2007 Printing Industry Hall of Fame —Fearlessly Embracing Technology - Gary Samuels

EMBRACING technology in the first generation of a product’s release is generally frowned upon. Price points are spiky, and more often than not, there are bugs that need to be worked through before the long-promised automation, efficiencies and cost savings are fully realized.

Then again, industry leaders rarely subscribe to the populist’s theory. They don’t reach the top by adhering to the herd mentality.

Gary Samuels has always gone his own way, in a sense. The managing partner of Pictorial Offset in Carlstadt, NJ, wasn’t quite the lone wolf, benefitting from the combined efforts of brothers (and fellow partners) Donald and Lester. But after losing their father to an auto accident in 1980 and struggling mightily after moving into New Jersey from the Big Apple, the Samuels brothers found themselves needing to stand and deliver.

Change had embraced Gary Samuels and his brothers, so it was only apt that they should do likewise.

“It’s always difficult to orchestrate change. But, in the New York marketplace, you have industry-leading clients and you have to be in the position to understand the technology and the challenges they want you to accept,” states Samuels, 53, a 2007 inductee into the Printing Impressions/RIT Printing Industry Hall of Fame (HOF).

“We’ve always led the way and tried to be on the bleeding edge of technology—from being the first commercial printer to use a (Goss) Sunday press, or the first printer to accept a MAN Roland unitized sheetfed press. To grow your company, stay competitive and remain a low-cost producer while still offering quality, you have to extend yourself to the cutting edge.”

Gary Samuels joins his brother, Donald, a 2005 HOF inductee, in being honored. Along with Lester—who is receiving the Franklin Award later this month—the trio have played a pivotal role in growing Pictorial Offset from 28 employees and $1 million in annual sales to its current level of 250-plus employees and more than $85 million in revenues.

As for Gary Samuels, life began quietly enough. He spent his formative years on Long Island, NY, where he enjoyed playing high school sports and spent his summers life-guarding on the Atlantic Ocean. Samuels graduated from New York University in 1976, where he earned degrees in marketing and business administration.

While he appeared to be pre-ordained to enter the printing industry—after all, his father Jay owned Pictorial Offset, which was founded by grandfather Harry—this third-generation Samuels actually pondered being a partner in a ski shop business. But the genetic tug was too great to ignore.

“I’d always wanted to go to college and follow in the family business,” says Samuels, who remembers sitting in his grandfather’s lap at the office as a child. “Plus, I had a very motivational father.”

Knee Deep in Adversity

It wouldn’t take long for the Samuels boys to find themselves knee deep in adversity. Their father’s passing came only a year after the company had moved from New York. Compounding matters was a dog of a press installation that was crippling Pictorial Offset. The lemon-flavored hardware installation caused two major accounts to look elsewhere for their printing needs.

In a very short time, the Samuels mourned the loss of their dad, fought to make a name for themselves with a skeptical client base, took the press manufacturer to court and learned how to run a printing establishment. Those first three years at the helm, according to Samuels, were quite tumultuous.

“Our clients all said, due to our inexperience, that as long as we delivered on time with a quality product, they would continue to support us,” he says. “Our entire family is extremely grateful to the loyalty that was exhibited by our customers.”

By handling adversity early on, including dealing with labor relations issues, Samuels developed the executive skills needed to thrive in the hotly contested New York Metropolitan market. When the fear of bankruptcy subsided, he was able to focus attention on technology and the parallel learning curves for both the shop floor and the clients.

Ed Young, regional vice president for Goss International, notes that Samuels was extremely focused in bringing technology to customers, which enabled Pictorial Offset to become one of the premier players in the New York/New Jersey market.

“Gary is very committed to quality and service for his clients,” says Young, who has known Samuels for roughly nine years. “He has embraced technology not only to advance his company’s position, but also to enable his clients to meet their goals.”

Niels Winther, former president and CEO of Heidelberg USA and currently the head of Winther and Associates, calls Samuels a “straight shooter” who is well-liked by clients. Many people admire Gary’s trait of being tough but fair, according to Winther.

“Gary runs a terrific plant, takes automation to the Nth degree and pushes it to the limit,” Winther adds. “He’s very print knowledgeable in terms of how a product can be manufactured. And he’s always looking for ways to improve productivity.”

Samuels truly enjoys the lifespan of a completed project, which he relates to the pieces of a puzzle, each fitting tight- ly with one another to produce the desired image. He’ll even visit trade shows and exhibitions for other industries to see how they approach material handling.

Most impressively, Samuels isn’t afraid to sit down and map out his own ideas to the point of seeing them become technological realities. A trip to one dairy packaging expo sparked him toward the creation of an ink pump that processes UV and conventional ink for web and sheetfed. In fact, Samuels has secured the U.S. patent for his design, and it is patent pending worldwide.

“It’s the only ink pump in the industry that allows you to go from one color to the next in 15 minutes,” he says. “That helped meet the challenge with the speed of the Sunday web press, so the crews can keep up with varnish and spot colors.”

Bountiful Bindery

He’s also done his part for the betterment of the bindery, having worked with Stefano Palamides on certain modifications to Palamides’ paper banders. In the process, Samuels devised a way to double throughput in the bindery while reducing staffing needs by 50 percent.

Samuels prides himself in being able to think a few moves ahead of the game. When Pictorial Offset began exploring ISO 9000 quality management certification roughly 10 years ago, Samuels felt it behooved the company to take on the challenge of dual registration and gain ISO 14000 environmental management certification. He says it is the first dual registration ever achieved.

Samuels also claims Pictorial Offset was the first printer to go carbon neutral through reforestation, and it received an award in 2006 from the Rainforest Alliance for its environmental responsibility.

He has spent time as president of the Metropolitan Lithographers Association and sits on the board of directors for the benefit funds, which is part of the AFL-CIO. He is also an occasional speaker on the show circuit, having spoken at the Web Offset Association conference and NPES annual meeting.

When he’s not at the office, Samuels enjoys spending time with daughters Jaye, 23, and Shawn, 21, along with son Brian, 17. They enjoy family activities ranging from skiing, scuba diving and fishing to Sundays on the golf course.

Last summer Samuels traveled through Tuscany, Italy, to enjoy another one of his passions—wine. While there, he took cooking lessons and can now whip up a mean dish of seared tuna with fennel and black pepper over tomatoes with pignoli nuts. PI