Local Printers Adapt to Keep Up With Tech

Paul Strack of CustomXM

CustomXM President Paul Strack, whose father launched the North Little Rock print shop in the 1960s, said the biggest technology-related decision he made when he joined the family business in 1990, “made in an attempt to move us on the edge,” was to bring in a fax machine.

The times, they are a-changing. Printers who want to remain open for business, much less relevant, must be ready to recognize new tech and adapt quickly.

“Technology, specifically digital technology, has had the biggest impact on our industry,” Strack said. “Desktop publishing replaced typesetting, computer-to-plate technology replaced film and negatives; digital and inkjet technology has and continues to replace offset printing. Online tools, including email campaigns, have commoditized much of what used to be a craft-oriented trade. Web-to-print technology — the ability to create and order certain printed goods online — has also dramatically impacted how printing companies sell, operate and produce their products.”

Kevin Wilcox of Little Rock’s Arkansas Graphics Inc., a family-owned printer that’s done business in central Arkansas for 40 years, said the industry has changed drastically in the past five years thanks to new tech. Noting the “dawn of desktop publishing” 25 years ago, standard print jobs even then would take two weeks, he said.

“First, a customer would have to buy film from a prepress/film house and that would take a week, and then a printer would have about a week to turn the job,” he said. “All those companies have merged or gone out of business, and now the customer just deals with a printer who has prepress capabilities, and the job is due same day, next day or within a few days if it is larger.”

Wilcox said the game changed as new tech automated the industry.

“The fewer human touches we can make on a job, the better off we all are,” he said. “First off, the industry tried to automate its mechanical equipment as much as possible. Auto washers and auto plate loaders became standard on conventional presses. On smaller runs, digital presses flourished. Orders have become smaller. Now, we use software to try to wring efficiencies out of the production process. We even create digital storefronts for customers so they or their customers have access to order from anywhere at any time. Convenience and ease of use are key to buyers today.”

Mike Simpson of TCPrint Solutions in North Little Rock (formerly known as Twin City Printing), another family outfit in business for decades, said the past 20 years have seen most printers invest heavily in digital workflows and technology upgrades, all of which has streamlined the printing production process.

Simpson still relishes his “heavy metal,” the traditional offset presses that he calls the “workhorse of the printing industry.” The future, however, belongs to digital. Digital production presses have represented the largest area of growth in the printing industry over the past decade.

“Digital printing produces full-color prints quickly and cost effectively and expands the range of services and products that printers can offer,” Simpson said. “Digital printing works great for small quantity, fast-turn jobs or orders that require variable data or personalization.”

Simpson believes printers who don’t embrace digital printing won’t be able to compete in the market. About 30 percent of his company’s sales are through digital print jobs, he said, and TCP has invested $850,000 in the past three years in four digital presses.

“It’s a proven solution for us in the marketplace,” he said. “We have the high quality of a traditional press combined with the speed and flexibility of a digital system.”

Wilcox said about 70 percent of Arkansas Graphics’ jobs are digital, and that number is growing. Over at CustomXM, digital print jobs surpassed traditional offset jobs about seven years ago and account for 45 percent of sales.

“There are successful operations that exist that may not have adapted to the digital environment, but I would guess that they are certainly in the minority,” Strack said. “But as business owners, we have to be smart in our quest to be tech-relevant. It’s a fine balancing act to be on the leading edge versus the ‘bleeding edge’ when it comes to the use of technology and its related investments. This is one of the most difficult challenges our industry faces today.”