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what material is used for emergency services?
Hi Everyone!!!
Hope everyone is well!!
We have been asked by our local emergency services to become their suppliers of decals for their Police Vehicles, Fire Engines, Sea Rescue & Ambulance. We are delighted that they have considered using us!
We have to ensure that we keep stock of material for their vehicles, however I am struggling to find a supplier. Can anyone advise me where I can obtain Good Quality Reflective material for Police Cars (there is allot of reflective out there, but I want to make sure that I get a good quality material).
I am also struggling in obtaining the Blue & White Reflective checkered stripes that Police have on their vehicles on the top and bottom of their central can anyone help where I can get this from (I assume that this is like a tape).
The Police Cars in Jersey are similar to the Motorway Police cars in the UK mainland
We have also been asked to look at the Fireman’s helmets, at the moment the fireman has his/her name on one side of their helmet, but the name is only in normal cast vinyl, they would like us to come up with a material that will enable them to see their colleagues name a bit easier in a smoke filled room, We have suggested using reflective material or Photoluminescent material (as used on some emergency escape sign – i.e. glow in the dark) – Any ideas anyone?
I hope you can help, Look forward to any advise.
All the Best
Silvio
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9 Replies
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Big G is the man to speak to.
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Dont know a lot about the cars, But the firemens helmets would look neat with there names in leds!, Sounds daft, but so do all the great ideas at first,
Peter -
try these guy’s http://www.pvluk.com/contact/
Peter -
Supplying emergency services’ liveries is a huge undertaking in my experience. For a start you will need a very good flatbed plotter to cut the material. Secondly, a large digitizing tablet (like A0 or bigger), edge sealing ability is required for high conspicuity materials like Diamond Grade or Stimsonite ( AKA Avery EV)……..and so on. Usually the individual fleet managers will specify which material they prefer.
PVLUK are a good place to go if you want to sub out the manufacture, they are very geared up for this type of work. Ask for Colin Burton.
By the way, as far as keeping stock of materials is concerned; the last I heard, a roll of Diamond Grade was about £3.5 grand at 610mm wide.
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Thanks for the advise guys, will take your comments into consideration.
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Hi Silvio,
We have several companies here in australia that supply this type of thing.
They all screen print over the diamond grade 3M reflective, and die cut the decals. Given that the logo’s are all the same size, die cut is the cheapest answer to a bulk supply. As big G rightly states, a good flat bed cutter is the other option.
Helmets are the problem, but I’d look at solvent printing them on a diamond grade reflective rectangle, then hand cutting them out. Just a thought. They would not have a huge qty for each person would they?
They also tried photoluminate tape, but it did not work that well in a smoke filled room as the reflection was not strong enough.Once again, big G’s comment about the reflective pricing is worth taking in to the equation. You’d have to produce a lot, or charge a fortune to recoup your initial outlay.
Hope that helps
Shane
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It’s really something you have to specialise in. We were asked to do a Galaxy ambulance but it was just too much trouble to get the right materials, patterns and equipment.
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i am just wondering after Big G’s comments, £3.5K for 610. So, with all these police chases and the crashing off police cars (if many), do the vinyls need replacing every time? That could be very expensive for the tax payer if we have to keep our emergency services lookin bright.
Yikes. -
You got it! I think we made more from crash repairs than we did from supplying the kits in the first place. A Police fleet manager once told me that the average Police car requires 9 bodyshop repairs in its 2-3 year lifespan.
Second biggest expenditure after wages for the Police is vehicles.
Now you know why they have so many speed cameras!
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