Dodging downturns and responding to distributor needs, the following lead a $4.96 million line-up.
According to Tracy Dennis, vice president of sales for Transcontinental Printing, Newtown, Pa., "our current growth areas are in value-added products, but data management and fulfillment are emerging as the way of the future."
She explained that distributors are increasingly requesting these services as customers are seeking a single source for meeting all of their needs.
"For example, end-users conducting large direct mail campaigns want assistance with storing, tracking and managing data, rather than simply manipulating it. This allows them to prepare better focused and more effective future mailings."
In addition, Transcontinental is focusing on a heightened use of color and affixed products in manufacturing direct mail pieces, while trends in commercial printing continue to revolve around color, graphics and layout.
"To capture colors to full ad-vantage, the highest grades of stock are being used," Dennis observed. "And varnishes are very popular—spot glosses, dull varnishes and aqueous coatings are employed to create specific effects."
Since 90 percent of Transcontinental's sales are through independent distributors, the company strongly advocates plant tours, assisted client calls and on-site training, thus separating solutions providers from order takers.
"Knowledge is golden," said Dennis. "The better we educate our distributors, the better they can educate their customers."
The company also encourages personal and professional training among its employees, "So they can be their best for themselves and Transcontinental," said Dennis. "We put people first," she continued, "resulting in a high retention rate of skilled, experienced staff—a major factor in consistent superior quality."
As for future goals, "Transcontinental is the largest commercial print supplier in Canada and the 10th largest in the U.S.," said Dennis. "We want to be a leader in North America for integrated solutions."
With $280 million in annual sales, Denver, Colorado-based PrintXcel is the industry leader among manufacturers selling 100 percent through distributors—a challenging position President and CEO Dave Holt holds with high esteem.
"The best reward and challenge of selling exclusively to distributors is the immediate feedback," said Holt. "If we don't do our job everyday on every opportunity and order, the distributor can move its work elsewhere...no questions asked."
It is this commitment and respect toward distributors, along with a strong company philosophy, that drives PrintXcel to maintain excellence.
"Our vision is to be the best source for printed products and services," said Holt. "And our job is to anticipate the print service needs of our distributor customers [by asking and listening to them], and then having these capabilities in place when needed."
Putting some of those capabilities in place called for more than $10 million worth of new investments this year, some of which included enhancements to electronic workflow systems, a new high-speed finishing line and associated color presses for PrintXcel VersaSeal and a new nine-station high-speed color press for direct mail document products.
To help manage this year's growth, the manufacturing activities of three of PrintXcel's smaller document businesses were moved into existing larger plants. In addition, the company formed its first strategic alliance with industry leader EPX Group, Portland, Maine.
As far as future success, Holt said, "PrintXcel must continue to meet the changing needs of its distributor partners. This means developing in areas such as warehousing, fulfillment, variable and digital printing and sophisticated electronic workflows as well as offering faster and more flexible delivery schedules."
A lot has changed since Desoto, Texas-based, Ennis Business Forms was founded in 1909. Back then, said President and CEO Keith Walters, the forms business was just getting started. And since then, he added, the company has experienced both the highs and lows of the industry's evolution.
"The glory days of the forms industry were great for us, but Ennis is obviously in a much more competitive environment today," said Walters. "Fortunately, we have a well-established customer base and the financial stability to weather the slow decline in the forms business."
While Ennis has seen a drop in the size of its orders this year, Walters noted that the number of orders Ennis receives has not changed significantly. The reason, he said, is because Ennis is getting contracts from customers that it did not do substantial business with in the past. "We primarily attribute that to continued industry consolidation," explained Walters.
In fact, many of Ennis's product additions and new business in 2001 have come primarily through its acquisition of Northstar Computer Forms and Adams/McClure. From Northstar, Ennis obtained cash tickets, process control documents, official checks and cash management programs, in addition to currency envelopes, correction labels and collections forms. Adams/McClure, in turn, provided a wide variety of products from the point-of-purchase advertising market.
"These new product areas have caused us to be more aware and proactive in our cross-selling op-portunities," said Walters.
In order to remain successful, Ennis has concentrated on its local customer base with increased one-to-one contact while also maintaining its belief in being a national company that has the feel of a small business.
"We see the printing business as primarily a local, or at best regional, business," explained Walters. "Therefore, we provide our local managers with the ability and authority to act as independent players in their market areas." According to Walters, this allows each plant to adapt its business approach as dictated by the customers of that market.
As for the future, Walters will employ a three-step plan for maintaining high rank.
"First we plan to continue investigating new printing markets and products. Second, cost reductions and co-operative projects with our workforce will play a pivotal role in our ability to maintain and gain market share. And, third, we are adapting our products for new market niches and outlets," concluded Walters.
Here in the fourth quarter of the new millennium, as a once hot economy cools off and companies large and small scramble to unload unwieldy overhead and inefficient product lines, a few companies have managed to catch a glimpse of the future—and the future is streamlined.
Lowell Lumpkin, vice president of Dayton, Ohio-based Crabar Paper, is one of those seers. Despite battling a bad economic year, the fluctuating value of foreign currency and rising energy costs, if the future doesn't exactly look bright, Lumpkin said, the fog has certainly lifted.
"We've been affected and our volume is down," admitted Lumpkin, surveying the damage of the past year's downturn, "but we've offset that by focusing on growth products like printed cut-sheets and 50˝ jumbo rolls."
Taking its cues from a shaky market and its own corporate philosophy, Lumpkin said Crabar began scaling back its operations and concentrating on its strengths two years ago.
Though the company wasn't able to match last year's meteoric rise in sales from $34 million to $210 million (partially due to its acquisition of Deferiet Paper), it has managed to weather the brunt of this year's economic storm and remain one of the heaviest hitters in the forms printing big leagues. Nevertheless, it's all in a day's work for Lumpkin and company.
"We just went back to what we do best," Lumpkin explained. "Watch your cost, produce only what you produce best and don't spread yourself too thin."
In addition to cutting back some of its less serviceable product lines, Lumpkin said Crabar also plans to sell off Deferiet Paper to help the company stay focused on its forms business.
By returning to its roots, Lumpkin said Crabar hopes to return to its winning ways.
"The products we efficiently produce are multiple-part continuous and snap-out forms," noted Lumpkin. "We've had a number of issues with the paper side of our business and for now we're just trying to stick with our strong suit."
- Places:
- Newtown, Pa.