Growing Without Bottlenecks: Slate Group Scales Production with Zünd

Family-owned and operated, Slate Group has built its reputation on a commitment to quality, customer service, and continuous investment in both people and technology. Established in 1985 in Lubbock, Texas, the company has grown from a regional print provider into a diversified operation serving customers across the United States. Along the way, Slate has cultivated a remarkably young workforce by developing local talent and equipping its team with industry-leading production technology, creating a culture focused on innovation, adaptability, and long-term growth.

As Slate Group expanded its operations and experienced remarkable growth, production volumes also increased and finishing demands became more complex. A key part of the company's successful strategy has been bringing more capabilities in-house rather than outsourcing them, giving customers a single source for everything from commercial print and direct mail to wide format graphics, promotional products, kitting, and fulfillment.

That approach provides greater control over quality, production schedules, and turnaround times, but it also requires equipment capable of supporting a broad range of applications. As the workloads continued to grow, the team recognized that finishing operations had the potential to become a bottleneck and began searching for a cutting solution that could deliver the speed, reliability, and flexibility needed to support future expansion.

As Slate Group evaluated its options, the team was looking for more than just additional cutting capacity.

The ideal solution would need to support a wide variety of applications, increase throughput, simplify operation, and deliver the reliability required to keep production moving across multiple shifts. Says Trey Laverty, Slate Group’s Director of Sales & Marketing: “We were adding machine after machine and continuing to grow. We needed equipment that would help us move faster and handle more work."

Rather than focusing solely on purchase price, Slate prioritized long-term value, productivity, and ease of use. Following demonstrations and hands-on evaluation, the company selected a Zünd G3 3XL-3200 digital cutting system.

The benefits of the Zünd system became apparent almost immediately. By reducing manual setup requirements, streamlining finishing operations, and increasing production capacity, the system helped Slate Group improve workflow efficiency while providing greater flexibility across multiple shifts. According to Makayla Carter, Wide Format Operator at Slate Group, the combination of increased throughput and intuitive operation made an immediate impact on daily production: "Going from a 10x5 ft. cutter to a 10x10 has allowed us to run two sheets at a time. The simplicity of the operation allows us to confidently leave jobs for our second shift to run."

Beyond the productivity gains, Carter says the transition to the new cutting platform was surprisingly straightforward: "Operating the Zünd has been very intuitive. Once I got past the learning curve, the customizability of the operating functions and ZCC Cut Editor has been great to work with. Error messages make troubleshooting clear and fast, so I'm never stuck guessing what's wrong."

For Slate Group, increased throughput was only part of the equation. Equally important was the reliability needed to support a growing workload and maintain customer commitments. As Carter explains: "The Zünd's speed and reliability meant we could stay on schedule even when one of our other cutters went down again. Without the Zünd, we'd likely start falling behind on those big jobs again, and that slowdown would ripple through the rest of production."

The benefits extended beyond uptime. The ability to edit and customize cut files gave Carter and her team greater flexibility, allowing them to respond quickly to changing production requirements: “Being able to fix and customize cut files on my own gave us more flexibility, and that combination built trust fast enough to justify a second Zünd so soon.”

For Slate Group, the positive experience extended beyond the equipment itself. From installation through training and daily production, the Zünd America team helped ensure operators felt comfortable and confident with the new system from day one. As Carter recalls, "Our experience with the Zund America team was excellent. The trainers were clear and super thorough. They made sure I felt confident after the installation."

Combined with increased throughput, intuitive operation, production flexibility, and consistent performance, that level of support helped deliver value quickly. In fact, the results were compelling enough that Slate Group is already investing in a second Zünd system just months after installing the first.

For organizations facing similar growth challenges, Carter's advice is straightforward: "Do it. Don't wait. If your workflow is growing and you need something reliable and consistent, get a Zünd sooner rather than later. I wish we had one when I first started six years ago."

Asked to summarize the overall experience in a single word, Carter’s answer is immediate (and creative):

"Zunderful."