Page 35 - Print21 magazine Sep-Oct 2022

Printer Profile
that we hadn’t previously had.
So, we went over to Fespa with cash in the pocket asking, ‘What are we going to invest in?’ and identified a trend for wide format digital fabric printing,” says Watson.
The event was key to AFI's development, with the team
looking at how print technology and processes were evolving and bringing them back to Australia.
“At that time the closest thing to wide format fabric, here in Australia, was 1.8 metre digital printing, which few people were involved in,” he explains.
In 2006, AFI was the first company to offer three-metre
wide fabric printing in Australia, after Watson made a “million dollar plus investment” when he purchased the company’s first EFI Vutek,
along with a three-metre-wide Klieverick calendar.
"This was a real game changer for us,” says Watson. “By being first to
market, we were able to open wide fabric printing to a range of new local industries, like exhibitions and retail. Now, 16 years on, they have become core business streams for us.”
“We’ve built AFI on a set of core values that have become fundamental to how we do business. Being ‘leaders not followers’ and ‘putting our people first’ are key elements.” – Glenn Watson
Watson believes that AFI was given a good head start in the silicon edge graphic space when department store Myer introduced AFI’s ReFrame system into all its stores, which he says, “really accelerated things for us”.
AFI has since continued to evolve, offering industrial design, printing, sewing, metal fabrication,
sales, and despatch at its dedicated facility in Carrum Downs. Then in October last year, the company was acquired by IVE Group, Australia’s leading holistic marketing and print communications company.
The acquisition means IVE now offers in-house fabric printing for the first time in its rich 100-year history, and later this year AFI will join its parent company IVE Group, in a custom-built facility in Braeside.
Watson says the decision to become an IVE-owned company was based on a number of factors.
“We've built AFI on a set of
core values that have become fundamental to how we do business. Being ‘leaders not followers’ and ‘putting our people first’ are key elements to this, so
it was really refreshing to see that IVE had similar values, which gave me confidence that this legacy would continue under IVE.”
Despite going through some
rough patches during Covid, Watson explains that AFI remained buoyant by introducing essential service products throughout the pandemic, such as masks and sanitiser stations.
Rebuilding
Now, Watson is hopeful of the future, as retail and exhibitions bounce back, and AFI, he says, is in the process of rebuilding itself.
“It feels like the worst of Covid
is behind us,” says Watson. “The authorities are now applying some good common sense to the way that we do life and business, and with that comes a certain confidence. Based on how our business has performed over the last couple of months, we are seeing a lot of growth across the board, and this now has us back achieving pre-pandemic sales levels.’
AFI will no doubt be celebrating its milestone in many ways this year, embracing the past and looking towards a bright and exciting future with hope and positivity.
“If you’d asked me 30 years ago where Auto Flags International might end up, I don’t think either Al or I would have said here. From the start we have valued our people, and we have a passionate and talented team with a ‘can-do’ mindset, which really does make anything possible. That’s definitely an approach echoed at IVE, which makes the opportunities that lie ahead in our next chapter even more exciting,” concludes Watson. 21
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