Applied Printing Technologies -- Full-service Approach

Despite all of the changes afoot at Applied Printing Technologies (APT), there is something very familiar about this full-service, general commercial printer.

For example, APT President and CEO Carl Grossman has been on the job a little less than two years, yet is a very familiar figure in the printing industry. Jack Egan, executive vice president, has been with the company for roughly one year, but was recently with a very large, well-known national printer. Even Joe Rondone, vice president of sales and marketing, has been on board less than a year.

Want familiarity? The Moon-achie, NJ-based printer is owned by Morton Zuckerman, editor-in-chief and publisher of U.S. News & World Report, whose holdings also include the New York Daily News.

Time Out with Terry

But clearly, this is a renaissance period for APT. The company is being featured on a two-minute "Winner's Circle" television segment narrated by football great Terry Bradshaw that will appear on MSNBC. In the segment, Bradshaw interviews several members of the APT executive team and illustrates how recent equipment acquisitions further underscore the printer's commitment to offer a full array of products and services with a one-stop-shopping mentality.

That segment will also serve as the backbone for a five-minute corporate video that is currently being produced. Throw in a new corporate identity brochure that will tout APT's full-service offerings for the New York metro area and a redesign of the company Website, and the result is essentially a new identity.

"We've assembled a strong management team and planned a course of action to get our message out to the marketplace," Rondone says. "I am proud to be part of all the excitement in presenting APT as a full-service solutions provider to our clients and prospects."

One aspect that has enabled the company to enjoy a high level of success stems from equipment purchases in 2004. Among the new acquisitions at the Moonachie plant is a pair of Komori sheetfed presses: an eight-color LS40 equipped with Nordson hybrid UV printing capabilities and a six-color LS40 with coater—all to the tune of $5 million.

At the company's Elmira Litho Division in Elmira, NY, APT spent $1 million to install a new Jet Web in-line system with full diecutting capabilities on one of its full-size web presses and is also upgrading the color management and running register controls. On the front end is a new Agfa ApogeeX workflow.

The APT empire also includes APT Digital, a leader in the digital printing and one-to-one marketing fields, with President Nicholas Brusco operating the company as a standalone facility. Even so, the single-source concept unites the 330-member APT crew, and the unofficial mantra is to sell deep into clients' organizations.

Takes More than Printing

"In this highly competitive environment, you have to stand out from the crowd. You can't just print well," states Grossman. "Our thrust is a total solutions approach. We strive to find out what a customer wants to do with a product and then we find a way to be a part of that process. For example, that's been the driving force behind our in-line finishing and digital printing capabilities.

"We design a better way for customers to execute their promotions," he adds. "Sometimes it involves Web-enabled solutions. Sometimes we can automate a process that they're doing or leverage our digital and traditional sheetfed printing capabilities. One of our services is to also consult with clients on the best ways for them to maintain and use all of the data that they collect."

APT, which registered $85 million in sales for its latest fiscal year, services a wide range of customers—from Fortune 100 and 500 companies in the telecommunications, banking, finance, consumer goods, cable and satellite markets. The printer is also popular among the New York museum heavyweights, producing posters and items sold in souvenir shops. Other products include direct mail catalogs, point-of-purchase items (sheetfed), mailed statement stuffers and free-standing inserts.

"The key to 2004 was that we made significant investments in our business and focused on establishing a beachhead in new markets, particularly the publishing business," Egan says. "We also focused on doing a better job of selling new services to our existing customers. As for the economy, business has been getting progressively better. One sign is that our customers are doing a lot more promotions of their products."

A brief historical perspective on APT is in order. When Mort Zuckerman acquired U.S. News & World Report, included in the transaction was a prepress house that was doing work for the magazine. That company eventually became Applied Graphics Technologies (AGT). Shortly thereafter, AGT began to expand its base, acquiring printers such as Fleetwood Litho, Lasky, Meehan Tooker and Infiniti Color Graphics. It was a complementary fit—AGT provided prepress services and the acquired printing operations, later dubbed Applied Printing Technologies, handled the printing and finishing.

