Manufacturers

Print Professional's Listing of Top 20 Labels Suppliers for 2008.

Print Professional's Listing of Top 100 Manufacturers for 2008.

Print Professional's Listing of Top 20 Direct Mail Suppliers for 2008.

Print Professional's Listing of Top 20 Commercial Print Suppliers for 2008.

Print Professional's Listing of Top 20 Forms Suppliers for 2008.

Following a year fraught with layoffs, plummeting stocks and other financial woes, it seems plausible to write off the industry as another casualty of the economy. However, similar to the surprising developments of a topsy-turvy Wall Street, the printed products industry continues to create a legacy, with no intentions of backing down anytime soon. In fact, total annual sales figures for the top 100 manufacturers surpassed last year’s reported $2.97 billion, reaching a high of $3.05 billion for the last fiscal year completed. Several individual product sectors were also on the rise. For instance, labels and tags sales were up at $567.6 million (2007:

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

When employees at Color Smiths—a suburban Chicago prepress shop—smelled smoke, they ran for the fire extinguisher. Minutes later, the entire building was engulfed and, in a matter of hours, everything was lost. But in just one week, Color Smiths was up and running again, thanks to extraordinary service from All Printing Resources (APR), Glendale Heights, Ill. “We had an informal plan in case a major catastrophic event caused a shut down of our business, but I never imagined we would need a plan for rebuilding the entire business,” said Calvin Hill, owner of Color Smiths. “Despite the loss, there was never a question that

Pittsburgh-based Printing Industries of America/Graphic Arts Technical Foundation (PIA/GATF) formed the Center for Lean Practices to assist the graphic communications industry with the implementation of lean manufacturing. Since its inception, the Center has received rave reviews from those who have taken advantage of the products and services. One printer reduced spoilage from 2.5 percent to 1.09 percent over the last year. Ken Rizzo, PIA/GATF’s director of consulting, oversees the Center’s activities, and has been involved with lean practices for more than 20 years. Previously, Rizzo served as a process engineer for offset printing, where he led numerous lean manufacturing projects, including Kaizen events, 5S,

Pittsburgh-based Printing Industries of America/Graphic Arts Technical Foundation (PIA/GATF) formed the Center for Lean Practices to assist the graphic communications industry with the implementation of Lean Manufacturing. The Center provides consulting, training, publications and a speakers’ bureau specifically for the printing industry. Since its inception, the Center for Lean Practices has received rave reviews from those who have taken advantage of the Center’s products and services. One such printer reduced spoilage from 2.5 percent to 1.09 percent over the last year. Ken Rizzo, PIA/GATF’s director of consulting, oversees the Center’s activities. He has been involved with Lean Practices for more than 20 years. Previously,