Print
Solutions April 2006
Cover
Story
TOP
100 Manufacturers — Growth
Strategy
Plugging
Into the Digital World
Three
manufacturers in the Top 100 improved
their digital printing capabilities
to increase sales and open doors
to new markets.
Company:
Compuset Printing
Headquarters:
Pointe-Claire, Quebec, Canada
Founded:
1979
Principal:
Kevin P. Cross, President
Employees:
65
Business
in Brief: Compuset Printing
is a commercial printer with digital
and offset capabilities, fulfillment
and warehousing facilities, and
computerized activity reporting.
The company offers a wide array
of products, including annual
reports, direct mail, posters,
packaging and backlit signs.
Sales
increase from FY 2004 to FY 2005:
16.7%
Of
all the printing industry segments,
digital printing is the fastest
growing. According to an InfoTrends
study, The Evolving U.S. Digital
Color On-Demand Printing Opportunity,
the digital color market will
grow by 20 percent annually through
the end of the decade, “creating
radical shifts in revenue and
page volume and transforming the
face of the printing industry.”
Many
distributors see the value in
what digital printing technology
can offer their customers in contrast
to traditional offset presses.
Digital printing not only gives
distributors the ability to create
static and variable products in
color, but also can reduce waste
and shorten press time. Customers
spend less money on inventory
and storage with the help of digital
printing’s print-on-demand
capability. With variable data
printing, distributors can pitch
programs that are designed specifically
for 1-to-1 marketing campaigns.
These distributors can tout 1-to-1
marketing case studies and statistics
that show higher return on investment
than traditional mass marketing
techniques.
Several
manufacturers have purchased or
upgraded digital printing equipment
to stay competitive, but the decision
can mean a large capital investment.
For the manufacturers featured
in this article—Compuset
Printing, Pointe-Claire, Quebec,
Canada; Wayne Trademark Printing
& Packaging, High Point, N.C.,
and Total Printing Systems, Newton,
Ill.—expenditures on technology,
staff training, and facility expansion
ranged from $500,000 to $4.5 million.
But all of the company principals
say they expect high returns on
their investments.
Three
and half years ago, Compuset Printing
purchased a 46,000 square foot,
state-of-the art, dust-free facility
with temperature and humidity
control, the first step in a 3-year
business plan that Compuset President
Kevin Cross says was meant to
“increase our output and
make us more competitive.”
The
plan focused on digital printing.
The company’s prepress system
was revamped with the installation
of Heidelberg’s Prinect
Workflow and Suprasetter Computer-to-Plate
systems. Because of this change,
Cross says the prepress department
can now interface with the Compuset
press system or bindery division.
The company also improved its
proofing capabilities with a Kodak
digital system. This was in addition
to the installation of new Polar
cutting and Bobst die cutting
machines.
Compuset
completed its 3-year business
plan in February by installing
Canada’s first Heidelberg
Speedmaster XL 105. Cross says
the oversized press, 29 1/2 x
41 1/3-inch compared to the traditional
28 x 40-inch press, will increase
the company’s productivity
and cost-effectiveness. The Speedmaster
XL 105 can run 18,000 sheets per
hour with make readies in 20 minutes.
Also, the press can handle up
to 40-pt. board for packaging
products, Cross says.
Technological
improvements cost roughly $4.5
million, but Cross considers it
worth the investment. “We
wanted to be very competitive
but not necessarily by cutting
prices,” Cross says. “To
stay competitive in this business,
you have to be a step ahead in
technology. We needed this equipment.
Now we’re getting orders
24 hours ahead of their proofs.”
The
upgrades meant additional training
and some reorganization. The new
press runs more efficiently and
requires fewer operators, but
Cross says it did not lead to
downsizing. “Instead of
getting rid of one of our plate-makers,
we simply converted their job
to a CSR,” he says.
To
promote the company’s new
capabilities, Compuset organized
a seminar for 35 customers and
prospects last November, demonstrating
various aspects of print production
by following a Christmas card
print job through the production
cycle. The seminar was designed
and presented by Compuset staff,
instructors from Heidelberg and
supplier professionals.
Cross
says these changes and upgrades
led to the company’s sales
increases, “and we expect
25 to 30 percent growth because
of these increases in technology.”
