Coast to Coast - January 2012

Small Format Printing

NASHVILLE, Tenn.—Marshall & Bruce Printing Company has recently added a KBA Genius 52 20-inch press alongside its existing KBA Rapida 105 41-inch 7-color press. The family-owned printing company operates from a 55,000 sq. ft. facility in Nashville, Tennessee and provides commercial and package printing, along with fulfillment services.

"We were quite impressed with the Genius' ability to print excellent quality on an extremely wide variety of substrates across a broad caliper spectrum," says Chip Smith, president of Marshall & Bruce. "We use the Genius in conjunction with our KBA Rapida 105 press where both will be required to run high-end commercial, point-of-purchase, and packaging work on a variety of substrates."

The installation of the KBA Genius will mark the smallest press ever installed at Marshall & Bruce. "Our decision to purchase the Genius included the need to move smaller work off of our KBA Rapida 105 and have the ability to print on different substrates," says Smith. "The Genius will allow us to produce shorter run projects more efficiently and permit us to keep jobs in-house rather than send out to a digital print partner."

OHIO

CLEVELAND—Label converter OMNI Systems™ has selected EFI Radius as its new MIS/ERP software. OMNI Systems focuses on private label converting and provides high-volume, long runs of direct thermal and thermal transfer bar code labels. With steady growth over the years, the company needed to upgrade its computing systems and processes.

According to Michael Kisha, vice president of manufacturing and distribution, the EFI Radius ERP solution was selected, in part, because of its focus on the labeling industry. "Now our separate, home-grown systems will be replaced by an integrated solution that covers the complete workflow, from quoting to printing to shipping," says Kisha.

OMNI Systems' plants in Cleveland and Mayfield Village will run the Radius software. "We expect to be a lot more efficient in all departments, and look forward to having real-time metrics to help us make appropriate decisions that will lead to even greater customer satisfaction," he adds.

SOUTH CAROLINA

SPARTANBURG—With the recent installation of its second Heidelberg Speedmaster XL 105, Copac, Inc. is focused on growth. The company provides packaging services to domestic and global customers, focusing on high-end folding cartons, labels, inserts, and hang tags.

Copac's sheetfed offset capability represents a growing percentage of its overall volume, stemming from its twin Speedmaster XL 105s, which print up to six colors with the ability to reproduce high-quality graphics. The company also has flexo, rotary letterpress, and digital printing capabilities.

"With the proliferation of SKUs and fast-changing market requirements, customers need a packaging vendor that can control cost without running up inventory," says Alan Parnell, Copac president. "The fast makereadies and efficiency of the Speedmaster XL 105 technology fits that bill perfectly."

Copac regards its digital and sheetfed presses as complementary technologies, says CEO Jerry Lux. "One of the limitations of digital is that it has a very small footprint. Beyond quantity, a lot of cartons just won't fit on our digital presses. Our base technology is sheetfed offset, and we complement that with flexo and digital. We certainly intend and expect to be using all three processes for many of our customers."

SOUTH DAKOTA

SIOUX FALLS—Bell Incorporated has selected EFI Radius to upgrade its MIS/ERP software. In business since 1976, the company provides comprehensive packaging, printing, converting, and inventory services to Fortune 500, regional, and foreign companies.

"Bell Incorporated is committed to investing in continued growth, and we took the task of selecting a new ERP system very seriously," says Ben Arndt, COO. Bell chose EFI Radius because of its expertise in packaging and its large number of existing installations.

"We look forward to tying both production facilities, our distribution center, and sales and marketing office in Chicago into one reliable system," adds Arndt. pP