Stolze Printing--In the Trenches
This St. Louis-based printer believes a hands-on, personalized approach is the key to success.
BY CAROLINE MILLER
When Philip Stolze walks into his printing company, he's ready to roll up his sleeves and go to work; and that's not just a figure of speech at Stolze Printing. Whether it's a problem with a piece of equipment or a plumbing leak at the 20,000-square-foot Stolze facility, you're likely to find company founder and President Philip Stolze out on the floor trying to fix the problem. "I am out there with my guys in my work clothes getting dirty. I'm a very hands-on kind of person," Stolze remarks, who has a background in maintenance.
This hands-on philosophy goes to the very core of Stolze and his St. Louis-based business. He and his 36 employees believe in a personalized approach in everything they do, especially when it comes to their clientele. "We really work on a personal level with our customers. When our customers come in for press checks there are several faces they feel comfortable with, not just their salesperson," he reports.
Stolze also prides himself on the company's adherence to strict standards. "We make sure our people have the best equipment to work with. We set up strict maintenance schedules to keep all our equipment calibrated and in like-new condition. We set strict standards for quality, so our people know what is, and is not, acceptable," Stolze says.
This commitment to service and quality keeps clients like Anheuser-Busch, Boeing and Monsanto coming back again and again, he explains. "We have a complex system of checks and balances. All proofs are checked by both the salespeople and the job coordinators. Every job is okayed on-press by the press foreman or the coordinator," describes Stolze.
The desire to be heavily involved in every aspect of his business began as a necessity and has slowly grown into an obsession.
Stolze Printing was founded in 1984 after MidAmerica Printing—the web printer that Stolze had worked for—decided it was moving out of St. Louis. Stolze was offered the chance to move with the company. It was a tempting offer. After all, he had spent 13 years with MidAmerica. But, in the end, Stolze and his wife decided that they did not want to leave their families, so they decided to try it on their own.
Before joining MidAmerica, Stolze had run a small printing business, which he had closed when he joined MidAmerica. "We had always wondered 'what-if' we hadn't closed our previous business. With a second opportunity, we figured now was the time to find out," Stolze remembers.
So with a $4,000 loan, an A.B.Dick 350 duplicator, a tabletop folder and a hand-lever paper cutter, Stolze started a duplicator shop in the basement of his home. "We just grew from there," he says.
And grown they have!
"We've been listed as one of the fastest growing, privately owned corporations in St. Louis with annual sales of more than $5 million. For the first several years, we reported a 100-percent growth rate. For the last three or four years, we've averaged about 25 percent to 30 percent growth annually," he reports.
While two duplicator presses run daily, Stolze has added an arsenal of automated sheetfed offset presses from Sakurai USA. They include a six-color, 201⁄2x283⁄8˝ Sakurai Oliver 672 EDII offset press equipped with a tower coater; a four-color, 201⁄2x283⁄8˝ Sakurai Oliver 472 EDII fully automated offset press; and a two-color, 201⁄2x283⁄8˝ Sakurai Oliver 272 EPII perfector. Stolze Printing now offers full prepress and design capabilities, as well as a full-service bindery department.
The bulk of the work that Stolze Printing produces comes from advertising agencies requesting annual reports, corporate identity pieces and direct mail work. "To be honest, we specialize in anything that will fit on a 28˝ press," Stolze says with a laugh. "We really feel that we're able to cover the entire 28˝ market—and cover it well."
When Stolze made the move from duplicator-type work to commercial printing, he saw the half-size sheetfed market as a stepping stone. But when that stepping stone turned into gold, Stolze realized that he didn't need to go anywhere else.
"We've really been dedicated to this half-size market. We realized in the beginning that you can't print everything. But what we can print, we can print very well," he reveals.
Stolze's belief in dedication, quality and service impacts everything his company touches. And it doesn't end with his clients; it flows into his relationships with his vendors, too.
"Having good relationships with suppliers is every bit as important as having a good personal relationship with your customers," he says. This philosophy is what led Stolze to partnering with Sakurai USA.
When Stolze decided to expand his business, he went looking for a quality relationship with a quality press manufacturer. He wanted a supplier partner with which he could develop a personal relationship, and he wanted a company that could grow in tandem with his business. Stolze says he found what he was looking for at Sakurai USA.
"Other press manufacturers might have been a safer bet. But, I think we would have just been a number. We've had a very good relationship with Sakurai. It has worked out exactly the way I hoped it would have," he says.
Not only does Stolze praise Sakurai's customer service and sales personnel, he's also thrilled with the performance of the equipment. "The Olivers print solids unbelievably well. They will hold a very fine line screen. We don't have any ghosting problems, and they hold color very well," he reports.
The dependability of the Sakurai equipment has also impressed Stolze. "Our four-color press has 32 million impressions on it, and it has yet to break down," he says happily.
The dependability that Sakurai USA offers Stolze has enhanced his ability to provide that same level of service to his own customers, he says. "Sakurai has bent over backwards for us. They've been willing to come in over the weekends and have always worked around our schedule."
As for the future of Stolze Printing? Stolze foresees that the next big expansion for his company will be to install computer-to-plate technology. He is also considering moving into the 40˝ sheetfed market at some point. "We're getting the opportunities to quote and do jobs that would fit a 40˝ press," Stolze reports. "Our clients have a lot of 40˝ work that they need done."
Although he has plans for future expansion, there are days when Philip Stolze still can't believe what he has already accomplished. "To be honest, I never thought that I would make it this far. I knew we would be successful because I've got that kind of drive. But I would have never dreamed that it would have gotten as big as it has."
