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WO RLD-CHANGING IDEAS >>
T THE SHUTTERFLY FACILITY in Plano , Texas , just north of Dallas and one of eight around the country , every holiday card or custom photo book starts as a large-format sheet of B2 paper . Here are families on Christmas morning , there are beachside sunsets , visits to Grandma — all rapidly feeding through the massive presses . Stacked tall on wooden pallets , each sheet — about 20-by-28 inches — is fed through an HP Indigo 100K Digital Press that mixes cyan , magenta , yellow , and black ink to build the image . On the other side , the press , which is about the size of a US Army tank , stacks the sheets onto another pallet , where they ’ re carried off to be trimmed . Every custom-ordered item includes a barcode that tracks it through the massive facility on its way toward the final steps : slotting into iconic orange packaging , and sorting to be shipped all over the southern United States .
“ We ’ re making memories ,” says Chris Mooney , director of manufacturing operations for Shutterfly ’ s Plano facility .
To create these memories , Shutterfly has worked closely with HP , manufacturing and printing custom products and designs using its line of Indigo presses . The relationship has helped Shutterfly remain the nation ’ s leading ecommerce brand for personalized products — especially during the holiday season , when the company ramps up to 24 / 7 production , producing 165 million holiday cards at a run rate of roughly six million cards per day at peak times . Half of all Americans , the company says , will receive a Shutterfly card this season .
“ This is our Super Bowl . We know about it , and we prepare for it ,” says Garrett Herber , a facilities manager at the Plano plant . During the year 300 employees work at