Background
Company A is a specialty digital printing and mail house facility. They purchased a printing company who was handling most of their offset print needs. With this acquisition came a large list of clients who required offset printing services in addition to digital printing.
Their original plan was to integrate the client base and sales force of both companies. They would also maintain the second facility for remote sales and offset production.
Over the following few years, they would eventually phase out offset printing.
This would allow time to transition much of that work to digital as well as time to build relationships with other trade printers for the work they could not do digitally.
The Challenges Arising from Their Acquisition
With their strategic plan in place, Company A faced four significant challenges soon after they acquired the new company.¬
1. They had limited experience with offset litho printing.
2. Because of their original plan to phase out offset printing, they did not want to invest capital in offset equipment or new staff. They also had no desire to incorporate offset processes into their digital shop. The businesses were in two different cities more than an hour apart, which had the potential for logistical and production problems.
3. They had purchased a fully functional offset shop. Although equipment was not a problem, staffing challenges were. Their seasoned press operator saw the writing on the wall and left for another job soon after the ownership change. It was also difficult to hire experienced offset press operators. This left them with a shop full of equipment and no one to run it, and is what pushed them out of offset printing.
4. The cost of the location was not manageable without the production aspect and the need to downsize and cut operating costs was immediate.
At this point, they approached Western Trade Printing to see how we could help.
How We Tackled the Challenges
In collaboration with Company A, we did the following.
The Sales Process
Worked one-on-one with their sales staff to understand and meet client needs on a case by case basis.
Custom Pricing
Structured a custom pricing deal tailored to help them keep their new list of clients and remain profitable and competitive.
Custom Delivery & Shipping
Arranged custom delivery and shipping charges.
The Production Process
Set up special quick-turn production to accommodate their new offset clients.
Workflow
Coordinated a workflow to integrate with their existing production and sales staff.
Our Staff Became Their Staff
Delivered full WTP production support – our staff became their staff:
• Always available by phone.
• Over 250 years combined printing experience at WTP. Even our accounting department is staffed by folks with printing experience.
• Committed to deliver custom quotes in 4 hours or less so they could respond quickly to all their client needs.
Our WTP! System
The WTP! System uses proprietary and industry standard procedures to ensure our client’s success and growth.
1 – Print Production Standards and Methodology
We use G7 Color-Certified Offset and Digital Print Solutions and Quality Control Methodology on every job.
• The WTP! System ensures on-time delivery.
• The WTP! System prevents costly printing mistakes before they ever get to press, which allows us to offer competitive pricing and faster turnaround.
• The WTP! System ensures that all jobs (custom or gang run) have the same top quality and consistency across all substrates and printing equipment.
2 – Personalized Service
WTP clients always get a live person who has extensive print experience. They work with you one-on-one as needed to keep your clients happy.
3 – WTP Shipping and Delivery
The WTP! 4-Point Shipping Checklist ensures that once the product leaves our floor, it arrives in A-1 condition.
1 - All ground shipments are double-boxed and "H" Taped.
2 - Whenever economically feasible, your project will be skid packed with corner protectors, heavy duty strapping and stretch wrapped for integrity.
3 - The shipment is then photographed and shipped "blind" from our location in your name.
4 - While WTP can't control what shippers do once they pick up a job, we minimize risk because we only work with top rated shipping companies. Our proactive relationships with top-notch carriers prevent and minimize shipping delays and logistics nightmares that are so common for other shops.
Results of Collaboration with Western Trade Printing
Production Success
✔️ Company A successfully integrated offset jobs into their digital and mail house production environment.
Customer Service for New Offset Clients
✔️ Using WTP production resources, client successfully serviced their new offset clients. This made for a profitable acquisition.
Market Expansion
✔️ Client is successfully expanding into neighboring regional markets.
Allowed Bigger Investment in Growth
✔️ Because Company A did not have to invest in offset equipment or staffing, they are able to reallocate funds into other areas that continue to grow their business.
20% Annual Growth
✔️ Company A continues to steadily grow at 20% year-over-year.
Top Company in Sales Volume
✔️ Company A is WTP’s #2 client.
To find out how Western Trade Printing can help your company overcome today's challenges, call Bob Gardner at (559) 251-8595 ext. 411
