PrintingNews.com

No one would deny that this is the worst economic crisis in decades, and print is one of the hardest hit markets. Many are reporting sharp declines in revenues, or worse, bankruptcy.

But there are bright spots in the gloomy landscape, printers who are surviving and some that are actually growing their businesses. What are their secrets? Some have renegotiated their credit terms in response to lower interest rates; others have successfully moved into new specialty niches; some are promoting their expertise by marketing heavily; and still others are committed to meeting their customer needs.

In January, during the deepest depths of the recession, Webster One Source (formerly Webster Printing) of Hanson, Mass., reported that it was not only surviving but doing well. The provider of fine commercial printing, advertising specialty logos, corporate materials and fulfillment, expanded its hours of operation and hired more staff. Three months later, the firm continues to be optimistic.

“Our motto is to always keep in constant contact with our customers and respond to their needs,” said Ernie Foster, president of Webster One Source. “We are always surveying our customers, improving customer relations, and installing equipment that will provide a better, more efficient throughput of their jobs.”

For example, Webster recently added a weekend shift to handle last minute jobs, and incorporated a retail showroom to showcase ad specialties and promotional items, like pens, mugs, apparel, and laptop briefcases.

To shorten turnaround and lower costs, the firm implemented an all-PDF workflow in its prepress department. Customer high-resolution PDF files sent to Webster’s Kodak workflow can expect their proofs off the direct to proof/plate system within 24 to 48 hours. To help its customers receive the best postal discount on direct mail pieces, Webster added a new Robetek Glue System to spot or continuous glue. This is a cost effective solution that enhances the integrity of the design, explains Foster, and eliminates the need for ugly wafer seals. Webster also began to offer to purchase its customer’s promotional products to help cut costs with its purchasing power. “We have always handled the distribution and packaging of promotional products supplied by our customers,” said Foster. “It has become a natural transition for us to offer this purchasing function. Whether we’re storing promotional items or producing a direct mail campaign or supporting a trade show schedule, all of our value added services are provided under one roof.”

Foster credits his employees for their current success and warding off the affects of the recession. “During one of our internal staff meetings, the question was asked ‘What can Webster do to help our customers operate more efficiently and profitably?’” recalled Foster. “The answer was to expand the printing operations to seven days and shorten the turnarounds without rush charges.” To facilitate this change, Foster hired additional full and part-time prepress and bindery workers for the weekend shift.

Celebrating its 50th year in business, Brodock Press, a high-end commercial sheetfed printer located in upstate New York serving New York City and Northeast Fortune 500 firms, has never seen such a sweeping downturn in the economy as the current recession. While the firm was completing a $4 million expansion and installing two new presses last June, the company unwittingly was providing itself a safety net for the advancing sharp decrease in overall sales throughout the printing industry.

“The last six months have been challenging,” said Barbara Brodock, vice president of the company. “But our addition of a new Komori Lithrone S40 eight-color press from our existing seven-color press is allowing us to be more competitive and offer faster turnaround and even higher quality to our customers. Our expansion into the digital arena has enabled us to diversify our services and provide another avenue for sales revenue. It affords us a secondary source of printing and a new subset of customers.”

Brodock says that the firm’s new Xerox i-Gen3 digital press, equipped with the unique Automated Color Quality Suite Press Matching System, is allowing the firm to reach a broader range of new customers and provide existing customers with faster turnaround and a wider variety of substrates to specify for jobs.

“We’ve been researching digital presses for the past three to four years,” said Brodock. “But our quality level is extremely high and our customers have very demanding color expectations. We finally felt that digital presses, and especially the Xerox i-Gen3, had improved their quality levels to meet our demands.”