Chris Harrington · VP Sales · Graphic Whizard · PRINTING United 2025

At Printing United 2025 in Orlando, Morten B. Reitoft from INKISH meets Chris Harrington from Graphic Whizard, one of the busiest exhibitors at the show — so busy, in fact, that the interview had to be postponed until the final hours because, as Chris put it, “We’re selling too much right now.”

Chris, who has spent decades in the print finishing industry, including his entire career working with guillotines, shares how Graphic Whizard’s latest product line brings both tradition and innovation together. “We launched our new series of guillotines about a year and a half ago,” he explains. “We showed them for the first time at Printing United 2024, and now they’re in full production, with installations happening all over North America.”

Before becoming a company leader, Chris began his career as a technician, and that hands-on background has deeply influenced his design philosophy. “When you’re standing at a cutter for hours, you realize comfort matters,” he says. “It’s about ergonomics — the button placement, the height, where the foot pedal sits. Operators spend all day at these machines, so it needs to be easy on the body.”

The new Graphic Whizard guillotine line includes both hydraulic and electric models. The electric versions, available in 18- and 20-inch formats, are compact, efficient, and ideal for smaller digital environments, while the hydraulic models are suited to heavier production settings. “Electric cutters have come a long way,” Chris says. “If you keep your blade sharp, they’ll last just as long as a hydraulic machine — with a smaller footprint and easier maintenance.”

He explains that automation and user assistance are now central to Graphic Whizard’s development philosophy. “We know labor is tight, and skilled operators are harder to find,” he says. “So, our software now includes interactive prompts that guide users step-by-step — where to cut, how to rotate, and how to stack. It gives less experienced operators confidence and helps maintain precision.”

Chris also highlights the company’s evolution beyond guillotines. “We’ve become one of the leaders in the slitter-cutter-creaser category, and that complements our cutters perfectly. You can automate a lot of the work that used to wear people out at the guillotine. But the cutter still remains the heart of the finishing department — every print shop needs one.”

Discussing Graphic Whizard’s growing reputation, Chris points out that many of the company’s machines are now installed in major national print chains and corporate-owned operations. “We’ve proven that our equipment performs at the same or higher level than much larger brands,” he says. “Before pricing even comes into the discussion, the durability and productivity speak for themselves.”

He adds that Graphic Whizard’s model — combining in-house technology with trusted manufacturing partners — allows the company to deliver quality, reliability, and consistency across a wide portfolio. “Ten or fifteen years ago, when someone said they had a Graphic Whizard, they meant they owned one machine,” Chris smiles. “Now, we visit shops that have seven or eight Graphic Whizard systems — guillotines, slitters, die cutters, binders. Once they’ve had a good experience with the first one, they come back for more.”

As the show winds down, Morten congratulates Chris on what appears to be a record event. Chris laughs and gestures toward the booth, where half the machines have already been sold. “It’s been a great show,” he says. “A lot of orders, a lot of conversations — and a lot of these machines are heading straight from the floor to their new homes.”

Morten smiles and concludes, “That’s the best kind of problem to have — too much success.”