There’s no doubting where All Mounting and Diecutting Services is located in Sydney. Hanging prominently on the wall in the workshop are a well used longboard and surf ski, and evidence of proprietor Shawn Ballesty’s skill with both of them can be seen in photos adorning the office walls.
Sydney’s northern beaches are home to numerous print related businesses, but few trade services companies. That suits Shawn Ballesty just fine – he bought the business after owning several print companies previously.
“I bought the company a little over two years ago from a gentleman who did a job for me, when I had a print company. I still have the first job he did for me. I told him that he ever wanted to sell the company to call me, because printing was getting harder and harder. But printing still really excites me, and I get a kick out of creating things.”
Ballesty has invested in new technology to provide a greater range of services but also to improve turnaround times and other facets of customer service.
“We have the whole northern beaches area to ourselves,” said enthusiastically. “There are competitors over the [Harbour] bridge and to the west but this is pretty much our own market. We meet deadlines, and offer free pick-up and delivery for good customers, and provide advice on jobs to make sure that customers get the best final product possible, such as board options, and how to gang jobs, and so on.
“Most of our work is counter cards, e-flute shippers, POP displays, promotional pieces — the list is endless. We’re finding that E-flute is going through the roof, and foamcore is growing too.
“We’ve changed the whole factory over to A1 from A2, because most of my customers are going to A1 as well. I modified some machines and bought a new diecutter in A1 to suit them. We also put in a Voyager 3 laminating machine, and I saw a laminating machine at PacPrint which I will probably buy to upgrade our laminating area.
“Deadlines are getting tighter and tighter. I’ve got a job coming in today which they want back at 2:00pm this afternoon. And yet we’re meeting those deadlines.”
Ballesty is confident that new digital developments will deliver ongoing business to “Allmad”, as the company is affectionately known.
“Digital print used to drive me mad when I was a printer competing against them, but now all the printers in the area are putting in digital printers and I’m finding that about 35 per cent of my work here is coming from them,” said Shawn. “It was very hard work to get it up and going but it’s building really well now. And we’re getting more and more work from our website, so I plan to build on that.
“My staff are great workers, really effective. They’re actually qualified motor mechanics but they’ve really taken to this work.
“And I have to say Peter Mahoney at Col’s Cutting Formes has been very helpful to me in advice and support, especially when we had just started. So are Richard Timson and Greg Grace of Heidelberg – they’ve been incredibly helpful to me ever since I was an apprentice.”
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