Franchise Printers -- Some Franchise Players

Allegra Network's Gerhardt believes his company's primary challenge is in keeping pace with technology—testing and implementing tools that are on the leading edge as opposed to the bleeding edge. Similarly, quality leadership is essential in an atmosphere that will not tolerate complacency.

"When I got into the business 17 years ago, the quick printing segment was probably increasing 10 to 15 percent a year," Gerhardt says. "Although the natural growth has slowed to 3 to 5 percent per year, we have systems in place to take advantage of the newer growth opportunities such as mailing services, variable data and digital color. These value-added services are estimated to grow 10 to 30 percent."