AGT eventually went public and was sold recently to Schawk. But APT has remained in Zuckerman's portfolio as a wholly owned company.

The newest member of the APT portfolio is APT Digital Marketing Solutions. During most of its five years, the division has enjoyed 20 percent annual growth; for 2005, that figure could skyrocket to almost 40 percent, according to Brusco.

Initially, the digital group's vision was to provide variable data printing solutions. The company was certain it could obtain a degree of static printing, short-run color and black-and-white work right off the bat. Still, other opportunities have presented themselves, Brusco reveals.

"When we first started, we didn't appreciate just how important our Web development product was going to be in promoting variable printing, or just how many of our solutions were going to incorporate the use of the Internet," he admits. "We also didn't realize how much market education would be needed on related technologies like broadcast faxes, e-mail blasts or integrated voice response phone systems.

"In addition to print, our lettershop and fulfillment capabilities have increased over the past four years, as have our project management capabilities," Brusco adds. "We developed a group of individuals who work with clients to provide them solutions, in a consultative way. Today, we're as dedicated as we've ever been to variable printing, print-on-demand and similar digital solutions."

Diverse Client List

APT Digital also boasts a wide range of clientele, even though the lion's share consists of the travel, financial and pharmaceutical industries. From an award-winning brochure to promote Bermuda tourism, to literature for pharmaceutical representatives and automated RSVP response systems that utilize integrated voice response, APT Digital has enjoyed much success in a short time frame.

Still, Brusco thinks there is plenty of room for growth. "Personally, I'm a little surprised at how clients hesitate to move forward with some of these initiatives," he says. "There are a lot of great success stories out there. Buyers can't be afraid of the initial expense involved. We sell on cost per sale, not by cost per piece. We'll reduce clients' total cost per sale, but they might be spending more for each piece."

One person who can testify to greater benefits is Grossman, who has been thrilled with the transition to a Komori sheetfed pressroom at the Moonachie Division. After running the eight-color press with UV coating capabilities for two months (the six-color press deal was being finalized at press time), Grossman was already hooked.

"When we decided to purchase new sheetfed presses, we felt that Komori's makeready enhancements and ability to minimize waste far outstripped anything else on the market," he says. "I like how we're able to integrate the presses into our manufacturing process, and that they're CIP3/4 compatible. The first press delivered has been phenomenal."

According to Grossman, APT's short-term expenditure budget also calls for web press enhancements at the Moon-achie and Elmira facilities. A pair of older web presses will be replaced, but Grossman says his company hasn't quite settled on which press manufacturer will be chosen.

Printing's in the Blood

Grossman, incidentally, is the older brother of Sandy Alexander President and CEO Roy Grossman. The two worked side by side for 20 years until the elder Grossman decided to change vocations.

Now that Carl Grossman is back in the industry, their frequent talks are somewhat tempered by the fact that Roy's plant is about 10 minutes away in Clifton, NJ. Not that they would swap trade secrets, anyway.

"We don't compete head-to-head in all that many situations," Carl Grossman says. "We serve different markets and have no desire to enter each other's arena. Both of us have a very healthy respect for each other's company. But, in the few occasions when we do compete, we go at it—and may the best company win."

Grossman and APT have their sights set on establishing a national footprint in the near future, and he does not rule out any methods of achieving those ends, including acquisitions in order to build the company. Like Brusco, he is also confident that there's plenty of room for APT's growth in digital printing, as much as 30 percent to 40 percent annually.

Egan feels the primary objective for 2005 is to get the APT message of customer service to the marketplace. "We have to be responsive to the marketplace and be competitive in all aspects of the business," he stresses. "We're going to be competitive in terms of service, more than competitive in quality and we're going to be economical relative to our competition."

So while APT may be filled with familiar faces in new places, Rondone fully understands its current mission. "We have been mandated by ownership to do what is necessary to make success happen," he says. "It's a wonderful feeling to be part of a winning team."

By Erik Cagle

Senior Editor