2024 Innovator of the Year: High-Quality and Accuracy Drive Growth at PCI Group

Editor's Note: Innovation may look different for every company; however, the industry leaders make innovation part of their DNA. By utilizing new technology, developing comprehensive investment strategies, implementing unique human resources practices, and integrating top-of-the-line processes, they can stand out as true innovators.

Our six Printing Impressions' 2024 Innovators of the Year were nominated by printing industry experts and consultants who identified them as pushing the boundaries of innovation. The business tactics and philosophies they employ may provide some inspiration to take your company to similar, greater heights.

The summary of PCI Group that follows shares what makes this company innovative, interesting, and exceptional. The insight it presents may provide the inspiration you need to take your company to a new level, or in a new direction.

When you work in a segment of the printing industry that is “one document away from a major disaster” every single day, it’s imperative that quality and accuracy remain a primary focus.
Chris Kropac Jr., president of PCI Group based in Fort Mill, South Carolina, points to this as a driving factor behind the transactional mail printing company’s dedication to a “culture of quality” and, ultimately, to its continued growth.

Even though PCI Group was named a “2024 Innovator of the Year,” Kropac says innovation in the transactional printing space “sounds like an oxymoron.” And yet, through very intentional and “innovative” practices, PCI Group has been able to set itself apart from competitors by growing its volume by five times and its revenue by seven times in the past 17 years.

“When I think of innovation, I think, ‘How can we do something that’s been in the industry a long time, reinvigorate what we’re doing, and get the process down so we can offer our clients a cost-effective, more secure, more compliant alternative to what they could do internally or in the marketplace?’” he says.

Perfecting the Art of Lean and Six Sigma

One of the primary strategies PCI Group uses to ensure the most accurate, secure, efficient, and highest quality work for its clients is the company’s full integration of Lean manufacturing.
It all started eight years ago with the process of onboarding one of the largest healthcare companies in the country. Although PCI Group had implemented some Lean processes prior to bringing on the new client, it needed to expand its commitment to process controls and continuous improvement to accommodate the growth it would undoubtedly experience.

Kropac explains that while all companies have standard operating procedures (SOPs), when a company adopts Lean manufacturing, it takes that SOP and breaks it down into various one-page applications called standard works. PCI Group knew it needed to fully commit to transitioning its processes.

“We went full bore, we went 100% Lean,” Kropac says. “Where other organizations might have 10 or 20 standard works, we have over 350 standard works that govern our production process.”
Doubling down on its commitment to accuracy and quality, PCI Group implemented Six Sigma methodologies, something that isn’t an industry standard for transactional mail printers. The company encourages its employees to push themselves to achieve more advanced Six Sigma belts.

Jeff Moder, chief marketing officer at PCI Group, explains that the company prides itself on delivering 99.9999% accuracy. While everyone at the company must start as a White Belt in Six Sigma when they begin working at PCI Group, many have pushed themselves to advance their belts according to the official Six Sigma training process, with 225 associates with some type of belt.

“We have over 120 different Black, Green, and Yellow Belts in our organization,” he says. “It’s a whole process of having the right equipment, the right security and compliance technologies, and the right processes and training of people.”

PCI Group has a fleet of Canon technology. Seen here in the Irving, Texas, facility is the company’s ColorStream 6900 continuous-feed inkjet press.

Not only does PCI Group pay for and encourage employees to advance their Six Sigma belts, but it incentivizes them to do so. Kropac explains that the company has 27 “homegrown” Black Belts, meaning the employees have pushed themselves using formal online training. PCI gives these employees an incentive bonus to complete their black belts. Nurturing an environment of Black Belt workers drives PCI’s “culture of quality,” and it’s not just press operators; it’s employees across all facets of the organization.

“We have warehouse people [and] material handlers that have Black Belts,” he says. “Most of our account management team members have a Black Belt.”

In addition to its dedication to Lean manufacturing and Six Sigma methodologies, 17 years ago, PCI Group implemented what it calls “PCI University,” which begins as a one-week course when a new employee is hired. The employees can then move through “levels” of training to advance their careers. This moves beyond PCI Group’s own mission of accuracy and quality; its employees use these advancements for personal growth.

Every year, we have between 50 to 60 associates that change a job title,” according to Kropac. “There’s upward mobility for every single person in our organization.”

Another piece of the puzzle is PCI Group’s approach to its security and compliance. The company maintains SOC I and II, HIPAA, HITRUST, PCI DSS, and FISMA compliance certifications, which are essential to maintaining its roster of highly secure clients including banks, healthcare, insurance companies, utilities and financial service organizations.

“Every associate goes through annual compliance testing as well,” he says. “Fifteen different compliance tests, which is a whole day of compliance testing.”

Not ‘Everything to Everybody’

Although PCI Group maintains loyal customers and is continuously growing, one of its defining features is that it isn’t afraid to say “no” to potential clients, no matter the size.

“We’re very clear about our value propositions and we’re able to clearly articulate the difference between PCI and our competitors,” Moder says.

At times, that means being candid with potential clients if they aren’t the right fit — whether it’s because of the size of the job; job details, such as substrate or envelope type; or other factors. PCI Group is intentional about limiting its customer’s risk when it comes to getting a client’s job right. One of the ways it does that is by limiting the types of paper stocks and envelopes that it offers, and then working with a client to select from that inventory. Moder points out it’s important not to make the mistake that many retail shops tend to do: too many varieties and too much inventory.

“We’re intent on finding the customers that value that. When we come across a client that’s going to disrupt the integrity of our operations and risk our 99.9999% accuracy, we have decided in many cases it’s not worth it,” he says. “This approach enables us to deliver exceptional solutions for the customers that value security, compliance and accuracy.”

Kropac says by adhering to this methodology, the company has been able to triple its business in the past eight years. “It’s pretty astounding growth and we do that with a laser focus,” he adds. “We’re not everything to everybody.”

Growth Beyond Its Current Limits

PCI Group’s focus and unwavering dedication to maintaining the highest standards have been one of the contributing factors to its continued growth amid a steady – or sometimes declining – market segment. In fact, it was one of the reasons Marco Boer, vice president of IT Strategies, nominated the company in the first place.

“PCI has transformed not only its own business but the transaction statement industry,” Boer points out. “Focusing on high compliance applications, it has managed to grow its revenues well above the growth rate of the transaction statement industry as a whole. By focusing on transaction applications, such as debt collection notices that are difficult to manage, they’ve built a competitive barrier to entry. You might describe PCI as a data analytics/information security business, with a side business of printing.”

PCI Group operates two fully redundant facilities – one in Fort Mill, South Carolina, and one in Irving, Texas. Combined, the two facilities deploy eight Canon ColorStream inkjet web presses and twenty BlueCrest Epic direct mail inserters. However, its continued growth has pushed its limits beyond its current boundaries. This fall, the company is moving from its 93,000-sq.-ft. facility in Fort Mill to a 125,000-sq.-ft. plant in Charlotte, North Carolina.

“When we move to the new facility, we’ll expand our Canon ColorStream inkjet presses and add additional inserters as well,” according to Kropac. “So, basically be able to double the size of our current Fort Mil capacity in the new facility.”

With more growth on the horizon, PCI Group intends to continue to innovate by evolving to bring its clients the best product possible through investments in technology and its people.

“Thanks to our highly trained workforce and our cutting-edge compliance and Canon technologies, we’re always looking to provide a better product for our clients,” Kropac concludes.