Primary Color — A Change of Scenery

THE DESIRE to order all new furniture is almost a reflex reaction for anyone who moves into a new home. After all, who wants to drag a drab, worn-down old sectional into a beautiful new living room?

For Primary Color, the addition of new “furniture” when it relocates from the California towns of Culver City and Irvine to El Segundo and Costa Mesa is not intended as a cosmetic enhancement. The company has opted to pick up stakes due to a growing problem, which is not a problem as much as it is an opportunity. Primary Color saw its growth skyrocket by 20 percent to nearly $50 million in sales for 2006 and anticipates a similar swell in 2007.

Thus, the “growing problem” was really Primary Color needing more space in order to accommodate customer needs. According to Dan Hirt, company president, it is a measuring stick of success.

“There are two measures of success for Primary Color,” Hirt says. “The first is sustained profitable growth, which we encourage by institutionalizing continuous process improvement. The second measure—customer satisfaction—cannot exist without the first.”

The company, founded by Walter and Elizabeth Hirt, debuted in 1985 as a prepress operation addressing the needs of the Orange County, CA, market. That was also the year that Dan Hirt, along with brothers Ron (vice president of sales and marketing) and Mike (vice president of production) took the helm from their parents.

Eight-Color Capabilities

Primary Color has since widened its scope to provide a wide range along the product and service spectrum, including eight-color, 40˝ sheetfed work, very-large format output and variable data digital printing.

Its core vertical targets include advertising agencies, major entertainment companies, the automotive sector and corporate marketing communications groups.

With 280 employees operating in a total of 67,000 square feet, Dan Hirt felt the company needed to reevaluate its plant production space. Thus, the decision was made to transfer assets from Culver City to El Segundo this August, followed by the Irvine to Costa Mesa migration in early 2008. The net is a near doubling of manufacturing space, which will burgeon to 120,000 square feet when completed.

“Increased demand for our products and services, coupled with our commitment to providing state-of-the art technologies and workflow processes, led us to the decision to relocate both of our facilities,” he explains. “Our El Segundo operation will house sheetfed printing and prepress, while Costa Mesa will focus on digital printing and our large-format group. Costa Mesa will also feature prepress systems that mirror El Segundo. Both facilities will also have fulfillment and distribution capabilities.

“We’re adding significant manufacturing capacity in both locations, which will allow us to realize our own growth plans, as well as meet and exceed our customers’ expectations,” Dan Hirt adds.

This is where the new “furniture” comes into play. A new eight-color, 40˝ Heidelberg Speedmaster XL 105 sheetfed press with extended delivery will be installed in El Segundo this summer. The press will join Primary Color’s existing sheetfed fleet of Heidelberg presses, including incumbent six- and eight-color Speedmaster CD 102s.

Heidelberg was also tabbed by Primary Color to provide bindery department upgrades, with orders placed for a Stahlfolder TH-82 folder, a six-pocket Stitchmaster ST 90 saddlestitcher with cover feeder and hand feed station, and a Polar RA-4 jogger equipped with pile turner and Transomat.

Mike Hirt, vice president of manufacturing, anticipates productivity boosts of 50 percent from the new gear, including 20 percent to 30 percent productivity gains in makereadies on the XL 105. “Given our reputation for quality and brand consistency and our expertise in color management, we knew that the XL 105 was the press for us,” he notes.

Reasons for Decision

Primary Color conducted due diligence during its equipment shopping process and found that all of the major manufacturers brought something to the table. According to Dan Hirt, the printer found extra value in the Heidelberg product, based on a trio of factors: a premium product, increased productivity, and a high level of support and service. Plus, it helped that the XL 105 complemented Primary Color’s existing press line.

“The most important feature of the XL 105 is its ability to enhance our productivity. We are equally enthusiastic about the added capacity the new press will bring to our high-end printing operation,” he adds. “To complement productivity gains in the pressroom, we decided to upgrade our bindery with state-of-the-art Heidelberg equipment, as well. The addition of the new equipment will allow us to better control all aspects of the manufacturing cycle.”

Primary Color is not a slave to 40˝ litho work, however. It boasts an eight-color VUTEk 5330 rollfed printer for grand-format banners, building graphics and other event signage. An 80˝ VUTEk Pressview UV printer enables Primary Color to print on virtually any substrate, with tri-dimensional diecutting capabilities.

On the digital side, Primary Color has ventured into the world of variable data and print-on-demand via an HP Indigo 5000.

Other recent upgrades include the acquisition of an EFI Hagen OA solution for its MIS needs. Dan Hirt stressed the value it has provided in managing Primary Color’s business while providing real-time access to critical information.

The company has truly evolved into a multifaceted provider of print-related solutions. Primary Global Graphics Management is the company’s global sourcing solution, with Primary Color overseeing the handling of customer files to pre-qualified print manufacturers worldwide for long-run applications that are more economically feasible when done offshore.

The company is also very bullish on its Primary Marketing Automation Group, a comprehensive array of direct mail, list management, database management and fulfillment services, among other offerings, for marketing communications groups and business-to- business professionals.

“We believe cross-media and marketing automation will provide significant growth opportunities for our company,” Dan Hirt remarks. “Our clients understand that successful campaigns blend several elements, including brand integrity and useful data. They seek strategic relationships with companies such as ours that offer a comprehensive service package.”

As Primary Color prepares to fill out change of address cards and readies for the new batch of Heidelberg equipment, it will continue to evolve from once humble prepress roots into a broad spectrum provider serving the modern needs of today’s print buyers. The Hirts will draw as close to the bleeding edge of technology to attain that goal.

“We consider it our responsibility to provide clients with leading-edge solutions,” Dan Hirt concludes. “As such, we act as an incubator—testing technologies and processes far in advance of popular adoption. This allows us to speak with authority when recommending process enhancements to customers.” PI