by Melissa Donovan
Business models change and companies adapt to succeed. Look no further than Atlas Print Solutions Inc., which started out as print broker KR Concepts in 1996. In 2010, the company realized it had to evolve in tandem with the industry and it began offering custom digital printing and professional installation services.
Today Atlas operates a 15,000 square foot production facility out of Freeport, NY and a sales and marketing office in New York, NY. With a team comprised of 36 professionals, the print provider offers custom large and small format graphic printing, CNC routing, custom fabrication, and full-service brand activation such as event and retail installation. Clients are spread out across Canada, the Caribbean, North America, and Puerto Rico.
To offer the array of services it does, Atlas operates flatbed as well as roll-to-roll printers. It’s not vendor dependent. Two flatbeds are 3.2-meter Agfa Anapurna printers and an additional set of flatbeds is from Mimaki USA, Inc. Six, 64-inch roll-to-roll printers are divided evenly between two Canon U.S.A., Inc. Colorado printers, two Epson SureColor S9170 devices, and two HP Latex 800 printers.
Managing Skill with Consistency
A portfolio of diverse printers demands a finishing process that can handle all of their differences, complement each piece of output that comes off a device, and manage to do so efficiently. Before automating the finishing portion of its production workflow, Atlas staff hand cut and mounted its graphics, something Ken Rosenberg, CEO, Atlas admits is a “labor-intensive process. While we’ve always been proud of our skilled production staff, the increasing demand for high-volume, precision-cut graphics required us to scale operations and improve turnaround time.”
Kathleen Tan, director of finance, Atlas, adds “we needed the ability to process more complex materials like Dibond, wood, acrylic, foamboard, and other rigid substrates—and to do so at a consistent level of accuracy.”
Enter Colex Finishing Solutions, Inc. In March 2015, Atlas made its first investment in automated finishing with a Colex Sharpcut CNC router to meet the aforementioned needs. Business grew and Atlas looked for more automated finishing support, it added a Colex Sharpcut SX1631 in 2019.
“Our goal has always been to maintain high-quality standards while increasing efficiency, and Colex has allowed us to do just that,” admits Tan.
Not only do the machines perform, Rosenberg can’t say enough about the support the vendor offers. “The Colex team was helpful with training and problem solving when we installed our first Sharpcut in 2015. Since then, we have had a great relationship with Colex and have really never been down without a solve for more than 24 hours. Its phone support is top notch and when a technician is needed, they react quickly.”
In 2025, Atlas added a 67×126-inch Sharpcut SX1732 to meet the increasing volume and diversity of projects. Rosenberg notes that because of the success of the prior installations the addition of a third Colex made sense, citing cost effectiveness, versatility, ease of use, and reliability as what makes Colex stand out from competition.
“The addition of the Sharpcut SX1732 has helped us further streamline production, maintain quality, and expand our capabilities in large format and specialty fabrication,” adds Tan.
Impossible Made Possible
An example of the Colex Sharpcuts being integral is Atlas’ work in September 2025 for Nike. It was tasked with rolling out graphics for 900 stores that promoted the launch of new JA3 (Ja Morant) basketball shoes. 3,550 sheets of oversized material ranging from e-flute, styrene, Sintra, PVC, magnet, and cover stock were printed over ten days using a mix of Agfa Anapurna and Canon Colorado printers. The Colex Sharpcut SX1631 and SX1732 cut and finished.
Key to finishing the job, the Colex Sharpcut’s triple interchangeable tool head, which allows operators to quickly and seamlessly transition between routing, knife cutting, and kiss cutting.
The final graphics were delivered to all 900 stores ahead of schedule—a feat not possible without automated finishing in the mix. This job included “tremendous cutting and finishing details. We produced hundreds of custom v-cut pedestal wraps, for example, that needed to fit over existing furniture in the stores. The final pack out consisted of over 100 elements per store in varying sizes and materials,” explains Rosenberg.
Real Example
The Nike job is one of many that illustrates Atlas’ capabilities. It is an ideal example of the type and volume of work the print provider is able to handle thanks to its three Colex Sharpcut devices.
Feb2026, Industrial Print Magazine
