Ready, (Off)Set, Go!

Today’s printing and converting companies have to be distinctive. In some way, shape, or form, they have to be a valuable (and hopefully invaluable) resource to their customers. There are innumerable ways this can be accomplished and there’s obviously no cookie-cutter path to success.

The Cadmus Whitehall Group (www.cadmuswhitehall.com) is a diverse printing and converting business that provides a wide range of products and services. “With a unique combination of packaging, commercial print, and fulfillment capabilities, we -offer customers one-stop shopping for many of their needs,” says Tony Paul, president, Cadmus Whitehall Group. “We focus on providing our customers targeted solutions to their most pressing business needs.”

He also emphasizes the value of being part of a larger enterprise, Cenveo, Inc. (www.cenveo.com), one of the largest graphic communications companies in North America. “With the breadth of the total Cenveo platform, this provides a distinctively powerful value proposition to the marketplace,” he says. -Cenveo acquired Cadmus Communications in 2007, and along with it, the Cadmus operation in -Charlotte, N.C.

Deep roots

According to Paul, Cadmus’ roots date back to 1902. However, the company became a public entity in 1984 when two companies, William Byrd Press (Richmond, Va.) and Washburn Graphics (Charlotte, N.C.), merged to create Cadmus Communications. At the time of the merger, the Charlotte operation provided a mix of promotional and financial printing capabilities, he says.

It wasn’t long after Cadmus was formed that the new company began adding packaging capabilities to its business mix. This proved to be a successful business extension. “That part of the business grew rapidly, accounting for one-third of the revenue in the Charlotte facility by 1999 when Cadmus sold off its financial printing business,” says Paul. “In this century, Cadmus has continued to invest in printing and converting technology to provide our customers with world-class solutions to their packaging and promotional printing needs.”

Today, the Charlotte facility employs 265 people and operates seven printing presses, along with a variety of converting equipment to support its customers in a wide range of markets. Its largest markets include healthcare, apparel, consumer goods, technology, and tobacco, reports Paul.

Cadmus’s ability to manage graphic reproduction of brand images is at the core of its value proposition to its customers, says Paul. The prepress operation at Charlotte has a significant role in this effort. “Our prepress operation is the heart of our global brand management strategy,” he says. “From our hub in Charlotte we push files out not only to the presses in this facility, but also to presses in facilities around the world. This provides our customers with consistent reproduction of their brands even when produced in multiple plants spread all over the world.”

The printing capabilities at the Charlotte plant include both web and sheetfed offset, along with flexographic printing augmented with screen -capability. “We use two Gallus KM 510 carton presses that are primarily flexo, but also have screen printing units,” says Paul.

The offset printed products are produced from any one of five presses. These include a Heidelberg M600 web press and two Heidelberg CD 102 and two Heidelberg XL 105 sheetfed presses. The Heidelberg XL 105’s provide a print format of 29˝ x 41˝. -According to Paul, the 38˝ M600 web press is used primarily for commercial applications.

Using these seven presses, Paul says the plant can supply printed products on a variety of paper substrates -including solid bleached sulfate (SBS) board, recycled boards, and fine papers. “We also print on a variety of plastic and specialty stocks,” he adds. Both UV and water-based inks and coatings are used with its product mix.

XL 105’s provide wider format printing

The Charlotte facility provides wide format printing primarily using its two Heidelberg XL 105 presses. “Our widest format sheetfed presses are the Heidelberg XL 105’s,” says Paul. “We produce a wide variety of folding cartons with this format.” One of the 105’s also includes UV capability.

Paul sees its wide format capability as an important element to attract new business. “Wider format platforms have a lot of application for new business opportunities in the point-of-sale market,” he notes. Although Paul says that Cenveo’s Toledo, Ohio, operation also focuses on the point-of-sale market, he notes the importance of wide format printing to the Charlotte operation. “Based on our current mix of business in Charlotte, the 105 cm (41˝) format is an excellent fit.”

The Heidelberg XL 105 presses also play an important role in the company’s competitive strategy. “The combination of quality and efficiency provided by these presses is an important factor in our differentiation strategy as we strive to maintain our niche in an increasingly competitive global market,” says Paul.

Tough competition

The current global economic conditions are making the already highly competitive environment even tougher. “The trickle down effect of the global recession is affecting all our markets,” reports Paul. “Even historically resilient markets such as healthcare and tobacco are feeling the pinch, creating downhill pressures on their suppliers.”

Paul says Cadmus plans on meeting the competitive environment head on, by helping its customers be more competitive. “Our strategy is to continue to focus on providing superior products and unsurpassed value to support our customers through their own challenges,” he says. pP