Standing Their Ground

1. The Defending Champions

Midlothian, Texas-based Ennis has much to celebrate—perhaps most importantly its repeated procurement of the winning spot in Print Professional’s top 100 manufacturers list. The company attributes its success to product expansion and national branding efforts. Acquisitions, in particular, give the supplier prime positioning to accomplish such feats. Most recently, Trade Envelopes, Carol Stream, Ill., Phoenix-based B&D Litho of Arizona and Skyline Business Forms, Denver, have been added to the Ennis catalog.

“Since the acquisition, we have expanded Trade Envelopes’ envelope conversion capabilities. We have also added envelope converting equipment in Calibrated [Forms], and coupled with our existing Block Graphics facilities, we now offer a robust envelope product line across the country,” noted Keith Walters, chairman, president and CEO. “Calibrated also added integrated equipment and becomes the fifth facility producing our Enfusion integrated product line. Growing our geographic footprint will become more important as the cost of freight increases, and the industry becomes more regionally focused.”

Uncompromised Check Solutions (UCS) is another recently launched product brand finding success. Along with Enfusion, UCS was built with a two-fold intention. “In both cases, we wanted to build kits that focused on supporting distributors’ selling efforts and created name recognition, and I feel we have achieved both objectives,” said Walters. “ ... Simply put, we rely on distributors as our sales team and build our strategies to support them.”

So, how will Ennis keep things interesting in 2009? Expanding on its product diversification over the last decade, the company will continue to fill the void left from the decline in traditional product demand.

Not surprisingly, cost pressures remain a growing area of concern. Even though the costs of paper, freight and employee benefits are increasing, pressure is being applied to distributors to lower costs during these down-and-out times. “As a public company, it is imperative that we eliminate costs to help provide acceptable returns to shareholders while allowing our distributors to remain price competitive,” Walters asserted.

The details of how this will be achieved are uncertain. One thing Walters can guarantee is Ennis will be watching and controlling all costs. He concluded, “The real challenge though, is to accomplish this while remaining focused on the future. It is important to Ennis that we remain a reliable and stable partner for our distributors while investing and focusing on what is important for our mutual success.”

2. New Kid on the Block

Dynamic Print Group, Menasha, Wis., makes an impressive debut on this year’s list, securing the number-two position. Established in 2004, Dynamic Print Group began with four member firms, and was designed to “support national clientele with a broad range of print capability, to simplify the print procurement process and to provide creative insight to project development,” recalled Steve McGrath, vice president.

Today, nine businesses comprise the company, including: Valley Label, Neenah, Wis.; National Graphics Solutions, Appleton, Wis.; Graphic Composition, Greenville, Wis; Menasha Packaging Co./Neenah Printing, Neenah, Wis.; Richardson Printing, Kansas City, Mo.; Promo Print Solutions, Oshkosh, Wis.; Hess Print Solutions, Woodstock, Ill. and Brimfield, Ohio; Great Lakes Flocking, Jackson, Wis.; and Winnebago Color Press, Menasha, Wis.

When asked how Dynamic Print Group found success so quickly, McGrath responded, “We’ve carefully added new companies with solid industry reputations, complementary product lines, a wealth of experience and a commitment to making Dynamic a success.”
A recipient of several national awards, Dynamic Print Group prides itself on being a respected brand in a competitive industry. Next year, the company hopes to enhance its WBE opportunities and complete FSC certification across all Dynamic platforms, while adding more members and investing in new technology.

Despite the company’s good fortune, McGrath does acknowledge ongoing problems in the printing industry, such as over capacity and print management programs. “The industry has been plagued with over capacity for many years. The high cost of new technology has made it difficult for smaller firms to keep pace with leading edge solutions,” he continued. “Print management programs have changed the way some larger firms purchase print and created a new tier of preferred suppliers. Printers with limited resources will continue to have a more difficult time competing in the years ahead.” It simply isn’t enough to prolong past practices.

He went on to say the strategy for surviving and thriving like Dynamic Print Group is multifaceted. “Most printers want simple things: creative insight, quick response and the most cost-effective approach to their project. ... Printers need to think like marketers and understand the investment our customers have already made in design. ... Successful firms must think out of the box, be trustworthy and reliable, and find ways to expand their portfolio while controlling their technology investments,” McGrath enthused. Hard work is no longer an advantage, but a necessity.

3. Onward and Upward

Headquartered in Huntington, W. Va., since 1922, Champion Industries is a major commercial printer, business form manufacturer and supplier of office products and office furniture. With annual revenues of more than $145 million, the company’s commitment to be a single-source supplier to the marketplace continues to be its driving force.

Marshall T. Reynolds, chairman and CEO, pointed out Champion Industries’ ability to blend emerging technologies with traditional printing processes and services ensures continued growth, and further solidifies the company’s position as a world-class provider of printing solutions. In addition, carefully planned and managed acquisitions throughout the years have allowed the company to expand its competitive footprint in the marketplace.

“Last year, we acquired the Herald-Dispatch, which is the local newspaper in Huntington. The newspaper also had a commercial printing facility under the name of River Cities Printing,” added Reynolds. “In the past year, we have also added postal optimization enhancements, along with variable data manufacturing improvements.”

