McArdle Printing Celebrates Sixty with a new ROLAND 700 10-color Perfector

UPPER MARLBORO, MD—March 6, 2007—Finishing touches are being put on a 10-color ROLAND 700 perfector at McArdle Printing Co. Installation of the new press coincides with the start of McArdle’s 60th anniversary, and the company is prepared to take advantage of both events to grow faster and further.

McArdle Printing was founded in 1947 and is celebrating sixty years of service. In 2006, the facility generated sales of $44 million and was recognized as one of the largest printers in the Washington metropolitan area — ranked 129th in Printing Impressions’ Top 400. The company operates 24 hours a day with over 220 employees. McArdle’s services include online ordering, digital and commercial print, as well as fulfillment and mailing.

Extending Its Lead

The new ROLAND 700 was acquired to extend McArdle’s lead in the high-quality segment of the marketplace. McArdle President Lisa Arsenault says her company chose the MAN Roland press after an extensive technology review: “We looked at all of our available options from all the major manufacturers. It boiled down to MAN Roland.”

MAN Roland’s reputation for superior support and services was another consideration. “People on our team had a lot of comfort with MAN Roland and had run its presses in the past, so that played a role in our decision as

well,” Arsenault declares. “At the end we felt most comfortable and familiar with the MAN team. We believe their commitment to our needs is dead on.”

Plentiful Perfecting

Six out of ten jobs produced by McArdle are perfected 4/4, so the new ROLAND 700 perfector finds itself in the thick of the action right from the start. “This technology will have an impact on our throughput and open more time on our other presses so we can increase our volume,” Arsenault says. “Before the new press we were at full capacity, running seven days a week, and needed relief.”

McArdle Printing has relied on perfectors since its inception back in 1947, but it’s never seen one as productive as this. The ROLAND 700’s printnet networking and control system automates the makeready process to accelerate job-to-job responsiveness. And it perfects at the rate of 12,000 sph, making it a high volume contender.

“We know, too, that this technology will open other doors in the short run magazine and half web market,” Arsenault observes. ”I’m not sure of the percentages, but our plan is to use the 700 as a perfector most of the time. Our work has very tight turnarounds and we know that perfecting will play a big role in meeting those deadlines.”

McArdle also opted for MAN Roland’s InlineSheeter, which equips the press to use substrates rolled in on web reels. Using web press paper on a sheetfed press means a wider range of less expensive stocks can be used.

“We’re hopeful that the InlineSheeter will help us keep our paper costs down and our throughput high,” Arsenault says. ”It will allow us to compete with web printers on shorter runs and allow us to play the quality card against them. Also, the flexibility of booking time that a sheetfed printer can offer vs. a full web house should be to our advantage.”

An Education in Success

McArdle extends its marketing advantage by offering its customers and prospects complimentary educational events. The latest is a two-hour seminar entitled “The Environment, the Paper Market and You,” which provides an overview of eco-friendly papers and ways a company can generate positive publicity by adopting a proactive environmental stance.

“Our educational program is a big success for us,” Arsenault notes. ”We offer bimonthly training, and let our customers help us create the topics. Our offsite custom training is also very popular. We believe we’re the only printer in the DC/Baltimore area to offer this level of training to their customers.”

Another secret to McArdle’s success it that it takes a total communications approach to its marketplace, providing a design-to-printing-to-fulfillment menu of integrated services.

Arsenault comments: “One stop shopping is very important. We are doing a lot more fulfillment, same for the design. But the big impact for us is our ability to mail. We just purchased a Burhs Intelligent Inserter and we’re

confident it will play a big role.”

McArdle also operates a Xerox iGen3 digital press. That enables the company to offer Variable Data Printing and one-to-one marketing pieces. “All of these services allow us to create a custom solution for our clients and that has played a larger role in our growth.”

The company’s continued expansion will be celebrated during its 60th anniversary, which, like the new ROLAND 700, is being promoted to generate more positive buzz. “Our anniversary campaign is in the works now,” Arsenault says. ”We’re designing a new brochure, website and collateral marketing pieces to make our anniversary rewarding for everyone.”

About MAN Roland
MAN Roland Druckmaschinen AG is the world’s second largest printing systems manufacturer and the world’s market leader in web offset. MAN Roland operates out of Offenbach, Augsburg and Plauen in Germany. It employs 9,000 staff and generates annual sales of $2.14 billion (EUR 1.7 billion), with an export share of 83%. Web and sheetfed offset are its major product lines for publishing, general commercial and packaging printing. MAN Roland is the only printing press manufacturer to be a partner of the WAN (World Association of Newspapers). In North America, MAN Roland Inc. operates a network of five regional sales and service facilities, staffed by over 250 employees.