Plastics Decorating - January/February 2008 - (Page 7) DECORATOR’S PROFILE High Precision Printing the Style By Kym Conis How does a company navigate the difficult transition from decorating ad specialty items to the high precision world of medical device printing? For TouchMark, a specialty pad printer located in Hayward, Calif., the answer has been a combination of strategic alliances, custom engineering capabilities, and an expertise in hard-to-print materials. From textured and recessed surfaces to the adherence of medical-grade inks on materials of low surface energy, TouchMark’s experienced team of technicians, chemists, and design engineers has taken the science of pad printing to a new level. Headquartered in the Silicon Valley, TouchMark continues to meet the changing demands of the medical device, diagnostics, and consumer electronic industries through continual expansion of its offerings. From prototyping, plasma pretreatment, and clean room manufacturing, to full turnkey services such as material procurement, value-added assembly, and custom packaging, TouchMark is positioned for quick response to the critical requirements of its customer base – both nationwide and overseas. Strategic Alliances Founded in 1992 in Sunnyvale, Calif. by father and son team Phillip and Gary Jones, TouchMark originated as a pad print equipment supply company. Eventually, after repeated customer requests to supply the printed product, the company set out in a new direction and began to pad print ad specialty items and marketing products. Jim Gwinner joined the company shortly thereafter to provide graphic design capabilities, and the company’s pad print business took flight. In 1993, the company expanded its market share and migrated to electronics, where Cisco became one its first large customers, followed by Gel-Pak, a manufacturer of innovative carriers for applications requiring maximum device protection during shipping, handling, and processing. GelPak grew to be one of TouchMark’s largest customers – a strategic alliance that nearly a decade later, would prove to be pivotal to the company’s future growth. TouchMark continued to develop its pad print knowledge and soon realized that it possessed a unique skill set in the printing of difficult substrates and high technology areas. With this ability at hand, coupled with additional decorating capabilities including hot stamping and heat transfer, TouchMark started to move away from the ad specialty arena and placed its focus on the electronics side of the business. The company moved to Hayward, Calif., in 2001 and began to pursue other niche markets, thus entering the high precision realm of medical device printing. As the supplier alliance between TouchMark and Gel-Pak continued to cultivate, Gel-Pak (a division of Delphon Industries) became the natural choice to (Gary) Jones and Gwinner when they decided to sell their operation to pursue other interests. Thus in 2006, Delphon Industries, under the helm of President/CEO Jeanne Beacham, purchased TouchMark as part of an ongoing strategy to merge innovative technologies in order to provide unique materials and services for the packaging, shipping, and handling of customers’ products. “With TouchMark’s expertise in high quality pad printing on a wide variety of surfaces, we are able to offer our customers an even greater degree of customization for their unique packaging needs,” stated Beacham. “One of the reasons we (Gel-Pak) utilized TouchMark was for the company’s strict adherence to quality – they guaranteed their work.” High Precision Printing Today, TouchMark provides customers with high-quality pad printing services in the medical device, diagnostics, and electronic components markets, with the core of its business focused on medical device printing. “The areas that have driven TouchMark’s technology is the medical device requirements for medical grade, class VI inks on substrates with low surface energy such as PEEK, PBAX, and Silicone,” Beacham said. “Medical printing is much more precise than most other areas of pad printing. Materials are more difficult to print due to continued on next page 7
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