Ampco Grafix: Wrapping up Contract for Games Sponsor

Publish Date: January 2010

Cars and buses wrapped in oversized decals may be familiar sights on B.C. streets, but how about wrapping ferries in giant-sized decals to promote the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games?

"It had its challenges, but it was nothing we couldn’t do," said Barry Parkinson, business development manager for 3M’s B.C. division. "It was just the sheer size and the logistics of it." Parkinson said the company had just signed the sponsorship deal with VANOC when B.C. Ferries proposed the plan to wrap the three new ferries. "We thought it would be a good fit for 3M," he said. "Everything went great — it just looks fabulous."

It takes a lot of film to wrap a ferry. The graphics are about eight metres tall and 130 metres long and nearly cover both sides of the vessel.  The film is so thin it appears as though the photographs are painted right on the ferries. 3M produced the wrap then shipped it to Ampco Grafix, the Coquitlam company contracted to print the graphics.

Dann Konkin, President of Ampco, said the company has worked with 3M for 35 years on many projects. "When we were called about the ferry project, we were very pleased," Konkin said.

It took 10 days and 370 hours of work to print the wrapping for each ferry — 40,500 square feet of adhesive vinyl printed on 992 individual panels. Each panel had to be numbered and matched exactly with the others so the graphics would look seamless on the ferries. "It was a huge job — the largest commercial marine application of vinyl graphics in the world," he said. "No one has ever put graphics on something this size."

Konkin said the ferry project will enhance Ampco's position in the highly competitive industry. "When you do a huge job like the ferries, it's outstanding on your resume when you talk to other companies," he said. "It gave us a huge sense of pride to be involved with B.C. Ferries and promoting the 2010 Games. Not everybody gets to work on a project of this scale."

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