For electric sign shops looking to build their own channel letters—or to automate the process if they are currently constructing them by hand—setting up an automated in-house system is easier than one might think.
“We’ve installed machines for companies whose owners didn’t even speak English,” says Carl Ondracek of Computerized Cutters, Plano, Texas. “We were still able to get them up and running in one day.”
Even if a shop has never dealt with channel letters before, system manufacturers say the learning curve is not steep.
“Three years ago we sold a system to a company in North Carolina that had been outsourcing their channel letters,” says Michelle Dobbs, sales and marketing for Arete Corp., Denver. “They requested that we do on-site installation and training, but before our tech walked in the door they had completed several sets of returns and attached the backs, stating that (it) was so simple to learn. Today that shop has a thriving wholesale channel letter business.”

Automated notching speeds up the process, even if a shop does the actual bending by hand.

Benefits of building channel letters in-house with an automated system include increased control of jobs, quicker turnaround times and even the opportunity to supply letters to other shops, manufacturers say. Few if any modifications are required to the shop environment and, in most instances, the systems will quickly begin generating positive cash flow.

Products & Systems
A variety of in-house channel letter manufacturing machines and systems are available to suit any application.
Computerized Cutters’ Accu-Bend system, for instance, completely processes the channel letter return on one machine, including notching and flanging the bottom half-inch of material and then bending it into the final letter or shape. The company also offers a clinching machine that fastens the aluminum back of the letter to the sidewall, as well as a router to automatically cut out the plastic faces and aluminum backs.
Arete’s products automate several aspects of the process, Dobbs notes, including a notcher and flanger and channel letter brake for bending returns, an automated trim layout system and clincher.
Shops without a CNC router for the faces or backs can usually locate someone with a router nearby, notes Neil Fancher, general manager of sales for Easy Channel Letters, Lakewood, Colo., the nationwide distributor of a system that includes a notcher, flanger and pneumatic brake.
“You can certainly find someone who can do that (routing) for you,” he says. “We tell our customers to crawl before you run.”
Computerized Cutters’ Accu-Bend system completely processes the channel letter return on one machine, including notching and flanging the bottom half-inch of material and then bending it into the final letter or shape. The company also offers a clinching machine and a router.

CLN of South Florida, Lake Worth, Fla., offers a model that allows sign technicians to notch, flange and dimple for bending instructions and then shears the material off to length, as well as a CNC Auto Bender, both made in the U.S., notes Kevin Kane, president.
And Chief Enterprises, Elmhurst, Ill., supplies sign shops letter coil, a fastening machine and a return fastener to increase the speed of producing channel letters, according to Sam Labarbera, GM of metals and machinery.
Sign shops will want to do plenty of research to target the system that’s right for their specific needs. From there, the suppliers say they will help with any setup, training or special requirements.Chief Enterprises supplies sign shops letter coil, a fastening machine and a return fastener to increase the speed of producing channel letters.

One of Chief’s Milwaukee-based customers, for instance, won a contract with a large national retailer. “They needed a custom-made Letter Lok machine to accommodate the size of the channel letters,” Labarbera says. “Working closely with our customer and the machine manufacturer, we were able to design something that exceeded their requirements.”

‘Control Freaks’
Having that type of control over channel letter jobs in an appealing benefit of building them in-house, Kane notes.
“What I find, having owned my own sign shop, is that pretty much everyone who owns their own business is a control freak,” he says. “So, in order to control the material leaving the shop, they have to control what’s going on in the shop.”
Fancher agrees.
“When it’s in-house, you are controlling it,” he says. “If there is a warranty issue, you know your own quality control.”
That goes for all shops, from the mom-and-pop variety to companies with nationwide clientele, the manufacturers say.

Benefits of building channel letters in-house with an automated system include increased control of jobs, quicker turnaround times and even the opportunity to supply letters to other shops, manufacturers say.

Each channel letter design uploads into a standard DXF file for simple layout. With the in-house channel letter systems, the sign makers see it and then immediately start creating it.
“I have (sign shops) that will put out channel letter sets the same day as the order,” says Ondracek. “Of course the customer is going to pay a premium, but shops can actually do a set of channel letters the same day, especially with LEDs.”
That quick turnaround time also makes shops an appealing wholesaler for others in their area that need something quickly.
“Now you can go in and tell people that you already have relationships with that you can be their wholesaler,” Fancher says. “You can come to me and I can save you some time and money. It opens up the wholesale side.”

It also broadens a shop’s reach, Kane notes.

“Now you’re not competing with the little store that was shopping your price all over the city,” he says. “Your customer now is a guy who is setting up stores all over the country and he really doesn’t shop price—he’s shopping delivery and equipment. That’s what this equipment will allow the average sign company to produce.”
For example, he says, one of CLN’s sign shop clients has the Hooters restaurant account. “He is shipping stuff down to the islands,” Kane says. “He’s tickled pink.”
Finally, building the letters yourself can be just one more unique service you can offer longtime clients with various sign needs.
“I’m noticing that one of the biggest reasons companies bring channel letters in-house, besides wanting to eliminate the middle man, is to make it a one-stop shop for their existing customers,” Dobbs says.

The Right Time
The variety of systems and functions available from the various manufacturers means that shops can find an in-house channel letter machine to fit any budget.
The suppliers also note that shop space isn’t usually a problem, with successful automated operations having been established in areas from 900 to 10,000 square feet.
“If the customer has a forklift to unload the machine, standard shop air, an opening wide enough for the machine to fit into the shop, a few dollars and an open-minded working philosophy, any sign shop will prosper,” says Labarbera.
Just about any employee can quickly learn to produce jobs with the machines, the manufacturers add, allowing more flexibility in smaller shops.
And it all comes at a time when many in the industry are seeing an increased demand for channel letters.

Arete Corp.’s success stories include a North Carolina shop that automated the channel letter fabrication process and was producing letters even before Arete’s trainers arrived.

“Channel letters are becoming the must-have type of sign,” Dobbs notes. “They are very popular, so it’s very important to be able to offer a quality product, and not be limited in what you can produce.”
Kane adds that channel letters have been going strong for the last decade.
“I know that architects that build buildings are favoring individual channel letters over flat wall signs because they are (better) looking. They want individual letters,” he says. “That trend has been going on for the last 10 years, and I don’t see it changing.”

Offering in-house channel letter production can require a shop to become UL listed, and may necessitate an increased sales effort on the part of companies looking to grow their wholesale side.
As with any capital investment, business owners will want to do their research from the outset to determine how best to achieve a positive return on investment.
The manufacturers say that by automating the process, shops that have been building the letters by hand will now have employees with more time to pursue other jobs. Quicker turnaround times and the ability to serve as a channel letter supplier are also options that can help shops recoup theirinitial investment.
Ondracek believes automated channel letter processing may even prompt a review of a sign shop’s overall business philosophy.

“(Shops) are going to have a decision to make—will they keep prices and volumes where they are and increase profits, or will they lower prices and increase the number of channel letter jobs they deliver? Because, with the machines, they are able to bid more aggressively on a job, so a lot of them will get quite a few more jobs,” he explains.
In the end, automated in-house channel letter production can offer shops the chance to pursue additional business.
“The number of jobs and channel letters a sign shop can bring in-house is all up to the customer,” LaBarbera says. “The opportunities are endless.”