Innovation Printing & Communications — Focused on Growth

A “WHATEVER it takes attitude” in the business world may sound cliché, but Philadelphia-based Innovation Printing & Communications has walked the walk—responding to customer needs by adding new equipment, consolidating into a single facility to optimize workflows and increasing its headcount with 20 new employees.

From its outset in 1973, Innovation was a boutique shop, specializing in annual reports and other high-end projects. Owners Jeff Jones, president, and Dave Carpenter, vice president of sales and operations, wanted to transform the business away from the seasonal nature of annual report printing into a commercial sheetfed offset and digital printing operation.

Jones and Carpenter bought Innovation outright from the original partners in 2004 and decided to expand the business. They also changed the company’s name from Innovation Printing & Lithography to Innovation Printing & Communications to better reflect its diverse offerings.

“When Jeff and I acquired the company, we knew that there was a need to switch from a boutique-type printing company to become more of a corporate printer,” explains Carpenter.

As a result, Innovation has expanded beyond traditional offset into large-format printing, variable data digital printing, Web-to-print capabilities, and warehousing and fulfillment. Today, it serves the design, financial, software and pharmaceutical industries, with plans to branch into education.

As customer demands have changed, Innovation has responded in kind. “For example, one client wanted us to produce large volumes of print-on-demand work, which led to our purchase in 2005 of a Xerox iGen3 digital press,” Carpenter explains. The company’s first leap into digital output was with a Xerox 6060, but the iGen3 was installed for its versatility and variable data capabilities. Similarly, “other customers were looking for someone to not only print their projects, but to also fulfill them, so we created our warehouse and fulfillment operation,” he adds. And, when another customer required diecutting and converting services, Innovation purchased a 40˝ diecutter and folder/gluer.

“Our clients love the fact that we buy new equipment so we can keep more work in-house, which ultimately saves them money. As a result, our costs come down, but our quality remains high because we can control the entire process,” Jones explains.

As business continued to grow, both Jones, Carpenter and George Slater, co-owner and vice president of sales (who joined the company in April 2006), realized that operating out of two buildings totalling 39,000 square feet was no longer adequate. So the owners decided to expand, ultimately moving into their new facility in January.

Not only does Innovation’s new plant boast 67,000 square feet, it also gives the company the capability of adding on an additional 50,000 square feet of warehouse space if needed.

The relocation was a seamless transition, with “no disruption in service,” Carpenter points out. “We streamlined our processes by moving into one location and, with the addition of new equipment, we’ve been able to reduce the project cycle time. Our speeds are up, our makeready times are down, and our costs are controlled.”

Innovation has been an all- Heidelberg sheetfed pressroom since 1973. The company currently operates four 40˝ models: a six-color Speedmaster; a seven-color Speedmaster with aqueous coater; a six-color Speedmaster CD 102; and a six-color CD 102 with coater.

In the last 18 months, Innovation has added $3 million worth of equipment, including: the Heidelberg six-color CD 102 with coater, a 40˝ Brausse 1050SE diecutter, a Moll folder/gluer, a Canon two-sided imposition blueline proofer, an Epson 9800 color proofer and a 30˝ MBO folder.

Now, all of Innovation’s services are performed in-house—with the exception of direct mail. A partnership is maintained with Garson Mail, Bensalem, PA, and, through this relationship, it offers complete mail and lettershop services, including list management, insertion, ink-jetting and personalization.

Innovation posted $17.8 million in sales last year and is on pace to record $21 million in revenues for 2007. Serving the tri-state area, the company now has 85 employees, including the 20 new workers that were hired in the past 18 months.

Customers can use Innovation’s Web-to-print system to place orders, request an estimate, review a proof or transfer a file. “Every account has a sales rep, a coordinator and an estimator assigned to it to ensure a smooth process,” notes Carpenter.

“We have a great client base, with a great potential for growth. Our clients have recognized our hard work over the past years and have rewarded us with more business,” says Slater.

As part of Innovation’s marketing efforts, the company conducted an open house in its new facility for clients and prospects in September that also included representatives from Heidelberg, Adobe and Xerox, among others.

In 2005, Jim Goss was brought on board as pressroom foreman, helping Innovation to become an eco-friendly printer. They switched to Toyo Ink soy-based products. The company also became FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) certified in July of this year. Carpenter jokes, “if you didn’t mind the taste of paper, you could probably eat what we are printing.”

Moving forward, the three partners are looking to maintain a steady, controlled growth. Their main focus is conventional and sheetfed printing, but they see a great potential for growth in the company’s digital print division. Another area of focus—with a little help from the iGen3—will be personalized direct mail.

“We will always continue to look for opportunities to be diverse, just like our clients,” concludes Jones. “If they want us to acquire certain equipment to meet their needs, we will and, in turn, grow right along with them.” PI