As the need for protective devices continues to rise due to COVID-19, GM Nameplate (GMN) of Seattle, Washington is stepping up to the challenge by providing face shields to medical facilities and essential businesses. As face shields became more prevalent earlier in the year, customers began to look for customizable face shields that displayed business logos. Whether the job is a short or long run, GMN chooses to use the Versafire EV from Heidelberg to print its face shields due to its high productivity and flexibility.

According to Marc Doan, Plant Manager at GMN, “We have been supporting the medical field for a long time at GMN. When COVID started and we saw the need for face shields, we hopped right on board by producing them for our clients. When it was requested of us to customize these face shields with business logos, we knew that our Versafire EV would be the perfect solution for these short turnaround needs.”

Printing at speeds up to 95 pages per minute, the Versafire EV offers a high level of productivity. Thanks to the inline color management and inline register, GMN can expect stability, precision, and quality on all its jobs. According to Doan, “Whether we need 10 logos on a face shield or 5,000, our Versafire EV is able to produce these jobs quicker than our offset presses. All our customers need to do is send us a PDF of their logo, and we can produce the job in less than 24 hours.”

The 5-color Versafire EV offers GMN reliable production that is perfected on up to 27.5” substrates. In addition to CMYK standard jobs, the engine can print expanded gamut with 5-color rendering using neon yellow or neon pink. Additionally, the company can include embellishments with fifth color options, which also include white, clear varnish, and invisible red. Thanks to the Versafire EV, GMN is able to print on colored paper or clear synthetics and produce extraordinary effects while printing white first and then process CMYK colors on top, all in one pass.

According to Doan, “It’s starting to get hard to find operators who can run our offset presses to their full potential, but the Versafire is easy for operators to learn and ensures high quality. It’s allowing us to move more jobs over from offset to digital.”

During these unprecedented times, GMN, like many other printers, have stayed open to make sure the company is providing essential needs during COVID-19. According to Doan, “We have been working with the defense and medical industry, so what we are printing has been supporting the need for ventilators, respirators, and diagnostic equipment for the COVID-19 fight. It definitely fills our company and our employees up with a sense of pride to know that what we are making within this facility is really making a difference in the world today.”

About GM Nameplate

Founded in 1954, GMN has grown from a few employees in a small facility in Seattle, WA to more than 1,000 employees spanning six plants: Seattle, WA (corporate headquarters); San Jose, CA; Monroe, NC; Beaverton, OR; Singapore, and China. To better serve clients, GMN has evolved from creating nameplates to providing a wide variety of custom solutions from small components to completely assembled devices. The company continues to grow its capabilities to meet evolving customer and industry needs.


Rebecca Melville
PR and Marketing Specialist