When asked about the company’s strategic growth plan for the coming year, Reynolds responded the company will continue to expand product lines to existing accounts, as well as introduce new product initatives and service offerings across several lines of business.

For example, a few years ago, the company expanded by opening a spinoff of its Chapman Printing Charleston print-on-demand and mail operation. This operation now operates as Champion Output Solutions, and is focused on offering comprehensive transactional printing and mail center services with initial focus on statement rendering, check and explanation of benefits variable print, medical billing and postal optimization.

Despite the current economic climate, Reynolds and the Champion Industries team remain optimistic for the company’s coming fiscal year.

“The current financial crisis will cause a tightening of credit from the banking industry. This will force many borderline printers to merge with others, while some others will be forced to close their businesses,” observed Reynolds. “Because there is currently more capacity than need, this will be a time for surviving printers to expand and improve upon their performances. However, suppliers to the industry will also be much more suspect to the credit worthiness of printers,” he added. “Still, the printing inudstry can come out of this period much stronger.”

4. A Century of Service

Headquartered in Butler, Wis., No. 4 ranked Western States Envelope & Label recently celebrated its 100th year in the envelope converting business—a proud accomplishment in a climate of economic uncertainty. In fact, growth in label products prompted the company to break ground on a new label manufacturing facility in Sun Prairie, Wis., which is scheduled to open in February 2009.

“Our new building will be 20 percent larger and consume 30 percent less energy. We will continue to specialize in pressure-sensitive label products, as well as other types of narrow web specialty products,” said President Mark S. Lemberger.

He noted growth in the envelope area is coming from value-added products, such as those featuring multiple windows, enhanced color and graphics, environmentally friendly papers and two-way designs, as well as envelopes displaying attention-getting labels. “The eKEY Multimedia mailer—launched a year ago—is doing well, and underscores the consideration of postage cost in disk mailings,” added Lemberger. “Another growth area for us has been direct mail. Our newest equipment and machine modifications have enabled us to add new features to products. These features either increase efficiency in processing, save on postage or add something to grab the attention of the recipient.”

Western States Envelope & Label recently installed an ESKO computer-to-plate system, which in conjunction with the DuPont Fast system, allows the company to reduce the time it takes to make plates and respond to customer needs.

The company’s four envelope facilities in Wis., Ky., Ohio and Minn. are certified in both FSC and SFI chain-of-custody standards. “A large printing company with multiple certifications of their own awarded us a large piece of business within the last month. We know that our certifications played a key role in getting the business,” reported Lemberger. “We recently joined the EPA Climate Leaders program, and are the first envelope manufacturer to do so. We are in the process of setting a greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction goal over a five-year period,” he said. “The EPA commits consulting resources to assist us. Each year we are required to report progress on our GHG reduction. While we work to reduce our carbon footprint, the potential of reducing energy costs is a realistic financial benefit.”

Going forward, Lemberger and his team will continue to seek out growth opportunities amidst the market’s volatile financial situation. “I wish I had a crystal ball to tell me exactly what lies ahead. One thing that I do know for sure from my 30 plus years of experience in this business is that changing market conditions always bring about opportunities for those of us who are able to develop solutions for our customers’ changing needs,” he said.

5. Hanging Tough

This year’s No. 5 ranking belongs to Peachtree City, Georgia-based Printegra. As reported last year, Printegra is one of the individual brands comprising the Custom Resale Group (CRG). With a strong legacy and tremendous brand awareness, Printegra is in good company with other CRG brands, such as Discount Labels, New Albany, Ind.; Lancer Label, Omaha, Neb.; Synergy Label, Smyrna, Ga.; DealerLabel, Omaha, Neb.; PrintXcel, Montrose, Ala.; Wisco Envelope, Tullahoma, Tenn.; and National Imprint Corporation, Claysburg, Pa.

Perhaps a major part of Printegra’s success can be attributed to the company’s unending quest to nurture a rapport with its distributor base. To help distributors succeed, Printegra offers Boot Camp training seminars.

“Our Boot Camp training seminars have helped us get to know our distributors and their needs while providing basic print industry training to participants. By providing this training, we find that these new sales and customer service representatives are more educated and confident in selling and servicing their customers’ print needs,” observed Bob Saunders, senior vice president, sales and marketing. “Also, they get to interact with print experts in our facilities whom they can call if they need some assistance when selling.”

Because of the country’s current economic plight, customer service takes on additional importance in the quest for survival. Saunders noted most of Printegra’s business is transactional-based, so a slowdown in the economy could ultimately affect business. “Less transactions equal shorter quantities, longer lead times or fewer orders,” he cautioned. However, Printegra’s top short-run document supplier status has enabled the company to fight off financial woes for now.

Looking ahead, Printegra will continue to educate its large customer base on its vast product offering and available services, and also on those of the entire CRG. “We will work to provide greater value to the relationship we have with our customers through the many technological advantages we can provide. For example, we can help customers set up online procurement sites that offer any product manufactured at one of our 18 facilities. ... We have the products and the manufacturing expertise to help our distributors succeed in this competitive marketplace,” Saunders enthused.