Pressing On: Content, Content Everywhere
From our annual Quick Printing Top 100 in print, to pressroom safety and ergonomics online, QP and MPR offer readers rich content in multiple formats, for multiple devices.
As the days continue to lengthen and 2015 approaches its midpoint, QP’s annual ranking of the Top 100 quick printers is featured in this, our June issue. As in most years past, there are some names you’ll likely recognize in familiar slots as well as several newbies on the list. For instance, Wolverine Solutions Group, Detroit, swapped places with Ironmark, Annapolis, MD, to take over the #1 spot. Wolverine’s sales spiked 14 percent in 2014, to nearly $21 million, while Ironmark’s took a 3 percent dip.
Some print shops saw sales explode in 2014. Allegra of Princeton, NJ, (#31) grew by acquisition and saw sales increase by a whopping 229 percent. The same is true of Docuplex Inc. (#13), Wichita, KS, whose sales rose 74 percent after acquiring Color Impressions Inc. in July 2013. (Two years earlier, Docuplex had purchased PrintMaster.) Its sales now exceed $8 million.
Other shops grew organically: Sales at Allegra - Shreveport, LA, (#93) were up more than 50 percent, earning the firm a seat at our table; Northwest Visual (#58), West Fargo, ND, was up 54 percent. Miller’s Minuteman Press (#8) in Maryland enjoyed year-over-year sales growth in excess of 30 percent. (See page 30 for more on their growth strategy.) And Allegra of Seattle sneaked in to #100 with sales of $2.54 million on 158 percent growth.
The ups and downs, ebb and flow of fluctuating sales can be attributed to various factors. Some are acts of man, while others might be called acts of God. Plum Grover Printers dropped down to #66 from the #41 spot. “We lost a big client last year …,” explained CEO Peter Lineal, also known as “Peter the Printer,” who doubles as the Hoffman Estates, IL firm’s sales manager. As a result, Plum Grove’s sales took a painful 26-percent hit. It happens. And it hurts. (The Top 100 complete report and ranking begins on page 12.)
Don’t get burned
Coming in at the center position, at #49, is Renaissance Press of Richardson, TX. Situated near Dallas the company posted sales of $4 million in 2014, down nearly 10 percent. Management expects its ranking to fall even lower next year due to a devastating, two-alarm fire “in late January that destroyed two-thirds of our business,” reported president/CEO JD Danielson. “It has been a long haul but we've relocated.” Like the rising phoenix bird of mythology, Renaissance reopened its doors on May 1.
While the printing shop fire in Texas may not have been preventable, many workplace accidents are. A recent website exclusive, written for MyPRINTResource by yours truly, delves into pressroom and bindery safety and ergonomics. In a detailed interview, Gary Jones, the PIA’s assistant VP for Environmental, Health and Safety Affairs, responds to the book baler tragedy at a Pennsylvania printing plant a few months ago. Jones also shares his wisdom on how best to comply with OSHA regulations – and avoid potentially steep financial penalties for safety violations, such as the $64,000 in fines recently levied against a New Jersey screen printing operation.
The article only is accessible online: “Plant Safety: Own It – or Else You May Pay Dearly” at www.MyPRINTResource.com/12070306.
