60 www.signlink.co.uk Issue 248 - August / September 2023 MARKET TRENDS / VEHICLE WRAPPING Wrap Squad as a business, Szwacki is very positive about the current situation in vehicle wrapping, saying the sector is as strong as it could be. “After a bit of a fall during lockdown and then straight after that, global issues in the vinyl and car industry – lots of delays with manufacturing vinyl and even bigger delays with delivering new vehicles, especially vans for businesses – we have noticed a massive pick-up in the past 12 months,” Szwacki explains. “Right now, we are having the best problem, which is the number of orders we are struggling to fulfil. We have been fully booked for a long time ahead, while vinyl manufacturing is in full swing too, therefore we have no reason to complain. “The colour change industry may be having a bit of a slower time as there is a massive boom in paint protection film (PPF), therefore many customers, specifically brand-new vehicles, are choosing this over colour change, but I think that is a good sign too.” In terms of pinpointing trends in the wrapping market, Szwacki says there are no specific trends, but more a mixture of everything. Be this simple advertising on a company van or a partial wrap that can be very complicated design-wise, Szwacki says wrappers should open themselves up to all kinds of work to capture as many customers as possible. “My work is a mixture of commercial and high-quality colour change including some crazy designs that require some specific techniques of preparing the graphics in the way that not many people would think is possible to achieve,” Szwacki says. “Many of my jobs are for a specific customer base that don’t like to shout about it, therefore my social media can be a little bit quiet as sometimes I’m basically not allowed to share anything. But as long as my customer is happy, then I am happy as well.” As to the type of materials MEK Wrap Squad works with, Szwacki says the company, and indeed the industry, is blessed with advancements in recent years. He says most of the materials are very easy to fit, but there are still some very specific techniques for each manufacturer and if used wrongly, the material can still cause issues. “All films have some sort of air release feature, which helps applying vinyl without any air trapped behind it, but the one feature that you should look for is tech that helps to speed up the job massively,” Szwacki says, adding: “For example, 3M film products have Controltac, Avery Dennison RE and Arlon with Flite. I used this in 99% of my jobs.” Having been affiliated with the wrapping industry for a long time, Szwacki says he is keen to give back to fellow wrappers to help them on their own journey. Last year, he took on a new role as training manager at William Smith, a specialist supplier of wrapping films and other materials. “It’s a part-time job so I work there for two weeks in a month and most of that time is filled with training days,” Szwacki explains, adding: “Having that extra time allows me to bring the training sessions to the next level and that’s what I’m going to continue to do.” Szwacki’s passion for wrapping sums up this area of the industry perfectly. Wrappers clearly love what they do and working with customers on new and innovative ideas. Working with the latest materials and ensuring you have the right skills will allow you to compete with the best in this market – and maybe even challenge Szwacki and others at the FESPA World Wrap Masters next year! We have noticed a massive pick up in the past 12 months ► Michael Szwacki, director of MEK Wrap Squad, won the World Wrap Masters UK and Ireland ► The World Wrap Masters 2023 final took place at the FESPA Global Print Expo 2023. Picture: FESPA
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