As Jay Wise approaches his 29-year anniversary at Datamax, it’s safe to say that he’s found his sweet spot here.

Corralling Jay into one particular “spot” or role over the years? That’s a different story altogether.
He started as a field service technician in 1993, when reporting to dispatch involved a pocket full of quarters and the nearest pay phone. He continued as a production print manager, working through the night at large volume accounts, only to show up the next morning ready to start again. In his most recent role, as an onsite manager for one of Datamax’s largest accounts (Alcon), Jay takes on the tasks of administrator, biller, print technology consultant, and general “go-to.”

The industry’s changed almost inconceivably in his time at Datamax. The ground he’s covered in his time here, cross-pollinating departments and responsibilities and expertise, is enormous. Yet, almost 30 years later, his passion for what comes next in technology only grows for Jay.

Datamax felt like a familiar spot.

Jay’s father was a self-taught engineer who moved the family often in Jay’s early years. The family moved to Dallas, and then Fort Worth, where he spent a good portion of his childhood. After high school, Jay attended Junior College but “couldn’t figure out or find my cup of tea or bag of donuts.”

So he entered the Navy. After a year and a half stationed in Memphis, he was honorably discharged and returned to DFW looking for work. Jay eventually found Datamax.

“I applied the summer of 1993. At the time, David Rhodes was the service manager. I spent the next three months calling every day trying to get an interview. Eventually, I think I wore him down,” Jay recalls. The cohesiveness of the group, and the tightness of operations, were familiar to his recent stint in the military. He gelled immediately.

“We were a different company then, we were just getting started in the Metroplex,” Jay said. “It was a pretty tight, cohesive group of people. There were a lot of the same attributes that I found in the military. It was a comfortable fit for me then.”

Jay’s On the Spot at an Enormous account.

Jay started his Datamax career working on what was then called Segment 3 copiers. He quickly moved up to lead technician, and then moved up to production. He reflects on the long days (and often longer nights) bouncing from customer sites to the nearest pay phone to close calls.

“We had some really high volume accounts that would run machines 24/7. People would call in at 2 a.m. and we would run out there, and we’d return to the office at 7 a.m. in T-shirts and shorts. It was a different time then. The equipment wasn’t as easy to service as it is now,” he said.

6 years ago, Jay took on the role of managing the fleet for Alcon, a DFW-based company with thousands of employees and at one time more than 2,500 devices. Much of where their fleet was and is now is a credit to Jay’s (along with Ernesto Zamarripa's) tireless efforts at both securing and streamlining their enormity of print operations.

“When I first came into this role, the place was wide open. This is a global company, and securing their print shop was a big push,” Jay said. “We spent a good three years discussing and implementing a strategy to lock that down.”

Today, Alcon employees use their badges to retrieve their print jobs. Their new equipment now comes armed with uniFLOW output management. With their efforts, their printing has gone from 2.5 million or so down to 800,000. Jay also consults on the organization’s manufacturing Zebra printers.

For the uninitiated, the environment could be overwhelming.

“You walk around the building, there are thousands of employees, rooms and rooms full of toner and equipment,” Jay said. “It’s been quite the process to get it cleaned up, get the print environment organized and detailed…. But I think that’s the reason we’re (Datamax) still here. We literally flipped the place upside down and started fresh again.”

Datamax continues to be the right spot.

What keeps Jay at Datamax? The desire to stay on top of and even ahead of the technology curve. Inside his home, he’s built a network similar to the one you’d see in the closet at Datamax. Jay has 70 or so wireless devices connected to said network. He has a budding interest in 3D printing, and the ability to literally create parts on the fly. Being in the right spot doesn’t mean standing idle.

“There’s a desire for me to stay cutting edge. Things have changed and will continue to keep changing. And I think Datamax as a whole is the same way. We both have that desire.”