bed in the Midwest.
Can you think of an instance where your knowledge and background saved a job?
Yes, because I’m usually the last person to see a job before it leaves the building, and I am quality control, I might notice something that isn’t correct, which didn’t get caught earlier, though our team is wonderful at doing quality control as the job moves through production. We are shipping a lot more jobs, and I also do the packaging and all the shipping for the color graphics department. And sometimes we get misinformation on shipping specifics—mostly the where and the how. So I make no assumptions, I need the evidence right in front of me. I often work directly with the clients, as well as working through our CSRs to coordinate the delivery and shipment to correct locations, and on time. And I ask lots of questions. Things like this happen constantly and it’s why my job is challenging, but also why I enjoy my job—I take pre-emptive, corrective measures for our clients, and protect our business’ reputation and bottom line by doing so, also.
What do you use from your advanced degree to make better decisions for Beeline & Blue and their clients?
Our clients love us for this reason: we make sure to fill in the gaps. The CSRs and I all notice gaps in information and we close them. We do this internally as well. This is also where my critical thinking ability comes in to play. I always ask questions. My eyes and my ears are wide open!
Do you have a favorite substrate and why?
Yes! Black gator board and quarter inch acrylic. Black gator because it’s so much nicer and more durable than foam core, it’s more expensive but it is what I suggest to mount to and the black looks so much better aesthetically. It’s easy and quick.
So many images look beautiful on quarter inch acrylic, and with our new coater, there is a protective layer we can add to second surface printing on this. Though the flatbed printer isn’t meant to do fine art quality prints, we have had some great successes for artists who direct print to acrylic. It hangs beautifully, and really is stunning. One time, we worked with a local artist who printed her photos on it, she had a lot of white in the photos, which can be risky, and they turned out wonderfully. Our coating not only protects substrates, but also enhances the colors, especially on PVC and Dibond or E-panel.
Have you discovered a new substrate that made a difference in a clients’ project?
I fine tune what we get in a certain area. For instance, for PVC sheets, we have been through so many different brands and makes, but I’ve finally landed on a board that works for us. We were using Palight for a while and it was so soft, it just wasn’t getting out of the building without damage. We have landed on E-PVC for our work. It’s the best we’ve found. We use Sintra and Celtec when E-PVC is not available or if we need oversized sheets.
We have also landed on a specific acrylic that works well—Evonik Cyro Acrylite for digital printing. Sometimes we find substrates we like, then our vendor stops carrying them specifically, this is a problem. Lately, we’ve been printing many more complicated and larger jobs and a lot of times it becomes a real search for the right substrate. With a new acrylic supplier we’ve finally found someone to keep the supply chain open.
What is your advice for others when purchasing substrates?
- Some good overall purchasing criteria would be to check the specifications/properties of the media to make sure they are compatible with your equipment and the proposed project, and of course lead time and pricing are important.
- Ask the client the right questions to give them the right product (where are you putting this, what are you doing with this, how long, etc.).
- Make sure you know your client’s budget.
- Make sure you can get the lead time you need when you order a substrate. Can you meet the deadline if it’s a non-stock item?
- Is this an unusual order or have you had problems in the past? Also, depending on the specifics of the job, you might need the same lot numbers on roll media